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

arms, tugging me in close. His frigid touch is worse than his breath. It seeps into me at soul level, making my body freeze and my heart ache.

“You must denounce it. You must denounce it all,” he says, his words coming out in slow, deliberate sentences.

I shake my head, afraid to move much else. “What are you talking about?”

“Promise me,” he yells, gripping me tighter. His frozen fingertips bite my skin and I cry out in pain.

“I promise. I promise,” I say, unsure what it is I’m even agreeing to.

“I was wrong. So, so wrong. You must denounce our legacy and leave this place. Leave Blackwood Manor and forget about all of this. You need to go now—” he says, his desperate words vibrating in the air as they begin to distort, echoing after each other.

My eyes widen and my fingertips fly to my mouth as a horrific knowing emerges. “No, no, no…” I say, shaking my head, unable to stop the tears from forming. “No…”

“They’re coming for you. They’re all coming for you…” he says, repeating the words from outside. The words from a vengeful creature hell-bent on hurting me. Or so I thought.

“We need to get out of here…” Wade says, gathering our clothing into his arms beside me. “Autumn, we need to go.”

“Yes, go—” Dad practically screams in my face. “Before fate forces you to join me in death.”

Chapter 17

To Whom This House Belongs

No matter what I do, I can’t stop my screams from coming. It’s like they’re a part of the home’s essence now. They won’t go away. Not now—not ever. They’ll bleed into its very existence, haunting anyone who dares to become a part of the Blackwood legacy.

Hot tears stream down my face and I blink them back, refusing to let them cloud my vision. I can’t look away. As much as I want to, I can’t pry my eyes from my dad’s decomposing specter.

Wade pulls me into his arms, trying his best to calm me down. He rocks the two of us back and forth gently on the bed. But I can’t calm down. Nothing will ever feel calm again. My world has just been tipped on its head.

The room suddenly tilts and I bend over, lurching bile and water all over the floor.

This can’t be happening…

“It’s okay, Autumn,” Wade coos in my ear, stroking my hair, oblivious to the horrors staring back at us. If he knew, he wouldn’t be saying that. If he knew, he’d be running in the opposite direction.

I shake my head, unable to put words to any of it. My brain is a blur of colors, emotions, and sounds. That’s it.

“I tried to keep you safe. I tried to protect you,” my dad says. I’ve almost gotten used to the way his words sound more like an anomaly than anything else. “You have to trust me. I did this all for you. Repent. Repent everything, or they’ll take you, too…” he pleads frantically.

“No, no, no,” I repeat, shaking my head as Wade and I rock back and forth. “Can’t be true. This can’t be…”

Nothing about this makes sense.

I close my eyes, no longer able to take in the horrible way my father’s face looks like it’s melting against the bone.

Plummeting into the surreality, my mind whirls through all of the recent interactions with him, trying to make sense out of this.

I have to be dreaming. Please, tell me I’m still dreaming. He can’t be dead. He can’t be. He was just here. They said he was okay. He told them to start work on the house. That’s what James said…

“Autumn, it’s okay. It’s okay,” Wade repeats, rocking me and stroking the back of my head.

“No, no, it’s not,” I sputter, unable to keep my body from trembling. I glance at Wade, and once again, tears blur my vision, making it impossible to see his features clearly. “Not okay. Nothing’s okay.”

His eyes look so sympathetic, but he doesn’t understand. How can he? I don’t understand.

“Talk to me. What’s happening? What do you see?” he asks, never stopping our continual rocking. “I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me.”

I chance another glance at dad. The rotting face of my father leans forward, its gaping eye sockets staring into my soul.

“He reeks,” Dad snarls. “In league with them. They’re all in league.” The intensity of his anger make me sick to my stomach.

I bend forward, heaving again, but nothing comes up.

“He draws attention,” Dad continues, raising a skeletal finger at Wade. “He’s a beacon for them. Your time will be cut short. Shorter, even. He must go—”

“What are you talking about? Who them?” I squeal, trying to force his words into something that makes sense. “This isn’t Wade’s fault.”

“My fault?” Wade says, shock in his tone. For a moment, he stops trying to console me and sweeps his gaze around the room. “What is?”

“He’s a beacon,” Dad says, ignoring me. “Don’t you understand, Autumn? No good…”

He lunges his ghostly body at us, arms wide and gnarly fingers ready to attack. I squelch another scream, flinching and covering my face with my arms, anticipating his blow.

However, nothing makes impact. After a few seconds, I pull my arms back and look up. As if an invisible wall somehow separates us, Dad slams against the air inches from my face, unable to connect beyond it. His face flits through confusion, anger, and frustration as he pounds against it.

“What is this?” He twists around, searching for the source of whatever magic has blocked him from us. “No, it can’t be,” he fires into the room. “You were locked away. You were under control.”

I follow his horrified gaze to Abigail, who is still standing in the shadows, muttering quietly. Her head remains bent, but as he curses at her, she slowly raises her gaze. Power emanates from her, lighting the edges of her being, and it even makes me stop in my tracks. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. For the first