Page 49 of Bad Moon Rising
“Stay,” he commanded as he marched through several rooms. When he returned to the entryway, he announced, “No food in the pantry or refrigerator. House isn’t occupied and hasn’t been for a long time.”
Something about the place comforted her, as if she felt safe here.
He stiffened and froze. His eyes darted around, but he didn’t move a muscle. In a hushed voice, he said, “It’s alive.”
“What is?”
“The house. It is its own entity. You hear the air moving through the upper floors?”
She shook her head. “I’m not getting a bad feeling. Maybe it’s haunted?”
“Ghosts have a different presence. This is the entire place. It’s almost breathing.”
“I’m going to do a cursory walk around and see if anything jogs a memory.” She abandoned him in the foyer.
The kitchen was quaint, but serviceable. All furniture looked dated, as in circa 1800s. As she walked into a main dining room the chandelier quivered. She jolted backward, smacking into Roman, who wrapped his arms around her.
Sweet. Really sweet. It also confirmed she’d made the right choice to trust him.
The chandelier rocked back and forth, rattled, and something fell out onto the table. Wind whistled through the room, and then all movement stopped.
He still hadn’t let go of her. She stared up at him.
He said, “I’d like to get out of here before we get on the house’s bad side. I think it wants you to have whatever fell on the table.”
She swallowed hard. “Looks like a car key.”
The key was plain silver with no symbol.
He took the keychain and rotated it to view the small insignia that looked like a sidewaysL, or like an open duck beak. “That’s a Valliante symbol. It’s a Spanish car company that makes exclusive super cars and nothing else.” He lit up with almost giddy excitement. “Please, let there be one in the garage.”
“And the key?”
He shrugged ano-idea.
An exhaustive search of the modified barn found no vehicles, and there were no other buildings on the property.
“Maybe it’s a clue. Where in Spain do they make this car?”
“Barcelona.”
A chill spread from her neck outward through her shoulders. “If this is my family’s house, why would they leave this?”
“Maybe you left it.” He passed his thumb over the keychain insignia.
“Guess I’m going to Barcelona.”
“I’ll take you, but first we stop in Italy tomorrow night. Right now, we’re going to eat and sleep for a bit somewhere safe.” He held up his hands. “Sleep separately.” He rubbed his forehead as he led back to the car.
“Italy?” she prompted.
His jaw hardened, and he pressed his lips together. “Dinner with my mother. It’s mandatory on full moon nights.” At her questioning look, he said, “It’s so we don’t go sex crazy and end up doing something stupid. She makes sure if suppression serum fails that we’re locked up or drugged up until the sun rises, and the threat is over.”
Chapter Thirteen
A poke to her forehead woke Nova.
“Wakey, wakey.”
