A Little Wicked (The Bewitching Hour Book #4)(26)

“If you need anything else, you know where to find me!” he called as they left.

Derek gave the quick okay to the officers to open up the scene as he went to the driver’s side of the Charger. Parker looked at him questioningly, but she picked up on the urgency and tossed him the keys before they both got in the car.

Once he’d safely backed out and was on the streets, he flipped on the lights and raced for the freeway.

“What’s up?” she finally asked.

“I think Sam might be in trouble.”

She immediately pulled her sidearm out of the holster and loaded a round in the chamber before she added one more round to the clip, obviously not about to fuck around. Once again he was struck with how handy it was to have someone else on his side.

But besides that, Parker didn’t seem scared or apprehensive. Even so, he asked, “You’re good with this?”

She scoffed. “I’d take magic over that chauvinistic detective any day.”

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Sam brought her car to a stop and looked around. She didn’t see Derek’s Crown Vic anywhere, and he hadn’t texted her back when she said she was close. Maybe he didn’t have reception.... But even though her family owned a lot of land, it wasn’t exactly the boonies. She figured he’d have signal eventually. Was his phone broken?

Of course, there was another easy option that she didn’t like to think about.... The idea that something magical was interfering with her call.

Sam looked around her for any sign of Derek—or something worse. The ruins of her old home were familiar to her. She would come here all the time when she was off magic. A reminder to herself of what she was capable of when she lost control.

The house had been huge at one point. Not quite as big as Abigail’s replacement home, but the ballroom alone had been big enough to fit her apartment multiple times. Now all that remained was a crumpling roof and walls; even after all these years, they were scorched black from the fire that had raced through every corner of the house.

The fact that only five people died really should be a blessing, but it sure as hell didn’t feel that way to Sam.

There were plenty of nooks and crannies for something to hide, so Sam stayed to the outside. The last time she’d been here was when Heather had taken Claire. It was the first day she’d realized that Heather had given in to the darkness, a fact she probably wouldn’t have believed if she hadn’t seen her sister go full evil with her own eyes.

Now this already sinister plot of land took on an entirely new sense of foreboding. “Derek!” she called. Come on, she thought. She didn’t want to stay here a minute longer than she needed to.

“Sam!”

She let out a sigh of relief when she heard his voice. “What are we doing here?” she called, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.

“I’m looking for you!” called Derek.

It was from inside the ruins of the house. What the hell was he doing in there? Didn’t he know it was dangerous? Part of her figured that if the house was going to collapse any more, it would’ve done it years ago; the other part of her didn’t want to take any chances with Derek.

“Get out here!” She went into the room closest to her. The exterior wall had long since disintegrated, so she was still right next to the exit. “It’s not safe in there!”

Before he could call to her again to give her an idea of where he was, the sound of tires on gravel sounded behind her. She turned to see a sporty black car come to a stop, and her heart sunk when she saw Derek hop out of the driver’s seat.

If he was there, that meant....

She ran for him but hit an invisible wall at the border of the house. She pounded her fists on it, but it was like trying to move steel.

Derek met her at the invisible wall and she tried to warn him not to come in, but he ignored her and tried to punch through. He winced in pain and wiggled his fingers around. “What are you doing here?” he bit out.

“What am I doing here? You called me! At least I thought it was you....”

“Stand back.” Angela had taken out her gun and aimed it at the invisible force, angled away from them. She fired off a quick shot; when the bullet hit, the entire force let off a bright-orange light that illuminated the ruins around them and the woods deeper back.

But it also showed exactly how extensive the barrier was. From where she was, she could see the force field wrap as far as she could see around the house. She’d have to test the theory, but she had a feeling this was a closed cage that she wasn’t going to be able to just walk out of.

The orange light of the force field was fading, and the embers reflecting on Derek’s face made his eyes actually seem on fire with rage. “Sam, we need to get you out of there. Give me something. Can I call someone? Can I crash my car through it?”

“My car,” said Angela. They both looked at her and Angela added, “And if I need to crash it, you just let me know.”

“Um....” Sam blinked a few times and tried to think back to what she knew about magic. “There’s probably something holding it together. A picture or a flame or something. I just have to destroy the spell.”

“Okay. Where’s that?” asked Derek.