On My Way - Eve Langlais Page 0,60

could smell it. The dusting of ash from their bodies. Hear their shrill, yipping screams.

It made me sick to my stomach. My gaze went to the kitchen next, and I flew to check the garbage pail under the sink.

Emptied.

Scratch. Scratch. The noise at the door had me whirling around to see my cat pawing at the back door.

“Since when do you ask to go outside?”

“Meow.”

Seeing the rear entrance reminded me of something else I’d seen last night. The plant’s heart that I’d knifed. I moved to the portal and flung it open.

Nothing lay on the ground. Just a round circle of dirt with a shiny edge of a stone peeking out. I dropped to my knees and pried at the stone, though not for long, as I realized it went deep. I’d found my cleaver.

Absorbed by the ground.

I rose and ignored my dirty knees as I went back inside and zombie-walked my ass back up the stairs where I collapsed on my bed.

It was real. Last night had happened. I’d done battle with a demon and its minions of darkness. I’d used the house’s power to fight and win. Taught those things a lesson.

“Don’t mess with a witch and her house,” I muttered aloud just as my cat jumped on the bed, “because apparently I can’t count on you.”

My cat, truly concerned by the criticism, proceeded to bathe himself.

“Jerk.” Said with much fondness.

I rose and approached the window, despite the trepidation in me. I stared at it the whole way, but no eyes appeared. I stood at its unblemished surface and gazed upon the forest. Through the trees I could just glimpse the lake.

If I looked down, I could probably see the bare spot on the ground with my knife.

Magic. But why? What did it want?

It occurred to me that perhaps it wasn’t me the monsters were after. I whirled to look for the puzzle box. Last I’d seen it was that morning, sitting on my nightstand.

I moved quickly to grab it, only my steps slowed as I realized it was missing. The puzzle box had disappeared. Where had it gone?

“Did you eat it, too?” I asked the house. And then it seemed prudent to add, “Sorry about that evil plant.” Because there was no doubt that the ugly thing had done something to render my home vulnerable. And Jude had sent it. Meaning this attack had intent.

And the only thing missing so far was the box. A valuable box, according to Darryl. But he claimed he didn’t know what was inside. That he’d never been able to open it. Truth or lie? How could I find out?

And what of Kane? He’d advised me to enter a circle. He’d not told me I needed to bleed on it. Although who’s to say what he would have said had my phone not died?

How had he known the circle would have magic? How had he known I even had one? He’d never been inside my house.

But Darryl had. Surely if he’d wanted to plant some kind of evil jinx, he could have done it anytime and not resorted to sending it via Jude as his messenger.

This was all very confusing.

I walked over to my nightstand and ran a finger over it. It wasn’t the same one I’d had yesterday. Rather than an open cabinet with two shelves, it now had a single shelf and a drawer.

Could the box be inside? I grasped the handle and pulled. I stared at the revolver nestled inside. Suddenly recalled in vivid detail every shot it had fired.

My hand went to my nose. It no longer throbbed.

I slammed the drawer shut. Breathed deep.

“You win,” I whispered. I finally believed in magic.

18

I was kind of spooked, so I decided I needed some time away from the house. Better I get some work done than flinch every time I heard the slightest creak.

I didn’t leave empty-handed. I brought a box full of treasures—things I’d found in the house that might hold answers to what I’d experienced the previous night. Maybe I’d find some clues about my cottage, too. Was it alive or more like a machine? Powered with magic and what? I couldn’t help but recall how it siphoned my blood. Like a leech.

A parasite.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. On the one hand, the house provided. Although, previously, it didn’t require me bleeding out. Then again, it had been in very rough shape last night. That plant and the weird seed at its core had done