Drake Sisters 02 - The Twilight Before Christmas

creatures are venomous.”
    Matt glanced quickly at the man, recognizing the voice. Old Man Mars was indeed playing Santa. “You’re right. I’l get a couple of the men, and we’l get the stockings out of here before the children start trying to col ect them. Kate.” He pul ed out a chair for her. “Sit down before you fal down. I’l take you home when we’re through here.”
    “To my house,” she said in a weary voice. “I need to go to my house.”
    He nodded, his gut knotting tightly.

Chapter
12
    A candle b urns with an eerie glow,
    As it melts, the wax does flow
    “THE THING IN THE FOG SPOKE TO ME.” MATT made the announcement after the Drake sisters had settled El e firmly in the living room. It was late afternoon before the doctors let her go home, and her family had been so anxious, Matt had steered clear of the subject of the danger in the fog. He and Kate had gone to the mil earlier in the morning to reexamine the seal and see if she could find anything new about the spirit. He hadn’t wanted to bring up the subject at the very source of the trouble.
    There was a sudden silence. He had their attention immediately. Kate set down her teacup. “You didn’t say anything to me about it.”
    “You were exhausted and worried about El e last night, Katie, and again this morning. I didn’t want to bring it up. Now that she’s home and safe, I thought it was a good time to discuss it.” En masse, the Drake sisters were difficult to contend with. He could feel every eye on him. There was power in the room, intangible, feminine, but a steady flow of it. An energy he couldn’t begin to explain, but he knew it moved from sister to sister.
    “What did it say?” Sarah asked. Her voice was gentle, nonjudgmental. Practical, magical Sarah. She was the oldest and the most influential.
    “It made no sense. It was a moan and a growl mixed together. The syntax was old-fashioned, but from what I got, it was a warning to keep my loved ones away from one with the staff.”
    “The staff? He used the word staff?” Kate asked.
    Matt nodded. “I’ve thought a lot about it, and maybe it al ties up with Christianity and the staff of life or something. Anything to do with the Christian beliefs of Christmas is under attack?” He made it a question.
    El e lifted the old journal Sarah handed to her. “I’l do my best to try to find a reference to a staff in here,” she said. “I don’t think I thanked you for coming to my rescue the other night, Matt. One minute I was making my way home, and the next I felt something shove me over the side of cliff. I broke every fingernail on the way down, grabbing at dirt and rocks. I have no idea how Jackson climbed down to get me. I couldn’t even cal out with a strong enough voice for help, and I was afraid to move. The ledge was literal y crumbling under me.”
    “I know it was frightening, El e, but we have you, you’re safe now,” Joley soothed.
    “Kate said something the other evening about how the entity didn’t go after Hannah. It’s strange because Hannah’s the one providing the wind to drive him out to sea and away from the town,” Matt said. “Do any of you have any idea why he’s chosen not to try to harm her?”
    Sarah frowned. “It real y only went after El e.”
    Kate shook her head. “It definitely tried for me, Sarah. And I think it tried to use Sylvia and her amorous ways to get to Abbey, then made a second attempt here in the house, pitting her against Jackson. Jackson’s a mercurial man, and Sylvia’s unpredictable. I think it wanted Abbey out of the way too.
    Of al of us, wouldn’t Hannah be its main obstacle?”
    “What do you al have in common?” Matt asked. He watched as Sarah moved through the living room lighting tal , thick candles at each entranceway. The candles each had three wicks and sat in wrought-iron holders. She murmured something he couldn’t hear as she lit each candle. He realized the windows had arrangements of colorful flowers and herbs tied in bundles on either side of the sil s and above the window frames. The bundles of dried arrangements hadn’t been there before. The fragrance was a blend of outdoors and strong scents of rosemary, jasmine, and something else he couldn’t quite identify. The lights of the candles flickered on the wal s, dancing and leaping with every movement of the sisters, as if tuned to them.
    “Abbey, Kate, and Joley al have special gifts involving their voices,” Sarah answered,