Amelia turned in a circle and closed her eyes. “It’s like there is an energy surrounding me. It doesn’t feel scary.” Amelia opened her eyes and looked at Byron. “It’s almost like a happy energy, if energy can be happy.”

“The power that made that casting circle is pleased to see you, I’m sure.” Byron smiled. “The witches touched that stone in the centre when I was here. Maybe you could try that?”

Amelia nodded and walked over to the simple looking grey stone. She kneeled down and held her hand above it. The sensation of electrically charged air intensified the closer her hand came to the stone, and her heart began to pound. Somehow in the back of her mind, Amelia knew something was about to change.

She pressed her hand to the stone, and an energy pushed her off her feet, and she landed on her back. Amelia heard thunderous noise all around her, and when she opened her eyes she found she was in the centre of what looked like a tornado.

She stood slowly. The noise of the wind whipping around her was deafening, and she couldn’t see Byron any more. She started to walk back over to the stone. As she did, she could hear what sounded like voices in the midst of the noise of the wind.

The voices got louder and stronger. She kneeled by the stone and shut her eyes to concentrate on the voices, but she just couldn’t catch the words.

Almost as quickly as it happened, it stopped. The howling winds disappeared, and she could see Byron standing calmly outside the circle. That was odd. She expected Byron to be going crazy trying to get to her.

“Anything?” Byron said.

“What? Didn’t you see any of that?” Amelia marched out of the circle.

Byron looked confused. “Any of what?”

Amelia explained about the winds and the voices. “You didn’t see that?”

“No, nothing. To me it just looked as if you were touching the stone in quiet contemplation.”

“It was anything but quiet. What do you think it means?” Amelia asked.

“I don’t know. If only the Grand Duchess was still alive. She would know what it meant.”

“I wish I could talk to her.” Her death had left a huge hole in the paranormal world.

Byron took her hand. “Let’s go back to the cabin, and we’ll talk about it.”

As they walked away from the circle, Amelia heard a voice whispering behind her. She turned around quickly but there was nothing there.

“What’s wrong?” Byron asked.

“Nothing. Let’s just get back.”

Amelia shivered. The voices had followed her out of the circle.

Chapter Ten