‘I don’t know who she is,’ I replied as we melted into the crowd, black clouds gathering overhead. ‘But I do know she’s a Were.’
Chapter Twenty-Five
‘I wish I had better news but no one knows who she is,’ Wyn said, emerging from the house with his cell phone still in his hand. ‘There’s no record of a Were living or working in Hilton Head. You’re absolutely sure she was a wolf?’
‘I’m absolutely sure,’ I replied, holding myself in a tight ball on the sofa, legs huddled up underneath my chin. ‘No question about it.’
‘Then she’s our lone wolf,’ he said grimly. ‘All but confirmed.’
Her violet eyes had haunted me all afternoon and now it was well into the evening, the sun gone but the skies still overcast, echoing my mood, a darkness I could not shake off.
‘Can’t you find out more about her?’ Lydia suggested, her face flickering in the orange light of the firepit all four of us were crowded around. ‘Go sniff her out or something?’
‘Not before she could sniff me out,’ Wyn replied. ‘Were senses get stronger over time. I only have two moons, we have no idea how experienced she is, and if she sensed there was another Were in town, she’d most likely try to find me out.’
‘And?’
Jackson looked understandably concerned, leaning protectively over the back of his sister’s wooden Adirondak chair. Wyn stuck his phone in the back pocket of his jeans and sat next to me on the sofa, pulling a striped throw blanket over my shivering legs.
‘Best-case scenario, she knows I’m a Were and presents herself.’
‘And the worst?’
His eyes flickered towards me, the line where he ended and I began blurring under the blanket, our palms pressed so tightly together I could feel his heartbeat in his hand.
‘No way a Were wouldn’t be able to scent a witch on me. If she is the lone wolf and she’s already identified Em, she’d be able to connect the two of us.’
‘She’s seen Lydia,’ I said, unable to keep the fear out of my voice when I looked at her.
‘Then she’s got your scent too, which, not to weird anyone out, is almost identical to Jackson’s,’ Wyn added. ‘None of us are safe.’
‘We need to leave.’ I pushed away the blanket but kept Wyn’s hand in mine. ‘We should go back to Bell House right now.’
‘You really think we’re in danger?’
Jackson’s expression was as grave as his tone of voice. When I nodded, he did the same. ‘OK then, we’re gone. Lyds, go pack your bag.’
‘It’s getting late, shouldn’t we wait until morning?’ she asked, an uncharacteristic tremor shaking the ends of her words.
Jackson was firm.
‘If you’d seen what I saw at the DeSoto, you wouldn’t be asking that.’
‘I’ll call Ashley, let her know we’re on our way.’ I stood, already dreading my aunt’s response when I informed her that we were in fact about to become a B&B. ‘I’m sorry we have to cut the trip short but we’ll all be so much safer at BellHouse. Plenty of time for bonfires on the beach once we’ve got this thing figured out.’
‘Bonfire?’ Jackson repeated.
I gestured off into the distance, the general direction of where I felt the fire had to be.
‘Bonfire,’ I said again. ‘You can’t smell it?’
He straightened abruptly, sniffing the air then walking over to the edge of the property to peer over the wall. ‘Beach bonfires are illegal in Hilton Head. As in thousands of dollars in finesandjail time illegal. There’s usually a bunch of security guards patrolling to make sure no one accidentally sets the town on fire.’
‘Then something isn’t right.’ Wyn rose to his feet, joining Jackson at the end of the garden. ‘We should go check it out.’
‘No offence, fellas,’ Lydia drawled, staying right where she was. ‘I know you’re both super strong musclebound boys but only one person here has actual magical powers all month long. Maybe let her check it out?’
I followed Jackson and Wyn, climbing up onto an overturned planter to get a better look. Sure enough, a huge bonfire was burning a short distance away, thick plumes of white-grey smoke winding into the sky in an unnatural spiral. It looked like a signal but a signal for whom?
