Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
Satisfied, she followed full moon precautions – lured the cat into the house, ensured all outdoor trash cans were closed so as not to attract the Rabid, checked the motion sensor lights were on and then headed inside where she locked every window and door. Not that any beasts would bypass the manor’s defensive barrier, but she didn’t want Lucie getting outside. The damn cat was a daredevil who’d likely provoke a Rabid into chasing her.
The Rabid could spill into the town anytime, but it was more likely to happen on full moons. They became wilder. More aggressive. Were intent on hunting as much prey as they could find. It wasn’t about eating for survival, it was about mindless killing.
Secure inside the house, Emberlyn went straight to the kitchen and over to the box she’d propped on the circular table there. She reached into it and pulled out another large box. And another. And another. On and on it went.
Unlike Chrissie, Paisley hadn’t been surprised to see Emberlyn leave the hub carrying only one box. Her friend would have guessed that Emberlyn had bespelled it – making it essentially a bottomless carrier that would fit whatever she needed inside and also be light as a feather.
Emberlyn put her touches on the kitchen first. She added plants to the windowsill, placed dishware in cupboards, set her pestle and mortar on the counter, laid out her cookbook and set up her altar complete with a poppet – her little kitchen guardian.
A creak sounded to her right, and she watched as the door that led to the basement slightly edged open.
Her eyes narrowing, Emberlyn said, ‘My answer is still no.’ With a flick of her fingers, she sent out a magick ‘hand’ that closed the door.
Once she was done with the kitchen, she moved onto the other rooms on the first floor, laying out cushions, throws, candles, ornaments, incense burners, framed photos and other personal or merely fashionable touches.
The study was where she really went to town. It had been her grandmother’s consultation room. If any customers came knocking, Millicent had brought them in here and prepared potions or whatever else they’d required – if she’d felt like it. Other times, she’d slammed the door in their face.
From here on out, it would be Emberlyn’s consultation room.
She propped her cauldron on the altar where Millicent’s own had once sat, imagining how it must have felt for her grandmother to remove all traces of herself from the room. Well, not all traces – she’d left her journals and book of shadows on the shelves among the ancient texts, grimoires, diaries and spell books that had belonged to past Vautier witches. Collectively, there was a whole lot of expert knowledge to be found in them.
Hearing a feline chirp, Emberlyn looked to see Lucie slinking into the room. She crouched down and rubbed her thumb over her fingertips a few times as she coaxed the cat to her. As usual, Lucie took her sweet time – like Millicent, she moved at her own pace. After gracefully accepting a few strokes from Emberlyn, Lucie settled on a stool near the hearth and began licking her paw.
Switching her attention back to the task at hand, Emberlyn spent over an hour in the study doing various things such as adding her own texts to the shelf, preparing the altar, cleaning the sink and fireplace, setting out her apothecary kit and filling the large trunk with empty jars, tarot cards and other such items.
When she was eventually finished and happy with the room’s layout, she smiled to herself and walked out. Lucie followed her, sticking closely to her side as Emberlyn went back to unpacking.
It didn’t take long to spread the rest of her things around the second floor. She also nosed around the attic, finding it no different than it had been the last time she’d—
A howl filled the air, long and loud.
But not close to the manor, thankfully.
Emberlyn looked out of the circular attic window. Through the stained glass, she was able to see that the moon was now full. She looked at Lucie, who sat a few feet away. ‘Fingers crossed we don’t have company tonight.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
Around him, some of Ripper’s clan members shifted right there in the clearing. Their shaggy fur black as night, they mingled in with the shadows, only their red eyes giving away their location. They scattered, weaving around the trees, yapping and howling.
His own muscles quivered with the urge to shift and run. The moon’s energy spoke to his soul – an energy that was cold, electric and magnetic. Too magnetic for Ripper. Like it was tugging at his skin, threatening to remove it from his bones – an aftereffect of having spent years in a Rabid state.
As a child, he’d only felt compelled to belong. Every wolf did. It made their clan-bonds tight. But the period of time he’d spent Rabid had changed that for him.