“Did you hear that?” she asked.
“It’s nothing to worry about,” he said, his Southern drawl as soothing as his words. He draped his arm around her shoulders. “You should go back to bed, sugar.”
“But what was it? Some kind of animal?” She shuddered and realized no animal sounded like that.
“We’ve never figured out what it is. I think it’s a wildcat, but Mother is convinced it’s a banshee.”
“The banshee?” Alanna had never heard one. Shivers wracked her, and she clutched her robe more tightly. “Doesn’t that mean someone in your family is going to die?” A thought gripped her. Was this happening because she’d disturbed the music box?
“Of course not. Go on back to bed.” He guided her back to her door and pulled it shut behind him.
Alanna stood staring at the closed door. She didn’t want to stay here alone. Not when her mates were just down the hall. It would be easier to deal with together. They had to have heard that unearthly shriek and would be wondering about it.
She opened the door. Barry was gone. Scooping up the cat, she raced in bare feet down the hall to the back wing. Turning the corner, she collided with a solid body. They both screamed before she recognized Ciara.
Ciara clutched Alanna’s arm. “Lass, you’ll be scaring me to my grave. What was that sound?”
“Barry said his mother thinks it’s a banshee.”
Ciara led her back toward her bedroom. “And I’ll be believing it. If someone is dying tonight, it’s not going to be one of us.”
She pushed Alanna into the bedroom, where the rest of Ceol were sitting by the sides of the bed and on the floor. “Did all of you hear that?” Alanna asked.
“It would be waking the dead,” Fiona grumbled. “I was having a lovely dream.”
“We could tell ghost stories.” Ena smiled.
“I’ll not be listening,” Fiona said with a shudder.
Alanna found herself looking for Jesse. She didn’t want to even think about him, not after the way she’d nearly thrown herself at him in the kitchen. Still, she wanted him safe. “Where’s Jesse?”
“He was here a minute ago, but he said something about looking for her, the banshee.”
She hoped he wouldn’t run into Barry. She clasped her arms around herself and wished she had just gone back to bed.
Until the wail came again.
“Maybe we can see the banshee,” Ena said. “Anyone game to go with me?”
“I’ll go,” Alanna said. “It’s better than sitting here wondering what’s happening.”
“I’ll go too,” Ciara said.
“You’re all crazy!” Fiona grabbed a blanket from the bed and wrapped it around herself. “I’ll be staying here.”
“By yourself?” Ena whistled an eerie tune, and Fiona threw a pillow at her. “Come on. All for one and one for all.”
“Oh, fine.” Fiona tossed the blanket back on the bed. “Let’s get this over. Who’s going to be leading this brave party?”
“I want to,” Ena said. “It’s my idea, so I’ll be deserving the best chance of seeing the banshee.”
They trooped into the hallway after Ena. Alanna found the light switch and turned on the dim bulb. She wished Barry were with them. Or Jesse. What could four women do against a banshee? But if it was a banshee, what could anyone do?
She stayed close behind Ena as they wound through the halls to the stairway and down to the entry. Barry must have turned on the outside light, because its glow pushed back the shadows on the porch. But beyond the wash of light lurked total darkness.
“We’ll be needing to rethink this,” Fiona said. “It’s dark out there. The moon must be behind clouds.”
“Don’t be such a ninny,” Ena said. “Let’s go.” She opened the screen door, and it gave a shriek that made them all jump. “Sorry.”
The door slammed shut behind them. Alanna stared around the dark yard where nothing moved that she could see. The gator grunted in its pond, and she heard a splash.
“Maybe the gator ate the banshee,” Ena whispered.
The women giggled, and the oppression lifted from Alanna’s shoulders. Whatever it was, it couldn’t hurt them. She went past Ena to the steps.
“Wait a minute. We don’t have shoes on,” Fiona said. “What if there are poisonous snakes out there? Alanna has already been bitten.”
Alanna drew back from the top step. “You’re right. I got lucky once. We might not be so fortunate next time. We need to at least put on shoes.”
Before they could all go back inside, an anguished scream pierced the night. Alanna’s blood turned to ice, and she stared wildly around. This sound was different from the earlier one.
This one was human.