Drake Sisters 02 - The Twilight Before Christmas

Fredrickson.”
    “Abbey felt terrible, Inez,” Kate said. “I’m sure it must have caused problems.”
    “Wel , Bruce’s wife left him. You know she’s due to give birth any day now. They al dropped out of the production, and I had to find replacements.”
    Inez glared at Matt. “Danny was in a fine snit saying he wasn’t certain he could work with amateur actors. I told him he was an amateur actor.”
    “Inez,” Kate protested. “You probably broke his heart.”
    For a moment Inez pursed her lips, looking repentant. “Wel , he deserves it. I’ve got enough trouble without that boy complaining about his part.
    The three wise men are nervous, and I’m afraid they’re fixing to drop out. I don’t want to cancel the pageant. It’s been put on every year since this town was founded.”
    “Danny won’t drop out. He likes to herd those sheep around,” Matt said.
    Inez scowled. “He likes to chase them toward the kids and get a huge reaction.”
    “That is the truth.” Matt grinned at her, but his eyes were on the wisps of gray-white fog slipping into town. He moved away from the women toward the plate-glass window, where he studied the fog. The enemy. It was strange to think of the fog, a nearly everyday occurrence on the coast, as the enemy.
    The dark tendrils stretched toward houses, reached with long, spiny arms and bony fingers. The image was so strong Matt took a step closer to the window, narrowing his eyes to peer into the fog. “Katie, come here for a minute,” he said softly, and held out his hand without taking his eyes from the fog. Something was moving inside of it.
    Kate immediately put her hand into his and stepped up beside him. “What is it?”
    “Look into the fog and tel me what you see.”
    Kate studied the rapidly moving vapor. It was darkening and spinning, almost boiling with turbulence. She shivered as long streaks stretched across the highway and began to surround the residences. It made her think of a predator hunting something, sniffing for the right scent. She thought something moved in the middle of the thick fogbank, something shaped vaguely like a tal man in a long, flowing coat and an old hat. She glimpsed a form, then it disappeared in the seething mass, only to reappear moments later, fading into the edges of the whirling mists. It was tal with bare white bones, pitiless eyes, and a wide, gaping mouth. She stepped back, gasping. The skeleton had more than taken shape. This time the entire chest was intact, and smal pieces of flesh hung on the body, making it more grotesque than ever.
    Kate put a hand protectively to her throat to stifle the scream wel ing up as she backed completely away from the window. She realized the store was eerily silent. Inez and the patrons stared out the window fearful y.
    “It’s taking shape, isn’t it?” Matt asked.
    Jonas and Jackson stalked into the store, Jonas’s expression grim. “Kate, get out there and get rid of this before we start having fatalities,” Jonas snapped without preamble, ignoring everyone else. “No one can see to drive the highway. I issued a warning on the radio, but we’re going to have people not only driving over cliffs but also walking over them. Unfortunately, not everyone listens to the radio.”
    “Go to hel , Jonas.” Matt was furious. Furious. At the thing in the fog. At Jonas, and at his own inability to stop the entity. “You’re not sending Kate out there to battle that damned thing alone again. She’s scared and tired, and I’l be damned if you bul y her into thinking she’s responsible for taking this thing on by herself. You want someone to fight it, be my guest.”
    “Dammit, Matt, don’t start with me. You know I would if I had a chance in hel , but I don’t. This is the Drakes’ territory, not mine,” Jonas bristled.
    Kate put a restraining hand on both men’s arms. “The last thing we need is to fight among ourselves. Jonas, I can’t manage it alone. I real y can’t. I need Hannah.” She leaned her head against Matt’s chest. “I don’t bring the wind, Hannah does. She’s exhausted with fighting this thing. My sisters have been working with me the entire time. Without Hannah, we can’t do anything.”
    Matt glanced down at her face, saw the lines of weariness there, the look of far too much energy expended, and for the first time, uncertainty. He wrapped his arms more tightly around her, and addressed Jonas. “How bad is it out there? Can they pass on this