Chapter 20

Lily floated into her house,feeling like she was living in a dream. She'd desperately wanted Braxton to come inside after their hike, but she understood why he hadn't. There was still this curse between them, and when they finally committed themselves to each other, he wanted them to be free to love without any other energy tainting them.

He was right.

Plus, they still didn't know if the curse would get worse if they got closer.

She headed first for a shower and then grabbed something to eat. After the sun went down, she made a cup of tea and headed out onto her back porch to take in the stars and enjoy the cool summer night air. It was just one of those nights when the outdoors called to her. She supposed it was from being in the woods earlier in the day with Braxton. She didn't want to let go of that feeling.

She was laying in her hammock, staring at the trees when she spotted a flash of yellow that looked like eyes staring back at her. She sat up and scanned again. After a moment, a pure white wolf walked out of the trees and stared right at her, its golden eyes flashing to blue.

Lily's heart sped up, and her breath caught as recognition dawned. A white wolf with eyes that changed to blue. There was no question the wolf was the exact same one they'd spotted on Westerly Island just days before.

Wolves were already extremely rare in their neck of the woods. The chances of there being two that were identical was nonexistent.

"Hey, handsome," she said in a quiet voice. "How did you get over here from the island?"

The wolf stood still, staring at her.

"Don't tell me you snuck on the ferry," she mused. "Clever, aren't you?"

There was a loud pounding at her front door, grabbing her attention. When she looked back for the wolf, he was gone. Disappointment washed over her, and she let out a grunt of irritation as she went inside to see what all the commotion was about.

"Hold on," she cried. "I'm coming. Geeze. You don't need to break the door down." She yanked the door open and found Niko standing on her porch, his expression dire. "What the hell's going on? You look like someone stole your puppy."

"Is Brax here?" Niko demanded.

"No. Isn't he at home?" she asked, suddenly concerned.

He shook his head. "His truck is there. So are his keys and wallet. But he is not."

Lily's head swam, and she swayed on her feet but grabbed the door to steady herself. "Maybe he went for a walk?"

"Is that something he does regularly?" he asked.

"No. I don't know. He probably didn't take a walk," Lily said. "We went on a hike today, so I don't know why he'd go home and head back out. I'm just trying to figure out what might have happened."

Niko brushed past her and walked into her house, not waiting for an invitation. He turned to face her. "When was the last time you saw him?"

Lily pressed her hand to her throat as she tried to think back to what time Braxton dropped her off. "I don't know. Maybe around six o'clock? We went on our hike and then he brought me back here. I thought he was heading home."

Niko nodded. "His truck is there, so that's a pretty good assumption."

"Have you talked to Dante? Maybe he's with him."

"Dante is at the house now. He's the one who called me when he couldn't find Brax. When Dante called Braxton, he heard his phone ring and found it under the armchair, the face shattered. The door wasn't locked either. There's no hard evidence of foul play, but Braxton has just vanished, and I have reason to believe that someone may have taken him."

Ice ran through Lily's veins. "Where is Katerina?"

He pressed his lips into a tight line and shook his head. "No one knows."

"Do you think she's the one who took him?"

"No. She's not strong enough," he said.

"Do you think Lucy showed up and they got into it?" Lily couldn't think of anyone else. "Or maybe another one of my readers got to him?" She sank down into a chair, holding her head in her hands. If someone had gone psycho on him, it would be all her fault. She was the one who kept pushing for the relationship. He'd told her that it was too dangerous, but she hadn't listened.

"We don't know anything yet," Niko said, his voice suddenly soothing. He reached down and squeezed her shoulder.

Lily glared up at him. "Stop being nice to me. You're making it worse."

His eyes were full of sympathy as he pulled his hand away. "I'm going to keep looking for Braxton. Call me if you see or hear from him, okay?"

"I will if you will." She stared up into his dark eyes. "Promise me you'll call as soon as you know anything."

"Either Dante or I will," he said and then left her alone, her thoughts reeling.

Lily racked her brain, trying to remember if any "Ask Endora" column she'd written joked about abducting someone instead of just talking out their issues. She'd certainly thought about writing such a scenario before but was pretty sure she'd stopped herself. It was too on the nose. Too predictable. Not to mention vile. She tried not to go too over the top with her advice. It was supposed to be funny, not tragic.

Either way, if anyone was to blame, Lily was certain it was her. They had spent the afternoon together on a hike that most normal people would call a date. Especially since they'd made out in his truck afterward. And made promises to each other once the curse was broken. If anything would kick the curse into high gear, it was that.

Hating herself for not listening to Braxton, Lily shoved her shoes on and took off out of her house, running full speed to her grandmother's. She was out of breath and didn't even bother knocking. She just barreled in and called, "Gran!"

There were footsteps at the top of the stairs, followed by Bethany calling, "Lily, is that you?"

"Yes, it's me. I need your help."

Bethany appeared on the stairs, wearing a gorgeous green-velvet robe. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun, and her face was stripped of makeup.

"Oh, no. I caught you as you were getting ready for bed," Lily said as guilt ate away at her conscience. But the truth was, it wouldn't have mattered if her grandmother was already sleeping. She'd still have come. This was too important.

"It's okay, dear." Bethany came downstairs and grabbed Lily's hands and asked, "What's happened?"

"It's Braxton. He's vanished, and no one knows where he is. I was the last one to see him and then… poof. Just gone. I'm afraid something terrible has happened to him. That the curse—" Her voice caught on a sob. "It's all my fault. Brax warned me, and I just thought… I don't know what I thought."

"Slow down." Bethany led her over to the couch and pulled her to sit down next to her. "What do you mean, he vanished?"

Lily explained how his truck was home and how they found his phone, but no Braxton. "I'm afraid that after we spent the afternoon together, maybe someone took some of my terrible advice and went over there, and things got out of hand or something."

"Or someone else came for him," Bethany said, frowning. "His mother does have quite the past. It's possible one of her acquaintances has a grievance and is using him to get to her."

"It's possible, I guess. But that's not making me feel any better." Her eyes stung with emotion as she stared at her grandmother. "We need to find him before something terrible happens."

"Yes, of course." Bethany stood. "Come with me. We'll do a finding spell."

Lily let out a breath and felt a tiny bit calmer as she followed her grandmother into her herb sanctuary.

"Do you have anything of Braxton's?" her grandmother asked.

"No." Lily wanted to kick herself. She should have known her grandmother would ask that. She chewed on her bottom lip, trying to think of something she might have of his back at her house. Her mind was blank. The truth was they hadn't spent that much time together. There hadn't been much opportunity to accumulate things at each other's homes.

"It's all right. Stand in the middle of the pentagram," Bethany said.

Once Lily did as she was told, Bethany handed her a pillar candle.

"Illuminate!" Bethany demanded. The candle flickered to life, and Bethany got down to business, chanting, "Goddess of life, here my call. Show us your son, Braxton Kirkwood, let your will be done." She repeated the words over and over and over again.

Lily waited for the rush of magic to wash over her, for the goddess to use her as a vessel to pinpoint Braxton's location.

But the magic barely brushed her skin, and the goddess never came.

Bethany lowered her outstretched hands and wiped at her own tear-filled eyes.

"Gran?" Lily asked tentatively. "What is it? What happened?"

"The locator spell didn't work, hon. I'm sorry."

"But it always works," Lily said, her voice trembling. "What does that mean?"

Bethany frowned, her expression looking pained. "It's one of two things, honey. Either someone has cloaked his energy or he's…"

"He's what?" Lily asked. "Gone? Dead? Is that what you're saying?"

Bethany nodded slowly.

"No!" Lily clutched her chest, her heart shredding to pieces. "He can't be gone. He was just with me this afternoon."

"Someone could be cloaking his magic," her grandmother reminded her.

"But you don't really believe that do you?" Lily challenged, taking her pain out on her grandmother.

"I don't know, honey. All I know is that I can't feel his energy. It won't come. So it's either being cloaked, or it doesn't exist."

"Call his spirit," Lily demanded.

Bethany nodded and stepped into the middle of the pentagram. Talking to spirits was one of Bethany's gifts. If Braxton had crossed over, she'd know. Her grandmother closed her eyes and started to center herself. After a few moments, she lifted her arms and called for Braxton Kirkwood.

Immediately, Bethany's eyes flew open, and she said, "He hasn't crossed over. Someone is cloaking his energy."

"Are you sure?" Lily asked, shocked by how fast the answer came.

"Positive. Half a dozen spirits descended on me to tell me that Braxton had not joined them."

Lily flung her arms around her grandmother and kissed her cheek. "Thank you. I love you. I need to go find Braxton."

"Yes, you do. Call if you hear anything or if you need the coven. We'll be ready for you." Bethany hugged and kissed her granddaughter and then sent her on her way.