Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 105144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
“It glows brighter the closer we get, and dims as we get farther.”
“Great, we’ll be playing a game of magical hot-and-cold,” he huffs and I ignore him.
“Then it will glow red when we’re there.”
My heart is in my throat, and each beat gets me closer and closer to seeing my mother. Do I look like her? Sound like her? Maybe she’s a vegetarian too. What kind of magic does she like to practice? And what about my dad? Is he into sports?
I just have so many questions.
I was in Italy when I was found—rescued or kidnapped, I haven’t determined yet. I have dark hair and green eyes, which could make me be a bunch of different nationalities, but I wonder if we’re Italian. If so, is that why they named me Florence?
And what about my aunt? I bet she was one of those cool, rich aunts who didn’t want kids but spoiled me. I just have a feeling we’ll get along and hang out once the shock wears off that I’m still alive.
Oh my god, I’m going to have to tell them that I’m married to this vampire who’s following me like an overprotective puppy is my husband. What the heck will they think of that?
“Not this way,” I mutter when the crystal starts to dim. We go down a block only to turn around, and then the light starts to glow bright. We go another block. It’s even brighter. “We’re almost there!” I look up, blinking to adjust my eyes after staring at the crystal.
“Wren,” Xavier starts, hand landing on my shoulder. “Wait a second.”
“No, why would I?” I ask and pick up the pace, looking back down at the glowing quartz in my hand.
“Wren,” he repeats after I’ve gone a few yards ahead. He stops in front of me, forcing me to stop as well.
“What are you doing?”
He cups his hands around mine, blocking out the light, and steps in, brows furrowing. “There is a cemetery on the next block.”
His words bring the slightest shock to my system but I recover fast. “And houses all along this side.”
“Wren,” he says again, tone begging. I pull my hands from his and he shakes his head but lets me keep walking. The light grows brighter and brighter. We’re on the side of the street with the houses, and a low stone fence lines the sidewalk across the street from us. I can make out the dark shapes of different tombstones. I start walking faster and faster as the light gets brighter and brighter.
But then suddenly, it starts to dim. I come to a halt and spin around. Did I go past the house? I go down the block again, and the light gets brighter…and then dims.
“What?” I ask, shaking my head. Xavier’s hand lands on my shoulder and he ushers me across the street so we’re walking next to the cemetery.
The light gets brighter.
My breath comes out in ragged huffs and I stare at the stone in my hands, too scared to look up. It gets brighter the second we step foot on the cemetery grounds.
“Maybe…maybe they live behind the graveyard,” I rush out. “Or they’re caretakers and live on the grounds.”
“Maybe,” Xavier says.
I swallow hard and watch the light take on a reddish hue as we go row after row through the graves.
“No,” I whisper as the light changes from a soft yellow glow to blood red. “No.” My heart feels like it’s going to fall out of my chest but I shake my head in denial, braining running a million miles a minute with reasons why they could be here and be alive.
“Wren, wait.” Xavier’s hands go to my shoulders, trying to stop me. He can see in the dark and I can’t, and he sees it before I do. I keep going, watching the red light glow brighter and brighter. I jerk my head up, eyes madly trying to adjust.
The crystal falls out of my hand, and I think I might throw up when the names on the graves come into focus.
Felicity & David Blackwood: In memory of a life so beautifully lived, love so deeply shared, and spirit so deeply missed.
Francine Blackwood: Gone from this world but forever in our hearts.
And then the ground goes out from under me when I read the engraving on the tombstone at the end. It’s the biggest of the three, standing tall with intricate stars and moons engraved along it.
Florence Blackwood: If love could have saved you, you would have lived forever.
“Wren,” Xavier breathes and I whirl around, staring at him with tears in my eyes. The crystal still glows red, casting an eerie light around us.
“The spell,” I start, but my voice dies in my throat.
“The spell worked,” he says, voice low. “But they’re gone. And I am sorry.”
Tears blur my vision and I turn, staring at the three gravestones in front of me, anger and sadness building and bubbling inside of me. I ball my hands into fists, nails digging into my palms. Everything I was desperately clinging to doesn’t just fall to the ground. It falls with a heavy thud, reverberating throughout the entire cemetery.