Burkheart Witch Saga Book 3 Read Free Page A

asked if she would like him to stay, but she just wanted to be alone with her father for a while. After the last of them had left, Grace took off the black dress and put on jeans and a t-shirt. She could not spend one more minute wearing Kayla's dress. It still smelled faintly of the perfume her mother had worn for as long as Grace could remember.
    Sitting down at the dining room table where she had eaten her meals at for the majority of her life, she put her hands over her face and sobbed. After the events of the day, she was just exhausted. She felt tired all the way to the center of her soul. David entered the room and sat next to her, trying to find a way to speak to her.
    "You know, you look so much like her, Grace. You are so beautiful, just like she is… was." His voice trembled as he continued to speak. "And she loved you so much."
    "I know, Daddy." Grace reached out and gripped his hand.
    "I just don't know what I'm going to do without her." David could no longer hold back his tears. His pain spilled out as if a dam had broken. Grace felt it come over her in a wave.
    The two sat at that old table and cried for what seemed like hours. Grace tried to project peace onto David, but it was no use. She did not have any to give away. When the tears lessened, the two began to think of better times.
    David recounted the stories of meeting the coven of little people that would become their family, their wedding day, the day Grace was born, and memories from her happy childhood. They talked about their frequent camping trips to the Washington forests, and time spent together as a family doing even the most mundane activities like cooking dinner or playing Scrabble. Mostly, they talked about all the things they would miss about Kayla Burkheart.
    The whole time they were talking, Grace could not help but think about the man with the brilliant blue eyes. Who was he and what the hell did he want from her?

2
    A s Grace and Harold packed up their bags to go stay with her dad, she looked at all of the things in their apartment that reminded her of Kayla. It suddenly appeared to be a shrine to her mother's life: the photos of Kayla and David on the mantle, the crystal vase her mom had given her as an engagement gift, even the reflection in the mirror in the hall… it was all just a morbid reminder of a terrible loss.
    Grace bore a striking resemblance to her mother, and she had always been proud of that fact. Now, though, that too was just a sad reminder of a lost friend.
    It was an almost impossible task for Grace to stop thinking about the dark-haired man she'd seen at her Mom's funeral the week before. Every time she thought of Kayla, Roland Stillson would pop into her head as though they were a package deal. Harold had told her that she should just forget him. He believed Roland was probably some sort of charlatan who was going to try to cash in on Grace's grief by preying on her emotions. At the right moment, he would try to sell her an insurance policy, or a burial plot or something. She was not so sure that was the case.
    Roland was quite obviously a magical being. David and Harold could not see it, of course, but she felt it. He was definitely not a witch. She would have known that right away. He wasn't a vamp or a wolf, either. So, what in the hell could he possibly be? He was too small to be a troll, and he was too big to be a goblin.
    While putting her clothes into the last suitcase, Grace decided that she was going to find out. There was no time to waste figuring out what it was this thing wanted with her.
    Whatever it was, good or bad, she knew it would need to be dealt with right away.
    She sat down on the bed and picked up the phone.
    When she dialed the number written on the front of the card, Grace had no idea what to expect.
    She definitely did not expect to get Roland on the first ring.
    "Roland speaking." His smooth voice was no less intoxicating over the phone than it was in person.
    "I don't know if you