Page 12 of A Grave Girls' Getaway

They must not have answered because she left two voicemails. Then, over the next few hours, she kept calling and leaving more voicemails and text messages. I was disappointed that she couldn’t reach them, but I couldn’t say I was shocked. Ian and Veritas had taken an extended honeymoon to parts unknown these past several months. Even Bones hadn’t talked to them in a while, and he was Ian’s only living family member.

“I’m sure they’ll call back,” Denise said, trying and failing to sound optimistic. She was married to a vampire, so she knew they didn’t measure time the way humans did. It could take them days to check their messages, at least.

“In the meantime, let’s get you cleaned up—”

“Don’t bother.”

The words came out of me, shocking us both. I’d thought them, but hadn’t expected my mouth to form the words.

“Testing, one, two, three,” I found myself saying.

Denise leapt forward and hugged me. “You can talk!”

“Seems so,” I said, now trying to move, too. Still no motion in the limbs, but were my toes and fingers wiggling? With Denise blocking my view, I couldn’t tell.

“Off,” I said, and Denise jumped back.

“Sorry, did I hurt you?”

I could laugh, too, apparently. “Not then, but can we never play ‘shark and chew toy’ again, even if that was a great way to get us out of there?”

“Don’t worry,” she said, shuddering even though she was smiling. “It’s been killing me not to leave you so I could brush my teeth, like, a thousand times.”

I laughed again, and then gasped when I saw my hands and feet. Yes, my fingers and toes were moving. The spell was finally starting to wear off!

Denise’s face suddenly drained of color, and she stared at something behind me.

“What?” I said, trying to turn around and failing. All I could do was crane my neck a little, and it wasn’t enough to see what was behind me.

“Company,” Denise said in a strained tone.

“Yes, company,” an unknown female voice replied, followed by a wave of supernatural power that almost knocked me over even though I was still braced against the couch.

From the power stinging me like dozens of angry hornets, our “company” wasn’t human, and she also wasn’t alone.

Denise visibly tensed, but she planted her feet and didn’t move. “All of you, don’t come any closer.”

“Begone, mortal,” a new voice said, and Denise was suddenly yanked up by an invisible force and hurled out of the cottage.

I was strafed with broken glass before I tried and failed to stand. My feet and hands only made weird, jerking movements while the rest of my body stayed put.

Dammit, the spell wasn’t wearing off fast enough!

“Don’t get up,” said yet another new voice, with an undercurrent that was more ominous than seeing how Denise had been magically swatted away as if she were a pesky fly. “I promise you that this won’t take a moment.”

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