Not hers.
Not mine.
Something cold slid through my spine.
Trouble wasn’t coming to Eagle River.
It was already here.
8
Nora
Iwoke up with that strange, lingering feeling you get after a nightmare—
except I hadn’t dreamed.
I’d beenwatched.
Wolf had walked me home last night, calm and quiet beside me like a living shield. And yet, after he left, that uneasy twist in my stomach wouldn’t go away.
I checked the curtains twice before bed.
Then, once again, after turning off the light.
Then again, fifteen minutes later.
Nothing. No shadows. No odd noises.
But something in the air felt… wrong.
By morning, I convinced myself it was stress. Or lack of sleep. Or maybe the Magnolia Ladies’ gossip had finally infiltrated my bloodstream.
I brushed my hair, made a cup of coffee, and headed to the library.
Things were normal until I opened the front door.
Agnes, Mabel, and June were waiting inside.
But they weren’t holding baked goods.
They were holdingweapons.
Sort of.
Agnes: a rolling pin.
Mabel: a can of hairspray and a lighter.
June: a colander.
Acolander.
I stared. “What… what are you doing?”
Agnes straightened. “Protecting our girl.”
“Why,” I asked carefully, “do you have… a colander?”
