Free The Screaming Stone: The Otherworld Series Book 2 by N.K. Vir Page B

that she and the goddess were one and that any hope of separating them was just a dream.  Others wiser in such things had convinced her otherwise.  If there was a way, any way at all to separate herself from the goddess she had to take it.
                  “It might not be there you now,” spoke a strangely soothing voice.  “Those answers that you’re looking for, they could be a lot closer to home.”
                  She barely contained a chuckle in response.  “You were the last and strangely enough the first person I would want to chase after me,” she admitted.
                  “For a moment I thought you might have run in the opposite direction.  But in the end I realized this place would always hold more power over you.  Maybe it holds a strange power over the both of us.”  Annie nodded slowly in agreement, her eyes refusing to tear their vision from her ultimate goal.  “Are you sure the answers are out there?”
                  “Yes,” she answered quickly.  “I need to know where reality ends and begins.  I need to know if what I am feeling is coming from me or her .  Ireland has answers that I will not find here,” she responded trying to sound as cryptic as possible.
                  “I understand,” replied a whispered response.  “But are you sure it’s not a little closer to home?”  Annie closed her eyes as a warm human presence closed the distance between them taking off a chill she hadn’t realized existed.
                  “We both know that there are answers there that can’t be found here, I think we can both feel it,” she replied.  “Why did you follow me?”
                  A gentle pair of hands settled on her shoulders and she felt herself unwillingly drawn back against a warm solid chest.  “That I would have thought was obvious,” he responded.
    “Enlighten me.”
    “No matter what I will always have your back,” he answered easily as he placed a quick kiss on top of her windblown head.
    A stray tendril of his hair tickled her cheek and despite her earlier disposition found herself laughing at the strange sensation.  “When are you going to cut that mop of hair?”
    “Maybe I’m like Sampson and it’s where I get my strength from,” he responded with a deep chuckle.  “Now Annie let me ask you a question,” he said as his voice grew serious.  “When was the last time she ruled your thoughts?  And I’m not talking about when you get angry,” he said resting his chin on her shoulder.  “Because aside from the magick she tends to spit out of you when you are angry I think a lot of that anger comes from you.”
    She seriously contemplated the question before attempting to give an answer to something she still did not really understand.  “She never completely overtakes me she’s just sort of always there and speaks really loudly whenever I get really angry.  Honestly sometimes I feel like I am going crazy.  I just want to hear me in my head,” she finished summing up the real problem.  If her friends had not witnessed the strange events that had occurred over the past few days she would be checking herself into a hospital convinced she had had a mental breakdown.  The way things were now she still wasn’t convinced she hadn’t.  She turned to face her inquisitor.  Her eyes were first drawn to the small sword strapped faithfully to his hip.  He knew they were illegal but he insisted on carrying it with him even though she had begged him not to.  The corner of her mouth kicked up in a grin as her eyes found his face.  “You could get arrested walking around Salem with such a big sword.”
    She felt his deep laugh resonate against her chest as he spoke.  “That’s what all the boys say,” he replied as he fluttered his amber colored eyes at her.
    She slapped his shoulder in response as she shook her head in wonder.  Just a few short days ago