Mortal Mayhem: a Gloam Hollow Cozy Mystery (Gloam Hollow Cozy Witch Mysteries Book 2) by Jane Lenore & J.L. Vampa

Author:Jane Lenore & J.L. Vampa [Lenore, Jane & Vampa, J.L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-10-29T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Iam not built for exertion.

“Lacuna,” I gasped, hands on my hips and basically doubled over but still moving—at a snail’s pace. “Didn’t you say you rode your bike up here?”

My friend laughed. “I rode my moped. Big difference.”

“I was about to say, whatever your legs are made of, they should be studied.”

Lacuna stopped and I made no qualms about it. “It’s just past this copse of trees but we have to leave the path.”

Nodding, I chugged my water. “Can I just ask why we didn’t ride the moped? Can mopeds hold two people?”

Lacuna laughed as if I wasn’t completely serious. “Come on.”

“Little petite Sprite of a woman,” I muttered (not kindly) under my breath.

There were a few narrow misses of branches to my face, but we cleared the trees and I followed Lacuna to what looked like your typical rock face.

She turned to me, wringing her hands. “Promise me you won’t want to end our friendship for not telling you about this.”

To be honest, I didn’t know if I should bark a laugh at the absurdity of her statement or be scared. “Lac, need I remind you that we have a lot of years of friendship under our belts?”

“Okay. But I also need you to promise not to tell anyone.”

That one gave me pause. How could it be something that serious? And if it was that serious, what were Millie and Andrew doing out here? Was it why Aunt Millie was acting so strange and not sleeping? She’d seemed just fine to me this morning and so had Andrew…

“Lac, I’ve got your back. If you’ve unalived some people and buried them out here, we might have to have a chat, but barring that level of sinister behavior, we’re good.”

She let out a long, slow breath and I watched her shoulders lose some of their tension. “It’s not sinister. At least, I don’t think it is. But—” Lacuna looked toward the rocks then back to me. “I’m not completely sure anymore.”

Well, that didn’t sound good.

“Lead on, my friend.”

As we approached the rock face, it became clear that it was actually a cave mouth essentially camouflaged by the rocks. That made sense why Millie would say she’d found something she’d never seen before. Until we walked right up to it, the cave was completely invisible.

“You may not be able to see me in here,” Lacuna explained. “My Shadow Nymph powers blend with the air in the cave.”

Now that piqued my interest. Lacuna had velvety night skin but it was only a few shades darker than Aramis’s unless her Shadow Nymph powers were, for lack of a better term, activated. When that happened—and it was rare—Lac was shadow.

“Oh my Goddess, I’m so ready for this,” I whispered, excited. This took a fraction more of the tension out of my friend and she stepped into the cave.

Dear Reader, I was not, in fact, ready.

The moment we stepped inside, Lacuna all but disappeared. There was a preternatural fog in the cave, so thick that I wouldn’t have been able to see her even if her powers hadn’t ensconced her in shadow.

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