Shadowhurst Mysteries

Crystal of Doom: Book 7

Be careful what you wish for because when you get it, it might be bad. So, so bad…

Turns out, our return to Shadowhurst wasn’t as blissful as I thought it would be. My father, Cathan, King of the Faerie, and his fae henchman are here hiding in our world.

Finding them will take a miracle.

Meanwhile, my brother and his girlfriend are stuck in Faerie until we can figure out how to get them out without destroying the fae.

And we have no leads to solve either problem.

It’s fine. Everything is fine. Just another wild and crazy day in Shadowhurst.

EXCERPT

Chapter 1

Billie

Click. Clack. Click. Clack.

The sound of Peyton clicking her pen drove me insane. Perched on the foot of her bed with her legs crossed and her eyes darting from me to River, she looked like a serial killer in training. I sucked in a breath and watched her blink furiously, clicking that stupid pen again. “Are you going to keep doing that the whole time or?” I asked, hoping she got the clue.

She didn’t.

Peyton giggled and gave the pen a few more taps to annoy me. “Girl, after that story, you’re lucky I’m not screaming.”

After River and I passed through the portal from Faerie, we made a quick stop at both our houses then headed straight here. I knew Peyton would be in a knot worrying about what happened and I hated freaking my best friend out. River agreed, though I had the feeling his rush to get to Peyton’s house had more to do with getting away from his stepfather than anything else. Unlike him, I wished I could stay with the Chandlers for longer. 

It turned out that Vic was right, and time truly did work differently in Faerie. Though we felt we had been gone for days, it had only been hours back in Shadowhurst. So weird. 

“And Logan and Sav stayed? Just like that?” Peyton asked. She was piecing everything we told her together, and I wondered how much we shocked her with our story. Aside from the annoying pen situation, it was impossible to tell. Peyton was, as always, relaxed. Well, as relaxed as she could be. It was hard to tell with her sometimes. 

I chewed my bottom lip and reached for River’s hand. He entwined our fingers together without a thought, stretching his body at an impossible angle to reach me from his spot on the floor. Smiling, I turned to Peyton. “They didn’t have much of a choice,” I explained. “It was either Logan staying or me, and we all knew I had to return. The fae need all five elements to connect to and with Cathan gone, there was no other solution.”

“Ah, yes. Your bastard of a dad.”

I shot an exhausted smile her way. “Yep. He’s a tool. Surprise, surprise! I have another questionable parental figure.”

Even before I finished the sentence, my heart dropped. Guilt tugged at the back of my neck, and I rubbed it aimlessly, digging at the knots forming there. After everything that happened, I somehow found myself hating Beatrix less. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t pleased with how she raised me, but the thought of her no longer burned tears into the rear of my eyelids. At least, not all the time. 

I steeled my spine. No point thinking about her now; she’s not here to help. 

“Any ideas on where Cathan might be?” Peyton asked.

“Not even the slightest.”

River’s fingers tightened on mine and I felt our mate marks heat up. “Finding him is our priority,” he said. River was different here, back in Shadowhurst. More determined and much more short with his words. It was as if all the control he lost in Faerie when Cathan used him to get to me came barreling back. Now that we were on familiar ground again, he was in his element. His eyes glowed a deep green, and I could sense the wolf under the surface of his skin through our bond. River was pissed. He had every right to be.

I was too.

My shoulders crept up, and I smoothed them down, pressing my back to one of a million pillows on Peyton’s bed. As I loosened a breath, I let my eyes wander around the room and a rogue grin crept to my face. It felt like forever since I’d been here. And was it me or did Peyton add more color? I spotted a glass figurine of a cat on her computer desk and stifled a laugh. “Did some redecorating, huh?”

“Ugh!” my best friend groaned. “Morgan got her hands on the place. I have no idea what that thing is, but she said it brings good luck so it’s staying.”

“It’s cute.”

“It’s super creepy,” Peyton countered. I noticed her lips curl up at the edges. “But my parents love it. And her. And she’s amazing with Kai. It’s annoying. Like the kid probably wishes she was his big sister and not me.”

I smiled. “You guys are good?”

Beside me, I could tell River was over the conversation as he started scrolling on his phone. 

“We’re great,” Peyton said. “More than great. She’s helping a lot at the resistance house, which has been amazing. I hate all the responsibility, and having her there makes it better. Can you believe even the shifters listen to her?”

River’s ears perked up at the mention of the shifters. He stretched his legs, rolled his neck, and got up to stand. “I’ll be right back,” he said, heading for the door. “Going to call Aiden and the pack.”

‘Let them know we’ll be there after this,’ I thought through our bond.

River nodded and slipped out of the room. 

When he was gone, I continued my inspection of Peyton’s bedroom, memories of our sleepovers crashing through me. Things were much easier when I first moved to Shadowhurst. Sure, there was a murderer on the loose and the High Coven was up in my business twenty-four-seven, but still. I didn’t have Cathan to worry about. Or Faerie. Or anything else, really. 

I missed those days. 

In front of me, Peyton crammed a strand of red hair into her mouth and chewed on the tip. “How are you really?”

I considered the question for longer than I should have. “I don’t know,” I finally admitted. “Everything is so messed up. I don’t know what Cathan is going to do now that he’s here. We know he wants to get rid of the witches and shadowers, which is bad enough, but we don’t know how or when. I should have killed him when I had the chance.”

“Girl, don’t even,” Peyton said. She scooted closer and took my hands in hers, not remotely bothered by the slick layer of sweat on my palms. “You did everything right.”

“I don’t know if that’s true. If I did everything right, why is Cathan still alive? Why are Logan and Savannah trapped in Faerie? Why don’t I know how to fix it?”

My breathing grew shallow as my pulse thundered against my temples. Goosebumps raced up and down my arm and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t fill my lungs with enough air. It was as if they had forgotten how to work. Eyes wet, I glanced at Peyton. “How come every time I make a decision, I mess it all up?”

“Are you kidding?” my best friend asked, appalled. “If it wasn’t for you, we’d be in even deeper shit. River never would have found out about who he truly is, you would have been back in Stamwick following the High Coven like a dumb little shit, and I’d be hiding out in this boring ass town and doing some lame job my dad would have picked for me. I could have been an accountant, Billie! A freaking accountant!” 

I chuckled. “And you’d be single.”

“And that,” she agreed. “See? You did good.”

“It doesn’t feel like I did,” I whispered. 

She patted my hands, then smacked me on the thigh. “You know what your problem is?” Peyton asked. I readied for the long list of issues I knew would come pouring out of her mouth. Instead, Peyton said, “You don’t trust yourself enough. Or others. Are things kind of crap right now? Sure. Is there a chance Cathan succeeds and wipes everyone off the Earth? Of course.”

“Your pep talk is inspiring.”

“What I’m saying is that all of these things would have happened with or without you. And even if they didn’t, other garbage would have spewed out. Life isn’t perfect. We get what we get, and we do the best we can with it. The witches are alive, your friends are alive. We’re all here and we’re all fighting. That has to count for something.”

I frowned. “Not all of us are,” I choked out. “Alive, that is.”

A silence passed between us as we thought about Tyler and the others we lost along the way. It was so quiet, for a moment, I thought neither of us would speak again. This, of course, is never the case with Peyton. In a flash, she hopped off the bed and ran to her bedside table, digging through the mess of items there to find her phone and knocking down a stack of books in the process. When she jumped back on the bed, there was a mischievous glimmer in her eyes and nausea rose up my nose at the sight. Whatever Peyton had in mind now, I was sure to hate it. 

“I know exactly what you need!” she exclaimed, shoving the screen of her phone into my face. 

I scrunched my nose and tried to concentrate on what she was showing me, confusion settling deep in my gut. “What is this?”

“Dresses. For the dance.”

“What dance?”

Peyton smirked. “You’re joking, right? The school dance. Next weekend. It’s only the biggest thing at Shadowhurst Academy. How did you forget?”

I didn’t know how to tell her that I didn’t forget. You can’t forget what you never knew existed. My life had become a mess, and I didn’t even notice it happening. The thought of going back to the academy made me cringe and, even though I knew I couldn’t very well not finish high school, I still despised having to go back to class. How was I supposed to think about math and science when my dad was off Goddess knows where planning to destroy my world? I sighed and scrolled through a few more pictures, each one featuring an over-the-top ensemble that I wouldn’t be caught dead in. When I reached the shoes selection, I had to put the phone down. 

“Yeah, I don’t think I’m going,” I said.

“Oh, hell no!” Peyton shrieked. “You are going, young lady. We are going to get decked out and dance and have fun. It’s only one night and we need it.”

My throat closed up, and I swallowed warm saliva, suffocating in my own body. “It doesn’t seem right to party when Logan and Savannah aren’t here.”

“I’m not sure if you noticed, but those two are in Faerie. FAERIE. I don’t think they’re going to care if you go to a dance. They’re probably having the time of their life over there, frolicking with nymphs and riding dragons.”

I laughed. “For the third time, there are no nymphs or dragons.”

“Whatever,” Peyton huffed out. “You’re going.”

I looked down at the phone and tried not to gag in my mouth at the unbearable high heels staring back at me. A gust of air flooded the room and I froze, the sweat pooling at the base of my back as River threw the door open and walked in. He sat at the edge of the bed, brushing a thumb under my chin and locking our eyes together. “A dance sounds fun,” he said.

“How did you even know we were talking about that?” 

River pointed to his ears. “Wolf hearing. Get over it.”

“Freak,” I bit out with a smile. 

We both turned to a bouncing Peyton on the other side of the room. How she made it there so fast without me noticing was beyond me. The girl was a ninja. For sure. Peyton squealed and shoved more wayward hair into her mouth. “You’re going?”

I shrugged. “I guess. But I’m not wearing any of that. And there’s one thing we have to do first before any kind of fun happens.”

“What’s that?”

I looked to the window, eyes spanning the large expanse of the Lings’ backyard. “We have to find Cathan.”