Rattled, David returned to the booth.

  Chris leaned over with a grin. David returned a weak smile. He sat down and nearly missed, as he slid into the seat. His legs weren’t quite cooperating.

  “Hey guys…” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Something just happened.”

  Rowan tilted her head. “You look like you saw a ghost.”

  Chris was already out of the booth, hands on David’s shoulders. “Chica. You’re shaking. What’s going on?”

  David glanced toward the window, then away. “The patio lights were off. They never go off. I went over there to check the moon…”

  Francis leaned forward, quiet. “Slow down, dalin'.”

  “It matched,” David said. He touched the charm at his chest. “Same phase. Same shape. And then there was… someone out there.”

  “Que tal?” Chris asked.

  “A woman.” David swallowed. “Glowing. Sitting in the dark like it belonged to her.”

  Rowan’s smile vanished.

  “And then everything else just—” He gestured vaguely around the bar. “Wasn’t there anymore. Just dark.”

  Chris went still.

  “The only thing that kept it away was this.” David closed his fist around the necklace. “It started glowing. Like it was holding the dark back.”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Francis reached across the table and rested her hand near his. Not touching. Just there.

  “I looked back out the window,” David said. “I knew her face. From my dreams. She had the same necklace. And a raven.”

  Rowan whispered, “Okay.”

  “She lifted her hand toward me,” David continued, voice lower now. “Like she was asking. She said one word.”

  Chris leaned in. “What word?”

  David didn’t look up. “Keep.”

  Chris’s hand twitched. “I can take it off you right now.”

  David raised his palm. “No.” The certainty surprised him. “Not yet.”

  Chris searched his face, then leaned back. “Alright. But you say the word.”

  Francis smiled, steady and warm. “You’re safe now, darlin'. Whatever it was, it’s not here.”

  David nodded, though his grip on the charm didn’t loosen. He took a long pull from his beer and grimaced. “That’s not helping.”

  Chris laughed, relief bleeding back in. “Rum and coke, then. Whiskey shots for the rest of us.”

  In short order the waitress brought the drinks around giving David some time to gather his wits.

  Rowan glanced at the charm again. “The moon matched it?”

  “Yeah,” David said. “Right-facing crescent.”

  Francis nodded slowly. “Change phase. Endings before beginnings.”

  David let out a tired breath. “Great. Haunted jewelry and ominous endings."

  Chris raised his glass and everyone followed suit, "For now let's celebrate ominous survival!"

  They clinked their glasses together, and Chris shouted. “Salude!”

  The table laughed, softly, and the conversation finally drifted somewhere safer.

  The bar closed and Francis brought David home tipsy as promised.

  Francis walked David to the door. Keys jangling in his unsteady hand.

  “I’m setting up a meeting tomorrow,” she said gently. “Ten in the morning. I’d really like you there.”

  David hesitated. “That feels… fast.”

  “I know.” She squeezed his arm. “But what you shared tonight matters.”

  He nodded. “I’ll think about it. I promise.”

  Francis hugged him tight, then stepped back. “Get some rest, darlin’.”

  As she drove away, Lobo’s bark thundered from inside the house.

  David smiled faintly as he unlocked the door and dropped to one knee, scratching familiar ears.

  For now, that was enough.

  The Changing Tide—marks the end of Chapter 5.

  Things are about to get weirder....