convince myself that I would be fine so long as I kept my distance. But now I had to wonder if everything happening to me in Asher Falls was a direct result of my wanton disregard of Papa’s rules. My love of a haunted man had not only opened a door, but it had also weakened me, made me susceptible to the dark forces at work in this town and in these mountains.
Was that too fantastical? I didn’t think so. Not anymore.
I thought again of that old man who had appeared in the cemetery, his grotesque behavior neither animal nor human but the embodiment of every strange thing that had happened to me here.
Catrice was right, I thought. The natural balance was off-kilter in these mountains. The axis had tilted in Asher Falls. Cemeteries had been drowned, hex signs had been altered and now nature had been reordered. And somehow I was a part of it all. I had been brought here for a reason.
I glanced down at my calloused palms and thought again of my father. He’d always tried to shelter me. From the moment I saw the ghost of the old white-haired man in Rosehill Cemetery, Papa had given me those rules so that I would be protected. But he had kept things from me, too. They all had. He and Mama and Aunt Lynrose. They had information about my birth. I was convinced of it. Whatever they knew, whatever dark secret bound them, had closed Mama’s heart to me and made Papa retreat so deeply inside himself, I could scarcely remember the man who had told me those mountain stories, who had instilled in me a reverence and love of old cemeteries. Their secrets and silence had shut me out and made me retreat into my own little world.
Devlin had managed to penetrate that world to dire consequences. And now there was another threat knocking at the gate. Thane Asher.
I closed my eyes on a shudder. I was drawn to Thane in a way that I didn’t understand because it wasn’t just him, the man. The pull came from this place, this town, the very earth beneath my feet.
Pell Asher’s voice seemed to echo down from the hilltop.
I glanced toward that hilltop. I thought if I stared hard enough, I might be able to see the lights of Asher House. I might be able to will some answers. But the silence only deepened.
Dusk dropped swiftly and still I sat there. The gray sky shimmered above the treetops where the moon would soon rise, but beyond the forest, the blue haze of hill and mountain darkened into a seamless shadow.
And I held my breath, waiting. Somewhere in that twilight, the veil had thinned, and I imagined Freya’s ghost drifting through. Would she come to me tonight? Drawn by my warmth and energy? My life force? Did she crave what she could never have again?
Or did she haunt me for another reason?
I should seek sanctuary. I knew that. By acknowledging the dead, I was once again tempting fate. But the door had already opened, and I needed to know why I had been brought here. I needed to know the secrets of my birth, the secrets of my destiny. I needed to know why I was so drawn to Thane Asher.
Freya’s ghost didn’t appear to me that night, although I may have missed her. I went inside before full dark and curled up in bed with my laptop. I’d been neglecting my blog shamelessly since I left Charleston, and now I spent some time moderating the comments from my last entry and outlining a new article about hex signs.
I also checked my in-box. There was an email from Devlin.
The mouse hovered indecisively. Should I click or should I let sleeping dogs lie? Move on from the past? Leave Devlin to his ghosts?
In the end, I couldn’t resist. I opened the email and devoured the one-sentence message. Then I read it again, scowling:
Was it my imagination—my wishful thinking—that a hint of desperation had crept into that brief missive?
I closed the in-box, shut down the laptop and slid under the covers. As I lay there in the darkness, night sounds invaded my sanctuary, and Devlin once again invaded my dreams.
The warm weather held over the next few days, and I spent long hours at Thorngate, armed with rake, shovel and machete as I hacked and chopped and dug my way through the vegetation that had crept from the old cemetery into the new. The physical labor lifted my spirits, and I threw myself into the work, ignoring Devlin’s email and Thane’s kisses and the havoc they had wreaked on my peace of mind. But as absorbed as I was in the task at hand, I never once turned my back on the mausoleum.
When I thought of that hot breath on my neck, the flick of that phantom tongue, I slashed even harder at the brush until blisters formed beneath the gloves. By the end of the week, my energy was spent, and I decided to take a long overdue library break. I hadn’t been able to locate Freya’s grave, and I could only conclude that it had yet to be uncovered in the tangle of vines and brambles that had overrun a section of the cemetery. Until I could clear it all away, I would need a site map to identify the graves.
Stopping by the house for a quick shower and change of clothing, I made sure Angus was settled in with plenty of fresh water and food, and then I left him snoozing in a patch of sunlight in front of my bedroom window. I hated to lock him inside, but I couldn’t take him into town with me, and I certainly wasn’t going to leave him alone in the yard.
Ivy stood at the counter talking to Sidra when I entered the library a few minutes later. They both wore their school uniforms, so I assumed neither had been expelled.
“Hello,” I said with a friendly nod.
“If it isn’t The Graveyard Queen,” Ivy drawled. “That is what they call you, isn’t it?”
“Sometimes.”
“Creepy.”
What I found creepy was the fact that she must have looked me up to know my nickname. What I found even creepier was the possibility that she’d been spying on Thane and me at the falls that day.
Her gaze was slightly contemptuous. “If you say so.”
I turned to Sidra. “Is Luna here?”
She shot a warning glance at Ivy. “No, but she’ll be back soon.”
“I guess that’s my cue.” Ivy straightened. “See you later, Sid. Don’t forget what we talked about.”
Sidra frowned. “I already told you, I’m not going up there again.”
“Never say never,” Ivy said and gave me a knowing smile.
Sidra waited until the door closed behind Ivy, then turned back to me. “Can I help you with something?”
“Is everything okay? You look a little anxious.”
“I’m fine. It’s just…” She shrugged. “Nothing.”
“Are you sure? If you need someone to talk to—”
“I don’t,” she said, dropping her gaze to the counter.
“Okay, then maybe you can help me.” I told her what I needed, and she led me through the library to a long table stacked with books and records. “Luna gathered up all this stuff for you days ago. We were wondering when you’d be back.”
I almost told her that I’d been in once before, but then I remembered the circumstances of that visit and decided to hold my silence.
“If you don’t find what you’re looking for here, I can always check the archives,” Sidra said, thumbing through one of the file folders. “And I’m sure we have more reference books that mention Thorngate.”
“Thanks. Whatever you can find will be a big help. Oh, and speaking of reference books, I’d like to find out more about the hex signs up at the waterfall. I tried an internet search, but nothing turned up.”
Her eyes widened, and I saw something surface in those blue depths that might have been fear. “Hex
