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Finally, the front door was in reach. Hope coursed through me, and a second burst of energy electrified my veins as I barreled toward it. My shoulder crashed into it, sending a shock of pain down my arm, but I didn’t let that stop me.

Before I could grab the handle, the slab of wood burst open, blinding me with sunlight. I stumbled down the stairs, and oddly, fell to the stone walkway in slow motion. It was just like in a nightmare or a scary movie, where you tried to move as fast as you could but no matter what you did, it was as if you were slogging through mud.

I had to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. In my terror and with adrenaline tearing through my system, I giggled as I righted myself, and then the tears came.

It pissed me off, the loss of control I had over my own body. This was all so stupid. What the fuck was wrong with me?

There was no way I was going to check if the man was following me. I may have been dumb, laughing and crying my way out of the mansion, but I wasn’t that much of an idiot.

My body screamed at me in protest as I took off at yet another run, flying down the driveway and then into the woods—just like last time. Once I was safely ensconced under the cover of trees, I leaned against one and sagged, resting my hands on my knees.

When I glanced down, I realized I had the little pearlescent bone pinched between two fingers.

And then a crow hopped into view right by my ankle, cocking its head and staring up at me.

CHAPTER 8

Brittney

Rolling the bone between my thumb and index finger, I eyed the bird and canted my head, mimicking its actions. “What are you doing, bird?”

My voice had come out all strangled and breathy, and I tried to take slow, deep breaths. Of course, the creature didn’t answer. It just ruffled its wings and then started jabbing the ground with its beak.

I was fucked. Sooooo fucked. The right thing to do would be to bring the stolen item back to the house, but there was no way in hell I was doing that today. Or maybe, ever.

What the hell had happened to that man that he felt he needed to scare people like that?

On the other hand... what if he was the real deal and really was some kind of monster? Monsters shouldn’t be that hot though. Should they?

His theatrical garb was either worthy of Hollywood, or I truly had happened upon some kind of mythical being. On the one hand, how freaking awesome would that be? But on the other, I didn’t want to be some kind of sucker and automatically think I was the one, lone person to discover a vampire or whatever he thought he was or called himself.

But what... if?

Shoving my hair back with a trembling hand, I scanned the surrounding woods and then plucked the elastic band from my wrist and tied my hair back. My head felt like it was full of cotton candy as I tried to make sense of what had just happened. My survival instincts were telling me to stay away, to give up trying to find my grandfather’s jewelry but the other side of my brain, the side that just couldn’t stay away from a cool mystery, was already scheming.

The perfect excuse to go back was clutched in my palm, still sending the odd little vibrations coursing through my veins. Out of everything that had happened, this one couldn’t be denied. This had to be a legitimate magical object.

It sucked that I couldn’t show it to my grandpa. It would have been the best one-up ever. Exhilaration ran through me over having such a cool find even though, essentially, I stole it.

I was going to have to bring it back, somehow. I was under no illusion that an item such as the one I had clutched in my hand would be staying with me for very long. But first, I was going to carry it home and take a closer look where I wouldn’t be disturbed or feel like I had to look over my shoulder.

Thankfully, this was the same way I’d gone the last time I left the mansion so it didn’t take me as long to get back to my car. Before I knew it, I was walking through my own front door.

After I unpacked my gear, I settled at my desk and reached for my brass magnifying glass—a fourth grade present from my grandfather. I grabbed the neck of my goose-necked lamp, angling the light so I had a better view.

At first glance, the fragment looked like any other piece of bone. But the longer I examined it, the more irregularities appeared. I had to set the glass down. Whatever was going on with the bone, it seemed I had a truly magical item.

The thing shimmered. Not like it was dipped in glitter, nothing like that. It was hard to describe what I was witnessing other than to say it was as if the piece vibrated at a cellular level, catching the light like it had millions of facets. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

There was nobody I could tell about my find, and I had no idea what to do with it. It made no sense, but I almost felt inclined to tell Kiam about it.

Groaning aloud over my foolishness, I shoved my chair back and stood. As fascinating as the man was to me, he did his best to scare the shit out of me and he succeeded.

That being said, I still had to bring the bone back to the house and from all appearances, Kiam lived there.

Pacing back and forth, I played with the ends of my hair, curling some around my finger until it tangled and knotted. I always did this when I was stressed out. My split ends were testament to this, and ripping the soft strands free didn’t help. I bit my lip and curled my hands into fists instead, trying to ground myself.

It almost felt like some sort of emergency situation, or like it should be one, having this fantastical, magical bone in my possession. There was no way I would alert any “authorities,” or take it to any so-called experts. They would confiscate the material, so it was up to me to protect it.