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

me, like he’s summoning the very coding in my blood to do his bidding. Shuddering at the thought, I open my eyes to see if it’s working.

Colton’s head is no longer bent forward, but, instead, raised back up. Just like at the manor, his eyes glow a brilliant, bright white as he stares straight through me.

After a moment, he speaks. His voice has an odd, echoing quality that makes me shiver.

“He’s not far. Just beyond the trees,” Colton says. Raising his right arm, he points back toward the general direction of my house.

“Can you see his body?” Diana asks.

“Yes,” Colton says. “He’s on the ley lines, just beyond the ridge.”

My insides constrict and I feel queasy. I knew we needed to find his body, but to know it’s really there is something totally different.

“Hold up. Are you saying his body is back on the Blackwood property?” Dominic interjects. There’s an edge of panic hidden in his tone.

“Yes,” Colton repeats.

“Shit,” Dominic curses.

Suddenly, the glow in Colton’s eyes dims, and he pulls back from whatever sight the spell or his power itself has given him. He blinks the remnants of it away, and his deep-brown eyes take me in.

“I’m so sorry, Autumn,” he whispers.

My lips press into a thin line, and I drop my gaze to our connected hands. Pulling back my hands from his, the blue and orange fire extinguishes in a puff. Before I stand up, I chance a sideways glance at Wade. He quickly tries to hide his wounded expression as I exit the circle to stand beside him.

Colton stands up, grabbing the picture frame and stepping over to his mom to hand it to her.

“Well, this is swell,” Dom mutters, rolling his eyes and stepping away from the circle. “How do we get to it without being pummeled by Hurricane Lyle?”

“A valid point,” I say, nodding. “My dad’s too strong. If we go onto the property, his Lemure will attack. He nearly killed Wade. Hell, he nearly killed all of us.”

Dominic nods. “We can’t just go marching over there to collect his remains. That would be suicide. We need a better plan.”

Diana crosses her arms over her chest and quirks an eyebrow, clearly waiting for something.

Dominic makes a face. It’s like the two of them are communicating on a completely psychic level.

“Well, we do have a few people in our midst who can’t die,” Dominic mutters. “Maybe we can use that to our advantage?”

“So, you want to send in the immortals and hope they can clean up the mess? You know they can still get hurt, right?” Blake says, speaking up for the first time. His face is dark as he shakes his head indignantly.

“Hurt, but not dead,” Dominic says. He winks as he clicks his tongue and points his index finger at Blake.

Blake lets out an exasperated sigh and walks away from the group.

“What about Colton?” Wade says, tugging his eyebrows in.

“Yes, he’s immortal,” I say, wondering what he’s getting at. “But he can’t go alone—”

“No, that’s not what I mean.” Wade turns to me, taking my hands in his. “Hear me out, okay?”

I narrow my gaze, waiting.

Wade scrunches his face and exhales slowly. “What if Colton summons your dad’s remains?”

My mouth pops open, but I can’t find the words to refute him. There’s a certain amount of sense to the idea.

“After everything that went down last semester, you want to put Colt in the position to use his powers to make another revenant?” Cat says indignantly. “Do you know how hard he’s worked to put all of that behind him?”

“Yeah, well, at least this time, he could put the skill to some good. Don’t you think?” Wade fires back. “If any of us go onto the property, we’re as good as dead. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to see any of us die over this. Do you?”

Cat opens her mouth, but snaps it shut after a moment.

“He’s right, you know,” Diana whispers, speaking up for the first time in all of this.

Everyone turns to her, but no one says a word.

“Colton has powers he’s barely begun to explore. He needs to learn how to live with them. Unless he tests the waters, he won’t be able to find his center,” she says matter-of-factly.

Colton swallows hard, swapping his gaze from me to Diana.

She casts him a stern glance and tips her chin. “You got this, kiddo,” she whispers. “This is what you’ve been working so hard for.”

Straightening his shoulders, Colt exhales a slow burst of air. “All right, I’ll do it.”

Despite being the lesser of the evils, my pulse pounds loudly in my ears.

Even if we can reanimate his remains, which is cringeworthy on its own, we still have to find a way to get him into the catacombs and finish the interment. That means for sure Cat and I will have to get onto the property.

What if messing with his remains magickally just pisses him off even more? Or somehow gives him even more power? What else could he be capable of?

Chapter 27

Puppet Master

The eight of us form a circle on the grass, huddling together to come up with the best plan of action. Even if Colton is able to summon my dad’s remains, we still need to follow it up with Cat’s ability to direct her element of fire, and I’m the one who will have to help her find her way through the labyrinth of the catacombs.

I glance over at Colton. He looks as apprehensive as the rest of us, shifting his gaze to the ground and kicking at the dirt. It reminds me of the way he was when I first met him, but he’s still somehow very different.

“All right, so let me get this straight. Once Colton’s able to summon Lyle’s remains, he’ll go with Cat and Autumn to the catacombs as their protection?” Wade says, his face a blanket of seriousness as he looks to each of our faces.

I nod. “You didn’t see it, but