Free Soulless (The Heartless Series Book 2) by Kelly Martin Page B

who can vote and legally drink in the UK can be brought down to Earth by their mother.
    I hear her let out a long, slow breath on the other end of the line. “Are you feeling better?”
    Can’t say I was expecting that. “Yeah, why?”
    “Because when I’ve called three times a day for three days, Sam said you had a really bad stomach flu and were resting. I wanted to come up there, but he said he was taking care of you. Now, Gracen, I know what you’re thinking, but I honestly gave him the benefit of the doubt like you keep saying you want me to do. I kept my distance, but it’s been pretty dang hard. Now tell me, really, are you all right? Do I need to come up to Crimson Ridge?”
    “No,” I say much too quickly. I make myself cringe. Yes I want her there. God knows I do. It’s an incredibly bad idea, though. A very. Bad. Idea.
    She doesn’t say anything for a minute, and I’m pretty sure I’ve hurt her feelings. Then I hear another voice in the background on her side. “Who are you talking to?”
    I freeze.
    I know that voice.
    I haven’t heard it for a while, but I know it.
    Aunt Willow.
    “Gracen.” My mom’s voice is mumbled like she’s put her hand over the receiver and doesn’t want me to know she’s talking about me.
    “Mama, is that Aunt Willow? Is she there with you? How?” I have more questions, but those will have to do.
    “She called me from Shadybrook three days ago. Said she was feeling much better and wanted to come home.”
    “And you just went and got her?”
    “No, I didn’t just go and get her. Really, Gracen. Do I seem that stupid to you?” Mama’s in a snarky mood. Oh good… “I talked to her doctors, and they said she made a miraculous recovery. She can talk in full sentences again. She’s eating. She knows her name and all that. It’s amazing.”
    I look outside where Hart is throwing the last of the bodies—the bodies of the people he said would never recover. If Willow did, then why couldn’t they?
    “That’s good. That’s… great.” Something isn’t right. It’s not adding up. As I watch Hart toss dirt onto those poor souls, I can’t help but wonder if I’ve been lied to this entire time. What if you could get better for whatever reason? What if a person could live after being infected by a demon?
    What if those people died for nothing?
    I can’t breathe.
    “Gracen, is everything all right?”
    My mother’s concern is evident, and I go on autopilot. “Yes… yeah, I’m fine. I’m great. Nothing to worry about. I promise.”
    “Seriously, do I need to come there? Willow and I…”
    “No!” I scream into the phone so loudly that even Hart hears it from outside.
    He stops shoveling dirt, and his gaze meets mine. He doesn’t look happy. That’s good because I don’t feel happy.
    “No,” I try to cover up my initial freak out. “I’m… look, it’s not safe out there. It’s better if you just stay home and take care of Aunt Willow. I’m sure she’s happy to be home.”
    “She wants to see you, Gracen. She asked to come and see you.”
    My sweet Aunt Willow. All that time with Hart in her head, and no way to communicate with me. What would she have been like to have as an aunt? I guess I don’t even really know. When I meet her, it’ll be like meeting her for the first time, only Mama can never know that.
    “Not now. It’s too dangerous.”
    There is a pause. “Who told you it was too dangerous? Sam?”
    Speaking of, he’s walking up the patio steps with the shovel thrown over his shoulder. With his stature and his wide shoulders, he reminds me of a lumberjack. Most definitely someone who was born in a different era. Not how he looks, specifically, but how he walks. How he carries himself. Sam was born about twenty years ago. Hart… well, much much longer ago than that.
    My mom is fixing to go on one of her tirades again. I can tell because she has that tone. Anytime she’s accusing Sam of something, her voice gets an unusually high