Page 31 of The Defiant Curse

Michael was to the point.

“Your body language changed. What are you feeling?” he asked, concerned.

Elizabeth was honest.

“Yeah, not a fan down here,” she admitted. “I don’t know why, but I don’t like it. It feels off to me, and when shit feels off, I know to avoid it.”

Spoken like a Marine.

They’d all said that to her more than a few times while doing protection duty. They relied on their gut instinct, and more often than not, so did she.

Scanning the horizon, he didn’t see anything off, but now, Michael was acutely aware that it was getting colder. Then, much to his surprise, he saw a mist coming across the lake.

Oh.

Fuck.

It was thick, and ominous.

That hadn’t happened since before the baby’s bones were put back with her mother. Now, it was again, and he didn’t want to stay down there.

If Elizabeth was picking something up, the woo-woo might be happening again. That he didn’t understand, simply because they’d solved everything.

Or they thought they did.

Only, now, for some reason, it appeared to begin picking up again.

And he didn’t like that.

Not.

At.

All.

It was time to abort this mission. Michael knew when to stay, and when to retreat, and this definitely felt like the latter.

“Well, then, let’s head inside the castle. I know that Graham is dying to meet my mom,” he said, wanting to get her out of there—and himself too.

At his suggestion, she patted his arm.

Honestly, leaving here was fine by her. Maybe it was the night air, or maybe it was the mist, but she had a chill—more than she had anywhere else.

And she didn’t like it.

“Works for me,” she offered.

Together, they tucked tail and got the hell out of there. As they were walking back up the incline, Michael saw something when he turned his head to look back.

Oh, and it horrified him.

Not far from where they stood along the bank, there were bubbles in the water.

Where exactly?

Well, right where they’d gone diving for Catherine’s remains. In that exact same spot, the water was churned up, and reacting.

But reacting to what?