Reaper by Emily Goodwin Page B

and sniffed. He looked at me, sniffed the air again and jumped off the bed.
    “I saw something again.”
    “What did you see?” Ethan was fully awake now.
    I shook my head. “It’s gonna sound crazy.” I tore gaze away from the door to look him in the eye. “It was like a monkey-barn owl hybrid. It was creepy as shit.”
    “A what?”
    “It had the body of a monkey and the head of a barn owl.” I shivered. “That’s just so wrong .”
    Hunter moved to the window. He let out a small ‘woof’ and joined us in bed again. He didn’t sense anything worthy of being deemed danger.
    “Am I going crazy?” I asked Ethan.
    “No.” Ethan rested his head in his hands. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
    “I woke up—”
    “Why?”
    “Uh, something smelled like sulfur. It was bad enough to wake me up.”
    “Can you still smell it now?”
    “No.” I paused, waiting for another question. When he didn’t ask anything, I continued. “Then I heard something, like shuffling feet. A shadow by the door caught my attention. It climbed up the frame and turned around. It opened its beak and disappeared.”
    Ethan looked tired. I put my hand on his, thankful I wasn’t still shaking. “What do you think it is?” I asked softly.
    “I don’t know,” he sighed. “Scents are associated with spirits and being that you’re a medium, it would make sense.” He lay back down and pulled me with him. Safely enveloped him his arms, my heart finally stopped racing. “Honestly, Annie,” he said gently, “I think you were dreaming. If something was really here, Hunter would have sensed it.”
    I didn’t say anything as I mulled that over. I nodded. “Probably,” I agreed but knew otherwise. I was awake and something was in the room. Hunter rejoined us, pressing against me, making me hot but also making me feel protected. Ethan fell back asleep in a matter of minutes; I stayed awake for another hour, replaying the whole thing in my mind.
    Like the Burning Man, I couldn’t truly be sure if the illusion was real. I couldn’t get the images out of my head. When I finally did drift into a restless sleep, I dreamt of a bloody barn owl hissing at me from the arm of the Burning Man. The man erupted into flames and the owl took off, leaving a trail of blood, the flapping of its wings echoing in the distance.

    ~*~
    Ethan got up early the next morning and went to the gym. Since I had gotten a not-so-restful night’s sleep, after feeding the horses and cleaning stalls, I showered and climbed back into bed. I didn’t know how long I was asleep for before my phone rang.
    “Hello?” I mumbled.
    “Hey. Were you sleeping?” Ethan chuckled.
    “Yeah.”
    “Get up, lazy,” he teased.
    “Shut up. I’m tired,” I moaned.
    “I know this is short notice, but the guys at the gym are going out to lunch with their girlfriends and invited us.”
    “Ok.” I closed my eyes.
    “So can you meet me in half an hour?”
    “Half an hour? That’s not enough time.” I felt my head. “My hair’s still wet.”
    “So you don’t want to go?”
    “No, I do,” I assured him. “I just want to make a good first impression.”
    “Alright. I’ll try to stall.   Hurry up and meet me at the gym as soon as you can, please.”
    “Ok. Love you,” I told him.
    “You too.”
    I lazily swung my legs over the bed, dreading pulling together an outfit and trying to look presentable in a few minutes. My eyes lingered on my Book of Shadows and I smiled at the idea that popped into my head. I got to the gym with five minutes to spare.
    “You’re early.” Ethan was stunned.
    “Yup.”
    “And you look pretty.”
    “Thanks.” I smiled.
    “How did you manage to do that to your hair?” He touched a curl.
    “You don’t know how girls curl their hair?” I raised an eyebrow.
    “Of course I know how, I meant how did you have time?”
    “Magic.” I smiled.
    “Seriously?” He took my hand.
    “Yep! Impressive isn’t it?”
    “I guess. I