#1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts continues the thrilling trilogy of a town plagued by evil—and the three men and three women brought together by fate to fight it. For Fox, Caleb, Gage and the other residents of Hawkins Hollow, the number seven portends doom—ever since, as boys, they freed a demon trapped for centuries when their blood spilled upon The Pagan Stone…   Now, as the dreaded seventh month looms before them, the men can feel the storm brewing. Already they are plagued by visions of death and destruction. But this year, they are better prepared, joined in their battle by three women who have come to The Hollow. Layla, Quinn, and Cybil are somehow connected to the demon, just as the men are connected to the force that trapped it.   Since that day at The Pagan Stone, town lawyer Fox has been able to see into others’ minds, a talent he shares with Layla. He must earn her trust, because their link will help fight the darkness that threatens to engulf the town. But Layla is having trouble coming to terms with her newfound ability—and this intimate connection to Fox. She knows that once she opens her mind, she’ll have no defenses against the desire that threatens to consume them both…  Don't miss the other books in the Sign of Seven Trilogy Blood Brothers The Pagan Stone Every seven years for seven days the citizens of Hawkins Hollow go crazy. It all began 21 years earlier when three friends—Fox O’Dell, Caleb Hawkins, and Gage Turner—spilled their own blood on the Pagan Stone and released the demon once known as Lazarus Twisse. Ever since then, the three have worked together to limit the damage Twisse causes during his week long reign of terror. Recently, three women—Layla Darnell, Quinn, and Cybil Kinski—have joined their battle against Twisse, but it is going to take everything the six have if they are ever going to eliminate once and for all the evil that threatens Hawkins Hollow. After introducing her new paranormal-tinged series with Blood Brothers (2007)—the story of Cal and Quinn—Roberts cleverly continues her deliciously chilling Sign of Seven trilogy with a riveting story that focuses on Fox and Layla, both of whose gift for reading other people’s minds plays a key role in the six’s demon-defeating plans. --John Charles Praise for Nora Roberts and The Hollow “America's favorite writer.”— The New Yorker “Roberts cleverly continues her deliciously chilling Sign of Seven trilogy with a riveting story that focuses on Fox and Layla, both of whose gift for reading other people’s minds plays a key role in the six’s demon-defeating plans.”— Booklist Nora Roberts  is the #1  New York Times  bestselling author of more than 200 novels. She is also the author of the bestselling In Death series written under the pen name J. D. Robb. There are more than 500 million copies of her books in print. Prologue Hawkins Hollow June, 1994 On a bright summer morning, a teacup poodle drowned in the Bestlers’ backyard swimming pool. At first Lynne Bestler, who'd gone out to sneak in a solitary swim before her kids woke, thought it was a dead squirrel. Which would've been bad enough. But when she steeled herself to scoop out the tangle of fur with the net, she recognized her neighbor’s beloved Marcell. Squirrels generally didn’t wear rhinestone collars. Her shouts, and the splash as Lynne tossed the hapless dog, net and all, back into the pool, brought Lynne’s husband rushing out in his boxers. Their mother’s sobs, and their father’s curses as he jumped in to grab the pole and tow the body to the side, woke the Bestler twins, who stood screaming in their matching My Little Pony nightgowns. Within moments, the backyard hysteria had neighbors hurrying to fences just as Bestler dragged himself and his burden out of the water. As, like many men, Bestler had developed an attachment to ancient underwear, the weight of the water was too much for the worn elastic. So Bestler came out of his pool with a dead dog, and no boxers. The bright summer morning in the little town of Hawkins Hollow began with shock, grief, farce, and drama. Fox learned of Marcell’s untimely death minutes after he stepped into Ma’s Pantry to pick up a sixteen-ounce bottle of Coke and a couple of Slim Jims. He’d copped a quick break from working with his father on a kitchen remodel down Main Street. Mrs. Larson wanted new countertops, cabinet doors, new floors, new paint. She called it freshening things up, and Fox called it a way to earn enough money to take Allyson Brendon out for pizza and the movies on Saturday night. He hoped to use that gateway to talk her into the backseat of his ancient VW bug. He didn’t mind working with his dad. He hoped to hell he wouldn’t spend the rest of his life swinging a hammer or running a power saw, but he didn’t mind it. His father’s company was always easy, and the job got Fox out of gardening and animal duty on their little farm. It also provided easy access to Cokes and Slim Jims—