Page 30 of Mystery in the Mountains

He took her hand and laced his fingers with hers.

She looked at it and bit her lip. When his other hand came up and gently brushed her hair off her forehead, she shuddered as she took a deep breath of air, as if all the oxygen had just left her body.

“Sunny . . .”

His voice held such reverence it buoyed the hope inside her that she just might be able to fix this after all.

As she leaned into his hand, the rough calluses comforted her, something she always loved about him. His hands were rough and strong from all the woodwork he did with Abe, but those same hands were also able to paint beautiful, delicate details.

Just like Abe, he was big and strong and intimidating, but Asher was also gentle and loving. He was everything, and the thought that he might be hers again sent another tear down her cheek.

“Why don’t you sleep it off here?” Sunny said, trying to gain composure. “Then, maybe tomorrow, we can start getting to know each other a bit.”

A smile found his face. It was the first of Asher’s she’d seen it in over four years, and just like that, something settled in her soul.

“I still love you, Asher.”

He nodded and swallowed a lump in his throat. She moved to stand and slid the pillow to the other end. “It’s not the most comfortable couch.”

“It will be fine.”

She stood and looked at him as he stretched out. “Do you need anything?”

“Nope,” he said as he closed his eyes.

“Okay . . . well, you know where to find me,” she said, not quite ready to leave him yet.

But he lay there with his eyes closed.

She made her way up the stairs and put her hand on her new sturdy banister. A big smile spread across her face. This house was slowly on its way to becoming livable, and she just might be able to fix her relationship.

She woke up coughing as smoke filled her house. Sitting up, she looked at the fire engulfing the hallway.

She made her way over to the window and pulled it open, gasping for air—only, when she looked outside, she didn’t find her yard. Overlooking the scene of a terrible accident, she saw the Blacks’ car after it had careened into a ditch, only to hit a tree, killing her mother. Headlights of a speeding big truck disappeared.

Then a pair of glowing red eyes watched them from deep in the forest.

Sunny was pulled out of the dream and sat up, gasping for air, trying to make sense of the world, when a knock sounded on her door.

Chapter

Twelve

ASHER

Asher was awoken from his sleep by knocking. He sat up and pulled the blanket around him. While his human intuition wasn’t as strong as his wolf’s, he knew that whatever was at the door wasn’t welcome. His wolf snarled inside of him as he made his way to Sunny’s door.

He pulled it open as he heard Sunny’s bedroom door creak.

There, before him, stood a man in a suit. He was tall, with pristine dark-brown hair graying around the temples.

From his head down to his shiny dress shoes, nothing about him belonged in Hecate’s Hallow. His suit cost more than most people make in a month in this town.

“What do you want?” he nearly growled.

The man cleared his throat and straightened his suit. “Are you the owner of this house?”

“No, I’m the owner,” Sunny said as she joined him at the door.

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