Page 50 of Midlife Shifter Unexpected

“I might have a boyfriend too,” I giggled, “but I don’t think that impacts us. We’re not getting married. We’re not having kids anymore. We’re free almost like we were in our twenties, you know? We can just have a boyfriend and that’s it. It doesn’t have to be all some deep, dark, meaningful, love kind of thing.”

“But how is that going to help us solve our problems with monsters and zombies and vampires?” Mae asked.

“That pendant exists for a reason,” I said. “You and I are connected to a bond that was made maybe centuries ago by our ancestors. There has to be a reason for that. There has to be a way we can draw our energies together and do something that will help calm the cemetery.”

“It’s like the ground is alive down there, all the bones under the earth are crackling and moving and digging. How are we going to get anything to calm that down?

“Well, we can tackle each problem one thing at a time,” I said. “If Matheus is right and there’s an assassin after me, the best thing we can do is keep me inside The Estate and inside the cemetery. That solves that problem. The monster is dead. The one in the crypt is dead for all intents and purposes that we can tell. So, all we have to do is calm the dead in the cemetery and find out who was controlling the monster and slaying the harpies.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Mae said.

“I like to break things down section by section and try to figure them out.”

A loud scream carried on the howling wind. Mae stood up.

“What was that?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Mae responded, “but we better figure out what it is.”

“Should we get the others?” I asked.

Mae shook her head. “Jane went back to your doggie daycare. Branson is already outside on the perimeter walk, and if that scream isn’t waking Matheus up, he should sleep. “She held her hands out as she walked toward the back door, the purple and green lights crackling in her fingertips.

“I’m going to send out tracers to find the scream,” she said.

“Should I shift?” I asked. I wasn’t sure what form I was most useful in.

“Not yet,” Mae said. “I still haven’t figured out how to understand you when you’re a wolf. Let’s go find out what the problem is.”

“If it looks bad, we'll call in the rest of the coven,”

We went out to the back porch and she let the tracers from her hands fly out. It was with little surprise that they led directly to the cemetery.

“I can’t see where they’re landing. We’re going to go down there. You ready for this?”

Hell no, I wasn’t ready, but under the circumstances, I didn’t see that there was any other option.

Chapter 37

Lights were glowing along the pathway leading down the gates to the side of the cemetery. There was a loud click clacking in the air, a sound like a million cicadas surrounding us.

“What is that sound?” I gripped Mae's hand. It was so overpowering I didn’t even think I could see straight, let alone think.

“I don’t know,” Mae said, leaning into me. “It sounds like…”

And then I knew exactly what it was, even as she said it.

“Bones,” we said at the same time, looking at each other with our eyes wide. My hands were suddenly clammy, but I didn’t let go of Mae's. Somehow the energy that was coming off her hand was warming mine, giving me strength as we moved down the path inside the black wrought iron fence that guarded the cemetery. The light from her hands increased as the tracers guided us along the path. We arrived shortly at Hilda's gate. At least that’s what I called it; I think it had a different name, like her last name, but I was still learning so much of what was actually going on here.

As a high priestess of the coven, Mae was able to open the gate.

“Are we seriously going in there?” I asked in horror. Mae looked terrified, but her back was straight and her eyes were serious.

“It’s our cemetery to protect,” Mae said. “Either we go in there and do our job, or we fail.”

“Well, in order to do that, I think it’s best if I’m a wolf,” I said.

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