Wade shifts out of the lounge chair beside me and places a hand on my back. “Person of interest—don’t get excited now.”
I shoot him a sideways glance and cover my face again with my hands.
He chuckles under his breath. “Don’t worry, Autumn. It’ll get sorted out.“
I look up, cutting him off with my expression. “Just a couple of days ago, you said I was nuts for having faith in things getting sorted out. Now that roles are reversed…”
“Now that roles are reversed, I know it’s true. Neither one of us will stop until we figure out who’s really behind this. Besides, I’m not out of the water yet. If that video goes public, I’m sure I’ll be back in the central ring of rumors, no matter what Sheriff Gordon thinks. The only good news is that the feds are supposed to be here today. The sooner they get started, the sooner they’ll realize neither one of us had anything to do with this,” Wade says, crouching down beside me and pulling my hands into his.
His eyes plead with mine, and I can’t help but sigh.
“Wade, you didn’t even tell Sheriff Gordon I was with you in the cemetery. If they find out, and think we kept it from them, they’ll think I was trying to hide it,” I mutter, rolling my eyes to the ceiling.
“Trying to hide what?” Cat asks, practically bouncing in from the hallway.
I narrow my gaze and quirk an eyebrow. “Why are you so happy?”
“I’ve had a lovely day, thank you for asking. I’ve been holed up in my room, working on some missing assignments and thank the Lord, it’s helped. My grades are finally pulling back up and I feel more like myself than I have in ages,” she says, smiling broadly. Plopping down into a seat across from us, her dark eyes flit from me to Wade and back again. “So, what’s up with you, Ms. Gloomypants?”
“Ugh,” I groan. “Haven’t you heard already? I don’t even know where to start.”
Standing up, she plants herself down on the armrest of my chair and chuckles. “At the beginning. I feel like it’s been forever since we chatted. I’m totally lost.”
“That makes two of us,” I say, shaking my head. “There’s so much…”
“Actually, this isn’t really the best place to talk about things,” Wade says, keeping his tone low. His eyes dart around the commons, landing on a small group of people in the corner who are huddled together. Every few moments, one of them looks in our direction, then returns to their group.
“Wonderful,” I say, slumping back into the chair.
“Seriously, guys…what am I missing?” Cat asks, concern now sweeping her features.
“Autumn’s a person of interest in the grave desecrations,” Wade says in such a hushed tone I’m surprised Cat can even hear him.
“No—” she blurts out, shock clear across her face.
Wade and I both nod.
“Well, that’s just the most ridiculous thing I ever... I mean, why would they even…” she says, stumbling over her words.
“Whoever it is, they’re not playing around with the graves or trying to rob them. They’re actually summoning the dead,” I say, pressing my lips into a thin line. “And guess whose family is the only one known for necromancy in this town?”
“Shit.” Cat says, dropping her shoulders.
“Yeah,” I mutter, closing my eyes.
Cat sighs. “So, what do we do? I mean, what do you want to do?”
I shrug. “What can I do? I need to let the authorities figure it out. The more I profess my innocence, the more people think I’m lying. Especially since they assumed it was Wade first.”
Colton walks into the commons, clearly looking for his sister, as his eyes scan the space and land first on her. His expression falters when he sees the two of us, but he drops his chin and shuffles over anyway.
My insides clench. The last thing I need is something else to stress out over right now and having Colton in close proximity is sure to boost my stress levels.
Colton shoves his hands into his pockets and stops a few feet away. “Hey,” he says, tipping his chin upward.
Wade’s back stiffens, but he tips his chin in return. Even without knowing about Colton’s kiss, the tension rolling off of him is palpable. I swear, if things weren’t so complicated right now, I’d come clean and deal with the ramifications.
“Hi, Colt,” I say, feigning a smile.
Colton’s lips curve upward ever so slightly, then he drops his gaze to the ground. “You ready, Cat?” he asks, refusing to look up.
“Did you hear about Autumn?” Cat says, ignoring the question.
Colton’s curiosity gets the better of him and he glances up, placing his discerning eyes on me. “What about her?”
Cat curls her pointer finger, urging him to come closer. He does as she requests, leaning forward until his face is inches from hers.
“The police think Autumn is a suspect in this whole grave vandalism thing. Can you believe it?” she whispers.
Colton’s eyes widen and he snickers. His eyes shift from Cat to Wade, then land squarely on me. “That’s—preposterous.”
“Right?” She nods her head in agreement. “Evidently, the cops think whoever’s doing this is raising the dead and she’s the only known necromancer in town.”
Shaking his head, Colton crams his hands beneath his arms. “Why—why would they think a necromancer has anything to do with this?”
Cat’s lips press into a thin line and she quirks an eyebrow. “Really? Did you not hear the part about the dead being raised?”
“Yeah, but did they come back to life? Or are they just…”
“Revenants?” I say, unable to help myself.
Colton’s eyes narrow and his eyebrows crease in confusion.
“Zombies,” Wade reiterates, entering the fray for the first time.
“Yeah,” Colton says, swallowing hard, “that’s what I meant.”
“They’re definitely revenants,” I mutter.
My gaze flits to the group in the corner. The five of them are all turned in our direction, raptly listening to our conversation. Anger flares through me and I stand
