Page 23 of Tall, Dark and Haunted

Chapter Eleven

Rhiannon

Iloveridingacross town on Topher’s back. Sure, I’d rather ride him in a very different way, but I’ll take what I can get. Plus, if we figure out a way to stop the deputy mayor and local coven, that riding will still happen. If I have it my way, daily. Maybe more than once.

We take side streets, then circle back. We cut through a park. We get lost and crisscross through a residential neighborhood before returning to Main Street.

The wind caresses my face and whips an occasional multicolored lock of hair into my eyes. The bursts of color make me long for paint and a brush, and panic curls in my belly at the thought of losing that part of myself—not to mention my bear—if I become a ghost again. Plus, touching my mates. How can I possibly spend an eternity without touching my mates?

“Tell me we’ll figure out a way to stay alive,” I plead with Topher.

He can’t talk in deer form, so he nods his head and picks up his pace.

When we finally reach Silver Springs Public Library, Topher bends down so I can slide off his back. When he shifts from deer to human, he’s still wearing his clothes—which is pretty disappointing. Whenever I shift, I shred whatever I’m wearing. Case in point—died naked in a fountain. Plus, I don’t get a Naked Topher Show. But at least it makes going to the library easier. I’m pretty sure it’s a “no shirt, no shoes, no service” type of place.

We step inside and a young woman with long, curly brown hair smiles at us from behind the librarian’s desk. I try to smile back, but my insides are churning too much for it to be more than a small curving of the lips.

What if Davy and Red aren’t here? What if they got caught, or lost, or I never see them again? What if…

“Rhiannon,” Red barks my name and rushes across the foyer.

I throw myself into his arms, and Davy wraps us both in a huge hug.

“Hush. This is the library,” an elderly woman reprimands us. She shushes us for good measure, and I look at her and frown. She’s standing behind the librarian’s desk, in the exact same spot where the young woman was seconds earlier. Her hair is short and white, and she looks like she’s in her eighties.

“Sorry,” I tell her, all three guys echoing my apology.

“What now?” Davy whispers with a pointed look at Topher.

“Now we find books about how to return the town to where it belongs without us all becoming ghosts.”

He makes it sound so easy.

“You really think there are books on that?” I ask.

“We won’t know until we look,” Topher says resolutely.

None of us can argue with that.

The elderly librarian directs us to the supernatural section, which is located in the basement. When we get there, I spot a woman in overalls floating in mid-air several inches above a table.

“Is she a ghost?” I ask the guys.

“Obviously she’s not, since she’s not translucent,” Topher says.

“We’re technically still ghosts, and we’re not translucent,” Davy says.

“But we don’t float,” Topher argues back.

“We haven’t tried.” Davy scowls.

“Now’s not the time to,” Red snaps when Davy starts to climb onto a table.

“And I’m not a ghost.” The woman laughs. “I’m Zoe Wynter. And I’m a witch.”

We introduce ourselves, and she lowers herself to the floor.

“We didn’t mean to disturb you,” I tell her as she heads toward a shelf to put her book away.