Page 28 of Where the Roses Bloom (Gospels & Grimoires #1)

Willow

The baby came just before dusk.

Anita Mae Evers—red-faced and healthy, with a strong set of lungs. The doctor arrived just before the baby came, thank God, and had left a few hours ago with instructions for post-delivery care. I’d agreed to stick around longer, just so that both Jasmine and Caleb could get some sleep.

It was a good birth. Nothing went wrong.

It was almost too easy .

I stood in the kitchen, rinsing out a cloth, hands sore from Jasmine squeezing them.

My cell rang where it was tucked into my shoulder, trying to reach the landline back at the Ward house with no luck.

I was starting to get worried; Rhett had said he would keep an eye on things, and I hadn’t heard from him.

Was he okay?

While I was here…was something going wrong?

Even if he’d tried to hide it from me, I knew Carter’s death was bothering him.

From the get-go, Rhett had always claimed not to be superstitious—but that bouquet had rubbed us both the wrong way, showing up on the porch like that.

And the house…it hadn’t whispered the same way since Carter’s death.

The voices were different, wrong.

I didn’t know what was waiting for me back at home, and I didn’t like it.

“You headin’ out?” Caleb’s voice came from the doorway, soft enough not to wake Jasmine. He looked worn out in a way that only new fathers did—eyes heavy, shirt rumpled, but calm now. Settled.

I nodded, drying my hands on a kitchen towel. “Yeah, I think so. You two seem solid, and I should get home before it gets fully dark.”

He gave me a tired smile. “I think we’re good. Thanks for staying.”

“Of course.” I reached for my bag, slinging it over one shoulder. “Just promise you’ll call if anything feels off overnight. I know the doctor left notes, but still. First nights can be weird.”

He nodded. “We’ll be alright.”

I glanced down at my cell with a frown. “I’ve been trying to call my place since earlier, but I think something’s wrong with the line. Just static. So…probably call my cell, too, just in case.”

Caleb raised an eyebrow. “Old wiring maybe? My cousin’s an electrician in town, I could ask ‘em to go out…”

“That would be great,” I said, smiling. “Thanks, Caleb.”

I didn’t add that the last time I’d called, I’d heard what sounded like breathing under the static.

Didn’t seem helpful.

He didn’t press. “Drive safe, alright?”

“I will.”

A few minutes later, I stepped out into the evening, shutting the door behind me with a quiet click. The sky was sliding from gold to gray, clouds building low and heavy near the horizon. I felt it in my stomach more than I saw it—like the road home had lengthened while I wasn’t paying attention.

Just…tired. I was just tired.

I started the car and let it idle for a minute, rubbing at the knot in the back of my neck. The AC kicked on with a groan. I backed out of the gravel drive and turned onto the main road, heading west.

The trees thickened as I got farther from town, branches clawing into the dim light. I kept the radio off, thinking I’d prefer the quiet.

But the quiet wasn’t quiet.

There was a low hum under everything—beneath the tires on the road, beneath the wind threading through the crack in the passenger-side window. It almost sounded like someone whispering under their breath, just low enough that I couldn’t catch the words.

I was worried about Rhett. This was just the voice in my head, telling me Rhett was hurt, all paranoia…right? Things had been good since we’d broken the curse, like really good , and everything was going well…

What was that?

I rolled to a halt at a stop sign, peering into the dense trees. It didn’t even occur to me that this was the place until I saw the fresh wound on a tree trunk, a bit of police tape fluttering in the breeze. My eyes found the street sign at the intersection and my stomach churned.

Mill Creek Bend.

This…this was where Carter had died.

I knew I should’ve just kept driving, but I stayed at that stop sign, staring at the blowing police tape. There was every chance I was just tired, but it had really looked like there was someone standing in the ditch when I first looked.

My hands were shaking on the steering wheel, my skin clammy. I finally got my shit together enough to get going again, pushed the accelerator…

…and the engine sputtered.

Died.

I stared at the dashboard like it might change its mind. The check engine light blinked once, then went dead, taking everything else with it—radio, lights, the whole shebang.

“No,” I whispered, already twisting the key again.

Nothing.

The car was silent, like something had reached in and pulled the breath out of it.

I checked my phone. No signal.

Of course.

For one panicked second I thought about walking. Just opening the door and heading into the dark, cutting through the woods to the next house or back to town—until I remembered where I was.

I locked the doors.

My eyes were still adjusting to the dark when the temperature inside the car dropped. It had been unseasonably cool, but a comfortable cool for a southern September…and this was actually cold. So cold that I started trembling, teeth chattering.

I gripped the steering wheel tighter.

“Rhett,” I whispered, like maybe he’d hear me across miles.

And then the radio snapped on.

Just static.

And loud, incredibly loud.

My hand shot out to turn it down, but it seemed the radio wasn’t paying any attention to human control right now. I covered my ears, yanking my knees up to my chest, terror coursing through me?—

Knock knock knock .

“Willow? ”

My eyes jerked to the driver’s side window and I found a sight that made my heart soar: Rhett, standing in the dark, his truck idling on the other side of the street with the headlights on.

I unlocked the door and opened it so fast that Rhett stumbled back, then I was in his arms, clutching him like I might fly off into space if I didn’t hold on tight.

“Willow,” he murmured, pulling me to him, one hand on my back and the other in my hair as I shook. “What the…are you okay?”

“The car stalled,” I managed to get out. “I don’t—something’s after me?—”

“I’ve got you,” he soothed, stroking my hair. “I’ve got you.”

My eyes darted up to search for any lingering threat, but all I found was Silas leaning against Rhett’s truck, arms crossed, gaze averted like he didn’t want to intrude. That alone was weird, but what was weirder was the fact that he was holding one of my damn crystals clenched in a fist.

“You should get in the truck,” Rhett said, pulling back just enough to look me in the eye. “What’s in the car that you need?”

“Uh…” I struggled to remember anything but my impulse to get the hell out of here. “My kit, my purse. I think that’s it.”

He nodded. “Okay.” Then he looked over his shoulder. “Silas, help me push the Bug onto the shoulder?”

Silas moved forward wordlessly, heading over to the car and grabbing my stuff from the passenger seat. Rhett took another step back from me, eyes still locked on mine.

“I don’t want to get in the truck without you,” I whispered.

His eyes flickered to the tree line, then back to me. “But it’s safer there.”

Safe from what? I thought .

But, because I already knew, I said, “I’m afraid he can talk to me through the radio.”

Rhett gripped my shoulders tighter, and his next words took me by surprise. “I’m not going to let him hurt you.”

He knew.

“You just tuck yourself in by the truck, no need to get in,” Rhett finally said. “Let me push the car with Silas so no one hits the Bug, and we’ll call Beau to come and get it in the morning.”

“Okay,” I breathed.

Silas gave me a look…then he handed over the crystal: black tourmaline.

“Thought you might want this,” he said, then passed me my kit and my purse.

I clutched my belongings to my chest as the guys got to work, pushing the car to the shoulder.

I was safe…Rhett was here, and he and Silas both seemed to understand something weird was going on.

The sound of the guys grunting as they pushed the Bug was distant, muffled by the lingering static still buzzing in my head.

It hadn’t come back on, but the memory of it was enough—like the aftershock of something already passed but not yet over.

Once the car was off the road and Rhett gave it a final pat, we all got into the truck. I was still shaking, and Rhett reached over to twine his free hand with mine, expression solemn.

“You good, rosebud?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No…no, I don’t think so.”

And we drove into the night, leaving Mill Creek Bend behind.