Drake Sisters 02 - The Twilight Before Christmas

“Katie, why would this thing smash gifts? If it’s capable of destroying things and moving objects as it did with the wreaths on the doors, why such a sil y, almost petty display? Why do the gifts bother it? What would be the significance?”
    Jonas fol owed them back to the sliding glass door. “That’s a good question. Is that al it can do? When the cal s started coming in I thought it was kids and childish pranks. Smashing gifts and outdoor ornaments and leaving behind dead fish are relatively harmless acts of vandalism a kid might do.
    Wel , at least I thought a kid might be the culprit until I saw the three kings smashed to pieces. Jackson came out to the square to take a look at the damage, and he said the scene was reminiscent of his nightmare.”
    Kate shook her head. “I think it’s growing stronger, testing its abilities. It doesn’t feel childish to me. It used wreaths, a symbol often associated with Christmas, and now gifts. El e said the symbols matter. Gifts obviously are another symbol of Christmas.” She sighed and rubbed at her temples.

    “Obviously this thing does not like Christmas at al . Any guesses as to why?”
    “I have no idea,” Matt said. He used his body to gently shepherd her farther back into the room, wanting to close the doors against the fog.
    She turned in his arms and pressed her body close to his for strength and comfort. “My sisters are waiting. Even Libby. It isn’t easy to sustain a channeling for any great length of time.”
    Matt tightened his arms around her, holding her captive, holding her safe. He buried his face against her neck. “I hate this, Kate. You have no idea how much. I want to pack you up and take you far away from this place. I know you’re in danger.”
    “If I don’t do this, Matthew, one of my sisters wil try, and they don’t have my voice.” She hugged him hard and slowly pul ed away from him.
    Matt al owed her to slip from his arms, taut with fear for her when she stepped onto the deck. He stepped beside her. Close. Protective. Daring the thing to come through him to get to her. Jonas took up a position on her other side. Kate closed her eyes and raised her face to the sky.
    A breeze from the sea fluttered against her face. She felt the cooling touch. She felt the joining of her sisters. Al seven, together yet apart. Strength flowed into her, through her. She lifted her arms and knew Hannah stood on the battlement of their ancestral home and simultaneously did the same.
    Matt heard the moaning of the wind. Out on the ocean, the caps on the waves reached high and foamed white. The fog became frenzied, whirling and spinning madly, winding around Kate so that for a moment it obscured Matt’s vision of her. He reached out blindly, instinctively, and yanked her into the protection of his body. “This is bul shit, Kate.” He pressed her face against his chest and wrapped his arms around her head to keep the fog from getting at her.
    Kate didn’t struggle. She didn’t act in any way as if she noticed. Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper, yet the wind carried it into the bank of mist, and it vibrated through the vapor, taking on a life of its own. Kate remained against him, her eyes closed but her chanting continuing, a gift of harmony and peace, of contentment and solidarity. She cal ed on the elements of the earth. Matt heard that clearly.
    Voices rose on the wind. Seawater leaped in response to the chant, waves rising high, bursting through the fogbank and breaking it into tendrils out over the ocean. The wind howled, gathering strength, rushing at them, bringing the taste of salt and droplets of water to brush over their faces. Thunder crashed, shaking the deck. Stil the voices continued, and the tempest built.
    “Hannah.” Jonas said her name softly, slightly awed by the raw power forged and control ed between the sisters.
    Kate took a deep breath and let go. Let go of her sisters and her body and the physical world she lived in to enter the shadow world. Far off, she heard the echo of Hannah’s frightened cry. The world wasn’t silent as one would expect. She never got used to that. There were noises, moans and cries, not quite human, unidentifiable. Static, the sound of a radio not tuned properly. And the terrible howl of the wind endlessly blowing. It was cold and bleak and barren. A world of darkness and despair. She looked around careful y, trying to find the one she was seeking.
    She wasn’t alone. She could feel