Burned (Keeper of the Flame) (6 page)

“Just be careful, okay? You don’t know who
you can trust.”

Sounds kind of like what the whispers were
telling me in the hotel. But Ryan’s included in that category. Just
because he gave me the book back doesn’t mean I can trust him
either.

“I’ll be careful,” I say.

He pulls a business card out of his pocket
and passes it to me. “My number, just in case.”

“Thanks.” I turn for the stairs.

I walk to the end of the drive before
glancing back. Ryan’s still standing in the doorway, hands in his
pockets as he watches me leave.

I sigh and go around the hedge. My car is
where I parked it on the side of my mom’s house. I want to go
inside, to learn more about her. But then I remember my anger and
the way she abandoned me and my dad when I was young.

Maybe I don’t want to know more about her. If
she was so quick to forget about me, maybe I should do the same
with her.

I get into the car and drive back to the
motel, ready for the shower I told Logan I wanted to take. It feels
like so long ago. And I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be just
as long.

I find a local diner the next morning,
sitting by myself in a small booth while the weekend morning rush
keeps the restaurant busy and noisy.

My mother’s Book of Shadows isn’t exactly
discreet reading, so I make notes for my potential article while
I’m waiting for my meal. I need history on Shadow Hill Hotel, and
maybe a family tree. If someone or something was trying to
communicate with me, it could be because of an ancestral link.

When someone slides into the seat across from
me, I whip my head up.

It’s the librarian.

She’s still wearing her cat-eye glasses and
looking matter-of-fact. “Hi, Willow,” she says.

“I wasn’t planning on company for
breakfast.”

“How about we get the heavy stuff off the
table? I was rude to you, you tried to set my library on fire.
Let’s call it even.”

I narrow my gaze at her.

She extends a hand across the table. “I’m
Cheyenne.”

Reluctantly, I take it and feel the same hum
between our palms as I did with Ryan. “You’re one of them,” I
say.

“One of who?” she asks, looking amused.

“One of those people Ryan won’t tell me about
until I get the hell out of Shadow Hill.”

She laughs. “Sounds like something he’d
say.”

The waitress walks by to refill my coffee and
I wait until she leaves before lowering my voice and asking, “What
are you?”

She frowns. “That was rude.”

“You’re welcome to leave.”

The frown disappears and she laughs again. “I
like you, Willow.”

“I’m still deciding about you.”

“Fair enough.” She leans in, places her palms
flat on the table, and says, “I’m a werewolf.”

I glare at her. “Very funny.”

Cheyenne takes off her glasses, rubs them on
the corner of her sweater calmly. “I believe we met before. In your
mother’s house.”

The seat squeaks when I straighten. “You’re
lying.”

“No.”

“This isn’t…I mean. Witches, sure. Psychics,
yeah. Werewolves?”

I lean back when the waitress delivers me
pancakes with bacon on the side. “Anything else I can get you?” she
asks.

A trip back to reality maybe. But I just
smile and shake my head. “No thanks.”

Cheyenne snags a piece of bacon. “You forgot
vampires.”

“Vampires. Holy shit. You’re not
serious.”

“One hundred percent serious.”

I shake my head. “No…you’re trying to scare
me.”

She laughs and helps herself to more bacon.
I’m too shocked by her words to stop her.

“You don’t look scared to me,” she says.

“Why are you telling me this? Ryan wouldn’t
tell me.”

“Ryan’s just doing what he thinks is best.
But he’s pretty black and white about it all. As long as you agreed
to leave before tomorrow night, it’s fine if I give you a little
information.”

I spread the butter on my pancakes and then
cover them with syrup. “I did agree. But I’m coming back.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less. And when
that time comes, I will happily tell you more. As long as there’s
not fire involved.”

I can’t help but smile. I might not
understand how or why I can call the fire, but it has come in handy
more than once in the last few days. “Werewolves don’t like
fire?”

“Not just any fire. A witch’s fire. It’s
fairly lethal.”

“Wow. You really
do
like me if you’re
giving away all your secrets.”

She laughs, a carefree sound that makes me
realize she’s not much older than me. It’s the glasses and the
librarian label that makes her seem older. She checks her
watch.

“Okay, time to get to work. Stop by if you’re
curious. I could give you a few books to look at.”

I nod. “Thanks.”

She snags another piece of bacon. “Thanks for
sharing your breakfast.”

I watch her walk away and eat my pancakes
since that’s all there is left. Werewolves. That’s one I haven’t
encountered before. Sure, there are stories, but I’ve never seen
real evidence. And even now I’m wondering if she was pulling my
leg.

Except she knew I saw a wolf in my mother’s
house. How would she have known that?

Damn. I kind of like her despite all that.
She’s strong and confident and way more easygoing than Ryan. I
wonder how they know each other.

I wonder if they’re dating.

Taking another hasty bite, I erase that
thought completely. Ryan’s an asshole. I already told him this. Who
cares if he and the wolf are dating?

But if she’s a wolf…does that mean Ryan is
one too?

After another bite, I push the pancakes
aside. No way. Two werewolves? That can’t be. And it still doesn’t
explain why I can’t be here during a full moon. Is the entire town
infected with werewolves and I’ll be the innocent witch bystander
that gets gobbled up?

If that were the case, why didn’t the ghosts
warn me about them instead?

The waitress drops off the check and I pull
cash out of my wallet. I already sent an e-mail off to my editor
and he sounded interested in the story of the Shadow Hill Hotel.
It’s been covered before, but with a different angle. And I plan on
focusing a lot more on the history.

The part that might apply to me.

After leaving a decent tip for the waitress
since she let me have my space, I haul my bag over my shoulder and
exit the restaurant. The sun shines bright overhead and it promises
to be a warm late May day.

I scan the street both ways and watch
families and friends walking along Main Street. It looks normal and
peaceful. Idyllic, even. But it doesn’t slip my mind that some of
these people could be like Cheyenne. Werewolves or vampires. Or
maybe even witches like me.

I shake my head. Crazy. And now I’m going to
try to talk to a ghost.

~ ~ ~

It doesn’t take long to find the cemetery
near the hotel. It’s a short hike that takes me away from the main
building and to a clearing in the pines. Wind flutters the trees
and I peer over my shoulder. There’s a hedge maze behind the hotel,
the greenery filling in. I can hear laughter from within and sigh.
Too bad I have to leave tomorrow, just when things are starting to
get good.

I turn my attention back to the headstones.
Some are nothing more than crosses made out of heavy boards,
looking worn from years in the weather. Others are actual
tombstones with names and epitaphs carved in them. I reach the end
of one aisle and pause.

The name on the top of the largest tombstone
in the bunch reads
Selena Donnelly, Keeper of the Flame
.
Same last name. And as I’ve learned from my research a lot of times
women keep their last names since power passes on through the
females in the family.

My heart races and I glance around.
Keeper
of the Flame
. That’s what the voices had said to me inside the
panel at the hotel. I search my memory for the name Selena
Donnelly, but come up empty. What if she’s an ancestor or someone I
need to know? And why is she buried here then? Does she have some
sort of link to the Hill family?

“Willow,” a voice says.

It’s barely above a whisper, the same voice I
heard inside the hotel. When my gaze whips up, I see a figure at
the edge of the cemetery. Her black hair flows over her shoulders
and her dress is old, from decades ago. Maybe more than a
century.

“Selena?” I ask.

When her lips curve, a jolt of alarm shoots
through me. Selena is a ghost. There’s another first.

She turns and walks toward the hedge maze.
She looks so solid, so real, it’s hard to believe she’s not flesh
and blood.

“Selena,” I call.

“Not here,” she says.

I trip over a twig as I race after her. From
the corner of my eye, I see a group of people walking through the
trees. A tour maybe? I peer closer, trying to place Logan. He
mentioned doing hikes through here.

When I look back, Selena is walking into the
maze. I clutch my bag tight on my shoulder and follow her. “Wait.
Selena.”

I glimpse the hem of her white dress as she
disappears around another corner. “Follow me, Willow.”

I grit my teeth, racing after her. She’s
quick for a ghost. I round another corner, think I’ve found her,
but she’s gone again.

I freeze, irritated, when a cool breeze blows
against my cheek. I whip around and she’s standing there. Only five
feet away from me.

With a yelp, I back into the wall of bushes,
catching my hair in the leaves.

“I won’t hurt you,” she says.

My heart still slams against my chest at the
sight of her. “I‒you…” I blow out a slow breath, trying to compose
myself. “I heard you in the hotel.”

“He’s not who you think he is.”

I step away from the bushes and take in
everything. Her dress, the purple stone in her necklace, the
tendrils of her hair that tickle her collarbone. “Who?” I ask
softly.

She lifts her chin and the sound of voices
floats to us in the center of the maze. It’s the tour group. The
guide’s voice is low and male. I can’t tell from here if it’s Logan
or not.

“Do you mean Logan?” I ask.

“He wants the key,” she says, stepping
back.

“The key. Where’s the key?”

She gives a sad smile. “Right here.”

I scan the ground, hoping to find what she’s
talking about lying in easy view. When I feel another whoosh of
air, I gasp at finding her standing directly in front of me. She
reaches out, her finger close to my chest. “
You
are the
key.”

The cold coming off of her is so strong it
chills me to my bones. My breath catches and freezes in my throat.
I’m suspended for a long moment of disbelief. Then, in the blink of
an eye, she vanishes.

The voices are louder now, tourists standing
outside the maze somewhere. One of them definitely sounds like
Logan. If Selena is right, he wants me for some reason.
He’s
the one she was telling me not to trust.

I remember taking three right turns to find
Selena in the maze. So I walk back toward the entrance, taking all
left turns, my stomach churning. I’d kissed Logan. I’d told him I
heard a ghost. Does that mean anything to him? Is that why he’s
been so friendly?

Logan’s voice reaches me as he explains the
maze to the hikers. “Her family said she went crazy and would walk
in the maze for hours and hours, never able to find her way
out.”

Rounding the last corner, I step out of the
maze, and pause. The entire group is looking at me.

“Hey,” Logan says, grinning at me. “Looks
like this one was able to find her way out.”

There are a few chuckles. Most of the hikers
have packs on their backs or carry water bottles. They’re dressed
in long pants and sweaters, and look eager to try the maze.

“If anyone wants to give it a go,” Logan
says, gesturing to the entrance of the maze, “be my guest.”

They all walk inside. I hear voices and
laughter as they disappear until only Logan and I are left. He
turns to me instantly, hand sliding down my arm to take my
hand.

“Strange meeting you here,” he says,
smiling.

“I thought you took hiking tours.”

He shrugs. “Sometimes they see the maze from
the trail‒or get interested when I tell them the history of the
cemetery. I don’t mind. I get paid either way. We’re just finishing
up this one, so we took a detour.”

His fingers are warm on mine. I can still
feel the cold from Selena standing so close to me. Right now, I
wish she was here to tell me what to say.

“You okay?” Logan’s dark eyes are fathomless
when he peers into mine.

I nod, forcing calm. “Sure. I was doing some
exploring.”

“You should come on the hike then. It’s all
about the area around here.”

“Maybe I will sometime.”

When he smiles, it’s hard for me to remember
Selena warned me about him. Why can’t I trust him? He hasn’t done
anything to me so far. He’s been a lot more straightforward than
Ryan. And he kind of makes me feel like I’m drowning a little when
I stare into his eyes.

“How about we try again for dinner? Or we can
make a day of it tomorrow. More sightseeing, and then dinner
afterward.”

I want to say yes. I want to spend time with
him. And I want more answers. But tomorrow…tomorrow is the full
moon and I promised Ryan I’d leave in the morning. He’ll make sure
that I do.

“I can’t tomorrow,” I tell him. I bite my
tongue before telling him where I’m going to be. “I have a bunch of
errands to run and more research to do.”

“I can help. I don’t have any groups to take
out.”

Cold air brushes my cheeks and I swallow,
glancing around for Selena. It feels like she’s sending me a
warning. “I‒no, that’s okay. We can plan something for later in the
week, though.”