Page 26 of The Mist of Stars

Deep down, I know she’s right. It doesn’t make it any easier to agree to it, but I do.

“Fine, but if he gets annoying, I will lock him in the basement with the spiders.”

“Sounds good,” she says like she’s tolerating a child.

Sighing, I make my way across the kitchen while she calls Alex and Laylen to see if they can help. At first, I’m unsure where I’m heading, but it’s like my feet have a mind of their own as they carry me into my parents’ bedroom.

I open the lid to the massive trunk where they keep all their important documents. I begin rummaging through the folders, searching for my birth certificate. I know I’ve seen it before … I think. I can’t find it, though.

Eventually, I give up on it being in there, close the trunk, and enter my parents’ closet. They have a lot of boxes in there, so I peer in a few to see if any contain papers. Nope. But I do find something else that has my heart soaring.

It’s a photo of my parents standing in front of a willow tree. And standing beside them is me when I was about twelve years old, along with an older man and woman. What’s confusing about this photo is I don’t remember it being taken, and I have no clue who the older man and woman are.

I’m old enough that I should remember this.

I back out of the closet with the photo still in my hand then sink down onto the foot of my parents’ bed. “What’s going on, Dad?” Because it feels like he knows something. But how can I get him to tell me when he’s acting so secretive?

Maybe I won’t have to. Perhaps Aislin will get some answers once we’ve done the spell.

I put the photo in my pocket before returning to the kitchen where Aislin is sitting at the kitchen table with her spell book opened in front of her.

“Good news,” she tells me as she turns a page. “The guys are heading over. I’m going to thoroughly read through this spell while we wait and make sure I didn’t miss anything else.”

“Good idea. I’ll make us a snack.” I head to the fridge, pull some mozzarella sticks out, and pop them in the oven. Then I busy myself with cleaning up while trying not to think about all the mysteries surrounding me. But it’s haunting my mind, like the alleged blond-haired ghost who visited me in the store?—

Just as I am pulling the mozzarella sticks out of the oven, I screech at the sight of two yellow eyes glowing in the window above the kitchen sink.

“What is it?” Aislin asks, jumping to her feet.

“Yellow eyes.” I point at the window then hurriedly retrieve my dagger from my ankle holster that is back to where it should be.

Aislin rushes up beside me, her hand illuminating with magical light. “Oh my God, what the heck is that?”

The eyes stare at us, glowing through the raindrops pelting the window and making it hard to see anything else.

“I don’t know.” I lift my dagger in front of me, hoping the creature will take a hint not to mess with us. But it continues to stare, eyes piercing, and then frost begins to web across the window, crackling and spreading, even when it reaches the edge of the glass.

My breath fogs out from my mouth as I breathe out, “It’s a death walker.”

“Those are supposed to be extinct,” Aislin whispers with a bundle of uncertainty in her voice. The magic in her hand flickers on and off against the plunging temperature drop.

“Well, I’m pretty sure that’s what it is.” I take a step back as ice glazes the countertops. “Let’s just add it to the other weird stuff going on.”

She matches my move, stepping backward, as well.

The death walker’s eyes remain visible in the window as we back away, one step at a time?—

The window explodes, sending pieces of glass flying. A piece slices across my forehead, and blood trickles down my face. But that’s the least of my problems. The entire kitchen is a winter wonderland, and the death walker is storming through the window.

While I’ve never fought one of these creatures, I know how hard it is to take down. Not to mention we don’t have the right weaponry.

“Run!” Aislin shouts, reeling around and running for the living room.

I do the same, but it captures my arm and wrenches me backward. I slip and fall, hitting the ice-covered floor with enough of an impact that the room starts to spin. Yellow eyes appear above me. I can see it completely now—the black-hooded cloak, the boney-like features beneath it.

I struggle to get to my feet, but I’m so cold that my limbs are numb. My teeth clank together as they chatter, my body convulsing.

I attempt to swing the dagger at it as it leans in toward me, but my arm won’t move.