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

The revenant’s extremities begin to twitch, its eyes widening with some kind of self-awareness he didn’t have before. He grabs hold of the energetic cord, tugging on it hard. However, unlike a real rope, it doesn’t pull me toward him, but it crackles under his cognizant touch. Instead, he turns his eyes to me, rushing forward and groping at the air. He stops just feet from my face, as if some sort of invisible fence separates the two of us.

While relief flashes through me, there’s an undercurrent of crushing horror that threatens to engulf me. Without thinking, I close my eyes. I have to do the one thing I know how to do. I don’t know how to stop a Fetch or inter a revenant, but I know how to save a soul.

Summoning as much energy as I possibly can, I draw on everything I’ve learned and lean on the power I have yet to understand. I may not have Abigail here to guide me—but I do have her gifts. My only hope is that it’s enough… I don’t have a sacred circle, candles…an offering. But one thing I know for sure is this is not his time. I can only hope the universe will side with me.

There’s an enormous shift in the energy of the space as I tap into my innate gifts and birthright. This is my family’s space—it’s under our protection—and I’ll be damned if I let a Fetch or a friggin’ zombie destroy hundreds of years of preservation. Determination settles over me and my eyes flick open.

Cat’s doppelgänger steps back, concern flitting through her smug face for the first time.

Refusing to take my eyes off of her, I mutter under my breath, “Death—taker of life, power of gods and givers, grant me this request. Bone, blood, breath, flesh. Recover Wade’s soul—his remnants—and return him to me.”

“No—” the Fetch screams, her mouth open in horror as she rushes at me, stopping just inches from my face.

I hold my ground and continue to mutter the incantation. Wade’s spirit encloses itself in a sort of cocoon, as it starts to slide toward his body like it’s being pulled by a magnet.

Before his soul can merge with his body, Cat’s Fetch charges, stepping into its place instead. As she vanishes, Wade’s body animates again, despite his soul still being outside.

“Well, this is new…” Wade’s hand rises as he looks at it with curiosity.

“Get out,” I demand, taking a step forward. My pulse thrums like a hummingbird’s wings as it hammers in my ears.

Without warning, Wade’s body rushes at me and tackles me to the ground. The grimoire slides across the stone floor, landing a few feet away from the two of us.

“You know, it never occurred to me I couldn’t actually interact with your book in my astral form,” the Fetch says in Wade’s voice as she claws her way up my body.

The strange cocoon around Wade’s soul begins to dissipate and as he comes to himself, he rushes to my side. Reaching down, he tries to lift his body from me, but his hands go straight though.

However, the weight of his physical body on top of me takes my breath away as Cat uses her newfound strength to pin me to the ground. Extending her reach, she tries to collect the grimoire, but the revenant’s renewed fervor works against her as he kicks it out of the way.

Wade’s body rolls off of mine and crawls its way to the book and I lurch forward, trying to pull him back. Instead, a sharp pain shoots through my torso and I curl over to catch my breath.

“Don’t let me, er—” Wade’s spirit calls out, racing forward again and trying to pull his body back, but unable to make contact with anything.

It doesn’t seem the revenant is very discerning about who it attacks, as it reaches down, yanking Wade’s body back by the hair. It’s a byproduct I’m sure Cat’s doppelgänger hadn’t anticipated when she tried to wind it up like a toy soldier. She cries out, groping at the gnarly fingers.

A few feet away Abigail manages to materialize, her essence still not one hundred percent as she shimmers in and out of solidity. Her chin drops and she immediately turns her gaze to me.

“My apologies, Autumn. Please forgive me,” she whispers.

Without warning, she enters my body, somehow managing to shove my consciousness aside. It’s like being locked in a glass room—able to see everything that’s going on but not able to interact with my surroundings.

Abigail uses me to push up to a kneel. With my pointer finger, she draws a symbol in the ground. It looks like three interconnecting triangles.

Though I want to fight back from the intrusion, despite myself, I can’t help but wonder what she has planned next.

The Fetch shoves Wade’s grandpa aside, crawling her way to the grimoire.

Abigail ignores it. Instead, she contorts my hands into various symbols, like some sort of magical sign language. Then, she uses my voice to say, “Hail all gods, goddesses, and protectors of the Temple of the Soul—each who weigh heaven and earth in delicate balance, and in honor of the Fates’ grand plan. Oh mighty Death, taker of life, I deliver unto you the body of William Hoffman. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, bless his body so it may slumber in eternal rest.”

As her final words are spoken, the cord tying the revenant’s body to mine disintegrates. When the last remnants of it fade from around his torso, every corner of his body turns to ash and blows away like glitter being blown into the breeze. It flits away, sparkling as it spirals into the depths of the tunnel behind us.

My body lurches forward as Abigail’s energy is expelled, unable to hold onto my body. She’s thrust outside, and once again, I’m in the driver’s seat of my own body. Worse than before, her energy signature is weak, and her form