The wind picks up and the air feels charged from the storm that’s rolling in. We’re due for a good thunderstorm, and while I’m not scared of storms anymore like I was when I was a kid, I’m a little annoyed since the pastures were finally drying up.
“I have a bunch of baby chicks,” I tell Saanvi as I lock up the barn for the night. “I need to give them another handful of feed. They’re in the garage if you want to see them.”
“You’re living my dream life,” she says with a slight chuckle. “A creepy old house with horses—oh, sorry, not that your house is creepy. That came out wrong.”
“It’s fine, and I know what you mean. Victorian houses have a bit of a creepy factor and I personally love it. I always said my dream house was the Addams’s Family house.” I look lovingly at my house, walking closer to it. “This is perfect. Especially when I remember I don’t have a mortgage.”
She laughs. “That would make me love pretty much any house.” An old truck slowly drives down the road, letting off the gas right when it gets in front of our house. “That must be one of your neighbors?”
“Uh, probably. I don’t recognize the truck but that doesn’t mean much.”
“We saw it on the way here. It was going really slow, and I only remember because it has the dog kennel in the back and it wasn’t tied down. I didn’t see a dog in it, thankfully.”
“Oh, I hate seeing that. It’s so dangerous.” The truck speeds up as if whoever is driving sees that we’re watching, and I get a flashback to Ethan’s colleague Stephanie driving by the house hoping to catch me using magic.
She likes Ethan and thinks he’d be better off dating her than me. It wouldn’t make sense for her to go after him…yet it wouldn’t surprise me either. Maybe she’s pissed enough to want to punish him. She’s already on probation with the Order, which was probably like a death sentence to her. She definitely drank the Kool-Aid and believes the Order to be everything they say it is.
My stomach starts to twist into a knot and Hunter bumps his cold nose against my hand, reminding me to take a deep breath and calm down before I accidentally summon fire in my hand. That would be fun to try explaining to my brother’s new girlfriend.
We make it inside after feeding the chicks right as the rain hits. Harrison and Ethan are in the living room, watching a baseball game, and Nik is looking at his matches on the new dating site he signed up for.
Saanvi sits with Harry on the couch, and I go into the kitchen to get the dessert ready. My phone chimes with a text and I set the pie down to go check it. Sam texted me, and I see that I have a few texts from Rene as well.
Sam: Hey…just checking on you guys. (David said everything is still good legally)
Me: Ethan doesn’t seem phased by the whole thing. I’m still a little freaked out
Sam: It’s not the first time he’s been arrested, though he’s never been accused of murder before.
Me: Hah. He reminded me. I’m going crazy trying to think of who set him up.
Sam: We are too. Julia reached a dead end. The “tip” was called in anonymously and the couple who live in that apartment now weren’t the ones who found the lighter. We talked to them and it’s almost like they’ve been held spellbound by a vampire.
Me: OMG really?!
Sam: Yeah. They can’t remember if they found it or if they didn’t. It’s like there’s a hole in that part of their memory. Classic symptom of being held spellbound.
“What would a vampire want with Ethan?” I mumble out loud. We personally don’t know any vampires, and it’s been four or five years since Ethan was sent on a vampire hunt by the Order. Though human years probably aren't much time in vampire-years.
Still, if a vampire wanted to get revenge on Ethan for killing one of their friends, I don’t think framing him for murder would be the way to go.
Me: Thanks for looking into it. I’m not going to let this go until we figure it out. Nik thinks whoever did it was trying to unnerve me so they could attack.
Sam: That would make sense, actually. But you weren’t attacked by a demon, right?
Me: Right. Unless they expected Ethan to actually get arrested.
I let out a sigh, feeling annoyingly helpless. I’m a fucking witch and I also feel like I’ve hit a dead-end and have no idea what to do to get the answers I want.
Sam: Just be careful.
Me: I will. You too.
Putting the phone on the counter, I take the pie and new plates to the dining room. Stealing a glance behind me, I hold my hands over the pie to warm it up with magic since it’s been sitting on the counter. I grab another bottle of wine and pour myself another glass, taking a few slow sips.
The wind picks up, making the siding out the outside of the house creak. Sinking down in my chair, I take another drink of wine and open the texts from Rene.
“Hey,” Harrison says, coming into the dining room.