Midnight Hour (Shadow Falls: After Dark #4)(112)

sister, she found some self-will. She couldn’t let happen to you and your sister what happened to her and her sister.”

His words sent the tiniest wave of worry her way. “Do you, or does Zander, know where my sister is? Do they have her?”

Fear pushed back some of the calm she felt. The creature’s snout bobbed up and down. “That’s why I’m here.”

“Tell me and my friends and I will go get her. Then I’ll do everything I can to wipe away your curse.” The second part was a bribe, but

Miranda didn’t care.

He shook his head. “No. Zander has looked into the future. There is only one way to free Tabitha.” He put his paw, claws and all, on Miranda

’s leg. “And only one way to free myself.”

Miranda’s heart started to race. The peacefulness was still present, but the tension built inside herself. “How can I free my sister?”

“You must take her place.”

Miranda swallowed. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t do it, but she’d been hoping for a slightly better plan.

“Okay.” But then she had to ask. “What are they going to do to me?”

“No, you misunderstand. You aren’t merely taking her place. You have what it takes to fight them. Your sister, she has some of the magic, but

not enough. It has to be you. Zander’s seen it. She had an image.”

“So I’m mystic?”

“You share many traits with mystics, but your gifts are unique.”

“Because I’m dyslexic?” she asked. He looked puzzled, so she clarified. “My disability?”

“You mean your gift? Your brain works differently. Yes, it makes some things harder, but the gifts more than make up for it. You see life, you

experience life, in ways others can’t. You think, you feel through emotion, not through whims. You empathize with others, their pain, their

struggles—even the creatures. You released me, didn’t you?”

“What does that make me?”

“Some refer to your kind as a forest mystic. You also share traits with the forest witch.”

“The trees?” Miranda said. “They frightened me.”

“Don’t be afraid. They are there to protect you. You draw strength from them, and them from you.”

Miranda had so many questions she didn’t know where to start. “Why didn’t my gifts show up earlier?”

“The magic in you is not released until you find another … magic.”

“What?”

He stared at her as if she should figure it out. Then suddenly she knew. “True love.”

He nodded.

A warm swirl of emotion curled up in her chest like a happy kitten, knowing Perry was her true love.

Then a shimmering light, colors unlike any she’d ever seen, appeared before her. Miranda gasped, not from fear, but awe.

The armadillo looked up. “I must go now.”

“No! How do I get to my sister?”

“Your chance will come soon. I will be there to guide you. But when I say it’s time, do not hesitate. And you must not, under any

circumstance, tell anyone. They will try to help, but people you love will be sacrificed.”

The armadillo faded. The light vanished. Then Holiday walked through the wall of water.

“Are you okay?” The fae’s wide eyes told Miranda her tattoos were back.

Miranda stood. “I’m fine.”

“They’re beautiful.”

“Thanks.”

“Would you like to talk—”

“Not now,” Miranda blurted out. She didn’t like keeping secrets, but she knew as clear as she knew her name, the armadillo hadn’t been

lying. If she told anyone, people she loved would die. “I asked Kyle and Della not to bother you.”

“They didn’t. I just came down for a visit.” Holiday hugged her. “Did you learn anything here?”

Miranda couldn’t lie. “Yes. But I’m still digesting it.”

After a few minutes, Miranda left. Her two best friends, like Holiday, respected Miranda’s requests not to talk. As they walked back, she

attempted to cling to the peace she’d found. Unfortunately, all but a little of it slipped away like an old memory fading with time.

However, she drew some peace by focusing on the trees. You draw strength from them, and them from you.

But she couldn’t lie to herself. The thought of leaving Shadow Falls, without telling anyone, already felt like a betrayal.

When they rounded the turn to their cabin, she saw Perry on their porch.

Her true love.

She took off running. She ran right into his arms. He must have showered, because he smelled of man’s soap, of wind. But he felt like pain.

*

For two hours, Perry helped Miranda study. She’d tried asking him about his day—his pain—he’d avoided answering. As much as she resented

it, she couldn’t fuss. She wasn’t talking about everything, either.

He’d asked her why she was wet. She told him about the falls, she’d told him how beautiful it was, and how she’d sensed Tabitha would be

okay.

Later that night, her pajamas on, his shirt off, they resumed their position in bed. She felt his heart beating against her ear. With every