Page 8 of The Redd Key (Bone Coven #1)

T ime escaped me as the late afternoon shadows crept along the brick building where The Wicker Basket nested. In contrast, the door of the quaint shop cheerfully jingled its bells as the three of us waved goodbye to Anabel.

“You three enjoy dinner,” the crone called out to us. “Raina, welcome to Redd Hills. ” The warmth in her acceptance spread throughout me, thawing parts of myself that had been frozen from grief. Even though I just met these women, I felt indescribably connected with them.

As we turned the corner, I stopped. Just ahead were the crow, the fox, and “Ferran.” I greeted the grey cat. “I didn’t mean to be gone so long. You and your friends had nothing to worry about.” The feline trotted over to me, purring loudly.

“Oh!” Sarah said in surprise. “You’ve met Martin and Pilot, then?”

“Who?” I turned to look at her.

“Martin is my fam—” Bridget began to say.

“Pilot is my fox, and Martin is her crow.” Sarah interrupted. “Looks like—Ferran, did you say? Seems like he’s your cat!” She forced a gleaming smile.

“Yeah, I’ve seen them around. It sort of feels like they follow me everywhere.”

“They might be,” Bridget simply said. Sarah feigned, kicking her.

“Don’t listen to her paranoia. They’re not following you. They might just be a little curious. Completely harmless.” She shot a look of warning at Bridget.

The trio of creatures bounded and flew ahead of us as we strode up Peak Drive toward the diner on the corner. From what Bridget and Sarah told me, it was one of the few restaurants on the island. There wasn’t much of a social scene.

“So, your brother.” Bridget dragged the words out as we sat in the booth. She undid the napkin, unwrapping it from the silverware, placed it in her lap, and then lifted her eyes to mine. “Is he single?”

“Are you?” Sarah barked out at her. I laughed, a loud and cheerful laugh. With each passing moment, especially the ones like this, I felt myself relax a bit more, heal a bit more.

“I know I just met you both, but I have to say, I am so glad I have.” Promptly embarrassed, I immediately regretted saying anything. Was that weird? Did I make it weird? I felt my neck and cheeks turn red. Sarah reached across the table and squeezed my hand.

“Me, too,” she said with a loving smile.

“Not to make things weird, but I definitely feel like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants vibes are happening right now,” Bridget said as she straightened her fork.

“More like Practical Magic,” I suggested.

“Oh my god, yes!” Sarah all but screamed. “Like actual sisters.”

“I feel like we’ve been waiting for you, Raina. It’s always just been Sarah and I, but it feels different now, in a good way.” I smiled into my glass of water that the waiter set on the table. We politely halted our chatter and ordered our dinner to save our waiter the extra trip back to the table.

“Well, to answer your question—yes, my brother, Jeff, is single.” Bridget’s eyes snapped to mine, but Sarah curled her lip and raised a brow at Bridget.

“Ah,” Bridget said. “Well, I’m not.” She looked over at Sarah. “What? I was just asking!”

“Sure,” Sarah said skeptically. “I wonder if Chris would be ok with you just asking .” She raised a brow at Bridget.

“You mind your own business,” Bridget smirked.

The diner’s door opened, and the black-haired goth woman walked up to the counter to pick up a brown bag of take-out. The three of us groaned in unison. We all looked at each other and tittered.

“You’ve met Tamara already?” Bridget asked.

“I’ve seen her a couple times, very briefly.” I went ahead and described both instances, on the street and in Daisy Chic.

“She ran out of the store to a man?” Bridget pondered, knotting the end of a cornsilk strand of hair.

Our waiter set our food down as Tamara sauntered out of the diner in a huff.

“That must have been Cole,” Sarah deduced, and Bridget nodded, agreeing. “Cole Harlin is basically the village hermit. He’s been here a while, but he keeps to himself.”

“Except when he’s in Tamara’s pants,” Bridget snorted.

“You’re not wrong.” Sarah pointed with a French fry. “He lives on his fishing boat up at the docks. When he’s not out to sea, he’s coordinating the shipments. He’s in charge of everything coming and going to and from the island.”

“Jeff works at the docks,” I said.

“Does he?” Bridget became even more interested in the conversation than her veggie burger, half of which was shoved in her mouth.

“Cole is probably his boss,” Sarah added.

Pouring maple syrup all over the contents of my plate, I shrugged. “I don’t know who the guy was, but she seemed really familiar with him.”

“Tall, built like a brick wall?” Ketchup fell from the French fry Sarah used to draw the man’s frame in mid-air. I nodded in response. Sarah’s eyes lit up.

“He always wears his hair pulled back.” Bridget scrunched up her nose. “I’m not a big fan of a man-bun.”

“He doesn’t have a man-bun, B,” Sarah chastised.

“Close enough.” Bridget ate a forkful of her side salad.

“That was him, hair pulled back, but definitely not a man-bun.” I smiled, even though my mouth felt dry thinking about him . I took a deep breath, sighing louder than I meant to. Sarah gave a knowing look.

“Grams told me why you moved here.” She placed her napkin on her plate.

“You don’t have to tell us, if you don’t want to,” Bridget interjected, kicking Sarah under the table.

“No, it’s ok.” I placed my fork on the empty plate. Egg yolk was smeared on the porcelain from my breakfast-for-dinner. “It’s been an intense few months. And being here, with the both of you, is the first time I have felt like I can really breathe.” I looked down at my hands. “I mean, I get why my stepdad wanted to move here, where my mom grew up, but why did he have to move into her childhood home?” Something about the whole situation just didn’t sit right with me.

“Over on Mapleshade, right?” Sarah asked, tugging on one of her loose curls. She glanced towards Bridget.

“Yes, why?” My gaze shifted between the two of them.

Bridget turned in her seat to face me better. “For a couple weeks now, a few brush fires have been popping up over there. My boyfriend, Chris, is Chief of Police.”

“I didn’t know that.” I shook my head, thinking how lucky I was that a brush fire hadn’t broken out when I searched for the cove. The cove. An overwhelming urge erupted from me. I had to tell them about the cove. “Do you know about Bailey’s Cove?”

“Who’s cove?” Sarah tilted her head.

“Bailey’s, don’t you listen?” Bridget hissed. “Never heard of it,” she said to me.

“Oh.” my shoulders slumped. I was hoping they already knew about the magical place. Their inquisitive gazes searched me. “I don’t want you guys thinking I’m a freak,” I said honestly. All the intrusive voices in my head chirped up , telling me how much of a freak I actually was. I really didn’t want these two to ditch me so soon.

“You can literally tell us anything, and we won’t think any less of you. Martin and Pilot already gave their approval,” Sarah comforted me as if that was all the assurance needed.

“Well, I found a cove about a mile from the dead end on Mapleshade.”

“You’ve already gone exploring? Were you alone?” Bridget’s eyes darkened with concern, her voice low.

“Yes, should I not have been?” I shot her a puzzled glance.

“It’s fine, ” Sarah reassured me.

“I sort of…” I hesitated to say the words. “Well, I kind of already knew the cove was going to be there.” As if choreographed, the two women propped their elbows on the table and rested their cheeks in their hands.

“Go on,” Bridget said.

I took another deep breath. This time, as I exhaled, I released all hesitation. The tiniest voice in the back of my mind scratched at me, letting me know it was ok to just be me.

“My first night on the island, I had the most intense dream. I found the cove, and there was a man.” I chose not to dive into the details about the man resembling Cole Harlin.

“A man?” Sarah slowly smiled.

I chuckled, “Yes, a man.” I furrowed my brow, recalling the dream’s details. “I know I’ve never met him before, but I knew him. We recognized each other, as if we hadn’t seen one another in ages and were suddenly brought together again. It was,” I swallowed hard. “It was like coming home.”

“That is so—” Sarah threw her head back against the booth’s cushion. “I just can’t; that is so cute.” Bridget laughed at Sarah’s elaborate reaction. “Oh, come on, B, for real? Rai literally dreamt of her soulmate.”

“Yes, cute,” Bridget said shortly. “Though, I’m more interested in this cove. You found it? After you dreamt about it? And you’d never been there before?” She mouthed the word “wow.”

“Yeah, sort of freaky, right?” I fiddled with my straw, avoiding making eye contact.

“Have you ever done anything like that before?” she asked, and I shook my head.

“It was strange. In the dream, I felt like I was drowning and had to fight my way to shore. In person, the ocean was calm and serene. Like it was holding its breath.” I slid a finger around the edge of the water glass. “But when I found the cove in real life, I was alone. He wasn’t there.”

Something outside the window caught my attention. Across the corner’s intersection sat Ferran and Pilot, with Martin perched on top of the traffic light. It must have been getting late because not a single car drove by during the hour we were seated at the diner.

Bridget held her chin as if in thought. “Did you see anything unusual in the cove?” I proceeded to describe the stone pillars.

“They are enormous. Rough-cut, like they were torn from the side of the bluffs. Each one has jagged edges on all sides except for the one facing the ocean. They have carvings on the ocean side. I want to go back and draw them because I feel like they’re important—some sort of language, or warning, maybe…” I trailed off.

“ Hmm .” Bridget’s eyes narrowed, hoping to discover the meaning of the markings in my description.

“Too bad that man wasn't there. It would have been ‘mystery solved!’” Sarah draped an arm across the back of the booth. I forced a smile. None of it made any sense, and I couldn’t tell if I was glad or not that the man hadn’t been real. From the distance I had seen him, Cole did sort of look like the man from my dream.

“Your phone keeps buzzing. Everything ok?” Bridget asked. I purposely ignored the familiar vibration pattern. The text notifications came in rapid-fire.

“It’s no one.” My face flushed.

Sarah caught my bluff, so quickly as well, and looked like it was Christmas morning. Her curls shook with her head as she vibrated animatedly. She squealed, “You have a man?” I laughed , shyly, not really wanting to describe who Nathan was, but the phone vibrated a fifth time. The two of them stared at me for a hot minute.

“Fine,” I groaned. Unlocking my phone, I opened the unread messages.

Nathan:

I wasn’t done playing with you, doll.

Why didn’t you tell me you left?

Let’s see how long you’re able to stay away from me.

You know I love it when you beg, and you’ll be crawling back to me.

Be ready. See you soon.

The last appeared as I read the others.

My stomach flipped. Was he coming here…now? Nathan was on his way to Redd Hills, and I hated my body’s reaction to the news. The thrill of seeing him mixed with pure disgust, as tension swarmed inside me. I swallowed hard and looked at Sarah and Bridget. My face was burning.

“Something spicy, huh?” Sarah nudged Bridget with a smirk.

“Seems like it to me,” Bridget spoke languidly. “So, who’s the guy?”

“My old professor, Nathan.”

Sarah shrieked upon hearing the piping tea. “No way!” She giggled into her hands.

“Oh, that sounds ethical,” Bridget chuckled. “Did you at least pass his class?”

“Of course, I did!” I responded indignantly. “I’m a great student.”

“I’m sure he thinks so, too.” Bridget gave a coy smile.

“Vale-DICK-torian…am I right?” Sarah snorted.

The three of us burst into a fit of laughter.

The night air had a crisp chill to it as we stepped out onto the sidewalk, our laughter never ceasing. Sea salt and pine stung my lungs as I inhaled contentedly. My breath lingered in the air. As always, like sentries, Martin, Pilot, and Ferran were waiting for us.

“I think I will really like it here,” I beamed, and Sarah hugged me around my shoulders.

“I think so, too.” She leaned into me, squeezing me tight before letting go with a smile.

“For real, we’ve been waiting for a third.” Bridget pulled her hood over her long platinum hair.

“A third for what?” I walked backward to face her.

“ Charmed had at least one thing right. There’s more power in threes.”

“Only if you want to,” Sarah blurted.

“I don’t really know what that entails, but at this point in my life, I’m pretty much down for anything.”

“That’s what Nathan said,” Bridget delivered the line effortlessly.

“Oooh!” Sarah dragged out the word. We continued to my apartment, spilling all of Redd Hill’s dirtiest secrets and giggling over town gossip.

“You guys didn’t have to walk me back, but I appreciate it.” I hugged them both.

“Sure thing. We wanted to make sure the new girl didn’t have any stalkers yet.” The words were dry as they tumbled out of Bridget’s mouth. It would take me a minute to fully grasp her specific style of humor.

“Uh, guys,” Sarah whispered. Her eyes were wide, and she pointed down to the dark end of Peak Drive, where the buildings tapered off. On the edge of where the last streetlight illuminated the street stood a shadow of a man. Ice shot down my spine , and something told me to scream.

“Run!”