Shades of the Wolf. Karen Whiddon
made several clumsy attempts to make it up to Lilly McGraw, until finally the other woman had hugged her and told her to stop, that she forgave her. For that, Anabel had been grateful.
Now, for the first time in a long while, Anabel had hope. Never once had she imagined she’d be given the chance to atone by saving Dena Rogers.
While she didn’t personally know Tyler’s sister, she could only imagine what kind of hell the younger woman now faced. Similar, she thought, to what Lilly Gideon had once faced. The parallels of the two women’s predicaments didn’t escape her.
Once she freed Dena, she would have wiped her own slate clean once more.
And Tyler could... She couldn’t help wondering what would happen to Tyler once they’d succeeded in freeing his sister. He’d go back into wherever ghosts went when it came time to move on. The light, she assumed. At least she hoped so. The alternative would be very bleak.
Glancing at her watch, she saw it was nearly nine. If she wanted to get her day started, she couldn’t hide out in her bedroom forever. One thing she’d learned since her meltdown was she had a lot more inner strength than she’d ever suspected. Magic would be a definite bonus.
So she straightened her shoulders, took a deep breath and opened the door. When she walked back into the kitchen, Tyler’s ghostly form hovered exactly where she’d left him.
Again struck by his large, masculine frame, she sucked in a breath. How he, even though a ghost, could practically radiate virility stunned her. Though this time, she noticed an air of isolation around his tall, broad-shouldered figure.
The question in his hazel eyes made her heart skip a beat.
“I’ll do it,” she said, not giving him a chance to speak. “I need to see if I can take a crash course in learning how to access my magic. Once I have some sort of grip on that, I can seriously hunt for whoever abducted your sister.”
He bowed his head, a swath of dark hair falling onto his forehead. “Thank you.”
Uncomfortable with her visceral reaction to so much male beauty, she nodded. Keeping busy would be the best distraction from those kinds of crazy thoughts. “Let’s go.” Snatching up her car keys, she headed toward the door. “We’ll stop and talk to Juliet. I think her first yoga class of the day just finished up. I’m hoping she’ll have some pointers for me.”
Trying not to smile as Tyler crammed his long legs in the passenger seat of her Fiat, she sang along to the radio during the short drive downtown.
As it turned out, Juliet had a lot more than pointers to help Anabel. “You’ll need to read these,” she said, grabbing a short stack of books from a bookcase behind her desk. “This will be a good starting place. Once you have, come back to me with questions.”
Anabel glanced at the books, then at Tyler, who gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. “Juliet, I’d love to read them—and I will, eventually—but right now I’m short on time. Tyler’s sister’s life is in danger, and I’m afraid I’m going to need a crash course in magic in order to save her.”
Appearing nonplussed, Juliet swallowed and slowly put the books down on top of her desk. “It’s not that simple,” she began.
“Make it as simple as possible, please.” Though she hated to interrupt her kind friend, Anabel knew every second must be an eternity to the poor woman being held prisoner.
Eyeing her, Juliet appeared to consider. “All right,” she finally said. “But you need to know, magic can be dangerous without knowledge. Extremely dangerous.”
Anabel locked eyes with her friend. With her smooth face and long gray braid, Juliet always radiated peace and tranquility. And strength, Anabel thought. “Teach me how to protect myself.”
“I’ll do my best. But understand, you could still be killed. I don’t know how powerful this warlock is.”
Tyler began to flicker, his form wavering in and out of view. Anabel glanced once at him, bracing herself for the swooping of her stomach as she did. Their gazes locked and held as he slowly solidified. I’m okay, he mouthed.
Once she knew he was all right, she refocused all her attention on Juliet. “Teach me as much as you can in as short a time as possible.”
Juliet nodded. “How long do I have?”
“A woman’s life is at stake, so I don’t have long.” Anabel glanced again at Tyler. “A day?”
Frowning, he shook his head.
“How about twelve hours?”
This time, Tyler reluctantly nodded.
“Twelve hours?” Eyebrows raised, Juliet glanced at her wrist even though she wasn’t wearing a watch. “Sorry. What time is it now?”
“Nine thirty. That gives us until tonight.”
“It’ll have to do, I guess.” Juliet sighed, her soft blue eyes sharpening. “It’s not nearly long enough, but let’s get started on some basics.”
After a quick explanation of what magic was—not so much an external thing, but part of Anabel’s inner spirit—Juliet told her it was time to see if Anabel could feel her power deep inside herself.
Anabel didn’t even have to think. “No.”
“Well, then we’re going to try and feel it.”
“I already tried last night. Nothing happened.”
“We’ll try again.”
“How?”
“Take a deep breath,” Juliet advised. “First, you need to slow down your pulse. Your heart is beating so fast I can see the fluttering in the hollow of your throat.”
Self-consciously, Anabel raised her hand to her neck. “Sorry. I’m a little nervous.”
“Deep breath.”
Obediently, Anabel inhaled. “I can’t help it,” she said, fidgeting in her chair. “This is all very odd.”
“Then we’ll wait until you’re tranquil.” Rising, Juliet lit a candle, moving it over so the scent was close to Anabel. “We may have to do some yoga if this doesn’t help. Breathe. It’s eucalyptus. Very calming.”
Desperate, Anabel inhaled the scent, trying to think calming thoughts, using the same mantra she used when meditating. A moment or two later, she blinked. Darned if she didn’t feel better. More confident and stronger.
“Now we’ll talk about power,” Juliet said, smiling slightly as if she knew Anabel’s thoughts. “Everyone has a spark of magic inside. Some just have more than others.”
Anabel nodded, the fear trying to creep back in. She couldn’t really explain her intense nervousness, but for some reason the entire idea of having magical powers scared her.
If Tyler’s sister hadn’t needed her help, Anabel figured she would just have let the so-called magic stay locked up inside her. If she’d even ever learned of its existence, that was.
“That you are able to see ghosts as more than energy speaks to your level of power. That’s one of the ways it manifests itself.” Juliet grinned. “And the fact that your ability to see and hear spirits didn’t make you go stark, raving crazy is another testament to your strength.”
Strength. “I rarely feel strong, though I’ve realized what I’ve been through and overcome has given me strength. But that doesn’t matter. Tell me what else I should be able to do. Most important, I need the ability to track this creep who has Dena.”
“And fight him,” Tyler chimed in, making Juliet jump.
“I forgot about you,” Juliet said, shooting a stern glance in his general direction. “Fighting won’t be possible, not without a lot of practice. But I can teach