Books Glorious Books

What’s a girl to do when she loses her job, her best friend goes missing, and she starts to see, hear and feel things that aren’t there? 

Moonlight Grove is a small, peaceful town full of familiar faces. It’s perfect. Until my best friend, Lucy Warren, goes missing. 

Enter Simon Caldwell. 

The man is attractive. A bit mysterious, and a new face in my sleepy little town. He’s a paranormal investigator who’s come to Moonlight Grove looking into reports of the supernatural kind. It all sounds like good TV to me. When I begin experiencing things I can’t explain, he may be the only one who can help. 

Maybe there’s more to Lucy than meets the eye. What if her disappearance is linked to all the crazy things happening? 

With Simon’s help, I’m determined to find her and to ignore the way he makes me feel while I do it.

Small little thumps come from Lucy’s bedroom, and I stop moving. I listen, waiting. It happens again. Two seconds later, a small white fluff of fur appears in the doorway. Startling blue eyes blink at me.

It takes me a minute, but then I realize what I’m looking at. It’s a cat. A kitten really. Small and furry.

Stepping closer, I freeze when another kitten prowls into the open door. Then I do a double take. The second fluff of fur is identical to the first, down to the intelligence brimming behind shining blue eyes.

A funny feel takes hold of me as I stand in the hall staring at them. They both sit, blocking the door.

Okay … synchronized sitting.

That’s cool.

One blinks.

Then the other.

Suddenly, I feel like I’m falling into a dark tunnel. I try to snap out of it, but I can’t bring myself to look away.

I’m stuck. Falling deeper.

“What are you looking at?”

Jumping out of my skin, I press a hand to my chest.

“You scared me,” I hiss.

At least he broke the weird identical kitten hypnosis that was happening.

“Sorry.”

I point toward Lucy’s bedroom.

“Cats.”

“Oh, cute.” Simon steps toward them. As if on cue, their tails swish. Left. Then right. And back to left. He pauses, looking to where I’m frozen in place. “Did you not know she had cats?”

I look to the cats, getting a weird murder-y twin vibe from them. Any second now, they’ll start meowing redrum at me.

“No.” I shake my head. Simon’s brows pull together as he studies the tail-twitching fluffs of fur.

“You really think they’re cute?” I don’t. Not at all. They’re creepy times one hundred, and I can’t put my finger on why exactly. A full-body shudder rolls through me, and I carefully slink forward.

It feels weird to go in Lucy’s bedroom without her here, plus I’m not sure I’d be welcome by the feline security guards, so I bypass it and head to the end of the hall where her office is. The door is shut as usual.

Come to think of it, I’ve never been in this room.

I hesitate with my hand on the knob. Simon steps up behind me, the warmth from his body invading all my space.

“Do you mind?” I lean away from him, huffing. The last thing I need is his muscles and yummy smell clouding my already crazy brain.

“What are you waiting for?”

Dropping my hand, I turn just enough to see him over my shoulder. I’m not sure what I expected to find by coming here. Signs of a struggle? Maybe. A clue to tell me where my friend is? Probably. But now that we’re here in her space without her permission and her two weird cats are staring at me, I kind of want to leave.

“I don’t know. The cats freaked me out. Okay?” I hiss at him.

I push the door open, and something whispers through the air. Another chill rips down my spine, and I stop where I am.

“Did you hear that?” I ask. Simon’s forehead wrinkles, but he shakes his head.

I frown and listen for it again. But nothing happens.

I’m seriously losing it.

With Simon hot on my heels, I make my way into Lucy’s office.

It looks normal in here too. More oils. Lucy’s laptop. Crystals litter the windowsill. I pick up a pretty purple one and take a deep breath, rubbing my fingers over the surface. Something about it soothes me.

Across the room, a bookcase takes up an entire wall.

There’s nothing in here that’s going to put me at ease. Nothing stands out. Nothing holds the answer I’m looking for.

Simon holds a leather-bound book in his hand. “I think your friend is a witch.”

“What? No.” A laugh bubbles up.

“This is a spell book.” He gestures my way with the book in his hand. He grabs something else from the shelf, holding it up. “This is sage.” He gestures to the three mason jars filling the shelf next to him. “That’s moon water.”

“Okay, but that’s not a … real thing.” My lips roll inward. Is it?

“You think ghosts are real but not witches?” he asks.

My hands go to my hips. “I never said I think ghosts are real.”

“You don’t think ghosts are real?” He frowns. “Why did you agree to work with me?”

My mouths opens, but I’m at a loss for what to say. It’s clear he really believes in all this supernatural stuff, but I don’t know what I really think.

Witches?

“This was dumb. I don’t know why I wanted to come here again,” I blurt, overwhelmed by everything happening.

He’s giving me a look. One I’ve seen a lot lately. One that says he’s not quite sure what to think of me.