Page 64 of Bait N' Witch

Already, her aged figure was fading, as Rowan’s had in the woods. “It’s all right. I’m going to be with your grandfather now.”

The moment too much to process, he could only nod. He stared at the face of a woman he’d known such a short time in life, but whose love he could feel radiating throughout the room. He stared as she faded to nothing, till only a shadow of her eyes lingered. And then…she was gone.

But where was Rowan?

He glanced at his girls, who stood in their trance, unmoving. They waited in silence for what felt like an interminable age. Then Chloe gasped.

He couldn’t see anything.

“We can see her,” they said in unison.

“Where?”

“Here.” A few long moments passed before the girls spoke again. “Rowan? Can you hear us?”

A pause and he held his breath.

“Can you get back to us?” they asked next.

He couldn’t see her or any reaction from his children. Just nothing. “What’s happening?”

“Watch.” Atleigh nodded to the spot toward which she was talking.

As he watched, suddenly the blurry vision of a woman started to materialize. At first so faint he couldn’t see her features, the lines and edges of her face and body came into sharper and sharper focus. “Rowan,” he whispered.

He started forward, but the girls held their circle closed against him. “Wait.”

It took every ounce of willpower not to rush across the space to Rowan’s side, but he did as he was told. Sure enough, her figure started to solidify before his eyes. The process was agonizing to watch. If Rowan’s ragged breathing and pained expression were anything to go by, the process didn’t appear pleasant to experience, either.

Finally, with a gut-wrenching moan, Rowan fell to her hands and knees, whole and with him, heaving with the effort.

At the same time, the girls let go of one another, the glow disappearing as they blinked owlishly, almost seeming lost. He had no idea who to run to first.

“We’re okay, Dad,” Lachlyn said.

“Rowan needs you,” Atleigh added.

He didn’t even remember crossing the room. He just knew he was at Rowan’s side, pulling her shaking body into his arms. “You came back to us.”

She took a shuddering breath, her entire body quivering. “Your grandmother…”

Her voice was hardly a whisper, and he smoothed her hair back from her face. “Shhhh… Rest now. My grandmother helped you, but she’s passed on. She’s with my grandfather now, she said.”

She sagged, her eyes fluttering closed, the lashes starkly dark against her too-pale skin. “You shouldn’t love me,” she mumbled just before her head lolled back, out cold.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Soft sunlight filtered through Rowan’s closed eyes, but she had no desire to wake up and face the world. Not yet.

“Sorry. But you must get up. Now.”

Rowan frowned at the female voice annoyingly trying to pull her out of her slumber. She knew that voice. “Delilah?”

“I’m here. And I’ve let you sleep as long as I could. You need to get up and shower and dress. We have a meeting to attend.”

A meeting? What in the eye of newt was the woman going on about?

“With the Covens Syndicate.” Right then, the sound of a feline growl had Delilah swearing. “And get this damn cat away from me.”

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