M O R G A N

I slammed the back door and deadbolted it. My heart was thundering in my chest. Anger burned through me. How dare he threaten me! I would never allow some devil-worshipping freak to chase me out of my home.

If he wanted a fight, then I'd give him a goddamn war.

Poppy lingered in the kitchen doorway. She was pale, and there was vomit on her sweater. Her expression was tense and worried.

"Nigel Lightfall is in the bar wanting to speak with you," she said weakly.

Nigel was one of the village elders. He'd probably come here to speak with me about Eli.

I smiled reassuringly at Poppy and said, "Everything will be fine. I'll talk to Nigel and explain that we had nothing to do with Eli's accident."

Poppy bit her bottom lip and whispered, "I saw the man you were talking to out back. He's the man from the woods, isn't he? I think he killed Eli."

"We don't know that," I said.

"You should tell Nigel about him. Tell him that the man threatened you," she urged.

"I'll tell Nigel about the man, but I won't accuse anyone of murder. We have no idea how Eli ended up in the river last night. It may have been a terrible accident," I said.

I moved around Poppy and entered the bar. Nigel Lightfall sat next to the fire with India and Charlie. He was a man in his late sixties and was tall and lean. He was a sheep farmer near the mill and a great friend of Eli's father.

I liked Nigel. He was easygoing and enjoyed telling many stories, especially when drunk. He was a regular at the Fox & Dragon and was captain of our darts team.

When I entered the bar, he raised his head and gave me an uneasy smile.

"Hello, Nigel," I said calmly.

"Oh, Morgan. What a dreadful business. I've just been telling Charlie here about what happened. Poor Dinah and Walter. They are heartbroken," he exclaimed.

"I can't imagine how they must feel," I replied.

"Yes, it's quite terrible. Dinah is in a bad way. The doctor has had to give her sedatives to calm her down. Dreadful, dreadful business," he rambled on.

"Do we know how it happened? How Eli ended up in the river?" I asked.

"No, and that's why I've come here. I'm interviewing people to try and piece together Eli's last hours. Did you see Eli last night after his outburst?" Nigel asked.

I shook my head and said, "No, I was in the woods with India and Rupert. We were looking for Poppy after she had run away."

Nigel nodded thoughtfully and asked, "Did you see Eli when you were in the wood?"

"No," I lied.

"Did you see anything else strange in the woods that night," he pushed.

I paused. This was my opportunity to tell Nigel about the stranger. I could explain to Nigel how he threatened me. The elders would turn against him and run him out of the village.

I opened my mouth to speak but closed it when I felt an unbearable ache start to gnaw in my chest.

"I didn't see anything else," I sighed.

Nigel nodded and sighed, "Yes, yes. It is beginning to seem more and more like a dreadful accident."

Disappointment washed over me. I should have told Nigel about him, but I couldn't. For some reason, the thought of sending him away terrified me.

Behind me, I heard the bar door open. Poppy walked in with a tray of clean glasses. She placed the tray on the bar and began to stack the glasses on the shelves. Nigel watched her with interest.

"Poppy, did you see anything strange last night?" Nigel asked her.

Poppy glanced at me, and I could see the wheels of her mind whirling away. I mouthed at her to stop, but she ignored me.

"I did see something odd," she said. "While I was running through the forest, I bumped into a man. I think he is homeless and squatting in the Devil's house. He was drunk or high, I couldn't tell which, but he seemed really angry."

Nigel's eyes widened in interest, and he said, "Really? Did he threaten you?"

"He wasn't exactly making a lot of sense. He kept talking to me in this made-up language and hissing at me," Poppy explained.

"Goddamn Devil Worshippers. The countryside is crawling with them! A man can't walk half a mile west without encountering some evidence of dark magic," Nigel said. "I'll call the elders and explain that dark forces are lingering over Thorsbury like a black cloud."

Charlie sensed my unease and stood up with a light grin on his face. "Come on, Nigel. This is just kid talk. There aren't any devil worshippers in the woods. Poppy probably saw the homeless fellow and started imagining things."

Poppy scowled at her uncle and protested, "Everyone knows Satanists visit the woods. I bet Eli ran into that man last night, and he shoved him into the river."

The blood in my veins turned to ice. It was one thing to run a man out of town but another to call him a murderer.

Nigel picked up his jacket and said, "I must report to the other Elders. We will not tolerate devil lovers in our village."

He excused himself and left.

Charlie and I stared at Poppy. We both knew she had lied. Finally, Poppy threw her hands up defensively and said, "I'm telling the truth. The homeless man even came to the pub this morning and threatened Morgan."

Charlie narrowed his gaze on me and asked. "Is that true?"

I panicked and lied, "Yes. I found him digging food out of the bins. I told him off, and he got angry. I think he was half mad with starvation."

Charlie rolled his eyes and grabbed his coat. "I better talk to the elders before they launch a full-blown witch hunt for this poor man."

Charlie hurried out of the pub, leaving me with Poppy. I stared at Poppy in disbelief.

"You do realise the elders will hunt down that poor man," I snapped.

Poppy shrugged her shoulders and said, "Better him than us."

"Are you serious?" I asked.

Poppy slammed a clean glass on the counter and yelled, "Eli's parents own this pub. What do you think they will do if they think we are protecting their son's killer?"

I closed my mouth. Whether I liked it or not, she did have a point.

Poppy rolled her eyes at me and grumbled, "Forgive me for trying to protect my family."

"Poppy, i-," but before I could finish, Poppy stormed into the back, leaving me hanging. I stared at the door she had just walked through and felt conflicted. The stranger was a stranger and it was only a matter of time before he was chased out the village. So, maybe Poppy was right. Maybe, he should take the blame.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out. There was a new message from the stranger.

'Final, final warning. Get out of the village or die.'

My worry quickly evaporated as hot anger surged through me. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut. Maybe, I should let the elders chase him out of town.

So why was I hesitating?

I reached up and touched the spot over my heart. I wouldn't feel so uneasy if the wisps didn't choose him as my mate. If it had been anyone else in the village, then we would have been engaged and married on the first of May with the other new couples. The village would have given us a cottage to live in, where we would spend the rest of our days together, raising a family.

It sounded so dreamy, but this stranger wasn't a village, and realistically, neither was I.

I wondered if I could ignore the wisps' mate choice for me. I sunk down next to India, who was minding her own business next to the fire.

"Can I ask you something?" I said in a low voice. "Have you ever heard of an instance where the wisps have been wrong about a couple?"

India shook her head, "No, the wisps are never wrong."

"Well, what if a couple didn't like each other? What if they really hated each other?" I asked.

"The wisps are never wrong, Morgan," India replied firmly. "Couples may not like each other at first, but an invisible bond is created when a wisp joins two people by the heart. That bond will tug and pull until those two individuals give in and accept each other."

"But, what would happen if a couple ignored their bond? Would it eventually go away?" I asked, trying not to sound desperate.

"I don't think so. The wisps and the bond always win," India said.

My face fell. So, I was doomed to fall in love with a devil-worshipping man who claimed to be my worst enemy.

I picked up my phone and wondered, should I accept my fate and warn him? Or, should I try and fight destiny?

Decisions, decisions...