The Windhaven Witches Omnibus Edition : Complete Paranormal Suspense Series, Books 1-4 by Carissa Andrews (graded readers txt) 📕

My mind wheels through various scenarios, but none of them are good.

“Grandpa—it’s me, Wade. Do you remember me?” he says, splaying his arms out wide, trying to get his grandpa’s attention.

Unfortunately, there’s no recognition hidden in the ashen face of the man standing before us. If anything, he looks almost feral as he crouches down, pulling his elbows back like he’s about to pounce.

“Oh my god, he’s another revenant,” I say, tugging at Wade’s arm.

“Well, yeah, I kinda figured,” Wade replies, tilting his head to the side.

My heartbeat thumps loudly in my chest, and I’m acutely aware of the fact that we’re highly exposed. “He shouldn’t be here. We need to find a way to release him,” I sputter.

Wade takes a step backward, forcing me to do the same. “Well, if you have any ideas, I’m all ears ‘cause I got nothin’. This is so far outside the realm of normal for me.”

“We’ll have to destroy his body, just like the other ones.”

“I can’t kill him,“ Wade practically squeaks.

“Wade, he’s already dead,” I say, unable to even blink away.

With that, the creature lunges forward, hissing as it leaps a good five feet or more into the air. In microseconds, the ashen figure of Wade’s grandpa is on top of us, stretching out its hands as it tries to grab hold of the front of Wade’s leather jacket. Caught off guard by the insanely sudden movement, I jump back, slipping on an icy patch and landing hard on my backside. Wade’s footing also falters, but the creature manages to intertwine its fingers with Wade’s collar, taking them both down as well.

As I scramble back and away, Wade manages to kick the revenant off of him, but only for seconds before it gets its bearings and attacks again.

“Can you get that door open?” Wade yells, pressing his arms straight out and holding the creature. It snaps and snarls, trying to get at its prey as it thrusts its fingers across Wade’s face.

Without even answering, I scramble to my feet and make my way to the side door of the boathouse. Clutching the handle, I give it a twist and thrust my shoulder into it, trying to get it to swing open. The resounding thud reverberates, but the door itself doesn’t budge.

“Dammit,” I curse, immediately scanning the area for a key. “It’s locked.”

I shove my hand into the potted evergreen beside the doorway but come up empty-handed.

“Just kick it in,” Wade yells back, wrestling the revenant from side to side as he struggles to get himself free.

Standing on my tiptoes, I feel around the edge of the trim work. My fingertips graze the edge of something metallic as it drops into the snow beside the door. Immediately I drop to my knees, ignoring the trembling in my hands as I dig through the snow for the key. Finally, my fingertips find the cold metal and I pluck it from the snowbank. Racing to the handle, I thrust in the key and mutter a prayer under my breath that it works.

The locks groans, but clicks, and I fling the door back. “Got it.”

Spinning around, I run up to the revenant, planting my foot along its side with as much force as I can muster. Luckily, the blow is enough to knock him off of Wade, at least momentarily. Thrusting my hand down, I pull Wade to his feet. The revenant turns around, makes another swipe for him, and barely misses.

“Christ, this thing won’t quit,” Wade huffs, his eyes wide and face flushed.

Twisting around, he grabs hold of the revenant instead, bending his legs and rushing the two of them forward into the boathouse. When he’s cleared the doorway, Wade drops the odd, dusty fabric of the creature, letting momentum carry it farther into the space. Without a second’s hesitation, Wade pivots, grabbing the handle and slamming the door shut.

He stands here, his hands gripping the door handle as if his life depends on it—and it does. The creature screams, howling and groping at the door on the other side.

“Here, let me lock it,” I say, stepping forward and twisting the key into place.

As the lock clicks, Wade exhales loudly but doesn’t remove his hands. “Do you think it knows how to unlock doors?” he whispers.

I shake my head, ignoring the fact that my entire body is trembling. “I—I don’t know.”

The shrieking stops on the other side and an eerie silence greets us. It’s almost as if the creature has vanished completely.

“Let’s not stick around to find out,” Wade says, dropping the door handle and grabbing my hand.

Together, we race for the house, putting as much distance between us and the boathouse as possible. The moment we get to the door of the manor, we open it and dart inside. Without a second thought, we both turn around, thrusting our arms out and slamming the door shut. With Wade still pressing it closed, I flip the lock on the handle and set the deadbolt.

Removing his hands, Wade takes a step back, pressing his hands to his mouth. “Holy shit. That was—”

“Scary?” I breathe, slumping to my knees.

“Intense,” Wade says, nodding and sliding to the floor with his back against the door.

“What the hell was that all about? I mean, was that really him? Or?” I clutch at my chest, trying to take a deep, cleansing breath and failing miserably.

Wade shakes his head, his own breathing jagged. “No clue. Sure as hell looked like him, though.”

“So, what do we do now? I mean, he can’t stay in the boathouse forever…”

Wade shudders. “Who knows if he’s still in there now. Did you see the way he materialized? It was like his ashes were somehow melded together and reanimated.”

“Yeah, that was crazy. But if you really want to know whether or not he’s still in there, we can go back out and…”

“Nope, nope…” Wade says, shaking his head. “I’m good with assuming he’s trapped. At least until we figure out what to