Hallow Haven Cozy Mysteries Bundle Books 1-3 by Mara Webb (books to read fiction .txt) 📕

So does my mom, so does my brother. If you are a guy in your thirties that is still trying to make it in the music business after so long, people laugh at you,” he exclaimed.

“I’m not laughing at you,” I assured him.

“I only trained to get into the police as a plan B, but music is my real passion. Max found a way to make it happen for us, you can’t understand what it’s been like,” he whimpered. I was struggling to mask my annoyance now. “I mean, I only joined the band recently. Before this I was trying to make it as a solo artist.”

I remembered that Miller mentioned something about them getting a new guitarist, but not knowing who it was. Now I knew why he wasn’t concerned when that police officer had driven to the crime scene when we found Evie Hall, he didn’t know this guy was in the band.

He clearly wanted sympathy, as if the actions that had led to the deaths of two people were justified because he wanted to ride on a private jet and win a Grammy. I could feel a tingling in my fingers, like I was getting a mild electric shock. I could swear that I saw a flash of light dash across my palm, something that the officer noticed. He looked fearful; he grabbed the taser.

I could hear the crunching of leaves as someone else was running towards our location, the eerie howl that had echoed across the island earlier seemed to bellow out from a place much closer to the clearing.

The officer fired at me, the prongs of the taser projecting out from the weapon in his hand and zooming through the air towards my chest. I saw another flash of light on my hand, like a fraction of a lightning bolt. The prongs slowed, they were still approaching me, but I was watching them coming at me now. I stepped to the side and was immediately knocked to the ground by something else.

There was a lot of shouting, something heavy hitting a tree and the sound of retreating footsteps. I couldn’t see a thing. The darkness in this part of the woods was so total that I may as well have closed my eyes.

As I wondered what had knocked me to the ground, I felt movement. It wasn’t a ‘what’, but a ‘who’. There was a body on top of me and we were now nose to nose, the warm breath rolling over my skin like mist on the ocean.

“It’s just me,” the voice said.

17

I was being hoisted up from the ground in the dark, mysterious arms beneath me lifted me and I could sense that we were walking back down the hill. I closed my eyes for a second, trying to understand the whirlwind that had been the last few minutes.

There had been three of us and four of them. If each of us had captured someone from the band, then one would still have gotten away. We had interrupted their ritual, but if all four of them were able to reconvene then they would just try again, right?

I needed Kate and Effie to explain what might happen next. How much worse would it get? Would they keep killing people until they got famous? I still struggled to believe that winning some small-time radio contest on an island in the middle of nowhere would lead to them getting international success, but they were all clearly crazy so in their heads it must seem totally logical.

The person carrying me was cradling me close to their chest and I could feel the warmth of their body against my face. Sounds from the high street were drawing nearer, we would soon be in the light and I could see who was carrying me, I could ask them all the questions that raced through my mind. I didn’t have the energy to speak just yet perhaps using my magic had drained me.

“Is she okay?” Walter asked. I recognized his voice, he wasn’t the one holding me, but he was nearby.

“I think so, we need to get Effie and Kate. They will know what to do, maybe Greta too,” the voice explained.

I had heard a howling in the air, it had to have been Miller. Was he the one holding me now? The scent was familiar, I felt safe. The trees began to thin, and the buzz of the night life was close enough that I could hear full sentences from people leaving restaurants. I looked up at the face of my rescuer, Ryder.

“I…” I began, exhausted from the exertion of speech. He stooped to lower my feet to the ground and helped me stand, I couldn’t help but look into his eyes. I saw something there, a flash of energy like the mini-lightning bolts I had seen on my palms earlier.

He had told me in the past that he had used magic with Greta, that she had been teaching him some of the basics. I had never seen his eyes do this before. The longer he looked at me, the more bolts of electricity fired across the center of his eyes and I found myself drawn to him in a way I never had felt before.

All of the noise from the questions in my mind seemed to quieten, silenced by the proximity of his mouth to mine. We were so close. I felt the spark on my hands again, something was alive inside of me now and was reacting to him, just as he was reacting to me.

“Sadie!” Kate yelled. Ryder straightened up instantly and, just like that, our moment was over. Kate was running towards me waving her arms around like her body was on fire and I noticed Greta fading into view by her side.

“I’m fine,” I wheezed.

“Walter said you got shot!” Kate shrieked.

“But I didn’t,” I smiled. “We just… I don’t actually know what happened back there, but I don’t think this is over.