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

“Yes?” The sheriff urges.

Wade’s silver eyes flick upward and land on the sheriff’s freckled face. “They were relentless.”

“How do you mean?” he asks, narrowing his gaze.

“They wouldn’t stop coming and they were fast. Way faster than I expected from watching TV.”

The sheriff nods. “Television is usually a load of crap. At least, that’s almost always the case. So, tell me, what happened next? You’re obviously still here. How did you stop them?”

“The first one took me down to the ground. I stopped it by shoving a wreath stand through his—” Wade holds up a finger, pointing to the location beneath his jaw. He shudders again. “So, at least ‘The Walking Dead’ was right about that one.”

Sheriff Gordon nods, but his expression has turned stone cold. “And the other one?”

“It was crawling on the ground and I managed to topple a headstone over. The weight crushed it.”

“I see,” he says, tipping his head in acknowledgement. “From what I gather, the bodies were disintegrating when they were discovered. Any idea how that could have happened?”

Wade shakes his head. “No, not really. I mean, whatever magic animated them in the first place must have been negated because that did happen quickly when we—I mean, when I was still there.”

I can’t help but inhale sharply at the slip, but I cover my nose, acting like I have to sneeze. Wade’s eyes widen, but he refuses to look my direction.

“That must have been very difficult for you. You didn’t know either of them, you know, personally…did you?”

“No, sir. Neither one.”

The sheriff’s chin tips upward and he rubs at the spot just under his bottom lip. “Now, I’m not a super, but I’ve worked with plenty. I don’t suppose you happen to know of anyone with the kind of power it takes to do something like this? Resurrect the dead and reanimate them?”

Wade’s lips tug downward as he shakes his head slightly. “No, I’m new in town.”

“Okay, I think you said that, didn’t you? Now, we’ve got a special investigator coming in who handles this sort of thing. Or so I’m told. People higher up the pay grade than myself seem to think there’s only a couple of different types of supers who have the ability to pull this off.”

My eyes widen and I sit up straighter.

“Now, I’m not sure how many people we have in the town with the ability, but we do have Windhaven Academy working with us to narrow down the list as we speak,” the sheriff says nonchalantly. “What kind of abilities do you possess, Mr. Hoffman, if you don’t mind my asking?”

Wade’s nostrils flare with his tense inhalation. “None. At least, none as of yet. The abilities in my family are latent, but I was told it didn’t matter to the academy.”

“I see,” he says, tipping his head. “And what kind of powers would they be? You know, if they were active…”

“They’re more psychic in nature,” he says softly, refusing to look my way. “I’d be able to sense certain energies.”

I raise my eyebrows. That’s more information about his powers than I’ve gotten.

Is that why he and Dominic seem to clash?

“Yeah, that’s not quite the sort of powers we’re looking for—from what I’m told. We need someone with ties to heavier elemental magic. Necromancy, earth or water magic, that sort of thing.” Narrowing his eyes, Sheriff Gordon’s discerning gaze suddenly lands squarely on me. “And what kind of abilities do you have, Ms. Blackwood?”

Chapter 15

All Eyes Are On

The last thing I expected when we went into the Windhaven PD was to divert suspicion from Wade by drawing their attention to me. Now that Sheriff Gordon knows I’m the town’s only necromancer, the likelihood of this going away anytime soon is pretty much nonexistent. Plus, if they decide to do just a little bit of digging and find out that we have Wade’s dead grandpa locked up in my boathouse, there’s going to be hell to pay.

And, if that wasn’t enough, the entire school is giving me a wide berth now, too. I know exactly how Wade was feeling the first few weeks of school.

“This sucks,” I blurt out, taking a seat in the commons area beside Wade. I lean forward, placing my face in my hands. “I can’t believe I’m a suspect.”

Wade shifts out of the lounge chair beside me and places a hand on my back. “Person of interest—don’t get excited now.”

I shoot him a sideways glance and cover my face again with my hands.

He chuckles under his breath. “Don’t worry, Autumn. It’ll get sorted out.“

I look up, cutting him off with my expression. “Just a couple of days ago, you said I was nuts for having faith in things getting sorted out. Now that roles are reversed…”

“Now that roles are reversed, I know it’s true. Neither one of us will stop until we figure out who’s really behind this. Besides, I’m not out of the water yet. If that video goes public, I’m sure I’ll be back in the central ring of rumors, no matter what Sheriff Gordon thinks. The only good news is that the feds are supposed to be here today. The sooner they get started, the sooner they’ll realize neither one of us had anything to do with this,” Wade says, crouching down beside me and pulling my hands into his.

His eyes plead with mine, and I can’t help but sigh.

“Wade, you didn’t even tell Sheriff Gordon I was with you in the cemetery. If they find out, and think we kept it from them, they’ll think I was trying to hide it,” I mutter, rolling my eyes to the ceiling.

“Trying to hide what?” Cat asks, practically bouncing in from the hallway.

I narrow my gaze and quirk an eyebrow. “Why are you so happy?”

“I’ve had a lovely day, thank you for asking. I’ve been holed up in my room, working on some missing assignments and thank the Lord, it’s