Night of the Raven Read Online Free Page A

business, and move on to why one of this country’s least-favorite sons is giving you, the descendant of a Maine witch, grief.”
    “I helped send him to prison. Seems my testimony pissed him off.”
    “Thereby landing you in a whack of trouble and leaving me with one last burning question.” Without appearing to move, he closed the gap between them, wrapped his fingers and thumb lightly around her jaw and tipped her head back to stare down at her. “Why the hell has your witchy face been in my head for the past fifteen years?”

Chapter Four
    He didn’t expect an answer. He wasn’t even sure why he’d asked the question. True, she looked very much like the woman in his recurring dream, but the longer he stared at her—couldn’t help that part, unfortunately—the more the differences added up.
    On closer inspection, Amara’s hair really was more brown than red. Her features were also significantly finer than...whomever. Her gray eyes verged on charcoal, her slim curves were much better toned and her legs were the longest he’d seen on any woman anywhere.
    He might have lingered on the last thing if she hadn’t slapped a hand to his chest, narrowed those beautiful charcoal eyes to slits and seared him with a glare.
    “What do you mean my face has been in your head for fifteen years? What the hell kind of question is that?”
    A faint smile touched his lips. “Given my potentially concussed state, call it curiosity and forget I asked.”
    The suspicion returned. “Are you sure my grandmother’s in the Caribbean and not locked in a closet upstairs?”
    “This might not be the best time to be giving me ideas.” With his eyes still on hers, he pulled a beeping iPhone from his pocket and pressed the speaker button. “What is it, Jake?”
    “Got a problem here, Chief.”
    His deputy sounded stoked, which was never a good sign. But it was the background noises—the thumps, shouts and crashes—that told the story.
    “Bar fight got out of hand, huh?”
    “Wasn’t my fault.” Jake had to yell above the sound of shattering glass. “All I did was tell the witch people to mount their broomsticks and fly off home.”
    “You know you’re in Raven’s Hollow, right? Raven’s Hollow, Bellam territory.”
    “Can I help it if folks in this town are touchy about their ancestors?”
    “This night is deteriorating faster by the minute,” McVey muttered.
    Jake made a guttural sound as a fist struck someone’s face. “Raven’s Cove was settled first, and that’s a fact. Why’re you sticking up for a bunch of interlopers who can’t hold their liquor and are proud of the fact that one of their stupid witch women made it so my great-great-whatever-granddaddy got turned into a bird?”
    Were they actually having this conversation? McVey regarded Amara, who’d heard every word, and, holding her gaze, said calmly, “I’ll be there in fifteen.”
    He could see she was trying not to laugh as he pocketed his phone and bent to retrieve the gun he’d lost during their scuffle.
    “Sorry, but I did warn you, McVey.”
    “No, you didn’t. You said your Raven’s Hollow relatives represented the less antagonistic side of the family. That’s not how Jake Blume’s telling it.”
    “Twenty bucks says Jake started it.”
    Since that was entirely possible, McVey stuffed his weapon. “What can I say? He came with the job.”
    “The job’s a powder keg, Chief, a fact that whoever talked you into it obviously neglected to mention. Raven’s Cove goes through police chiefs—”
    “Like wolves go through grandmothers?” In a move intended to unsettle, he blocked her flight path. “Gonna need your keys, Red.”
    Unfazed, she ran her index finger over his chest. “Are you telling me, Chief McVey, that a deputy came with the job, but a vehicle didn’t? Sounds like someone suckered you big time.”
    “I’m beginning to agree.” And, damn it, get hot. “Keys are in case your car’s closing my truck in. Knowing Jake