Free The Witches of BlackBrook by Tish Thawer Page B

Inn.
    Trin gazed out the car window, awestruck by the opulence that surrounded her. The mansion and landscape had changed so much since her last true visit, and she couldn’t wait to explore the infamous Rose and Italian Gardens with their fountains, statues, and columns, even under the winter chill.
    “Oh, Caris. This is so beautiful. I wish we had more time to spend here.”
    “We can always come back, you know,” Caris offered.
    Trin looked at her friend, “You’re right of course, and next time we’ll bring Jason and Kit. It would be so much fun exploring together.”
    “Let’s get checked in, then we can light a fire and order some late tea.”
    “That sounds perfect,” Trin beamed. Being back on her native soil was doing wonders for her mood. She couldn’t wait to return when it was warmer and sink her feet back into the sand upon which she played as a child. The now public beaches were private back then, but that didn’t stop a few determined children. Trin chuckled internally at the thought of she, Kara, and Kenna splashing in the waves as they each made a wish upon a seashell, spelling them to glow as they skipped over the water’s surface.
    Check-in was quick and easy and their room was quaint and comfortable. “I can’t believe what a joy this little day trip has turned out to be.” Trin turned towards Caris. “Thank you, again, for bringing me here.”
    “It’s always heartwarming to come home,” Caris winked with a gleam in her eye.
    Trin’s curiosity at the innuendo was on the rise when Caris’s cell phone rang from within her pocket.
    “Hey, cuz. What’s up?” Caris asked.
    “What? Oh my god, Jason, are you all right?”
    Trin sat on the bed, waiting for the news as Caris paced the room.
    “Where were you when it attacked?” Caris demanded, her voice rising and full of panic.
    Attacked? Oh no. This did not sound good. Trin’s first thought was an accident relating to his job as a police officer, but something in her gut told her that was not the case. This was magical and Trin could feel it in her bones.
    Darkness speckled her vision, and the room began to spin as Trin fell backwards onto the bed. Her eyelids fluttering as images overtook her.
    Jason was walking back to the house from the shed, when he was suddenly surrounded by a thick, black fog. Fingers coalesced from the mist then closed around his throat. He dropped to his knees, fighting to stay coherent as the life was being choked from his body. Dropping a hand to the ground, he spotted a jagged piece of tourmaline. Digging through the snow with his bare fingers he retrieved the shard and impaled the “hand” that was crushing his windpipe.
    Trin snapped to when Caris cried out. “We’re coming home right now. Stay in the house and we’ll be there as soon as we can.”
    Trin only nodded when Caris finally looked at her.
    Luckily, they were able to explain the emergency to the innkeeper and didn’t have to pay for the brief visit. They were out the door and on the road within minutes.
    “I’m so sorry, Trin.”
    “Don’t you dare apologize. Jason thought something was after him at the pond, and now, with this...we need to get back.”
    Caris drove in silence while Trin spent the next few hours lost in her own head. She was worried about Jason, of course, but suddenly she began to question why she felt invested in something that was happening with people she had only just met? She supposed it could be chalked up to the connection they felt through their magical energy, but Trin now wondered if she wouldn’t be better off distancing herself from the entire situation. Demons, magical curses, and phantom attacks weren’t something she needed to add to her plate.
    Four hours later, resolved, Trin backpedaled and asked Caris to drop her off at her house first, making the excuse of wanting to give the two of them their privacy. Waving goodbye, she unlocked the door and exhaled a sigh of relief when she was safely within