Page 47 of The Shadows of Excess

I pushed myself up, feeling my legs tremble and threaten to buckle beneath me. Despite the weakness washing over me, I was determined to stand on my own. I needed to walk away from this place unaided to prove I was still in control.

“I can manage.” I offered Justice a shaky but determined smile.

He returned the smile, a gentle understanding in his eyes as he observed my struggle. “How could I forget your stubbornness?” he remarked with affectionate amusement. As he reached out, his hand lightly grasped my arm, not to take over but to offer support.

I glanced at his hand, my initial impulse to assert my independence. “You can let go of me,” I told him, a hint of stubborn pride in my voice.

He held on, a playful look in his eyes. “Humor me,” he replied softly, reminding me that I wasn’t alone, even in my moments of fierce self-reliance.

Damon was waiting for us outside, casually perched on the concrete porch balustrade. His legs dangled over the edge, swinging as he watched the street. “Took you two long enough.” His concerned gaze fell on me. “You okay? You seem to be fainting a lot, which isn’t you.”

“I know. Not every day you find out you’re a psychic, and when you touch something, it zaps you like a lightning bolt.”

Damon pushed off the railing. “No doubt about it.” He fixed me with a look that seemed to measure every reaction. “You’ve got the same ‘gift.’ Or curse, if you want to call it that. Like Mom had. Guess it runs in the family, huh? But hey, whether it’s a blessing or a bane, we’ll tackle it Grant style. Head-on and together.”

“It’s definitely a gift,” Justice insisted. “And a powerful one at that.”

He maneuvered me off the porch and down the steps toward the Fairlane. Something moved from the corner of my eye, and I froze.

Damon scowled and scanned the library parking lot. “What’s wrong?”

My heart thumped, and I whipped my head from side to side, searching for a shadow. “Did you see that? Something’s here. I think we were followed.”

Damon lifted his black stone pendant. “I thought this was supposed to protect us from demons.”

Justice pulled me closer. “It’s supposed to protect us from possession or magic spells, but Elijah didn’t say anything about keeping demons from following us.”

I couldn’t see anything. Maybe it had been a trick of the sun, but I didn’t think so. “Should we go see Elijah if we’re being followed?”

Damon’s expression hardened with resolve. “Looks like we’re cornered into one play,” he insisted with grim determination. “Elijah’s our guy. If that cemetery’s got secrets, he’s the key to unlocking them. Not exactly thrilled about being followed, but when has that ever stopped us?”

“True,” I mumbled.

“Don’t run,” Justice warned us. “We don’t want to alert them that we know of their presence.”

As we walked toward the cherry-red Ford Fairlane, our footsteps seemed to reverberate in the eerie stillness of the parking lot. It was the hardest thing to act like nothing was amiss. All my senses were on red alert, and every instinct told me to run, but I forced myself to move at an easy pace. I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone or something was watching us from the shadows.

Memories of our recent battle against demons and the shadow dragon at Hanging Rock flooded my mind, and a creeping sense of unease settled in my gut. The thought of revenge hung heavy in the air as if we were walking into a trap set by vengeful forces. Maci was a crafty opponent, and she wouldn’t let us carry our victory without a consequence.

Justice opened the passenger door for me, and I slid in beside my brother. As usual, Justice hopped into the backseat.

Damon turned on the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot without a care in the world.

I glanced at him. “Are we being followed?”

Damon scanned the surroundings with a skeptical eye. “Well, I don’t see any creepy Annabelle dolls or evil dark clouds tailing us, so there’s that. But with these shadowy types, who knows? They could be lurking around like a bad horror movie cliché, waiting for their dramatic entrance.”

I settled into my seat and glanced at the book Damon had tossed between the front seats. I almost reached for it but curled my fingers into tight fists. Being shocked again wasn’t on my fun-things-to-do list.

None of us spoke as Damon drove down Main Street to The Crystal Oracle.

From behind us, Justice mumbled, “I hope it’s open.”

Damon flashed a half-smirk, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. “If I’ve got the measure of our wizard friend, which I do, he’s probably already got the welcome mat rolled out for us. Or the trap set. With these types, it’s always a toss-up.”

I folded my arms. “Mom and I could be one of those types.”

He glanced sharply at me. “That’s different. You’re freaks, but then again, I’m a freak, too. And Dad’s king of the freaks.”

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