Wade snickers. “Convenient, don’t you think?”
“Maybe? Regardless, he warned me to be careful. That’s all,” I say softly. “I just need to know if that’s true.”
“What do you think?” Wade says, his dark eyebrows blocking out anything but his black pupils.
“Of course I want to believe he’s wrong. I just—why would he say that?”
“You know why, Autumn,” Wade retorts. “He has a thing for you.”
“Not the other guy. And even if that were true about Colton, we’ve never…”
Wade’s eyes open wide. “Never what?”
“No, nothing about Colt. It’s just…you’ve never told me what kind of supernatural powers you have, or are going to have. You’re always so interested in discovering my powers, but we’ve never really talked about yours.”
Wade shrugs. “That’s because there’s nothing to tell. My powers, if I actually do have any, none of it will reveal itself until certain events are triggered, and who knows? Maybe I’ll never get the chance to be supernatural. My family skips generations sometimes. I might get powers, I might not. Why do you think I’m so interested in helping you uncover yours?”
I sigh. “I’m sorry, it’s just…”
“Look, I get it. People are filling your head with nonsense and it’s easy to let that infiltrate your mind. I was worried about that before you left. Especially if I’m not there to defend myself. I wish you knew you could trust me, but I guess I’m not that lucky.”
“Wade, that’s not fair…”
“I gotta go. Grandpa’s not doing well today. We’ll talk about this later,” Wade says, glancing over his shoulder.
“I didn’t mean—”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s not life or death. This is. So, I guess I’ll talk to you later, Autumn.”
With that, the call ends and I’m left staring at my phone’s background picture of the two of us in happier times. Clicking off my phone, I flop backward onto the bed.
Am I ruining a good thing here by entertaining what Colt said? Wade has been nothing but supportive and sweet. He’s damn-near perfect and I’m questioning him? God, I’m so stupid.
“Hey, sweetie. Are you okay?” Dad says from the open doorway.
I sit up, fighting back the urge to cry. “I’m—everything’s fine.”
“Yeah, you look the spitting image of fine. I hope you don’t think I was spying. I was coming to see if you wanted anything for supper. But I kinda overheard some of that…” he says, wincing slightly. “May I come in?”
“It’s your house,” I say, splaying my arm out in offering.
“But it’s your space now, and I respect that,” he says taking a step inside.
“Well, thanks,” I mutter.
“Wanna tell me what’s going on?” Dad asks, stopping in the middle of the room and eyeing me expectantly.
I sigh. “Everything’s just…getting so confusing.”
“Welcome to the land of the living, sweet girl,” Dad chuckles.
I raise my gaze to him and nod. “Yeah, I suppose. It’s just—on one hand, I have Wade. Dad, I really wish you’d meet him. He’s amazing and I know you’ll love him as much as I do,” I bite my lip to keep it from quivering. Taking another cleansing breath, I continue. “On the other hand, I have these friends…they’re helping me to make sense of some things. But Wade thinks Colt is—”
“Your friends are the Gilbert twins?” Dad interjects.
I nod. “Yeah.”
His eyebrows tug downward and his jaw sets. His lack of words is deafening.
“Something wrong?” I finally say to break the silence.
Shaking his head, he walks over to my desk. My eyes flit to the dresser, which is haphazardly hiding the hidden door. My pulse races as I flit through my options.
I stand up, walking over to the door to the hallway and lean against it, hoping to draw his eyes away from the dresser.
“Not wrong so much…” he says, looking over his shoulder at me. “It’s just, you should be cautious with them.”
“Cautious? How?”
“It’s hard to explain, but their family and ours have a long history,” he says, taking a step away from the desk and toward me.
“They told me that. They’ve been helping me understand the history of Windhaven a bit better.”
Dad’s eyebrows fly upward, and he takes another step forward. “They have? What else have they been doing?”
My mouth goes dry at the sudden interrogation and I’m acutely aware of the fact that everyone in my life has their own secrets—my dad being one of them. I’m not entirely certain how much information I want to divulge until I piece out which ones I can trust.
“N-nothing. Mostly, they’ve been helping me with my studies. They’re good people,” I stammer.
Dad watches me closely, but his head tips in acknowledgement.
“Dad, do you have any powers?” I ask. It’s never seemed like a good time to ask him, but it’s obvious any supernatural abilities I may have stem from his side of the family.
His blue eyes sparkle, and he runs a hand through his strawberry-blond hair. “If you count being able to move around this house like a ninja, then sure—”
“Not what I meant,” I say, shaking my head.
Dad chuckles. “I know. Well, I have always gotten feelings—vibrations of energies. Sometimes they’d make sense and other times, not so much. I always wished I had a more powerful ability.”
I bite the inside of my cheek. “What do you know about Abigail and Warren?”
Again, surprise flashes across Dad’s face. “That’s a pretty specific question. Where did you learn about them?”
I fiddle with the doorknob, gazing at the floor. “We were at the library. I wanted to learn more about our family history and the town. Plus…”—I pause, trying to decide what to tell him—“I think I’ve been seeing Abigail.”
Surprisingly, Dad smiles. “I thought you might.”
“You did?” I say, practically squeaking.
Dad’s face scrunches and he says, “Yeah, that day on the landing, I could sense her energy, but I didn’t want her to upset you in case you felt things the same way I do. But it seemed like there was more with you. I was hoping you’d trust me enough to open
