Free Sinful Instincts (Woodland Creek) by J. D. Hollyfield, Woodland Creek Page A

special.”
    “Ahh, that is where you’re wrong, Emma. Woodland Creek is anything but ordinary. The town resides on a ley line, which means it is very, very populated with the unknown.”
    “The unknown.”
    “Yes. Shifters, witches, you name it. The supernatural tend to flock to the same areas. They can be anyone. Your nosy old neighbor could be a shifter, and you would never know it.”
    I gasp. “Mrs. Peterson?”
    Sin chuckles. “Well, don’t worry, she’s not. I would have smelled it on her right away. She is actually a fae. A fairy, of sorts, which explains how she heard us last night when we barely made a sound.”
    Get out of town with that shit! “Okay, so wait,” I pause. “Let’s rewind. So, you’re telling me there is an unstable beast with a grocery list to open up the portals of Hell, this town is anything but the average small-town folk growing up and growing old in the land of Boringsville, and my ninety-year-old neighbor is a fairy?”
    “You are correct, smart one. How you follow so well.”
    I ignore his sarcastic remark toward me. Wow, now that is super nuts. I try and think of sweet, old Mrs. Peterson being anything but old and sweet. Then of anyone I’ve ever come across and wonder if they are really aliens. Marty the cook from the Bar and Grill always seemed off to me, but I would never suspect he was anything but a boring, forty-five-year-old hermit who still lived with his mother and gets off on playing video games.
    I shake off the thought. “So, how will you know what it is? This item. I mean, you say you need to find it before he does. Is that possible? And how do you know if this last item is really even here? I mean, you could be chasing something that no longer exists.”
    “I could be. But this wizard was convinced all items were alive or accessible.”
    “ Alive ? Like, as in a living person?”
    “That I also do not know. I know nothing. The details and clues are on the scroll Zander holds.”
    “And you need the scroll to claim the items. How do you know he doesn’t have all of them?”
    “I don’t, but once I catch him, I will determine what he has and doesn’t have. I will continue from where he left off, if that’s the case.”
    Very interesting. I mean, I thought that beer guy was the most interesting, but who would have thunk it? “Man,” I mumble to myself. I shake my head, trying to wrap my brain around all this new information. “So, what happens if it’s a human who carries the magical item?”
    “They die. It’s just a sacrifice they carry.” Well, that’s kind of sad and somewhat disturbing at the same time.
    “What happens if it’s, like, a baby?”
    He doesn’t even hesitate before he responds. “Then he or she will die.”
    “Geesh, really? That’s kinda messed up!” I exclaim.
    “It’s the steps I am willing to take to give Gabriella peace.”
    “You know this is all really messed up, right?” I respond.
    He just nods. Okay then . “For what it’s worth, it’s just a small theory. All items have been mainly objects. There was an eye of a very rare Shetland sheep that is only bred in the European Region. That has been the only sacrifice of anything living so far.”
    I consider his theory. Still so sad, if you ask me. And of course, my fat mouth shares that thought. “I feel like that is all just so sad. Like you deserve more than living in a world of vengeance.” I speak without really thinking. My thoughts are trying to wrap around this poor man’s hatred. I’ve hated and I’ve been suffocated by revenge, but to let it consume me would be letting the enemy win.
    Sin leans in closer, pressing his rough hand to my cheek. “I won’t tell you again, Emma.” His breath warms my skin. “I can smell the overwhelming sense of pity pouring from your veins. I told you. Do not pity me.”
    I lean into his touch, closing my eyes as I listen to his deep, alluring voice. A sound that is so threatening and soothing all at once when he