Chapter One
~Claire DuBois ~
“So, Mayor Steele,” I said, turning away from the water outside the ferry window to face him again. “What can you tell me about the temple?”
“Not much,” he admitted with a smile. “And please, call me Colton.”
“Very well,” I agreed. “Colton. You said that the storms on the island unearthed the ruins of a building, yes?”
“That’s right,” he said, nodding. “There are local legends about a sentient being—”
“Excuse me,” I interrupted. “I’m so sorry, but I prefer not to be influenced by legend and stories before I have a chance to inspect the area. I do my best to remain neutral and fact driven, but I’m not above influence.”
“Of course,” he said. “Thank you again for coming out so quickly.”
“It’s my pleasure,” I assured him.
And it was. Being a monster archeologist was just about the coolest job I could ever imagine, and the fact that I got to travel all over the world to do it was amazing.
It took a lot of trust on the part of the supernatural community to let me unearth their pasts and piece together their history for them, but after five years of research and community building, it seemed that we were all on the same page. I respected them and in turn they respected me as well.
“So, the temple,” I repeated, anxious to dive into my newest mystery.
“Right,” Colton said, smiling softly at me. “There have been heavy storms battering the islands and it’s as if the ruins lifted themselves from beneath the ground. Prior to just appearing in the middle of the woods, there was no indication that any structures had existed there before. Then one day…bam, big stone temple.”
I nodded as he talked, as it wasn’t an unfamiliar story. Monsters were currently trying like hell to integrate with humans, or norms as they called us, but that had never been the case before Colton Steele had used the magic of his town to allow the monsters residing there to safely show themselves to the norms.
He was a case study in the incredible world of the paranormal, but unfortunately, that wasn’t what I’d been called to Michigan to deal with. One day, when the monsters were fully out all over the world, I hoped that I would be the one to write that story and share the history of our relationships to one another.
But for today, I had an old, scary temple to drive into. And that was just as exciting to me.
“Has anyone been inside?” I asked.
“No,” Colton said firmly. “Once it was discovered I spent some time inspecting the outside, and while it seems structurally sound, I didn’t want to risk disturbing anything inside.”
“Anything inside?” I asked, my tone teasing. “Like this legend you wanted to tell me about?”
“Indeed.” Colton grinned at me as he let out a small chuckle. “Once you’ve completed your inspection, perhaps we can discuss that story. It’s a good one.”
“That sounds like a plan,” I agreed.
The boat docked at the island shore, and we disembarked, the captain following behind with my bags.
“I’ll just run these up to the resort,” the captain said happily. “They’ll be at the desk for you when you’re ready to check in.”
“Thank you so much,” I said, smiling at the kind man before he turned and headed up the path toward the hotel.
“I assume you’ll be wanting to see the temple?” Colton asked, already taking steps toward the dense woods at the center of the island.
“Definitely,” I agreed, following behind him.
A massive crack of thunder rumbled through the air around us, making me jump. I looked to the sky and saw that the white, fluffy clouds and bright blue sky were gone, replaced by darkness in what seemed to have been an instant.
“What the hell?” I muttered, rubbing the gooseflesh that had broken out over my arms as a cool wind kicked up and blew across the island.
“Yeah,” Colton said, turning back to face me. “That legend you didn’t want to know about…”
“No,” I said slowly, disbelief clear in my tone. “Really?”