Karma's Shift (Magical Midlife in Mystic Hollow Book 2), Lacey Andersen [amazing books to read txt] 📗

My heart skipped a beat. It was probably just a rabid beaver, right? Or an angry raccoon? Or a bunny who’s angry at life? I gripped my purse strap and took a step back, breathing hard.

Suddenly, a large black wolf leaped from the shadows. Its lips peeled back, and a roar tore from its lips, seeming to shake the woods around us.

My heart calmed a little, and I sucked in a deep breath to steady my breathing. “How dare you scare someone like that!” I exclaimed, realizing what was happening. This was one of the pack members trying to play a prank and it wasn’t funny. “You could’ve given me a heart attack, and then how would you feel?”

The wolf gave another little growl, but it was quieter. Uncertain.

I put my hands on my hips. “What would your mother think of you scaring ladies who are just trying to walk home? Huh?”

The wolf lowered his head and looked up at me with guilty, worried eyes. “You should feel bad!” I exclaimed. “What you did wasn’t funny. If I’d thought you were a wild wolf, I might’ve taken off running, tripped, and broken my leg. And humans don’t heal like you lot do.”

He cowered more, tucking his tail between his legs.

“That’s right. You take yourself home right this instant and stop trying to scare people.” As he turned toward the woods, I thought of something else. “Oh, one more thing! You go tell your alpha that you risked exposing your kind for a stupid prank. Go tell him right now, before you even go home.”

The wolf let out a pitiful whine, then slinked into the woods.

Served him right. Little trickster. He had to learn.

I carried on, turning onto the road that led down to the ocean and my neighborhood. I lived in the house my parents had owned, with a large lot and a backyard that faced a white sand beach and the rolling waves of the ocean. At least I wasn’t heading back to the home I’d had with my ex.

Yes, I knew how lucky I was for such a home.

When I turned off the road and down my driveway, I stopped at the mailbox.

There was nothing but a postcard for Mystic Hollow. It had no stamp, no address, and no return address. Only one thing was written on the back.

Tick Tock.

Thunder sounded above me, and a tremble ran through me making my legs shaky. The postcard tumbled from my hand, and I crumbled onto the sidewalk. I knew that handwriting.

The person who knew about my husband, they were here, and they weren’t going away.

2

Emma

Thinking about the postcard and what it had to mean, I felt a little lost. Who could possibly know what I’d done to my ex when I’d barely understood it myself at the time? I’d turned him and his lover, girlfriend, affair partner, whatever you wanted to call her into toads in my backyard and run for it. There would’ve been no reason for a supernatural to be hiding in the shadows of my garden, nor did I believe any human would report seeing something like that. People would just think they were crazy. So, who could have sent me this note and the last one?

Climbing to my feet, I stared down at the postcard again and tried to feel brave. For some reason, even after facing vampires, sirens, and shifters, the situation with my ex shook me in a way I was ashamed of. I felt like I was coming to terms with being betrayed and having our marriage fall apart, yet I still didn’t feel too guilty about the toad-thing. If Karma had made it happen, wasn’t it what he deserved?

If I ever again met the old lady I’d saved in the street, I’d have to ask her about it. Part of me, and I’m talking more than just a little bit here, wanted to track her down and give her a piece of my mind, but an even bigger part wanted to track her down just so I could ask her how all this worked. I mean, what kind of crap was that to just dump a supernatural ability on someone and disappear. It was like my son coming home and just leaving his laundry for me to do. If I had any say in the matter, it wasn’t going to fly.

I trudged up the path that cut through my front yard, feeling a little lost. At least I was coming home to my place in Mystic Hollow with my brother and not my lonely house back home where my college-aged son rarely visited. That was something to feel better about. But when I looked up at the dark house, I groaned, remembering I’d be here alone. Henry had gone over to his girlfriend Alice’s house to play some video games. I’d known that, but after getting that postcard it had slipped my mind. As strange as it seemed, I didn’t like the idea of being here alone, not at all.

I’d noticed that Alice preferred being over here when I wasn’t around, and if I was then Henry would generally go over to her place, well, her parents’ place. She was a bit of an odd duck; they both were really. There was something about her though, I knew she was a witch and struggled with her magic, but I knew there had to be a reason she was more open to Henry’s quirks than most people were. Maybe it was the fact that he was so straight forward? There was something to be said for people who didn’t beat around the bush and maybe as a witch who struggled with her powers, she appreciated it more than most. Worrying about my brother’s love life was not what I needed to be concerned about right now though. He and Alice were perfectly happy with one another. I was the