Shadowhurst Mysteries

Town of Illusions: Book 4

People I love are vanishing one by one… and so are my memories of them.

Every day here at Shadowhurst is a dream, but not the kind you think.

In this Goddess-forsaken town, things come to die. But as the only one who can remember those who’ve disappeared, I should do something. That would be a lot easier if my magic wasn’t on the fritz.

If I don’t at least try, it will be bye-bye for everyone in Shadowhurst.

With absolutely no plan and more fear than I’ll ever admit to having, I’m diving in the deep end. Hold on tight, it’s going to be a bumpy ride…

EXCERPT

Chapter 1

Billie

“Who’s Morgan?” Peyton’s words tore through me, slicing my heart like sharpened daggers. 

I had only been back from the retched entrapment of the cavern for a day and already trouble had caught up with me. Somehow, Shadowhurst would not let me breathe easy. Looking around at my friends gathered in Peyton’s backyard, I could almost taste their confusion at my question and it made me nervous to speak again. There was no way none of them remembered Morgan; it simply wasn’t possible. People didn’t vanish into thin air, and even if they did, they were not so easily forgotten. 

Of course, this was Shadowhurst, and stranger things have happened. Granted, usually, those strange things involved the High Coven I was apparently at war with after my betrayal of siding with the shadowers. Though none of that was my fault. The shadowers were innocent bystanders and a product of the coven’s evil dealings with magic; not that any of that mattered to the witches I used to think of as family. They hated the shadowers almost as much as they hated me. At least as much as I assumed they hated me these days. 

Witches didn’t disobey the High Coven. They just didn’t. 

Until me.

Behind me, River’s chest rose and fell against my back, offering a small amount of solitude in the darkness creeping over my mind. I still couldn’t believe no one here remembered Morgan, but mostly, I couldn’t believe Peyton didn’t. From what River told me, those two had grown quite close since I was gone. 

I laughed under my breath at the thought; gone was a funny way of describing what I’d been through the last week. And as it turned out, I was about to go through a hell of a lot more. 

My eyes scanned the yard again, then landed back on Peyton. “Guys, come on,” I urged my friends, “you’re joking, right?”

“Babe,” River whispered against my neck. “You sure you’re feeling okay?”

Definitely not. Not by a long shot. 

The sun rose above us, spreading its golden rays over the yard and casting sharp shadows on my friends’ faces. From this angle, the bunch of them resembled sinister characters from a campfire ghost story, though I knew that was only my imagination running away with me again. These people were my friends—my family—and whatever was going on, there had to be a reason for this. 

They were playing a trick on me. That had to be it. 

“River,” I said, forcing a smile, “you’re not serious. Where is she? Are you guys setting me up?” I pulled out of River’s embrace and looked around the yard. “Morgan! You can come out now! Joke’s over!”

Everything was so quiet that I could hear the light rustle of water in Peyton’s pool when the wind picked up. My eyes darted around the empty backyard, counting to ten in my head to give Morgan a chance to jump out of the bushes and scare me. These tools better have a good explanation for doing this the first time they see me after that cavern garbage. Not cool. 

When Morgan remained out of sight, I crossed my arms and turned to River. “This isn’t funny anymore.”

“B, no one knows what you’re talking about,” Peyton said, concern coating every word. “Maybe this was a bad idea, getting you out here. You should probably get some rest, girl. We can all catch up tomorrow at school.”

“She’s right.” River nodded. “Come on, I’ll take you home.”

“I’m not going anywhere until you all stop acting like weirdos and tell me why Morgan isn’t here. Did something happen? Did she get hurt?”

Across the table from where we stood, Savannah and Logan exchanged shrugs. Their faces grew ashen before me and I fought the urge to snap at them to speak their minds. At least I attempted to. Before I could stop myself, I was crossing the distance between us and shoving my face right in Savannah’s. “You two know something. Spill it,” I hissed. 

“Look,” Savannah said, unimpressed. “I get you’ve been through some shit, but you best take a step back before we have a problem. Listen to your boyfriend and go home. Relax. And stop spewing crazy crap, it’s weird AF.”

My jaw clenched and I balled my fists, ready to take her down, when fingers wrapped around my wrist. I swirled to see Ms. Broussard’s narrowed eyes on mine, her shoulders rising to touch her ears. 

“Billie, dear,” the shop owner said sweetly. “You’ve been through a lot, and we all understand the toll exhaustion can take on someone’s body. Your friends are right, you need your rest. There is nothing like a good sleep to cure a clouded mind.”

“My mind isn’t clouded,” I ground out. “If you guys wanted to mess with me, today is not a good day for that. It’s tacky.”

“Drama queen…” Savannah breathed out, earning herself a well-directed death glare. 

I peeled my gaze from her and studied the rest of the people in the yard. Behind Savannah and Logan, Raiden wrapped an arm around Mel to pull her into him. Worry settled in the creases of both their brows and the two shifter leaders stared at me, unblinking. It was eery, to say the least and I had to look down at my boots, suddenly finding my shoelaces to be extremely interesting. When I could no longer feel their heated eyes on me, I dared to glance at the remaining three witch hunters in the group. Abigail was as disinterested in my outbursts as she normally was, occupying herself with petting Tyler’s chest instead. Beside them, Jayden opened and closed his mouth like he was trying to think of something funny to say. Luckily for all of us, he kept his thoughts to himself, choosing to run his fingers through his hair while watching me. His dark eyes scanned my face in the same manner I assumed shrinks used when they were trying to rate your level of crazy on a scale of one to ten. Judging by his expression, I was falling close to a solid forty-five and it made me all that much more confused. 

What if this wasn’t some trick? What if they actually didn’t remember Morgan?

My head pounded and my mouth dried as the realization hit me. If I was the only one who knew Morgan existed, we were in deep shit. Something was going on and I had no idea what it was. I hated not knowing; it was a fate worse than death as far as I was concerned. 

Slowly, River came to stand next to me and the woodsy scent of his cologne invaded my senses. His green eyes deepened in shade as he searched my face before pressing a palm to my cheek. “Babe…” He whispered, running a finger across my chin. “Let’s just get you home and we’ll figure all this out later.”

“I’m not crazy,” I snapped and shook him off. “I know what I remember.”

“No one is saying you’re crazy, but you’ve gone through hell. It would make sense your mind is all over the place right now. Maybe this is just a by-product of what happened to you in that cave.”

Could he be right? I didn’t want to believe it, but my time in the cavern did mess me up real good, and there was no telling what else happened while I was there. I mean, I made up Naomi, so who’s to say I wasn’t doing the same thing with Morgan? There was little we knew about the fae magic I experienced while I was imprisoned in that damn place. Maybe this was part of it. 

Squaring my shoulders, I turned to Vic, the only other witch in our messed up group of friends. 

“Can fae magic do this? Make me remember someone that never existed?” I asked. 

Vic’s brow scrunched and she shrugged. “No clue. But I’ll look into it.”

“Thanks,” I said. “This doesn’t make any sense! For sure no one is messing with me here?”

They shook their heads in unison, making me feel even more insane than I already was. This wasn’t a trick my friends were playing, and if it was, they deserved to win awards for their performance. Still, I wouldn’t peg them to do something like this; there was no point to it. They were my family, and family didn’t make someone feel batshit crazy for no reason. Something was wrong inside my brain—something that was making me remember Morgan as though she truly existed. This couldn’t be good. 

And I’m officially going insane. Wonderful. 

Whatever happened to me left a mark, one that was threatening to shatter my reality, and I dreaded every second of it. Inside, magic slithered against my skin and I stifled it back down. The last thing I wanted was to lose control in front of everyone. It was bad enough I was acting like a lunatic, they didn’t need to see my magic explode on top of it. Whether or not Morgan was real, I couldn’t break apart right now. At least not completely. 

Keeping my act together was the only way to get through this, and while I still didn’t completely believe I made Morgan up, I was willing to give my friends the benefit of the doubt. 

The cavern showed me so many lies, and I believed each one at my weakest point. Morgan could be nothing more than a figment of my imagination; one that seemed so real I couldn’t wrap my mind around any other option. 

Either that or I was certifiable, and I wasn’t willing to accept that yet.

I wasn’t nuts—I was just coping. 

Turning on my heels, I faced Peyton. “Meet you in the parking lot before first period tomorrow?”

“You bet your ass, B!” She beamed up at me. “I’ll bring the snacks, you bring the coffees. Some of those fancy ones Thomas makes with the cinnamon sprinkles.”

“How come we don’t get coffees?” Savannah asked with a smirk. 

“Keep the ‘tude in check and we might consider it.”

Peyton winked, and I struggled to smile against my better judgment. 

Heart still pounding, I entwined my fingers in River’s and leaned into him. His warm breath fanned my face and I let my shoulders sag as I pushed the panic away. Whatever was happening to me wasn’t ideal, but I couldn’t let the cavern win. I patted the small stone in my pocket—a staurolite as it turned out—and thought of Naomi, the imaginary friend I made in that prison. All I had left of her was the stone, and I carried it with me everywhere as a reminder to keep my head clear and my emotions in check. Maybe I could find another knickknack to do the same with Morgan. An item to keep me grounded while I attempted to have a normal life yet again. Thinking of Morgan threw me for a loop and I searched the backyard again for a girl I wasn’t even sure was real. My body tensed and sweat pooled at the base of my neck while I tried to collect myself. Near to me, River’s brow furrowed as he looked me over, worry settling in every corner of his eyes.

Great. One day back and I already had a massive headache and two imaginary friends. Way to go, Billie. Awesome way to cope with the shitstorm your life has become. Just freaking stellar.