Page 44 of Haunted Eclipse

I bit into a crispy drumstick, savoring the flavor in my mouth. Astra was right. I could feel it in my bones. Midnight Point needed me. And I needed her.

Morning arrivedand Astra was waiting for me as I padded down the stairs. The “snow event” had turned into a full-blown winter storm, and we had accumulated seven inches of snow in the yard so far. That was, seven inches ofnewsnow, bringing us to a total of ten.

“Well, we always seem to get the most snow here in January and February,” I said, yawning as I turned on the espresso machine. Astra had made breakfast—oatmeal with cinnamon and brown sugar and raisins, and sausage on the side. “So this is par for the course.”

“True that. Listen, I already called Nightshade. She asked if we could come over later this afternoon. My car’s good for the drive, so I told her yes.”

“Sounds good to me.” I fitted the portafilter into the machine after tamping down the coffee, then pulled three shots for a steaming hot mocha. “Want some?”

Astra nodded. “That sounds lovely. Triple shot for me, as well. It’s a cold morning out there, and even though I had double-pane windows installed, they only stand up to so much cold weather. I had to turn up the heat again this morning.”

I settled at the table with my oatmeal. “So, if we have the kitchen widened, when do you think it might happen?”

Astra smiled, then. She handed me a bowl filled with oatmeal, and set a platter of sausage links on the table. I added a little half and half, and a little milk to my porridge, then some butter and stirred it all together. One big bowl of cozy carbs, I thought. Perfect for an icy morning. I took a long sip of my mocha, then settled back as the heat flooded through me.

Miss P. jumped on the table, sniffing at the sausages, and I shooed her down. “I’ll feed you later,” I said.

“She ate. I fed her at the same time I fed Dahlia. She was knocking against my legs, threatening to topple me. That girl has muscle on her.” But Astra laughed.

She had come to love Miss P. and lately, had taken to trying to teach her how to stand up and dance. If I tried it, Miss P. would have given me the evil eye, but she seemed to dote on my aunt, and the two had bonded in a way that almost made me jealous. Almost, because Miss P. and I were already best buddies.

“Well, then, you’re lying,” I said, leaning down to scritch her behind the ears. Miss P. gazed up at me and let out a purp, then pranced away, her tail unfurling like a feathered wand.

Astra opened her tablet and brought up the local news. “Hmm…one of the Henderson boys has gone missing,” she said, frowning. “He was last seen three days ago. At first the deputies thought he ran away, but they found his phone and tablet, and his wallet. No kid would ever leave those things behind. At least, no teenager.”

I frowned. “Is there anything to indicate what might have happened?”

“No,” Astra said. “And even worse, they checked all the security cameras on the ferries for the past three days and there was no sign of him. They film every single person and car that enters the ferry, so if he was in a car, he’d have to be lying down in the back seat.”

My stomach twitched. “I don’t think they’re going to find him alive,” I said, glancing up. “I just…I have a really bad feeling about this. I wish we could do something. Are the search parties looking for him? There are a lot of wild places on this island, even though it’s fairly small.”

Midnight Point wasn’t just the name of the town, it was also the name of the whole island. And while the town covered a sizable amount of the island, that still left a lot of forested land. There were also sea caves that flooded during high tide. If he’d been mucking around in one of them, there was a chance he could have drowned.

“It says the search and rescue parties are out in full-force. He might have fallen and hit his head. Hypothermia wouldn’t take long to set in during this storm.” She sighed and moved on to the next article. “Oh, Stuart’s up for reelection this year.”

“Do people like him? I mean, he’s a nice guy, but what’s the general consensus on his performance as sheriff?” Since I had moved back to town, I needed to catch up on local politics. I wasn’t an activist, but I did my best to keep abreast of current events on both a local and national level.

“They do. His approval rating in several polls runs higher than seventy-five percent, which is almost unheard of. But Stuart’s made a name for himself as sheriff. I suspect he may eventually run for governor.” Astra glanced at me. “Fancy yourself a politician’s wife?”

I sputtered, almost spitting out my oatmeal.

“I do not, and I’ll thank you not to start rumors. I told you, he has a girlfriend and I have no designs on becomingthe other woman. I like Stuart, but I don’t know if I’d date him, even if he was free. I think we’ll do better as friends.”

Astra handed me the tray of sausages. “Well, you know best. And truth be, I think you might be more than Stuart could handle. He’s a very by-the-book person, and I don’t think that he’s a wolf shifter who would date far out of the Pack.”

“Oh, I think he’ll date out of the Pack. He dated me, if you’ll remember. But as far as marriage and settling down? Stuart needs a wolf shifter who will wait for her man at the door when he gets home, and who will raise the kids and take care of thehouse. He’s not a chauvinist, but he likes his traditions.” I laughed, then. “I can’t believe we’re even talking about this. It still seems so surreal.”

“Sometimes life is like that—one change causes a ripple effect, a cascade of shifts.” She paused to eat some of her oatmeal, then said, “I’ll stop teasing you about Stuart. I know you and he aren’t meant for each other, but I can’t help but remember the nights when he’d show up on the doorstep and you’d race out to meet him.”

“I thought I loved him,” I said, remembering those days. “I thought I knew what love really was. I guess I did, for my age. But I’ve learned along the way that there are so many kinds of love, and very few of them lead to the altar. In some ways, I don’t know if I want to ever get married again. The pain of Dan’s death still haunts me…but then I’ll think about all the good times we had, and I’ll wonder if maybe I can have that again.”

I set down my spoon and picked up my latte mug. The mocha had a slightly bitter taste to it, enough to give me a nice jolt, but then the sugar hit and the peppermint, and smoothed it out.

“Why didn’tyouever get married?” I asked. “Haven’t you ever met anybody you wanted to marry, here in Midnight Point?”

“Well, there have been a couple of men who caught my eye, but then I found out they were married, or confirmed bachelors. One was a teacher at the Midnight Manor Academy, but after we went on a couple dates, I realized that he was gay.”

“Was he looking for a beard?” I asked.

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