I looked up… and almost burst into tears as another bout of confusion and frustration rang through me. Lorcan was gone. And so was all the furniture. I was sitting in the middle of an empty room and claw marks decorated all the walls.

  “No!” I yelled as I stood up and wondered was Lorcan ever here at all? Had I imagined him saying he’d sell me the duplex for $500? Maybe he’d never intended to sell it to me at all? Maybe I’d just imagined that, too.

  No, the sales agreement was still on the floor and the top page read $500 as before. That, at least, was real. Just in case, I checked my phone. My balance said, $2,000 again. Something wacky was going on and I was suddenly terrified that something was me.

  I left the living room to carry the pistachios and juice to the kitchen. I suddenly wasn’t hungry any longer and didn’t want to be in the same room with Betanya’s journals. But before I could take another step, another knock sounded on the door.

  This one was different from Lorcan’s.

  I opened the door to find Police Chief Cain Morgan’s grizzled figure standing on the doorstep. He hooked his thumbs in his sagging and faded leather belt and considered me with an expression I couldn’t read.

  I threw back the door, already annoyed at having to deal with him. “What can I do for you?”

  “It’s me who can do something for you, Miss Depraysie, by not arresting you for disturbing the peace.”

  “Disturbing the peace?” I cracked the top off the juice bottle as I wondered if this was real or not. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Well, I’m sorry to be the one to inform you that I’ve received seven noise complaints about you in the last two days.”

  I gasped. “Two days!” My head started spinning.

  “I might not have aced high school math,” Chief Morgan went on, “but according to my calculations, that’s an average of three and a half complaints per day, and last night’s was the worst yet. Three different neighbors all complained about the same disturbance. If Dr. Rowe, your landlord, hadn’t stepped in and offered to handle it for me, I would’ve had no choice but to raid your place of residence.”

  I swallowed down my mouthful of juice. What could I say to him—that I had no idea what I’d been doing for the last two days? That I could offer no assurance that I’d be able to control my actions in the future? That I was losing my mind?

  “Do you mind telling me what you were doing at ten o’clock last night?”

  I didn’t know what I was doing at ten last night. “I… uh…” I scrambled to explain something, anything. “I’d rather not.”

  He squinted at me and then past me, into the living room. At least he couldn’t see the lack of furniture from here. “The neighbors said it sounded like multiple people were screaming. They said it sounded like someone or someones were being killed up here.”

  “No one was killed,” I told him as quickly as I could. “It was just… just a… a party,” I finished quickly. “I’ll do my best to make sure I keep my friends quiet from now on.”

  “You better, because if I get even one more complaint about you, you’re going to jail, no questions asked. Are we perfectly clear on that?” I wasn’t sure if it was even legal to throw someone in jail for a noise complaint, but I decided not to question it. Considering I had no idea what was going on and I’d pissed off the police chief, it was better just to lay low.

  I bowed before his authority like a truant schoolgirl. “Perfectly clear.”

  He started to turn away and then skewered me with another glare. “I’ll have you know, Miss Depraysie, I’m not as stupid as some people seem to think I am.”

  “I… I don’t think you’re stupid.”

  He further glared at me. “I know something strange is going on in this town. I want you to hear it from me that I intend to use all the resources at my disposal to find out just what that something is. I’m investigating all the activity and suspicious characters in this town, including you.” He pointed an accusing finger in my face. “If there’s some freakish cult in this town, I’ll bust it wide open and heads will roll.” He took a breath. “I won’t suffer any of that weird crap in my town.”

  I just nodded as my heart thundered in my chest. He didn’t say anything more, but stormed off to his cruiser, got in, and skidded away. I watched him go with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

  Cain Morgan and his family, many of whom made up the Haven Hollow Police Department, were notorious nulls. They showed incredible resistance to bewitchment, and some, like Marty Zach, couldn’t be spelled at all.

  Fox Aspen of the Autumn Fae Court had cast a memory charm on Cain to stop him from remembering the events of a battle with the usurper to the Winter Fae Court in Haven Hollow, but that spell had been wearing thin for a while. Now it threatened to dissolve completely.

  What would Cain do when he did eventually remember all the paranormal activity he’d seen in this town? I shuddered to think. But, that wasn’t my battle at the moment. No, I had way too many other things to think about. Namely, if I was losing my mind.

  I shut the door and slipped back inside, but paused in the foyer. I didn’t want to go back to the living room at all. I never wanted to see Betanya’s journals again, owing to the fact that every bad thing that had happened lately seemed to follow my reading the journals. But, the journals held my only hope to solve this ridiculous mess.

  I stepped into the living room and spotted Hellcat sprawled on the floor. The corner of one of Betanya’s journals peeked out from under his velvety fur. “You better be careful sitting on top of that. You could fry your circuits lying so close to…”

  A strange expression on his face made me stop talking. He stared into space with glassy eyes. He didn’t so much as even blink and didn’t react to my presence, my voice or the words I’d said. Usually, when I walked into a room, Hellcat started slinging insults and calling me names within seconds.

  I hurried through the living room, studying him all the while. He didn’t turn his head, and he didn’t look up at me. His head lolled in a strange angle. He looked limp. For a split second, I was afraid he was dead, but then I saw the gentle rise of his chest. Worried that he was sitting atop Betanya’s journal, I took hold of the corner of the book and slid it out from under him.

  He didn’t react at all. His body flopped down on the ground where the book had just previously been beneath him. I ran my fingers over his fur. He never would have let me touch him, let alone pet him, if he’d been in his right mind. He was completely insensible.

  That made sense, since his magic was connected to mine. I was barely coherent and someone could make a decent argument that I wasn’t even that. No wonder Hellcat was out of it.

  I stuck the journal back on the shelf, gathered his flaccid body in my arms, and carried him to the bedroom, along with the sales agreement. I put him on my bedspread and put the sales agreement in the very back corner of my closet shelf. If ghosts or zombies or dead animals or if I attacked my own house, chances were the sales agreement would escape the destruction here—so long as I didn’t destroy it myself.

  I sat down on the edge of the bed. I didn’t want to go to sleep because I was worried something else would go wrong or I’d raise more dead bodies or ghosts. I had the stray thought that I should have been studying Betanya’s notes, but I didn’t dare to do that, either. I just… I didn’t understand what was happening to me. And no matter what I considered doing, it didn’t seem like a good idea.

  Finally, I caved and decided to call Poppy. I thought maybe it would be best to give the journal to her and she could read it, hopefully without wiping out the population of Oregon. Yes, the more I thought about it, the more the idea made sense. I should get Poppy involved in trying to reverse the Vampire’s Kiss. I could tell her what I’d tried so far that didn’t work, and maybe she’d be able to shine some light on the whole subject.

  Between the two of us, we would figure something out. But, I didn’t think it was safe for me to be anywhere near Poppy, Finn, or Astrid, who was staying with her. My magic was just… too unpredictable. Well, that conundrum was easily solved—I’d just call her.

  I went back to the living room and picked up my phone. I had a text notification from Lorcan. I tapped the notification to open it… and found myself lying flat on my back on the center of the floor in the hallway. I hadn’t even blinked, yet I’d just materialized fifteen feet away and in a different position.

  I stared up at the ceiling for a second, trying to find out what had just happened. Did I black out again? I pulled up my arms and realized I wasn’t holding my phone any longer. I sat up.

  The instant I sat up and took a look around myself, I wished I hadn’t. The house was even more devastated than the first time—if that was even possible. A layer of burned bodies packed the apartment, and I wondered how I hadn’t smelled them. I had trouble distinguishing whether they were human or animal, but I didn’t want to look too closely to find out.

  The stench of rot and smoke and burnt flesh suddenly choked me. I staggered to my feet. Gashes, scratches, and cuts covered my hands and arms. My head throbbed, and I almost passed out again from the sudden pain that raged through my mind. I gagged on the smell and brought my hands to my face, feeling even more cuts. Everywhere I turned, death surrounded me.

  Had I done this? Had I killed all these… whatever they were? They were so charred, they were just shapes—just lumps lying atop one another. Some were large and some were small.

  I had to get out of the house. I had to…

  Then I remembered Hellcat asleep in my room. Hopefully, he wasn’t among the charred bodies. With my heart in my throat, I pushed myself up and forward. I had to step on the lumps of charred flesh and bones to make my way down the hall. The bedroom door stood open, and I saw at a glance that Hellcat was gone. Hopefully, he’d escaped before all this happened… whatever this was.

  All at once I was overcome with a scent I knew well. Immediately, an image of Dev dropped into my head like a bomb and I breathed in deeply as feelings of inertia overtook me. I could smell him, feel him, the energy of his powerful aura beating in on me and yet he was nowhere to be seen. I was completely alone.

  I struggled to hold my breath and floundered to the front door. I needed air. At the feel of something slick between my toes, I glanced down and found myself covered in blood. It ran all over my body, dripping down my arms and legs like someone had turned on a hose above my head.

  I ignored the blood and pushed forward. I had to kick corpses out of the way to wrench the front door open. I staggered outside… and collapsed right there. Hellcat’s floppy body draped over the porch railing, but at least he was still breathing.

  I reached out and collected him in my arms as I glanced up and my gaze focused on a still figure, lying face down on the lawn. It was a man. I couldn’t see his face, but as my eyes traveled down his body, I suddenly noticed the knife handle protruding from his spine.

  A police uniform covered his torso and as realization dawned on me, I focused on the worn leather belt at his mid-section. There was no mistaking who this was… Police Chief Cain Morgan.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I blinked at Cain Morgan’s body, which was sprawled on my front lawn. I didn’t remember anything between the time I’d talked to him… which was, what, a few minutes ago? I couldn’t know for sure how much time had passed between the time when he’d threatened to arrest me and now, when he’d turned up dead in my front yard.

  Oh, Goddess… Had I…

  I couldn’t have killed him? I wasn’t angry with him—just slightly irritated and I’d never… I’d never killed anyone before. I didn’t have it in me. Or did I?

  For all I knew, I might have killed hundreds of people and didn’t remember it.

  I felt sick to my stomach as I dropped down to my knees and placed Hellcat on the porch beside me. I didn’t understand what was happening! But, I was fairly sure Dev had everything to do with it. Ever since he’d come into my life, everything had come apart at the seams—the dreams, the way I couldn’t control myself around him, the way I felt towards Lorcan, the loss of time and now this… it had started with Dev.

  And it would end with Dev, I promised myself.

  That was when I turned my attention back to the dead police chief in my driveway.

  You had motive to kill Cain Morgan, I thought.

  Why? Why did I have motive? Oh, yes, because he was talking about arresting me and talking about investigating the Haven Hollow ‘cult’.

  I put my hand in my pocket and took out my phone. How the phone got there or how I knew it would be there, I didn’t know. I didn’t think, couldn’t think. It was like I was suddenly on autopilot.

  I had to call the police. But, I was sure they’d think I killed Cain. Moreover, I was pretty sure I had killed him—I just couldn’t remember doing it. But, I also couldn’t offer any other explanation.

  I dialed the number and made the report. Then I called Poppy. I had no one else to call. It was first thing in the morning so I couldn’t call Lorcan—he’d be dead to the world and maybe that was just as well because I couldn’t… I couldn’t imagine telling him what I’d done. I just—I couldn’t face the disappointment that would assuredly come up in his eyes..

  So I called Poppy and I explained… everything.

  ***

  Fortunately, Poppy showed up before the police did.

  Good old Poppy. She always came through.

  She stopped walking when she reached the driveway as she stared down at Cain’s body. She opened her mouth and shut it a few times, but when she started toward me, seven squad cars screeched around the corner, their sirens and lights blaring. They surrounded the property and the cops spilled out them like ants.

  Taliyah Morgan hopped out of the car in the front and her hand flew to her sidearm. She didn’t draw it, though. Instead, she pointed to Poppy, who stood closest to the body.

  “Stay back! This is now a crime scene. Stay away from the body or you’ll be guilty of tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice.”

  “But Taliyah…” Poppy began, turning to face her with an expression of concern because Taliyah didn’t know the body was that of her brother. I hadn’t said as much in my report. Just that there was a dead man in my driveway, with a knife in his back.

  Taliyah cut Poppy off with another imperious chop of her hand and a shake of her head.

  “Stay back.”

  Then Taliyah walked over to the body and her eyebrows knitted as she invariably took in the dark blue uniform… My heart plummeted when her expression changed. She was the worst possible person to respond to this crime.

  Please don’t let me be the one who killed him, I prayed, not even sure to whom I was praying.

  Taliyah’s eyes shot to me and her countenance went black—black as death. I glanced down at myself, and that was when I remembered I was covered in blood. Whose blood was anyone’s guess. It was at that exact moment that Taliyah also saw the blood all over me. She couldn’t miss it.

  She straightened, stalked to where I was still kneeling on the porch, and towered over me as a pair of iron handcuffs appeared in her grasp. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t even think.

  “You’re under arrest, Wanda Depraysie,” she said, her voice steely—with no inkling of emotion. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney and to have an attorney present during any…”

  Poppy weaved between the police cars and darted around the other side of the duplex, as far from the body as she could be. She dashed down the walkway leading to the other side of the duplex and veered over to my porch.

  “You can’t arrest her, Taliyah. You have no proof that she had anything to do with the murder and you can see for yourself that Wanda needs medical attention.”

  Taliyah’s features didn’t soften in the slightest. Her expression looked like it would never soften again. I couldn’t exactly blame her.

  “You’ll excuse me if I don’t take direction from you on what I can and can’t do. Wanda is under arrest and she’s going to jail. She can get medical attention there.” She turned her cold eyes on me.

  “You should recuse yourself, Taliyah,” Poppy insisted, shaking her head. “You can’t investigate or make legal decisions on the death of a family member. Anything you find against Wanda could be thrown out. You should walk away right now and leave this to another officer. You know that.”

  Taliyah’s head snapped up, and I could just see her winding up for another cutting retort. She would retaliate against Poppy for trying to defend me, and I couldn’t stand that. “Forget it, Poppy,” I muttered. “I appreciate you standing up for me but… this is for the best.” After all, I was fairly convinced I had killed Taliyah’s brother. All the evidence painted that picture, anyway.

  Poppy started to argue, but Taliyah took hold of my elbow. “Stand up. Put your hands behind your back.”

  Taliyah clipped the cuffs around my wrists and secured my arms behind my back. From the other side of the duplex, Darla and Libby appeared. I wasn’t sure how long they were standing there—it could have been the entire time, or maybe they’d just walked out. Either way, I heard Darla scream and when I looked up, tears streamed down Libby’s cheeks.

  Taliyah yanked me towards her squad car. “Let’s go.”

  I turned to see the other officers running cordon tape around the driveway. Poppy scooted back towards Darla and Libby, holding them back from rushing to my rescue.

  Just before I stepped off the porch, Hellcat jolted awake. He twisted over and flopped onto all fours. He shook himself and then ran his tongue down his bib a few times as he looked around, appearing confused.

  He blinked a few times when he saw me. Then his eyes narrowed.

  Poppy ran over to the side of the car just as we reached it. She called out, “Don’t worry, Wanda. We’ll take care of Hellcat and Astrid until we can get you out.”