Only when Holly felt certain he wasn’t standing near the door did she start to clean up the mess she’d made. If Mrs. Sanders had online banking, Holly could figure out a way to pay her back for the broken crockery.
Of course, she’d need her phone in order to do that.
Mrs. Sanders might be waiting a while for her payment.
As Holly gathered the shards into a neat, jam-covered pile, she replayed her conversation with Trevor over and over again in her head.
How the hell did he get his grubby, bloody hands on one of her grandmother’s letters?
He must’ve been in the house somehow.
According to the others, he’d never lived with Pearl. They didn’t even recall seeing him around town.
According to Elise, their family lived in a remote part of Silver Spruce. They rarely came to town, rarely interacted with anyone.
What Holly wouldn’t give to talk to Elise now. She didn’t share the burden of being the Maiden’s vessel, but she shared more in common with Holly than most.
CHAPTER FIVE—LOCH
Loch didn’t give a damn if anyone saw him now.
Night fell a short time ago. Any hikers would be long gone. Any campers worth their salt would’ve settled in for the night. Even if they hadn’t, Loch would smell the campfires in time to alter his course.
After dark, no one wanted to marvel at the majesty of a wild bear. No one was going to take photos or call the news.
Loch was safe to go full bear and haul ass through the woods.
It would take a few hours to get back to the house. The others would likely be asleep, but he didn’t care if he had to wake them up. A whole fucking town had vanished. That didn’t just happen.
As he ran, he tried to come up with as many logical explanations as he could. When he couldn’t scrounge up any logical explanations, he looked for any explanation.
Aliens used a laser beam to steal the town.
A mysterious sinkhole opened up and refilled itself.
A forcefield covered the town, making it undetectable.
Loch skidded to a halt.
That last idea actually made a little bit of sense.
If the witch trio of Silver Spruce figured out how to hide a house, surely the same magic could be applied to an entire town.
What kind of power would it take to hide a town? Golden Oak wasn’t a big town by any means, but it was still a town.
Even magic had its limits.
A twig snapped on his left. Loch whirled around, trying to keep all four paws on level ground.
A dark shape moved between the trees.
Loch snarled, exposing his teeth.
“Save it,” a female voice snapped. “You don’t scare me.”
Unable to speak in the human tongue, Loch snarled again.
“It’s me, Elise.” She stepped into a faint pool of moonlight. “I need your help.”
Loch grunted.
“Shift back.” She shrugged. “I’m not going to look.”
Loch moved a few yards deeper into the darkness before shifting. He tugged on his clothes, putting his jeans on inside out, before stumbling back to Elise.
Shifting twice in the span of a few hours wasn’t a smart idea. He felt lightheaded. When was the last time he’d eaten?
“Here.” Elise tossed him something.
On instinct, he caught it. It was some kind of sandwich wrapped in plastic. He tore into it without hesitation. Between bites, he cast a curious look at Elise.
“I’m from a shifter family, remember?” she said. “Just because my powers were stolen from me doesn’t mean I forgot what a shifter needs. You’re an idiot for not packing food.”
“I packed food,” Loch countered. “I finished it this morning. I thought I’d reach Golden Oak this morning, but I didn’t.”
“You can’t find it.”
“How did you know?”
“Why do you think I’m wandering around the woods, miles from home, in the middle of the night?”
“You’re a weird chick.” Loch shrugged before shoving the last of the sandwich into his mouth.
“If you had my upbringing, you’d be weird too.”
“I’d rather have your upbringing than mine.”
“I didn’t come here to compare childhoods,” Elise snapped. “You can’t find Golden Oak. I can’t find Golden Oak. What are we going to do?”
“I’m going back to the house to tell the others,” he said. “Want to come?”
Elise bit her bottom lip. “I don’t know. I’m not sure I’m welcome.”
“Why would you be?”
“My brother stole your girlfriend.”
“Did you have to word it like that?” Loch winced. “Say kidnapped. That sounds better.”
“He technically didn’t kidnap her—”
“I know, I know. She went with him willingly to save my life. I don’t need reminding,” Loch snapped.
Elise stared at him for a long moment. Her pale eyes shone strangely in the darkness.
“You blame yourself.”
“Of course, I fucking blame myself,” he snarled, then caught himself. “I’m sorry. It’s not your fault. I shouldn’t take it out on you.”
“You shouldn’t take it out on yourself, either.”
“How can I not? If I’d been more careful, if I’d moved a little faster, Trevor never would’ve caught me. Holly would still be here.”
“Trevor would’ve kept going until he caught someone to use as leverage. It didn’t matter if it was you. No matter what happened that day, we’d still end up here in the woods at night,” Elise replied.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because if I let myself wonder what if, I’d get so caught up in the alternate fantasies of what might’ve happened that I’d never be able to move forward again.”
“I’m moving forward,” Loch grumbled.
“No, you’re running in circles looking for a town that’s not here anymore. We need to tackle that problem first,” she said.
“Who are you here for?” Loch asked.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re also running around in circles looking for a town that may or
