Read Online The Wicked and the Wondrous by Christine Feehan - Free Book Online

they’re all upset?”
    “I’ve always been able to feel when something’s wrong with the Drakes. And right now, something’s very wrong.” Jonas continued to look at him with cool, assessing eyes.
    Matt shook his head. “It wasn’t me, Jonas. Something weird happened at the old mill, and Kate was very distressed. She asked me to take her home, and I did.” He raked his fingers through his hair, not once, but twice. “I didn’t even have a chance to ask her out again. I was just sitting here, trying to figure out whether I should go up to the house and ask her what happened, or go back to the mill and try to figure it out.”
    “There they are!” Jonas muttered an ugly word beneath his breath. “What the hell do they think they’re doing going out in the middle of the night with the fog rolling in?”
    Matt could just make out the three Drake sisters swirling dark, hooded cloaks around them as they hurried down the steps. The fog was heavy and thick, an invasion of white mist that hid the women effectively as they rushed down the worn pathway that wound down the hill toward the road. Matt leaped out of his car, losing sight of them in the curtain of fog. He was aware of Jonas swearing under his breath, keeping pace as they angled to cut off the Drakes before they could reach the highway.
    Jonas beat him to the women, catching Hannah’s arm and yanking her around to face him. “Are you out of your mind?”
    Kate’s expression went from startled to troubled when she caught sight of them. “Matthew, I thought you went home.” She looked uneasily around her at the fog. “You shouldn’t be out here. I don’t think it’s safe. And neither should you, Jonas.”
    Hannah glared at the sheriff. “Has anyone ever told you you have bad manners?”
    “Has anyone ever turned you over their knee?” Jonas countered. “If you don’t think it’s safe out here, what are you doing running around in the dark?”
    Kate indicated the heavy wall of fog. “It isn’t like we’re going to get very far in this stuff. We have an errand, Jonas, an important one.”
    “Then you should have called me,” Jonas snapped impatiently. Hannah stirred as if to say something but Jonas’s fingers tightened around her arm. “I’m really, really angry right now, Hannah. Don’t make it worse.”
    “Jonas,” Kate’s voice was placating. “You don’t understand.”
    “Then make me understand, Kate,” he snarled.
    Matt immediately stepped between Jonas and Kate. “I don’t think you need to talk to her like that, Jonas. Let her explain.”
    Kate’s fingers curled around Matt’s arm. “Jonas worries about us, Matthew. We probably should have called him.”
    Matt didn’t want her calling Jonas; he wanted her to call him when something was wrong. And something was obviously wrong. Before she could pull her hand away from his arm, he covered her fingers with his. “We’re already here, Kate. Tell us what you need to do.”
    Her sea-green eyes moved over his face. He had the feeling she could see more deeply into him than most people, but it was always like that with Kate. He tightened his hold on her hand. “Kate. You trust Jonas. He can vouch for me.”
    Kate closed her eyes briefly. Matthew Granite was her dream man, and after he witnessed what really went on around the Drake sisters she wouldn’t even be able to sustain the fantasy of a relationship with him. She sighed but she squared her shoulders. Some things were just more important than romantic dreams. She took a deep breath. “Something was unleashed today, something malevolent. We think.” She looked at her sisters for courage before continuing. “We think the earthquake may have awakened it or at least provided it with the opportunity to rise. It was the shadow you saw in the globe, Matt, and my sisters and I saw in the mosaic. It’s very real, and it feels dangerous to us.” She stared up at him, clearly expecting him to laugh.
    Matt kept his face