Possessed (Book One of the Hollow City Coven Series): A Witch and Warlock Romance Novel by Hazel Hunter Page A

didn’t know. Why didn’t I know?”
    The woman nodded and released her.
    “You’re too far away from your body. That thing has chased you a fair distance and, without practice, you might not be able to find your way back.” She paused, looking over Gillian’s shoulder. “I want you to try something. I want you to close your eyes. I want you to imagine a silver line that leads between you and your body. Don’t think about where it goes. Just imagine that it exists. Can you do that?”
    “I think so,” Gillian murmured, closing her eyes.
    Imagine a silver line, the woman had said. Gillian frowned a little with the effort. It would be a like a shining rope and curve back through the woods.
    “All right, open your eyes.”
    When Gillian opened them, she gasped. She could see a faint silver line leading back into the woods.
    “I can see it! Is that the way back to my body?”
    The woman smiled before nodding gravely at the line.
    “There’s going to be more than your body waiting for you. That red-eyed monster’s going to be there. It wants to kill you, kid. Make no mistake.”
    Gillian shook her head.
    “I don’t know what to do. Shayne’s there with my body, and I know he’ll protect it, but there’s nothing he can do about the Templar.”
    “So you have someone waiting for you?” the young woman asked, but she didn’t pause. “That’s good. That’s very good. This Shayne, he’s someone you trust? Or that you believe in?”
    Gillian quickly nodded. “Without question.”
    “All right. That means there might be something I can do. First, you’re going to tell me something that only you and he would know. Then you’re going to follow that silvery cord all the way back to your body. But don’t get too close. And whatever you do, don’t let that monster see you.”
    “What are you going to do?”
    “I’m going to be along in a bit. I’ve got a body of my own to collect.”
    The woman stepped close. Gillian caught the faint scent of smoke and motor oil, something oddly comforting.
    “Don’t worry, kid. We’ll get you sorted.”
    For the first time in what seemed like a small eternity, Gillian felt hope rise. She nodded, turning to follow the silvery cord back to Shayne.

CHAPTER EIGHT

    SHAYNE HADN’T REALLY been sleeping. Above him, the stars spun in their timeless dance. It made him think for a moment of all the places he had seen them. The constellations had different names and different shapes, but still, they were all the same stars. He sighed and looked down at his hand.
    One of Gillian’s hands was wrapped around it. Though she was quiet, she wasn’t at ease. She ran a temperature, and her body was tense. Gently, he brushed a few strands of hair from her face.
    “You’ll be fine,” he whispered, though he wasn’t sure he believed it any more.
    Without warning, there were footsteps in the forest. It was the stride of someone who wasn’t trying to hide. He leapt to his feet, his hands ready to throw fire. But when the figure stepped out of the darkness into the light of the campfire, he blinked. He wasn’t sure who he had been expecting, but it wasn’t a slim, young woman who walked with a soldier’s swagger.
    “Evening, Shayne. Gillian sent me. She says to tell you that your falcon’s name is Vlasti and that you give amazing baths by the river.”
    Though he relaxed a fraction, he didn’t lower his hands.
    “Who are you?” he said. “And why are you here?”
    “You can call me Raina. And I’m here because I was out for a walk and a pretty girl came tearing out of the woods followed by a red-eyed monster. Gillian’s here now, but the bastard won’t let her into her body.”
    Shayne stiffened and glanced around. “She’s here?”
    The woman nodded. “That she is. But that thing she’s got in her? It wants her good and dead. And I’ll tell you this, it’s not going to stop.” She tsked. “Dicey business. It’s bonded to her like tree roots in a