A place of history, secretsand witchcraft.
Devin Lyle has recently returned to the Salem area, but her timing couldnt be worse. Soon after she moved into the eighteenth-century cabin she inherited from her great-aunt Minaher crazy great-aunt, who spoke to the deada woman was murdered nearby.
Craig Rockwellknown as Rockyis a new member of the Krewe of Hunters, the FBIs team of paranormal investigators. He never got over finding a friend dead in the woods. Now another bodys been found in those same woods, not far from the home of Devin Lyle. And Devins been led to a third bodybya ghost?
Her discovery draws them both deeper into the case and Salems rich and disturbing history. Even as the danger mounts, Devin and Rocky begin to fall for each other, something the ghosts of Mina and past witches seem to approve of. But the two of them need every skill they possess to learn the truthor Devins might be the next body in the woods.
www.eHeatherGraham.com
Praise for the novels of New York Times bestselling author Heather Graham
Graham does an amazing job of bringing real-life elements into her fiction worlds [The] messages are subtle, expertly woven through a story that focuses on solving mysterious crimes using the Krewe members unique talents.
RT Book Reviews on The Night Is Forever (Top Pick)
Bestseller Graham launches the third arc in her paranormal romantic suspense Krewe of Hunters series (The Unseen, etc.) with a rousing tale of the intriguing haunted town of Lily, Arizona. Readers will enjoy Sloan and Janes interactions as romantic partners and competent professionals, aided by Lilys ghosts.
Publishers Weekly on The Night is Watching
Graham deftly weaves elements of mystery, the paranormal and romance into a tight plot that will keep the reader guessing at the true nature of the killers evil.
Publishers Weekly on The Unseen
Ive long admired Heather Grahams storytelling ability and this book hit the mark. I couldnt put The Unholy down.
Fresh Fiction
The main characters are a great team, both professionally and romantically.
RT Book Reviews on The Unspoken
Graham does a great job of blending just a bit of paranormal with real, human evil.
Miami Herald on Unhallowed Ground
Grahams narrative never lags for even a single paragraph, and her setting...is a fascinating and compelling one. The ending is a heart-stopping surprise that her fan base and reading groups will be discussing for months.
Bookreporter.com on The Dead Room
Graham stands at the top of the romantic suspense category.
Publishers Weekly on Phantom Evil
The Hexed
Heather Graham
www.mirabooks.co.uk
To Pearl Riley and Kelly Riley
with lots of love and thanks.
Contents
Cover
Back Cover Text
Praise
Title Page
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Extract
Prologue
Help me, Rocky! Help me!
Craig RockwellRocky to family and friendswas seventeen, a high school senior. It wasnt that he didnt like Melissa Wilson; he just wasnt interested the way she was interested.
He rolled over restlessly on the bed, her voicefrantic as alwayspushed to the background as his half-sleeping mind returned to the thoughts that had occupied him earlier as hed drifted off over homework.
Hed been waiting to leave here as long as he could remember. He wanted to head to Boston or New York. Not that there was anything wrong with Peabody, Massachusetts. It was fine. It was filled with old houses, history and die-hard Yankees, though sometimes the people around him seemed uptight. Hed been drilled in the history of Pilgrims and Massachusetts all his life, so maybesince many of the people in the area were descendants of the Puritans who had first settled in the stateit was natural that people here took a wicked long time to progress.
He played football, and he was good. Six-one, strong and sleek and quick, he had set his mind on being the best quarterback possible, and it looked as if he was going to have his choice of scholarships. But that meant hanging in and hanging tough with football and his grades. He was lucky, too. Well, lucky in a way. He had leading-man looks, and when the school drama club was doing The Crucible, he was cast as John Proctor. He would give all of it up, though, to have his dad back.
On Friday nights when training was over, he met up with friends and they went to a movie or sat around a coffeehouse, or occasionally went into Boston for a concert. It was the same group of friends hed hung out with forever. Haley Marshall, who hed more or less gone out with until theyd recently called it quits; Jack Grail, lineman; Vince Steward, guard; Renee Radcliff, captain of the cheerleading squadand Melissa.
Theyd known one another since they were kids.
Peabody was fairly small. Population just about fifty thousand, give or take a thousand or two. The town had once been part of Salem, but it had become a separate entity as time went by and the world grew. But there was more out there, and he intended to see it.
He was good, and he wanted to make the pros. If he didnt make the pros, he wanted to join the FBI. While his mother could trace her family back to the damned Mayflower, his father had hailed from Texas, where hed been a sheriff. Late in life hed fallen in love with Rockys mom, so hed been almost seventy a year ago when hed died of a heart attack. The pain still assailed Rocky often, but he was grateful for his father. It had been better to have him for sixteen years than anyone else for a lifetime.
And he was definitely going to be a lawman, with or without a football career first. FBI. An agent had come to town when hed been ten and spoken to an assembly, and hed known since then that was what he wanted to be.
The sound of Melissas voice rose, interrupting his restless thoughts.
Rocky!
There was a sudden banging at his bedroom window. He started and sat up, staring. Melissa was there, her face white. He couldnt hear her anymore, but when her lips formed a word he knew what she was saying.
Rocky.
His name, nothing more.
He heard more banging and realized it was coming from the front door. He leaped out of bed and checked the clock. It was still early, just after 8:00 p.m.
He looked back to his bedroom window, but no one was there.
Too many teen slasher movies, he decided. They were fun, though. The girls crawled all over you after a slasher movie, and Haley, completely at home with her sexuality, had been no exception, for which his raging hormones would be eternally grateful. But she had realized he was really planning on leaving, while she just wanted to get married and have babies, so now when the movie ended she was all over Vince or Jack as she tried to figure out who was the best candidate for marriage and settling down.
He didnt carehe knew he wasnt what Haley wanted. He just didnt like it that now Melissa Wilson, apparently with Haleys blessing, was yearning after him all the time.
It was odd, he thought. If it was slasher movies that unnerved him, it should have been some kind of a homicidal monster at his window. A killer in a human skin mask or something. Instead, he saw the face of Melissa Wilson. She was five-three and a hundred pounds, tops. Not too scary.
Whatever. She was gone. And the banging at the front door continued. He got up and went to see what was going on.
It was Vince. Hey, man, his friend demanded, your moms working late?
His mother was a vice president at a small ad agency. In reality she was a glorified assistant with a title instead of a decent salary.
Yeah, he told Vince. Theyre shooting that Welcome to Salem ad tonightin Peabody.
Close enough, I guess. I got a couple of beers. Come on outwell hang in the truck, and that way we can toss em quick if she shows up, Vince said.
Rocky shook his head. My mom can smell beer a mile away.
Chicken!
Yeah, well, that and our English test is tomorrow, and I have to ace it, Rocky said.
Wow. Some wild and crazy hotshot you are, Vince said.
Rocky shrugged. You said youre going to community college until you figure out what you want to do. Well, I know what I want.
NYU or Harvard, Vince said, grinning. Maybe Yale.
Notre Dame. But, hey, Ill sit in the back of the truck and watch you down a few.
Vince shrugged. Suit yourself. Vince was huge. Six-four, close to three hundred pounds. He was great to have on the football field. He might have taken it somewherehe just didnt have the ambition.
I dont get you, buddy, Vince said, opening the back of his Ford pickup and crawling into the bed.
As he did so, another car drove up. It was an ancient Toyota. Best Jack could buy, and then only with his dads help.
Hey! Jack called. He wasnt as big as Vince; he was lean, with wiry muscles.
Come and join usback of the pickup, Vince said as Jack got out and greeted them with a grin. Haley hasnt got you cornered?
Dont know whats up. I think the girls were going shopping. Now hand me a beer.
See, Rocky? Thats what boys do when the girls arent aroundthey drink beer and watch football, Vince said.
There arent any games on, Rocky reminded him.
Okay, so we settle for drinking beer, Vince said.
School night, Rocky said. And I have plans to get out of this town.
Vince looked at Jack and Rocky, grinning. Rocky, you got it all wrong. Peabody is a great place. Close to the action in Boston when you want action. Away from people when you dont want a crowd.
Jack laughed. I think youre talking about the wheat fields of Kansas or something. We have neighbors almost on top of us.
Vince popped a beer and lay back on one of the plastic cushions he kept in the truck for entertaining, as he called it, looking up at the sky. Yeah, in some places you got old Victorian on top of old Victorian. But theres still some wooded land available. And reasonably priced, too. I get some trust money when I graduate, and Im buying land.
To do what? Rocky asked.
I dont know yetI just know Im buying it.
Yeah, well, I dont have any trust money coming, Rocky told him. He crawled up into the bed of the truck, but he didnt lie back.
Witchs moon, Jack said.
It was huge and full, Rocky noticed. The local Wiccans were probably all out forming circles or whatever it was they did.
Werewolves a-howling, Vince said, laughing.
Rocky frowned, listening intently. Just as Vince had spoken, he could have sworn that he did hear something. Not a howl, exactly. More like a sob.
What was that? he murmured.
You hear a werewolf? Vince laughed.
No, Rocky said, glancing at Vince and rolling his eyes. But something. Shut up and listen.
Melissa. Melissa Wilson. She was calling his name again. She was trying to tell him something.
Help me, Rocky. Help me!
Dont you hear her? he demanded, looking around. His next-door neighbors house was closenot fifty feet away. The sound, however, seemed to be coming from farther than that. He gazed toward the playground across the street and beyond...where a small forest of pines led down to the pond.
Hear what? Vince demanded.
Melissa, Rocky said. I could swear I hear Melissaand shes calling for help.
Vince laughed. Melissa? What the hell are you talking about? Im the one doing the drinking and youre hearing things? You hear anything, Jack?
Jack shook his head. He looked worriedly at Rocky. You okay?