The Warning

h's

prepared to discove

tsteps coming because I had been so preoccupied with the lighted road ahead, my min

ay shadow of the bar. Her normally calm face was sudden

ling my heart race. Ho

, her boots digging a little into the muck. "Assisting

What are you

eone or anything. "Moonshadow differs from other locations. There are things in this town that don't want

s?" Curiosity overrid

as her lips formed a thin line. She sighed, n

t voice. "Leah, I've lived here my whole life. I have seen stuff. Odd stuff. Addition

hat knowledge do you possess on the Blackwoods? What about

e mentioned, as if the name itself

gs are better left untouched." "You're already in dange

between us. Her hurry and dread were palpable, as if she were attempting to

an't back down." "I must know what is going on in this place. T

eyes widened and she stepped back, as

do. He is not like the others. He's She paused, trying to think of the proper thing to say. He i

rpret her enigmatic caution. "Not

lder. "Leah, return to the mansion. Put Ethan and all you believe

eak in, but I spoke steadily. With so many questi

o one of annoyance. "You

a hea

, frayed book out of the inside of h

ingertips grazing the tat

e read, "It's a warning." "A history of previous events here.

s were ancient and the writing was fading in some spots. I found a sc

s until it is roused by the firstborn's blood.

hurriedly closed the

er, she observed me with a ferocity

The Blackwoods are more than simply a family. They are the stewards of something far more terrible than you can fathom. Furthermore,

could say anything, the sound of a howl, far away, cut through the quiet like a knif

ed, hardly raising my

and pallid as her eyes darted t

e was another wail, this one louder. Then there was the d

y breathing became labored. "Wha

u." She pushed the book back into my hands after jerking her arm fr

I wanted to ask her questions and demand more information, but all I could hear was t

ame more int

t was too far away. Everything appeared to

id desperately. "Now. It's

the night, leaving me standing alone in the

shifted, and something-someone-st

n darkness, its eyes glowing w

ouldn't move. The figure took a step forward, and I saw t

the voice I had been dreading, the

softly, his tone

ea