Shadowhurst Mysteries

Book of Darkness: Book 2

All I wanted was the normal life of a teenager. What I got was a deathtrap.

My name is Billie Stonewall, and I’m smack dab in the middle of a potential disaster. Again.

You’d think playing a key role in putting the witch who terrorized Shadowhurst behind bars would earn me a few points, but no such luck.

When my best friend informs me that a secret shadower resistance wants me dead, the normal life I thought I’d earned flashes before my eyes.

Now I must stay a step ahead. Of course, that would be a lot easier if everyone in town didn’t want me dead. Then, there’s the little problem with my boyfriend. He’s part shapeshifter and at any moment now, his animal side might come out to play. If that happens, no one will be safe. Not even me.

Watch out, world! Things are about to get really interesting.

EXCERPT

Chapter 1

Light trickled in through the half-shut blinds in my room, and I groaned as they blasted their incessant rays into my sleepy eyes. I’ve been up for half the night, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. It was almost two weeks since Peyton’s return from her meeting with the shadower resistance leaders, and it’d been absolute hell ever since. Between trying to calm down River’s constant need to protect me and my best friend’s insistence to go undercover again, I’ve had my hands full. Not to mention the witch hunters that treated me like enemy number one, though that was mainly Savannah’s doing. No matter how hard I tried to picture it, I couldn’t imagine ever being friends with her, but most days, that didn’t bother me one bit. I had other things to worry about. Like the weird shadows that slithered amid my magic that I still had zero information on, and I sure as hell couldn’t ask the High Coven about it; they were riding me hard enough after what happened with River’s mom. I needed no more of their attention drilled in my direction.

I had no idea how this happened, but somehow, I went from hiding the fact that I was a witch from everyone in Shadowhurst to being the most talked-about gossip in town. It was exhausting. 

My phone buzzed on the nightstand next to my comfy bed and I rolled my eyes before turning the screen over. It was likely River checking in again because Goddess forbid I didn’t text him every ten minutes of the day to let him know I was safe and not being chewed to pieces by a shifter or some shit. Don’t get me wrong, his concern was sweet, but I’ve spent most of my life fending for myself with no one’s help. I should have told him to back off weeks ago, but I didn’t have the heart to do it. Besides, his worry only meant that he was around all that much more and having myself a piece of River was not something I could say no to. The boy was just too yummy to pass up. 

By the time I dragged my sorry ass from bed and showered, it was already past seven. Moving with extra speed, I tossed on a clean band tee and jeans, threw my hair in a messy bun, and bolted for the door. My eyes were still foggy from lack of sleep and as I made my way down the long hallway of the main house, I could hear Imala’s laughter fill the kitchen. Her infectious happiness tugged at my heart and I couldn’t help but smile each time she was around. Since they took me in, the Chandlers have become a second family of sorts, one I didn’t want to take for granted, and I made certain they knew how much I appreciated them letting me stay in their guest house. For people who thought they were harboring a troubled teen from the city, they definitely treated me awful nice and I vowed to do nothing to make them regret taking me in. 

My clumsy feet creaked on the hardwood of the posh Victorian-style house as I walked to the front door, and I cringed as the sound echoed down the hall. 

“Billie, dear? Is that you?” Thomas’s voice called after me and I froze in my tracks. 

“Uh, yeah?” I yelled back. “Be right there!”

Despite walking the fine line of being late to school this morning, I couldn’t say no to Thomas’s signature lattes and scones. Sure enough, as soon as I walked into the kitchen, the smell of baked blueberry rushed by me and my stomach growled in anticipation. I rounded the corner to the open-concept kitchen and plastered on the most welcoming smile I could manage; which for me was likely more of a scowl, but whatever, it was the best I could do at the moment. 

“I know you’re late,” Imala cooed and wrapped an arm around my shoulder before leading us to the kitchen counter, “but you absolutely must take a scone to go. Thomas got up early to bake enough for the entire neighborhood, it seems!”

She eyed her husband, narrowing her beautiful brown eyes his way before shaking her head. 

“Any time you want me to stop cooking for you, say the word,” Thomas teased. “But last I remember; it was why you married me.”

“That among many other things.” Imala winked at me and I stifled the laughter that bubbled in my throat. Those two were so in love you’d never know they’ve been married for ages. 

I shoved the undeserving jealousy back down into my gut and reached out to Thomas, grabbing the paper bag full of scones and to-go coffee cup from his hands. My stomach did somersaults thinking about digging into both when I got to the Shadowhurst Academy. 

“Thanks,” I said, smelling the contents of the bag. “This smells delicious, as always. You guys are the best!”

“I’m quite certain she’s talking about me,” Thomas joked and elbowed Imala in the ribs before pulling her in for a kiss. 

They were still kissing when I made a beeline for the front door and surprisingly, I didn’t feel like upchucking last night’s dinner at their display. Most kids would hate seeing their parents all over each other, but the Chandlers weren’t my parents, hell, they weren’t even my foster parents, and their affection toward each other made me smile. I could only wish to be that in love with someone after years of being together. It was adorable and I was all for it. But today, I was more for not being late to registration for Fall classes.

The cool and familiar breeze of Shadowhurst hit my face as I stepped onto the front porch, waking me up with a jolt of icy air. Unable to wait, I dug my teeth into one of Thomas’s infamous scones and hopped on my bike. Shadowhurst Academy, here I come!

* * *

“B! Over here!” Peyton yelled out as I pulled my bike into the campus car lot. 

My best friend’s face was beet red like she’d been running for hours, and her hair was unusually messy. Today, she sported her token leather shorts and a tank top held together by a hundred pins. Even from where I stood, I could see her neon-pink sports bra peek out through the holes, and I wondered how she could be so comfortable in her body to show it off without a care. But Peyton was a shadower, a soul sucker, and if there’s anything I learned about shadowers while being friends with Peyton it was that they never took life for granted. If there was something they wanted to do, they did it without question. I was positive that having the High Coven and all the witches of the world on your ass and trying to kill you had a lot to do with that. If someone threatened my existence daily, I’d be living life pretty wild too. 

Peyton’s cheeks puffed and she narrowed her black-lined eyes in my direction before running to catch up with me. “Girl, finally! We thought you weren’t gonna make it in time.”

“We?” I asked, looking around the lot. 

It took only a second for me to spot River behind her. His wind-blown hair fell over his forehead as he strode toward us, and I had to all but wipe the drool from my face as my eyes trailed the taut muscles of his chest while he walked. The unfairly tight button-up he wore hugged his chest in all the right places, and I had to curse the Goddess for the distraction she was blatantly shoving my way. River was nothing if not a fine piece of man and I still couldn’t believe that by some luck, I somehow ended up dating him. Mostly because he was a witch hunter and I was, you know, a freaking witch. But we made it work, and I wasn’t complaining about getting some one-on-one time with the sexiest boy in school. Don’t get me wrong, I was still freaking out like crazy, but that was mostly because River was so sure of me and our relationship. I, on the other hand, had no idea how to act like a normal person around him. Until River, my dating pool has been limited at best, and I found myself playing the role of a girlfriend without a script to go by. If a girlfriend was even what I was to him; I seriously had no clue.

“Dude, you’re drooling…” Peyton whispered between clenched teeth. “Get a handle on it.”

I stepped past her to meet River halfway. As soon as he was near me, my body set ablaze and I felt my thighs quiver with the need to wrap themselves around him. Calm your shit. You’re in school. I forced my gaze from his biceps to meet a set of brilliant green eyes and choked back a gasp. He was damn perfect. Like I said; no clue.

“Hey gorgeous,” River whispered, and I died. Like actually, dead. “Glad you made it.”

He wrapped one arm around me, his fingers tracing the waistband of my jeans, and crashed his lips to mine. On instinct, my fingers reached for the back of his head and I ran them through the silky waves. River’s tongue brushed against mine and I moaned into him, unable to stop myself. 

“Get it, boy!” Someone yelled out behind us and I froze, my lips still pressed to River’s, body as stiff as a surfboard. 

I pulled back and peered over his shoulder to find Jayden climbing out of the passenger seat of Tyler’s truck. The token jester of the witch hunter group had grown on me since we first met, and despite his arrogant attitude and ill-timed jokes, he was one of my favorite people in Shadowhurst. Jayden tossed his backpack on his shoulder and zipped up his varsity jacket before coming our way. Behind him, Tyler helped Abigail out of the car, and she flashed me a fake smile before dragging her boyfriend away from us. I guess I still had some work to do to gain her trust, but that wasn’t surprising. It wasn’t every day that witch hunters befriended a witch, and I knew it would be a long while before they accepted me into their group. 

River brushed his lips against my ear, and I jolted my attention back to him. “They’ll come around, don’t worry,” he whispered, making me relax into his arms. This guy knew just the right things to say to make me feel safe and I loved every second of it.

“Don’t stop the make-out sesh on my account,” Jayden teased. “Some of us haven’t had action in months. Am I right, Peyton?” 

“Speak for yourself!” Peyton chuckled before looping her arm under his to lead him into the quad up the hill. 

She was kidding, of course. If my best friend got any action, I’d be the first to know it. Unfortunately, Shadowhurst had a limited number of bachelorettes and I was fairly certain Peyton had no interest in any girl at the school. I wished I knew someone to set her up with, but the last time we talked about it, all she said was that she had bigger things on her plate at the moment. I couldn’t blame her. If a shadower resistance wanted to recruit me into their ranks and was threatening to kill my best friend, I wouldn’t worry over dating either. Except it was me they wanted dead and somehow, I couldn’t keep my mind off River and that damn dimple on his left cheek no matter what I tried. What the hell was seriously wrong with me? Ew. 

“Couldn’t sleep again?” River asked, running a thumb under my chin to tilt my head up to face him. 

I sighed. “Nope. Can’t get my stupid mind to stop reeling.”

“You know I have your back in this. You don’t have to worry so much.”

“I’m not worried, hunter,” I hissed, unable to keep my annoyance under control. “If those shadowers come after me, I can handle myself.”

River’s laugh echoed down the lot and I noticed Peyton glance back ahead of us. Her eyes studied me, making sure I was all right before turning her attention back to Jayden. Somewhere along the line, everyone in my life started treating me like I was breakable, and I was sick of it. 

“I know you can,” River said. “I’m just saying that you don’t have to go it alone. That’s what my job here is. You can dump your shit on me and I’ll take it.”

“Thanks,” I said, embarrassed by my earlier outburst. “Sorry. Guess I’m not used to having people around that care.”

“Well, get used to it! Because we do care and we’ll be around whether you like it or not.”

My eyes narrowed at Peyton’s retreating back. “Yeah, don’t I know it,” I scoffed. “Do you think she’s right? That we should let her go meet the resistance again and see what’s up?”

A frigid gust of wind wrapped around me and I scooted in closer to River’s side as we walked. His arm pressed against my hip, pulling me in until there was no space between us and the warmth of his solid body filled my bones. Perfection.

“I don’t know. But it might be a good call. She’s the only one that can get close to them and we need to know if their threat to kill you is anything we should worry about or if it’s empty talk.” 

“I don’t feel comfortable putting her in that kind of danger without being there to protect her.”

“I’m positive she feels the same way about you,” he said. “I think you have to let her do this.”

I grimaced. Mostly because I knew he was right. There was no stopping my best friend once she had her mind made up and fighting against it would only put a rift between us I didn’t want. I had to let Peyton go back to the shadowers and the thought tore me apart. The resistance had rubbed me the wrong way since we found out it existed. It was rare to have all three shadower types work together, and having them all unite to fight against the High Coven’s oppression scared me to no small degree. What was even worse were those damn leaders Peyton was so eager to meet again. Anyone strong enough to lead a group of uncontrollable shadowers had to be super—like scary strong—and one wrong move could cost Peyton her life. Unfortunately for us, they wanted my best friend to join them, and as it turns out, to kill me in the process.

“You know,” River said as we made our way to the main quad, “at some point, you’ll have to stop second-guessing yourself. You need to trust yourself and your choices and you have to trust your friends, it’s the only way you won’t drive yourself insane.”

“I’m not driving myself insane.”

His lips pressed to my forehead and I felt him smile against my skin. “You can’t fool me, witch.”

My skin crawled and I forced a smile to my lips, but it never reached my eyes. Trusting people was easier said than done, especially since this was the first time I even had friends. Trusting myself was way the hell out of the question. There was too much doubt in my past choices for me to let myself go like that again. I trusted Beatrix, and she turned out to be the worst damn mom ever. I trusted the High Coven, and they lied to me every chance they got. So far, the only people in my life that haven’t broken my trust were Peyton and River, and I wondered how long it would be until the other shoe dropped. How long until one of them betrayed me?

The bell rang out and panic filled my chest. I pulled back from River, tugging on his shirt to pull him behind me. We darted through the groups of students that littered the quad, jogging to the Main Hall like our lives depended on it. As we ran, I promised myself to spend the rest of the day figuring out how to calm my shit and not spin out of control. Trust may have been off the table, but I didn’t need to be a walking time bomb. All I had to do was worry about getting through registration and take it one hour at a time. Lucky for me, Shadowhurst Academy worked on its own weird schedule and once we got our schedules and sat through a day of boring assemblies, classes didn’t actually start for another few weeks. It was a weird break to have in between two semesters but I wasn’t complaining. Any chance to sleep in was fine by me.  

Beside me, River’s fingers squeezed my own and the woodsy scent of his cologne invaded my senses. I can do this. It’s just school, no biggie.

“B! Hurry your skinny ass up!” Peyton yelled out, holding the front doors of the main building ajar for us. 

My smile widened as I sprinted up the steps, River right behind me. Just another day at Shadowhurst.