Drake Sisters 02 - The Twilight Before Christmas

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 wal 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 cal ed me,” Jonas snapped impatiently. Hannah stirred as if to say something but Jonas’s fingers tightened around her arm. “I’m real y, real y 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 cal ed him.”
    Matt didn’t want her cal ing Jonas; he wanted her to cal him when something was wrong. And something was obviously wrong. Before she could pul her hand away from his arm, he covered her fingers with his. “We’re already here, Kate. Tel 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 real y 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 completely expressionless. He knew the Drakes were different; some said they performed miracles, some said they were genuine witches. Sea Haven was a hotbed of gossip, and the Drake sisters were always at the forefront. But not Kate. Never Kate.
    “So it felt dangerous to you, and the first thing you do is rush out into the night in the middle of one of the worst fogs we’ve ever had,” Jonas snapped. “Dammit, Kate, Abbey and Hannah might rush headlong into danger, but you usual y show some trace of sense.” He hauled Hannah back against him when she tried to squirm away. “I’m not playing around with you, Hannah. Keep it up, and I’l lock you away for the night.”
    Hannah’s beautiful face radiated fury, but instead of taking Jonas to task as Matt expected, she was gasping for breath.
    Abbey leaped to her side. “Breathe, Hannah, very slow.”
    Hannah shook her head, fear fil ing her eyes. Abbey extracted a paper bag from her purse and handed it to her sister. “Breathe into this.”
    Looking alarmed, Jonas wrapped his arm around Hannah’s waist to support her as she doubled over, clearly unable to breathe adequately. “What the hel is wrong with her? Should we get an ambulance?”
    “Would you please stop swearing at her?” Abbey snapped. “Be very careful, Jonas, or I’l ask you questions you don’t want to answer.”
    “Shut up, Abbey, don’t you dare threaten me,” Jonas growled back.
    “Stop it, al of you, stop it,” Kate pleaded.
    Seeing the anxiety on Kate’s face, Matt stepped closer to her and put his arm around her. Hannah breathed into the paper bag for a couple of minutes and lifted her head. She looked ready to cry. “Abbey, if you want to take Hannah back to the house, I’l go with Kate to do whatever it is you al think is so important.” He made the offer before he could stop himself. Kate was shivering in the cold fog. She didn’t need to be out on such a night. He wanted just to pick her up and take her home and lie down with her by the fireplace.
    Jonas pushed back Hannah’s wealth of blond hair. “Are you al right, baby dol