Crescent Legacy, Nicole Taylor [best 7 inch ereader .txt] 📗

the sun blinding. Raising my arm, I covered my eyes and breathed in the perfumed air.

“I was hoping you’d come,” a voice said.

“Don’t open the door!” I shouted.

I sat bolt upright, my chest heaving and my thoughts all fuzzy. I was back in my bedroom, the first rays of dawn clawing at the sky.

“Skye?”

I glanced down at Aileen, who’d been asleep next to me. She was wide awake now, pushing to her elbows and frowning at me like I’d sprouted a second head during the night.

Rubbing my eyes, I attempted to recall the dream. It was clearer this time, the nonsense only misting half of what I’d seen.

“I had another dream,” I murmured, picking the grit off my eyelashes.

“Of?”

“The hawthorn… And…” I gasped as I realized what I’d seen. “The doorway. I went through…”

Aileen was in full sit-up mode by this stage.

Beltane, bare feet, blossoms on the hawthorn. They were all things I’d never seen or done. I didn’t recognize the voice, either. I was hoping you’d come. It was very male, but it wasn’t Boone.

“What did you see?”

“Nothing, I…” I blinked, but I was pretty sure that was the moment I woke up. It was always the way with dreams. The money shot was always left out, like humanity’s curse was to always be left wanting more. Except for sex dreams, but that was another story I didn’t want to discuss with my mother.

“It was me, but it wasn’t,” I went on. “Like I was living another life, but it was still like I am now. But not…” I frowned, my shoulders sinking. “Does that make any sense.”

“A little.”

“Then why am I dreaming this? It can’t just be a psychological thing, right? My subconscious could be manifesting the things I’m worried about… That’s a way stress can manifest…”

“You don’t need a therapist, Skye,” Aileen said. “I think someone’s with you.”

“What?” I immediately grabbed my boobs and tried to hide them even though she was the only one looking at me. Someone was… All those showers and naked posing in the mirror and…ohhhh sex with Boone. O. M. G! “Are you serious? Who?”

“A Crescent,” she replied, laughing at my reaction.

“An ancestor?” I rolled my eyes. “Now they want to help. Typical. It’s kind of pervy.”

“They are sticklers for showin’ up on their own terms.”

I flopped back into bed and buried underneath the covers. If Aileen were right, then how long had this spirit been piggybacking my life? It was super creepy, but it explained a lot of things. The nonsense dreams for one, and the random voices I’d been hearing. Oh! And my magic had been flaring up more than usual. I’d assumed it was just growing pains, but it could totally be some wayward spirit short-circuiting my magical motherboard.

Flinging the blankets off me, I sat up again. “I could speak Gaelic!” I declared. “When I got angry with Sean after Boone left, I ranted at him in Gaelic! The only word I know how to say is shit.”

Aileen scratched her head. “Everyone always learns the curse words first.”

“Why?” I asked the dark room more than my mother. “What do you want from me?”

“Skye,” Aileen said, placing her hand on my arm. “We don’t know if someone’s there. Not for sure.”

“Then how do we find out?”

She sighed and glanced out the bedroom window. From the look on her face, I wasn’t sure she knew. I’d hoped Aileen was a know-it-all witchy almanac when she’d shown up, but her knowledge was limited. Not as much as mine, but she’d been in the same position as I had once. A lifetime of study and still the entire power of the Crescent Legacy was beyond her. So much had been lost in the wake of Carman, I couldn’t fathom it.

Finally, she said, “Let’s take a walk.”

“But it’s too early,” I complained. “Five more minutes!”

“Bein’ early won’t hurt our plans,” she said, whacking me on the shoulder.

I dragged myself out of bed and moaned as my feet hit the cold floor. There was definitely a freaky spirit tagging along because I hated feet and that included mine.

“I call the shower first!” I shouted, darting out of the bedroom and down the hall.

Closing myself in the bathroom, I flipped on the light and stared at my reflection.

“Hello,” I whispered. “Who might you be?”

And in true Crescent ancestor spirit, nothing answered me. Nothing at all.

Carman would arrive any day now.

Outside, the air was still, crisp, and full of anticipation. The calm before the storm. It was the ultimate cliché, but it was true. The whole village was jumping from foot to foot like they all had the runs, and I was feeling pretty much the same. It was so bad that the Topaz was out of toilet paper.

Instead of going straight up the hill to the tower house, Aileen and I detoured via the main street. The lights were on in the teahouse, casting a warm glow out into the misty dawn. We could see Mary Donnelly within, stocking up the sandwich counter with ingredients. She’d already topped up the muffins and cookies, and my mouth began to water. Double chocolate chip! The village would be well fed this week, that was for sure.

I turned at the sound of hooves clomping on asphalt and saw Fergus and his entourage emerging from the ghostly tendrils of fog that clung to the landscape.

“Good mornin’, Fergus,” Aileen said, holding the calico bag she’d brought along with us against her chest.

Stopping beside the donkey, I scratched behind her ears as the Jack Russell stood and wagged his tail. The little dog had a crystal attached to his collar, and the donkey had one stitched into the lining of her coat. It wasn’t until last night at the village meeting I’d finally learned they were named the very obvious Jack and Donkey.

After we’d revealed the truth about the Crescents, we’d given everyone a crash course in spotting fae and craglorns. Without inherited magic to guide them, having