Skye looked up at Granger with surprise. “Why Granger Fox, you do have a sense of humor.”
Granger winked down at her. “That’s our little secret . . . darlin’.” Somehow when he said it, it did sound completely different from her accent. When he said darlin, it sounded like pure sex.
“I see what you mean about my accent. And don’t tell Trent I’m cheating on him.”
Granger smiled slowly, “I’m sorry, ma’am. I can’t do that.”
“Impossible. You made the word ma’am sexy. You have no idea how much Hollywood would love you. Can I be your agent?”
“Not in a million years.” Granger opened the diner door for her and Skye immediately saw Karri.
Her hair was longer and had dark purple and pink stripes in it, and when she turned to wave Skye over, her eyes were blue. It looked as if someone had a makeover last night.
Granger nodded to the table near the window. “I’ll be right there if you need me. Castle is already on his way from Charleston and will be here soon, plus Kord will be over soon with the plate trace. Sorry, darlin’, you’re on lockdown.”
“Holy smokes,” Skye heard Karri say under her breath. Granger had dropped his voice to give her the full Southern gentleman effect and it was a panty-melter. “What did I miss?” Karri asked as soon as Skye sat down.
“A Star Power goon just stopped me, but I convinced him I’m a local named Emma Kate. Granger saw it all. He was watching me and I told the goon Granger was my boyfriend and that explained why the sheriff was suddenly running after him.”
Karri looked nervously around. “This is not good.”
“I know. It also means any taste of normalcy has been yanked from me. But we have it for this brief time so tell me about your dream.”
Karri took a deep breath. “It was the most bizarre dream I’ve ever had, yet it all made complete sense. I dreamt I was on a pirate ship. The moon was full overhead and a woman was at the helm. I’m pretty sure it was Anne Bonny and she was the captain. Anyway, I’m on this ship, but no one else is on it so I walk up to Anne and ask her where we are. She tells me we are home.
“When I look out, there’s land now. Not just any land, but in the moonlight, there’s the present-day Shadows Landing. I’m confused and tell Anne that this isn’t my home. She turns and looks at me and says that my wolf disagrees. Then I hear a wolf howl and look back out over the town. I see Main Street now and there’s my wolf in front of that empty storefront between Harper’s bar and Bless Your Scarf. Only this time it’s not empty. It’s a restaurant and it’s mine. You’re inside and so are Trent and the rest of the town. The wolf howls again and I see darkness creeping along the street straight for my restaurant.”
Skye felt her heart rate speed up as she bent across the table and took Karri’s hand. “What then?”
Karri took a deep breath and continued. “My wolf turned to attack the darkness, but I wasn’t alone anymore. A big black bear and an alligator came and together we fought the darkness. When I thought it would defeat me, the bear saved me. Then the doors to the restaurant opened and everyone from town came out to fight alongside my wolf, the bear, and the alligator. We beat back the darkness, but only because we were together. When it was over, I turned and Anne Bonny looked at me with a smile. She said, ‘This is your home, fight for it. And fight for the moon.’ Then I woke up.”
“Wow.” Skye let out a deep breath and waited as coffee was poured and they placed their orders before continuing. “You said you know what it means?”
Karri nodded and leaned forward again. She dropped her voice so Skye had to lean close to hear her. “I’m the wolf, the gator is the town. Remember Bubba and Bertha?” Skye nodded. “And Peter is the bear. He’s part of the bear clan.”
“So he’s going to save you?” Skye asked.
“More than that. Anne told me to fight for the moon. My mother always said to tell my wishes to the moon. No one knows that, but Anne did. Last night, before I fell asleep, I looked out at the moon and