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Fallon was all but blind as she slipped through the fog. The rest of her senses were on high alert. She already regretted agreeing to go back into town by herself. What did she think she could do?

I’m blind as the proverbial bat in this crap and all but lost in the tiny town I’ve spent my entire life in. And I’m going to save the world?

She looked around for anything that would tell her where she was. Twice already, she’d had to walk up to a house to see enough of it to get her bearings.

She had made her way to Church Street, aptly named for the four churches that lay along the oak-shaded way. Church Street would take her one block from the town square. That had been her intended target when she’d first left the mill.

Along the way, though, she found herself aiming for a different destination. She needed to see Brianna’s house for herself. That made her trek through town a bit more difficult. Brianna’s house and the old mill were on opposite sides of town, and Fallon had no way of knowing what she might come across over that distance. She could only hope that whoever and whatever might be out there with her was as blind as she was.

Fallon’s nerves were stretched so taut that she thought she might either fly apart or crumble in a ball on the ground. She stopped once more to listen for anything moving in the fog. Compared to their earlier adventure, the place was unnaturally quiet. Nothing moved. The soft patter of moisture dripping from the trees was the only sound. The heavy fog had soaked everything. She felt damp and sticky.

She crossed the street and cut across the grounds of the high school, keeping close to the buildings to make herself as invisible as possible. That should not have been a problem in such conditions but, even in the dense fog, she felt exposed.

A shadow moved through the mist in the school’s small parking lot. Fallon froze where she was and watched as it glided across her path. She did not feel the malevolence from earlier, but that didn’t make her feel any better. Every unknown had to be considered deadly.

Her gaze followed the shadow until it faded into the mist. She waited a full two minutes before starting off again. The crunch of gravel as she crossed the parking lot sounded explosive in her ears. Whatever had crossed here minutes ago had been deathly silent. She almost panicked then. She knew she had no power against anything she might run into, no protection against fae or human. They said she had the power of love, but what had that gotten her? Almost raped by a cop, that’s what.

For a moment, she considered finding a place to hide until everything settled down. The Crawfords had moved out of their house only a week ago. It sat empty less than a block from where she was. No one would even know she was there.

What’s wrong with you, Fallon? When did you become such a crybaby? You’re a Finn. Get your act together and get with it.

Fallon knew the thought was her own, though she heard it in Conall’s voice. She smiled as memories of his teasing flooded her mind. I miss you already, Conall. Oh, how I miss you.

The mental chiding did little to calm her nerves, but it was enough to get her moving.

She started off in the same direction the shadow had gone, but where she was pretty certain it had continued down the street, she cut between two houses to a grass-topped alleyway. The damp turf silenced her steps.

She hastened her pace while continuing to be cautious of anything that might be lurking among the houses on either side of her. She crossed two more streets without meeting another living soul. It was as though the town had ceased to exist and she was left wandering an abandoned movie set of nothing but empty props. She hadn’t thought of where the alley let out until she crossed a street and found herself in a wide-open space. Fog swirled around her as she took a few cautious steps. When the first marker came into view, she knew she had entered the cemetery.

Cemeteries had never bothered Fallon. She’d always found them peaceful and beautiful. The Mill cemetery had always felt a place of refuge. Like her, it seemed to have always been there, always been a part of her. She felt no threat among the dead. Their presence was a comforting assurance that she was not alone. She moved through the headstones while keeping away from the gravel road that encircled and dissected the place. She soon had her bearings and cut off in the direction that would bring her out almost at Brianna’s front door.

Fallon inhaled a deep breath that smelled of damp, fresh-cut grass. She loved the cemetery in the spring and summer when it was constantly mowed and always had that special scent. She took another breath, but this time something else lingered in the air, a rotten scent that she had encountered earlier that night.

“Did you miss me, girl?” The words seeped out of the mist, carried on a breath that stank of putrid meat. “I missed you, and I’m still very hungry.”

Fallon spun in a circle. She didn’t know where to go. Which way to flee.

“You should have run while you had the chance, girl. There is nothing you can do here except die.” Black Annis’s laughter came from all around her.

Fallon thought she saw something move through the fog to her right. Without thought, she took off in the other direction. Headstones, large and small, created a macabre obstacle course that threatened to end her flight in a bone-jarring collision. She dodged around a knee-high marker only to catch her toe on a much smaller one that sent her crashing to the ground. She missed cracking her skull against another stone by inches.

The fall drove the air from her lungs and sent dots of light dancing across her vision. It crossed her mind to stay down, to give up and surrender herself to the inevitable.

That’s not my thought. That’s Annis and her tricks.

Fallon rolled onto her back and pushed herself up on her elbows. Her head spun with the movement. She took a few deep breaths and forced herself to settle down. I beat her once. I can do it again. The thought inspired little confidence. She used a headstone to pull herself to her feet. The stench was all around her, but the crone had gone silent.

Love is my power. That’s what everyone keeps telling me. Fallon closed her eyes and concentrated on love. At first, she could not get ahold of such a nebulous concept. What is love, anyway?

Finally, she pushed her thoughts away and let her feelings flow free. There was terror, loneliness, and pain but hidden within she also found compassion, empathy, and a deep sense of meaning. Around her, she sensed the world with a clarity she’d never known. It was filled with darkness and shadow, but there was also goodness and light.

Darkness moved behind her, so complete that the light could not penetrate it. Hatred radiated from it, but Fallon kept her mind in the light. She moved away from the darkness that she knew to be Black Annis and slipped through the grave markers with more confidence. As long as she kept her mind calm, she knew where the enemy stalked.

Fallon stumbled through a narrow ditch and found herself on a blacktop road. She was only a block from Brianna’s house. Lightning flashed above, igniting the mist in blue-white light. The crash of thunder followed. She had hoped the storm had passed, but apparently it had only taken a breather. Wind pushed against her, and the mist swirled as though a huge hand swept through it. Another bolt splintered the sky, and Fallon realized she had lost track of Annis.

She crossed the road and sprinted through the knee-high grass that covered the two empty lots that separated the road from Brianna’s house. The wind grew stronger. It blew against her as she ran, as though trying to stop her from reaching her destination. Only the hope of safety kept her moving. Just when she was sure she could go no further, the barn behind Brianna’s house loomed out of the darkness. She stumbled around it and started toward the front of the house when she saw something that froze her where she was.

The back door was open.

The image was so alien to her that it took a moment to set in. In all her life, she had never seen the back door open. No one had.

She moved toward it as if approaching a strange dog, unsure if she would be welcomed or bitten. The door was a dark hole in the dull gray of the early morning. Fallon peered inside, but it was too dark to see anything other than the dim outlines of the kitchen. She listened for a moment and, after hearing nothing but silence, stepped inside. The house that had always been a place of warmth and contentment now felt empty and dead.

Fallon’s foot hit something that slid across the tile floor. She took out the flashlight that she’d crammed into the back of her jeans before leaving the mill, not daring to use it outside. She clicked it. For a moment, she thought she must have been in the wrong house. Food was scattered everywhere, plates and glasses smashed. The small television that Brianna had kept on the counter to watch while baking lay on its side in the sink. Her gaze swept over the mess a second time.

What could have happened here?

“Bri?” Fallon’s voice came out as little more than a whisper but still sounded loud in the silence. “Brianna?” Fallon’s mind had been unable to comprehend Nidawi’s statement that Brianna was no longer in the house. Even now, seeing the destruction for herself, it seemed an impossibility.

Fallon stepped around a clutter of smashed dishes and flipped the light switch without thinking. She blinked in surprise as the room flooded with light. The destruction was even greater in the illumination. How had this happened? No one was supposed to be able to enter without permission, and only Brianna could give permission. Unless Brianna had not been here? That was as impossible as the scene that lay before her. She moved into the family room and gasped. The front window was smashed out, and only the fog-shrouded neighborhood lay on the other side. “Brianna? Please be here.”

“Brianna’s gone, but I had a feeling you’d show up.”

Fallon spun toward the voice.

Jacob Yoder stepped out of the shadows of the hallway. “Hello, Fallon.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you, of course. They told me you’d come here, that I only needed to wait and my prize would come to me.”

“You did this.” The anger was clear in Fallon’s voice.

“No, not me. I got here too late to stop them.”

“That’s not the way I heard it.” Fallon’s pulse was pounding in her head with the rage she felt toward this man she’d considered a friend.

“You know nothing. You Finns have always treated us normal people like we were below you. You looked down on us, used us.”

“That’s crap, and you know it. We treated you as part of the family. I’ve treated you like a brother.” She took a step back, almost slipping on something that rolled beneath her foot.

“You don’t get it, do you, Fallon? People like you never get it. We were made to be together, you and me. I’m the one who was born for you, and you pretend you don’t feel it. Everything I’ve done, I’ve done for you. I’ve freed you from the constraints of this world. The Prince and Princess will marry, and you and I will rule beside them.”

He took a step closer to her. His eyes had a strange cast to them. Images moved across them as though reflecting a nonexistent scene. It reminded her of when Conall was first infected. Something else was living inside Jacob.

Fallon’s stomach tightened. Her mouth went dry. “That’s what this is all about? Me?”

“I’ve loved you since the day I first saw you. I’ve grown up loving you, knowing that when I was a man we would be together. We were made for each other, Fallon.”

Something inside Fallon broke. Everything she had ever known and loved had been destroyed, and it was her fault. She could have prevented it from happening if she had only paid attention. If she had only returned his affections, none of this would have happened. She closed her eyes as visions of all that she could have saved rippled through her mind.

Jacob took her hand. “I love you, Fallon. Come with me.”

Fallon took a deep breath and opened her eyes. His face was only a foot from her own. She stared into his eyes, saw the thing that moved behind them. Her pulse slowed, and a cold calm settled over her. “You’re a monster—a monster and a traitor. I’ll never love you.”

Jacob looked as though he might burst into tears, but then his eyes lit up and he laughed. “Didn’t convince you, huh? Guess I was never meant to be an actor. I did love you, though. Long ago. Now it’s more of a lust. Lust for your hot little body and the power it can bring me.” He jerked her against him. “I will have you, Fallon. There’s nothing you can do about that.” He let go of her hand and wrapped both arms around her. He stank of sweat and something much more primitive. “You belong to me, now.”

Fallon struggled against him, but he was so much stronger than she could have imagined. He held her so tight that she could hardly breathe, her pinned arms of no use to her. He bit at her neck as his hands slid up and down her body. His embrace tightened, and he lifted her from her feet and carried her back down the hall from which he had come.

“No, Jacob. Please. Don’t do this.” She thought of screaming for help but knew no one would come to her rescue. The entire town was now under the influence of the fae.

“You are all mine, Fallon,” he whispered. His harsh breath was hot against her ear. “We don’t need a wedding. We’ll just consummate the marriage and call it done.” He carried her toward Brianna’s bedroom. “I’ve waited my entire life for this. Don’t disappoint me.”

The door to the bedroom slammed shut.

Jacob jumped back. “What the hell?”

The bathroom and spare bedroom doors slammed hard enough to shake the walls. The sound was deafening in the small hallway. Jacob’s hold on Fallon loosened and then slipped away. His eyes grew wide, and he backed out of the hall.

Small items that had been carelessly thrown to the floor trembled. Jacob ducked as a picture flew by his head before landing neatly on the fireplace mantel. His head twisted back and forth as another picture, and then another, jumped back to their rightful places. All around him, the house was putting itself back in order. Fallon moved from the hallway to the living room. Jacob backed away from her.

“Stop this. Stop it now,” Jacob said, all confidence gone from his voice.

“I’m not doing it.” Fallon felt the old familiarity as the dead emptiness of the house gave way to the familiar setting she had known forever. “You know, Jacob, I don’t think this house likes you very much.” She saw the fear in his eyes and almost felt sorry for him.

Jacob stumbled into the kitchen. Fallon followed. The small room was once again the cozy place of baking and comfort it had always been. The back door was closed. Around them, the house grew still. Jacob’s breathing was loud in the sudden calm, his eyes wide as they sought out any threat.

“They lied to you, Jacob,” Fallon said. Her voice was calmer than she had expected it to be. She felt no fear. She wanted to be angry, but even that was impossible. She felt only compassion for this young man who had been enticed into something beyond his understanding. “Help me stop it. Help me put things right.”

His face softened, and she saw the boy he had been not so long ago. Then the rage returned. He reached behind him and pulled a gun from his waistband. He pointed it at her face. “Screw you and screw this house. I’m walking out of here or you die.”

There was a moment of complete silence, and then knocking caused them both to jump.

“What was that?” Jacob said.

The sound came again. A knocking at the back door.

“What is that? What’s out there?”

Fallon shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve always been told there’s nothing out there.”

The knocking sounded again. Fallon felt more curious than frightened. She could see that Jacob didn’t share that feeling. The back door opened with a slight creak. Fallon and Jacob both looked toward it. The house was completely still, anticipation heavy in the air.

An unseen breeze stirred Fallon’s hair. The breeze grew stronger, but instead of blowing in, it became a vacuum sucking out the back door. Fallon’s shirt flapped, and her hair whipped around her face. Jacob began to slide toward the door. He grabbed the counter, his knuckles white as he held on for his life. His eyes met hers, panicked, pleading.

“Fallon, help me. Please.”

Fallon watched as his fingers slid along the counter. She looked into the face of the young man who had betrayed her family. Conall dead. Her parents lost. Brianna gone. All of the dead Old Ones. So much carnage because of one man’s pride. She wanted to hate him, to curse his existence, but she couldn’t summon such feelings. She felt sorry for him, sorry for the choices he’d made, sorry that she had not been a better friend to him.

“I’m sorry, Jacob. Really, I am.”

The wind intensified, howling through the house. Fallon’s hair hid everything but the terrified face of Jacob, as though she were cursed to witness his end. Jacob’s fingers lost their grip on the counter, and he slid across the floor. His hands raked the air for anything to grab hold of, but there was nothing between him and the door. His screams burrowed into Fallon’s mind, and then he disappeared into the Nothing that lay beyond the door. The door slammed shut, and all fell silent. Fallon stood there, Jacob’s screams ringing in her ears.

The phone rang. Fallon turned toward the living room. She had expected the wind to have trashed the house again, but everything was exactly where it should be. The phone rang again, and she walked over and picked it up.

“Hello, Fallon.”

Fallon fell back into Brianna’s chair. “Hi, Bri. What’s new with you?”

Brianna’s laughter rang through the phone. “Everything. Everything is new. Are you okay?”

Fallon blew a strand of hair from her face. “No, not really. Did you just save me from Jacob?”

“I’m sorry it had to end that way. I couldn’t think of anything else.”

“Where are you, anyway?”

“I’m there, with you. I’m also somewhere else, but they can’t hurt me anymore.”

Fallon blinked as tears formed in her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Bri. I should have been here to help you.”

“Oh, stop it. You couldn’t have done anything, anyway. This had to happen. Besides, it’s not over yet. We still have a lot to do.”

“Oh, that’s good. I was starting to get bored.”

“Cut the sarcasm and listen. Liza really is the Princess the old legends speak of. Her father was fae.”

“We wondered about that. How is it even possible?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet. It’s true, nonetheless.”

Fallon’s exhausted mind struggled to comprehend what she was hearing. “So, Liza was in on this from the start?”

“I don’t think so. I think she’s innocent as she seemed. I do know that if she and the Prince complete their bonding, things are going to get horribly bad for the human race.”

Fallon heard an explosion from not too far away. “It’s already started,” she said.

“Only you can save Halden’s Mill, Fallon. Others have their tasks, but that is yours.”

Fallon blew the strand of hair from her face again. “Yay me.”