Drake Sisters 02 - The Twilight Before Christmas

only thing of importance I could read was that a locking spel had been placed on the lid to hold something in the ground. I’l cal El e and ask her to give me details. Is she on her way home? She was going to try to make it back for Christmas.”
    “She said she’d be catching a late flight.” Jonas stared at the thick gray blanket of mist, frowning as he did so. “The worst of the fog seems to be centered here. It’s much heavier around your house, Matt. People are going to start dying if we don’t figure out what’s going on. We’ve been lucky, most people pul ed their cars over to wait it out and the accidents that have occurred have been minor. But it would be very easy to drive off the cliff in this dense fog. We’ve asked the radio stations to alert everyone to the driving hazards.”
    “I’m guessing you cal ed the weather station and the meteorologists there told you this fog is unnatural,” Matt said with a smal sigh. The supernatural wasn’t his realm of expertise, but he had the feeling he was going to have to learn more about it very fast. A part of him had hoped it would al go away. Instead, the fog was wrapped tightly around his house. He glanced at Kate. She stood very stil , her hand to her throat, staring out into the dark gray mist. There was fear on her face.
    Anger began to smolder in the pit of his bel y, not hot and fiery, but ice-cold and clear, dangerous and deadly, an emotion he recognized from his combat days. Matthew took Kate by the shoulders and pul ed her back, away from the deck and into the safety of the house. “Did Sarah say whether or not they found anything in the diaries, Jonas? They were al looking, hoping to find an explanation.”
    Jonas shook his head. “Sarah said she doesn’t have a clue as to what’s going on, but she thought with al the sisters concentrating, they might be able to drive this fog back to sea to give us more time to figure it out.”
    Matt’s hands tightened on Kate’s shoulders. “I don’t want you to do it again, Katie. I think you’re making it angry, and it’s striking back at you. Why else would it have fol owed us to my house and stayed here?” He couldn’t articulate the emotions the fog gave off, but there was something dark and ugly about it that reeked of pitiless hostility. He didn’t want Kate anywhere near it.
    “We can’t take chances, Matthew,” Kate said, her voice trembling. She pressed her lips together. Instinctively she moved back toward Matt as if for protection. “Jonas said there have already been traffic accidents.”
    Matt could feel her reluctance. Whatever was in the fog had grown in strength and intensity. The previous night it had been an eerie annoyance; now it seemed darker…more aggressive and dangerous.
    “The fog swept through town, Kate, right after the two of you left Jackson’s house,” Jonas explained. “People came out of their houses to stand there and watch it. The sheriff’s office logged wel over a hundred cal s. When it receded, it left behind a mess. Al over town gifts left outside, everything from bicycles and ATVs to garden furniture, were smashed and covered with sea trash—sand, kelp, driftwood, smashed seashel s, you name it. Even crabs crawling around.” Jonas pushed back his hat and rested his gaze on Kate’s face. “The worst damage was done to the town square. The three wise men statues were al but destroyed, and the gifts they carried were ground into the lawn. The statues had kelp wrapped around their necks and wrists and ankles. It was bizarre and ugly and it scared everyone enough that the folks on the committee are concerned about the safety of the men playing the parts of the wise men in the pageant. Do you think it was a warning?”
    Kate rubbed at her throbbing temples. She was already so tired. She felt drained and just wanted to lie down for a few hours. “I honestly don’t know, Jonas, but the entity is accelerating its destructive behavior.”
    “Dammit, Kate, what the hel could be alive in the fog?” Matt burst out, wanting to throttle the thing. “I don’t want you anywhere near this stuff. Why do you have to be the one to face it?”
    “My voice. The others can channel through me. And Hannah can cal up the wind to drive it back to sea.”
    He wasn’t touching that. It sounded like witches and spel s and things he saw in movies, not in real life.
    Matt began a slow massage at the nape of Kate’s neck to help ease the tension out of her.