Chapter 4

4

Twenty minutes later,Harlow stood in front of her new home with a bag of salt in her hands. It had been in her cargo area and was a holdover from her ghost-hunting days. After everything she’d witnessed over the life of her ghost-hunting career, there were just some things she couldn’t live without. A large bag of salt in the back of her vehicle was one of them. The others were a well-stocked supply of sage and plenty of white pillar candles. Those three things were the basics when faced with an unwelcome spirit.

After laying a thick layer of salt around the house, she left a small opening right at the front door. Then she got to work on smudging the place. It took four bundles of sage to cleanse the house to her satisfaction, and when she was done, she lit one of the candles and chanted, “Eicere, eicere, eicere.” The words echoed around the room, preemptively banishing any spirit that might have been hanging around the home.

Though she had her doubts that any had moved in. The place was relatively new. It had only been built ten years prior, and the owners had lived in it for five years before moving and turning it into a rental. As far as she knew, nothing unusual had happened in that time and no one had died. The likelihood of it being haunted was low. It was one of the reasons she’d desperately wanted to rent it.

Once she was satisfied the home was cleansed, she walked back outside and closed the small section of the salt circle.

Exhausted, she sat on the steps that led up to the house and looked up to see an almost full moon. The bright light was enough to shake some of her weariness, and she had the sudden desire to find that waterfall.

Imogen had been correct.

The very idea of Harlow resisting celebrating the equinox with a good physical cleanse under the moonlight was laughable. Even though she’d hung up her ghost-hunting career, she was still a witch, wasn’t she? Harlow went inside, grabbed a tote, and filled it with her supplies. Once she was on the well-marked trail and could hear the soothing sounds of the waterfall, the remaining tension started to ease from her limbs.

There was just something about walking under the moonlight that always seemed to put her at ease. And even though she knew she should be wary of encountering more spirits on such a night, the magic that was woven into the very fiber of Keating Hollow was intoxicating enough that she couldn’t bring herself to worry further. Besides, the one spirit she didn’t want to encounter was trapped in her old apartment and wouldn’t be coming for her tonight. She was confident she could handle anything else.

When the path opened up to a small clearing and Harlow spotted the moonlight shimmering off the waterfall, happy tears stung her eyes. She had never felt like she’d just belonged somewhere like she did in this enchanted town. At this place, where the redwoods soothed her soul and the river fed her magic.

When she’d left the small town of Ojai, California, six months ago, she hadn’t been at all sure where she was going to end up. She’d spent some time driving up the coast of California, trying to decide what might be a good fit. There was a place on the central coast called Premonition Pointe that she’d thought had potential. In fact, it had been a strong possibility. She’d first thought that after she spent some more time exploring she’d end up back there. But then she’d found her way to Keating Hollow as if it had been a beacon, and she’d never left.

Considering Harlow and Imogen’s childhood had been spent moving around every few years, they didn’t really have a place they called home. If pressed, Harlow would have said her grandmother’s house in Ojai, but even that old Craftsman that her grandmother had loved hadn’t ever really felt right. It had too many ghosts that passed through, always demanding Harlow’s attention. While her grandmother had made her feel loved and safe, the home itself had never been comfortable for Harlow.

It was strange how Harlow could move to Keating Hollow, a place where she’d known no one, and instantly fit in. Sure, she’d heard of Silas Ansell, Levi Kelley, Cameron Copeland, and Miranda Moon, but that was just because they worked as screenwriters or actors in the same entertainment industry that she had. But she hadn’t ever met them and hadn’t expected to. Celebrity ghost hunters didn’t exactly run in the same circles as movie stars and rock stars. Or at least they didn’t usually. But she’d met all of them now that she managed the pub.

Harlow had just moved past the trees when a large white wolf appeared near the waterfall with his ears laid back as he stared Harlow down. She stopped in her tracks, watching and waiting. The wolf wasn’t snarling, but he was on alert.

Her heart started to race. What was one supposed to do when they encountered a wolf? Stand still and wait or slowly back away? She was still trying to decide, but then the wolf relaxed and his ears returned to normal.

Movement to the left caught her attention, and Harlow’s panic started to make her palms sweat. If the wolf had pack members, this night had just taken a turn for the worst. But when she glanced over, there weren’t any other wolves, only a barefoot woman with long, dark, and very wet hair who was wearing a dark green robe. Droplets clung to her exposed skin, making it obvious she’d just stepped out of the water.

“He’s not dangerous,” the woman said, placing a hand on the wolf’s head and stroking one of his ears. The wolf leaned into her, pressing his body against her leg.

Harlow blinked at the woman and then the wolf. She’d never met a domesticated one. “I’m sorry. Is this your property? I didn’t mean to trespass.”

“Oh no. It’s public land.” The woman moved closer and stretched her hand out. “I’m Zya Rossi. You’re Harlow, right? The one that runs that new pub, Equinox?”

“Yes.” Harlow shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Zya. You own the yarn shop, right?” Harlow hadn’t spent any time at Witches in Stitches, but the name Zya was unusual enough that she’d recognized it from her patrons’ conversations.

“I do.” She smiled and placed her hand on the wolf’s head again. “This is Silver by the way.”

Harlow looked at the wolf’s intelligent eyes and wondered how the woman had ended up with a wolf. “Hello, Silver.”

The wolf relaxed his stance as his tongue lolled out of his mouth, looking more like a playful puppy than a dangerous wolf.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt anything,” Harlow said. “I can come back when you’re done here.”

“You didn’t interrupt. I just finished my solstice ritual,” Zya said. “Silver was keeping an eye out for me.” She smiled down at the wolf and then eyed Harlow’s tote bag. “Not that we expected anyone to be here. I assume that’s why you’re here, too. The waterfall is the perfect place for it.”

Harlow normally wouldn’t confide in a woman she’d just met, but for some reason, she felt instantly comfortable around Zya. It happened sometimes. As though maybe her soul recognized a like-soul. “Yes, actually. I was going to do a cleanse so that I can head into spring with less baggage, so to speak.”

The other woman chuckled. “Well, let us get out of your way, then. Unless you want me and Silver to stand guard over the clearing?”

“Oh no,” Harlow said, waving a hand. “I really don’t think there’s any reason for that, do you? Not in Keating Hollow anyway. For a magical town, this place is surprisingly tame.”

Zya let out a bark of laughter but then quickly sobered. “I suppose that’s true enough. Though I will say that it’s not unheard of for things to go haywire here. And when they do, because of the magical element, they can be hard to spot. You know that saying, ‘things aren’t what they seem?’”

“Yeah.”

“You can think everything is fine, and then you find out that your future mother-in-law has cursed you to be possessed by a crazy spirit so she can use your actions against you and her son in a custody lawsuit for her grandchild.”

Harlow blinked at her. “Please tell me that didn’t happen.”

“Oh, it did,” she said with a humorless laugh. “It didn’t work, thank the goddess, but it did make me a little more cautious when it comes to dealing with angry family members.”

“That’s something I can relate to,” Harlow said, suppressing a wince. It had been a year since Imogen had been possessed, causing her to become a completely different person, and Harlow was still ashamed of how she’d handled the situation. “I suppose you’re right. Even a peaceful and enchanting place like Keating Hollow must have its share of problems.”

“Magic always kicks things up a notch.” Zya pointed to a spot just off the path that was protected by trees and said, “How about Silver and I just wait over there? It will give you privacy, but we’ll be able to warn you if we see anyone or anything unusual.”

Harlow’s instinct was to decline the offer, but instead, she found herself nodding. “Thank you.”

“No problem at all. Come on, Silver.” The pair of them disappeared into the trees. They were silent and had an almost ethereal quality about them. She had no doubt they were excellent at hiding in plain sight. If they didn’t want to be seen, they wouldn’t be.

Feeling just a little more connected to her community, Harlow moved toward the waterfall and started to unpack her supplies.