“Fish, if you have it,” Keller replied.
“I’m a bear,” Garret muttered. “Of course, I have fish.”
“Don’t cook it too much,” Keller said.
“Yes, Your Highness.” Garret strode into the kitchen and got to work.
“Can Hattie and I please tell you idiots what we found?”
“I take offense to that,” Loch said. “But go ahead.”
Johnny started to speak but a knock at the door cut him off. “For fuck’s sake,” he muttered.
“Relax,” Hattie said. “It’s just my coven sisters.” Hattie went to answer the door.
Keller ground his teeth together. Just what he needed. More people in his house making noise and talking about nonsense.
He pushed himself up and stormed into the kitchen. “Fish,” he demanded.
“What’s wrong with you?” Garret asked. “It’s cooking.”
“It’s fine as is.” Keller grabbed the sizzling pan off the stove and picked up the salmon filet barehanded. He tore into it, bones, skin, and all. He didn’t care that it scorched the roof of his mouth.
“That’s…deeply concerning,” Garret said.
“What is?” Loch leaned over the island that divided the kitchen from the living space. His eyes widened as he saw Keller. “Dude.”
“What?” Keller snarled. “I’m fucking hungry.”
“Something’s wrong with you. Seriously.”
“I know you’re all used to me being the levelheaded one all the time,” Keller snapped. “Guess what? Sometimes I can’t be that person. Sometimes, the woman I love disappears with a man who tried to murder my friend and I don’t know how to fix it. Sometimes, I just want to have a fish and go for a walk in the damn woods, okay?”
Loch paused for a moment.
“Okay, that’s fair.” He nodded.
“Carry on, buddy.” Garret clapped him on the back. “There’s more salmon, but I have to defrost it. Unless you’d like a fish popsicle?”
“A what?” Edwina wrinkled her nose as she walked into the kitchen. “You know what? I don’t want to know. Do you have any wine?”
“Red or white?” Garret asked.
“Red.”
Garret uncorked a bottle and poured a glass.
“Thank you,” Edwina purred. “At least one of you has respectable manners. Why am I here?”
“I’m trying to explain why you’re here but everyone’s acting like kindergarteners at recess,” Johnny huffed as he entered the room with Hattie close behind.
“Out with it,” Edwina snapped.
“Golden Oak isn’t gone,” Hattie said. “When Johnny took me up there, I saw the whole town perfectly.”
“So, Johnny’s a liar.” Edwina sighed. “I could’ve told you that.”
“I’m not a liar,” Johnny hissed.
“None of us could see the town,” Garret said. He turned to Hattie. “How could you?”
“Because the spell isn’t on the town,” Johnny jumped in. “It’s on us.”
Keller stopped mid-bite. That would explain the strange sensations he felt in the woods. He glanced at the others. None of them seemed like they felt as he felt. A knot of worry worked itself into his gut, but he ignored it.
“What kind of spell?” Loch asked. “Who’d put a spell on us?”
“Don’t look at us!” Susanna scoffed. “I shouldn’t even be out of the den.”
“Besides, how would it help us to put a spell on you morons?” Edwina asked.
Keller didn’t hear the reply. He couldn’t hear anything except a dull ringing and a rushing noise that blocked out everything. Somewhere, deep inside of him, he felt a tug. It didn’t feel unfamiliar. In fact, he could’ve sworn he’d felt it before.
Holly!
The realization hit him so violently he dropped the pan he’d eaten from. It clattered into the sink, chipping a bowl.
“Are you all right?” Johnny asked.
Keller heard the words, he saw Johnny’s mouth moving, yet his brain couldn’t process the meaning. Without saying anything, he walked out of the kitchen.
The pull he felt was the same pull he had experienced when Holly came into town. The strange feelings, the weird sensations, it all made sense now! It came from her.
Somehow, she was reaching out for him.
He’d find her, somehow. He didn’t care if he had to fight through a spell or a barrier. He’d do it. He’d almost made it to the door when two sets of hands clamped down on him. “What the hell?” he snarled.
“Keller, you’re not well,” Garret said. “You’ve been acting strange. We can’t let you go.”
Keller opened his mouth to protest but stopped.
They didn’t feel the pull. That meant Holly wasn’t asking for them. She asked for Keller and Keller alone. That could only mean one thing. Holly didn’t trust the others. She only trusted him.
If he was going to be there for her the way she needed, he couldn’t trust them, either.
“You’re right.” He sighed. “Sorry. Maybe raw fish wasn’t the best idea.”
“Just go lie down,” Johnny urged. “We’ll fill you in on anything important.”
“Thanks.” Keller nodded. As he made his way up the stairs, he smiled.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN—HOLLY
Holly woke up in her own room the following morning.
Alone.
She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering what she was supposed to do.
If she got out of bed, the only option was to knock on Trevor’s door. She couldn’t go to breakfast without him. That would be rude.
After breakfast, the only thing they could do would be to go to the park and test out the barrier, as they had yesterday. Unless something changed drastically, they’d spend their day smacking on an invisible wall, learning nothing.
Holly didn’t want to spend another day doing that.
“Knock, knock!” Trevor called from the hallway.
Holly lifted her head. “Come in,” she called. She hadn’t bothered to lock her door last night. She hadn’t felt the need.
“I can’t. I need you to open the door,” Trevor said.
Brow furrowed, Holly climbed out of bed. She reached for the pajama pants she discarded in the middle
