Read Black Moon (The Moonlight Trilogy) for Free Online Page B

door handle as Simon raced down the road. Her mind was a chaotic jumble of thoughts. When she first saw the hooded figure in the dark street, she was sure it was Rachel, but now . . . now, doubt nagged at her, eroding her confidence. Maybe it had been someone else, or a trick of the shadows, or a twisted reflection in the window. Maybe there hadn’t been anyone there in the first place.
    But . . .
    Rachel was alive—none of Willa’s coven-mates had killed her. She could show up in Twelve Acres. Willa’s stomach tightened. Leaning forward, she reached around to touch the spot on her back where Rachel’s blade had pierced her. Thanks to Simon’s healing powers, there was no scar; but the memory of fiery pain lingered, an invisible mark, now throbbing and cold. She closed her eyes and swallowed the bile in her throat.
    Not again! Please not again!
    Simon screeched to a stop in front of Ruby’s house. Everything looked normal: yellow lights illuminating the windows of the two-story Victorian, the old green clapboards stripped for new ones, the wrap-around porch under repair, cars in the driveway, the massive willow tree’s branches framing the structure from behind. Simon leaned forward to stare at the house. “They are all in there, safe and undisturbed.”
    Willa let out a shaky breath. “Oh, thank goodness.”
    They hurried inside. Most of their coven-mates were sitting in the living room on the sheet-covered couches, the room freshly painted in a steel blue, the built-in bookshelves restained. The air was thick with harsh chemical smells mixed with wood smoke from the fire in the hearth.
    “Hey, guys,” Char called out, smiling until she saw their faces, sensing their fear. “Whoa! What happened?”
    Everyone turned to look at the couple. Rain and Toby came in from the kitchen.
    Willa and Simon exchanged a look and then sat near Wynter and Rowan. Willa held her icy fingers out to the flickering fire. “I think I saw Rachel outside the diner tonight.”
    Wynter and Rowan flinched; a few others gasped. Wynter reached out, gripping Willa’s forearm. “What happened? Tell us everything.”
    Willa recounted the details quickly.
    “Why do you think it was Rachel?” Rowan asked, his face bright with the firelight. “It could have been anyone.”
    Willa looked around the room at the expectant faces of her friends. “My pendant burned,” Willa lifted the necklace out of her shirt and fingered the symbol, “and also the way she looked at me . . . I could feel her eyes, but . . .” she looked back at Rowan, “I suppose I could be wrong.”
    Rowan shook his head thoughtfully. “A witch’s instincts are rarely wrong.”
    A brief silence followed, heavy with menace. Any relief Willa had felt at finding her friends safe evaporated. I wasn’t wrong. I did see her . She wished she were wrong.
    “We were worried she might have come after you guys,” Simon said quietly, scooting closer to Willa. “If she’s here for revenge, she’ll come after all of us. So what do we do?”
    Rowan abruptly stood. “Cal and Darby, check the protection spells around the house; reinforce them. Rain and Corbin, do a scrying spell; look for threats. Everyone else, set up watch at the windows and tune your magic outward. If she’s coming, we’ll be ready.”
    “Do you think she’s alone?” Rain asked. The Water witch, a short, twenty-something Asian woman with spiky black hair, the tips dyed royal blue, rubbed nervously at her tattooed arm.
    Wynter and Rowan exchanged a worried look. Rowan sighed and then said, “She may not be, but all her coven-mates and her Luminary are dead. I’d wager she’s acting alone—and probably out of desperation.”
    “But why now?” Darby asked. “It’s been months since the cave.”
    “Who knows?” Rowan said. “We’ll worry about details later. Right now, let’s make sure we are safe. If she comes . . . well, I’m afraid we will have to do the job that didn’t get done last fall.