coat and followed her out onto the porch, my eyes darting in the direction I would soon be running off to, wondering if Ryan was already waiting for me or if he had chickened out at the last minute.
“Don’t think you’re coming with me. Our little “family” soiree ends here and now. Got it?” Brynn adjusted the brown fur collar on her suede coat and pulled matching gloves onto her hands.
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that. I was just wondering what I was missing.”
Please don’t go home. Please don’t go home.
“I’m sure you would love to know.”
Without another word she pivoted on her heels and sashayed down the steps to the curb, leaving me alone and shivering on the porch. Her car’s engine hummed to life and I could see her gloved hand through the window, illuminated by the faint blue light of the dashboard as she fiddled with the buttons, knowing heat was warming her as my lips were turning blue. She gave a little wave, which I’m sure was accompanied by a smirk, although I couldn’t quite see it, and then drove off.
I exhaled loudly, my breath pluming visibly before my face.
Opening the front door, I stuck my head in. “Going out, Mom. Be back later.” I didn’t wait for an answer to bubble up from the giggles in the living room, and then I too ran down the steps and headed in the opposite direction.
Chapter Eighteen
B rynn closed the door behind her. The lit candles flickered wildly, casting eerie shapes across the room.
At last,
she thought and a wicked little smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
Cradling the delicate cylinder in her hands, she breathed a sigh of satisfaction and popped open the silver lid on one end of the tube. The contents gently slid down the interior shaft and into her open hand, waiting to be unrolled.
This has to mean something. It has to
. Otherwise her stepfather wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to hide it. Finding the journal had been easy enough. After all, she made it a point to know of all the nooks and crannies in this big house. Once she opened it, however, she found herself confused and irritated. Page after page mentioned Teagan’s name, which only bewildered and frustrated her. But she was curious about one thing: reference to a sacred place secretly hidden deep within the woods. It promised strong spiritual connection, perhaps even magic, and described how people from long ago claimed to have contact with the angels.
Magic.
That was one promise that instantly caught Brynn’s eye. Everything else seemed boring. She carefully returned the book to its hiding place and placed her attention on the map. Her eyes gleamed brightly with the thought of finding this sacred place.
Tingling with excitement, her finger traced the lines drawn on the map. Lines that led from what appeared to be a long winding road to a tiny church, because of the cross sketched above it. Clearly the map depicted trees. There were plenty of woods around here. She studied the paper, looking for any sort of landmark, but she was pretty sure she would be able to find it since the long road led to a river. There was a river just outside of town and a thick patch of woods about a mile or two inside the county line. That had to be it.
Gathering the rest of her “treasures” she had worked so hard to get, Brynn created her altar in a neat little pile in the center of the floor and drew a black circle around it with sand.
Black sand.
The delicious thought had come to her at the last minute, and she marveled at herself. How appropriate that her mother had vacationed on the black volcanic beaches of Hawaii with Nate. This was one of the few keepsakes she had left of her mother, of happier times.
All the more reason to use it,
she thought to herself, forcing aside the tears stinging unexpectedly at the back of her throat
.
Besides, a Sharpie or crayon would only leave a nasty stain. Oh, but the stain I’m leaving can’t be seen with the eye,
and she giggled nervously to
“Don’t think you’re coming with me. Our little “family” soiree ends here and now. Got it?” Brynn adjusted the brown fur collar on her suede coat and pulled matching gloves onto her hands.
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that. I was just wondering what I was missing.”
Please don’t go home. Please don’t go home.
“I’m sure you would love to know.”
Without another word she pivoted on her heels and sashayed down the steps to the curb, leaving me alone and shivering on the porch. Her car’s engine hummed to life and I could see her gloved hand through the window, illuminated by the faint blue light of the dashboard as she fiddled with the buttons, knowing heat was warming her as my lips were turning blue. She gave a little wave, which I’m sure was accompanied by a smirk, although I couldn’t quite see it, and then drove off.
I exhaled loudly, my breath pluming visibly before my face.
Opening the front door, I stuck my head in. “Going out, Mom. Be back later.” I didn’t wait for an answer to bubble up from the giggles in the living room, and then I too ran down the steps and headed in the opposite direction.
Chapter Eighteen
B rynn closed the door behind her. The lit candles flickered wildly, casting eerie shapes across the room.
At last,
she thought and a wicked little smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
Cradling the delicate cylinder in her hands, she breathed a sigh of satisfaction and popped open the silver lid on one end of the tube. The contents gently slid down the interior shaft and into her open hand, waiting to be unrolled.
This has to mean something. It has to
. Otherwise her stepfather wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to hide it. Finding the journal had been easy enough. After all, she made it a point to know of all the nooks and crannies in this big house. Once she opened it, however, she found herself confused and irritated. Page after page mentioned Teagan’s name, which only bewildered and frustrated her. But she was curious about one thing: reference to a sacred place secretly hidden deep within the woods. It promised strong spiritual connection, perhaps even magic, and described how people from long ago claimed to have contact with the angels.
Magic.
That was one promise that instantly caught Brynn’s eye. Everything else seemed boring. She carefully returned the book to its hiding place and placed her attention on the map. Her eyes gleamed brightly with the thought of finding this sacred place.
Tingling with excitement, her finger traced the lines drawn on the map. Lines that led from what appeared to be a long winding road to a tiny church, because of the cross sketched above it. Clearly the map depicted trees. There were plenty of woods around here. She studied the paper, looking for any sort of landmark, but she was pretty sure she would be able to find it since the long road led to a river. There was a river just outside of town and a thick patch of woods about a mile or two inside the county line. That had to be it.
Gathering the rest of her “treasures” she had worked so hard to get, Brynn created her altar in a neat little pile in the center of the floor and drew a black circle around it with sand.
Black sand.
The delicious thought had come to her at the last minute, and she marveled at herself. How appropriate that her mother had vacationed on the black volcanic beaches of Hawaii with Nate. This was one of the few keepsakes she had left of her mother, of happier times.
All the more reason to use it,
she thought to herself, forcing aside the tears stinging unexpectedly at the back of her throat
.
Besides, a Sharpie or crayon would only leave a nasty stain. Oh, but the stain I’m leaving can’t be seen with the eye,
and she giggled nervously to
Similar Books
