Page 108 of Haunted Hearts

“Ok good to know. Kwil, Jonah, did you feel any changes—"

As Theo begins gathering details and talks strategy, I glare at the waves crashing against the shoreline below. It’s not fair that this warlock has no rules to live by, but I do. He can abuse the power from this realm and use it topside with no consequences on his end while this realm suffers. My hands fist as I think about the unfairness of it all. The fact thatIcare enough not to throw everything at the warlock while we’re in the Realm of the Living and he doesn’t should give me some leeway in how to take him out. If he was here in this realm, then it would be so much easier.

My gaze sweeps across the shores of the beach, my mind a million miles away. No, that’s not true. Not miles. It’s a whole entirerealmaway. As I stand there half-listening, my gaze rakes across the shore. Movement in the sky pulls my attention upwards. I watch as a small flock of seagulls come in and land on the soft sand, far from the water’s edge. The sound of their cries drift all the way up to the window where I’m standing at and through the glass. I never understood the appeal of these types of birds. Nuisances really…

That feels like such a Viktor thought. Amusement breaks through my irritation and causes the corner of my lips to twist up into a smile.

A single seagull hops a few feet away from the group and pecks at something in the ground. It takes a moment for me to process exactly what is sticking out of the sand but when I catch sight of the white bone, it’s like I’ve been hit across the face with it.

That’s it. This is how we beat Fulton and give the Realm of the Dead what it wants.

I whirl around to face the others with a gasp. The noise makes them all tense up and turn to face me.

“Willow?” Theo asks, his voice twisting in concern.

“Theo, I did it!” I can’t stop beaming at him.

Jonah’s tail comes up to scratch his head. “Did what?”

Wind rattles the window as my power seeps out. Revenge brings my blood to a boil as it mixes with my excitement.

“I just figured out how to stop Fulton.”

Chapter34

BROCK

It shouldn’t get funnier watching Willow and her guys get sick every time we billow somewhere.

Yet, it does.

It takes everything in me not to laugh as all Willow and her four guys stagger out of the portal onto my property. I should probably have them do this more often, so they’ll get used to this way of travel. I did show Jonah how to settle his stomach, he must have forgotten the finger trick.

Jonah and Willow handle it the worst this go round. Both of them end up on their knees. Jonah, loudly gagging. Viktor bends at the waist, bracing his hands on the tops of his thighs, breathing heavily. Kwil’s hands go to his stomach and Theo’s entire being shakes as his face pales.

A chuckle slips out despite how hard I try to rein it in.

“Ok, someone here in the Realm of the Dead needs to create planes because billowing will forever suck,” Jonah groans before spitting into the grass.

“It wouldn’t work.” I offer him my hand first since he’s closest to me. When he looks up at me, there is a greenness in his cheeks that hadn’t been there before we left. He takes my hand as I add, “Technology doesn’t work here like it does in the Realm of the Living.”

“Well, that sucks—” His eyes widen as his cheeks puff out. With a groan, Jonah hurries away and empties the contents of his stomach.

I grimace as I help Willow up next. When she gets to her feet, I know I can probably let go, but after the past few days without her, I need the contact.

“Some realms have it where the floors, even the ground itself, would move so the people there never have to walk,” I tell everyone, thoughtfully. “Imagine coming here, from a place like that? In the Realm of the Dead, only reapers and a handful of other creatures can billow. If I couldn’t, we’d have to walk, or find horses, to travel any type of distance.”

Willow squeezes my hand as she gives me a weak smile. “What a weird sounding world.”

If only she really knew. Having been to many realms within the Realm of the Living, there is so much Willow hasn’t seen. Maybe one day, I’ll be able to show her. The thought of traveling worlds with my woman sends a thrill of excitement down my spine. Willow must have felt it because our eyes meet and the smile that pulls at her face is breathtaking.

I look away, unable to handle the emotions twinkling in her eyes or the beauty shining back at me. I hate any moment not staring into her face, but I know if I don’t avert my gaze, I’ll end up taking her down to the ground and having my way with her. I’vemissedher. Watching the guys struggling for hours, every day, trying to reach for her soul had me feeling utterly helpless. I don’t have the same connection to Willow they do, nor am I able to communicate with the realm, so I’d been forced to stand there and do nothing while she suffered.

My hand squeezes hers again. The only way to help her is to stop Fulton from using Death Magic and disrupting the realms, so that’s what I’ll do.

My gaze sweeps over my property. There are signs that the others have traveled up to my front door. The grass is trampled down in the usual path to Caveman’s house and a smaller, less worn down trail comes from a different direction that leads to Remy’s. Kwil must have noticed them too because he says,

“Ever get any privacy?”

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