“Ogres are real?” Rene echoes. “Nothing is off the table, is it?”
“Fairytales and myths came from somewhere,” Ethan tells her. “Though ogres…that’s a new one, even for me.”
“Well, next time I babysit my niece, I might ask to borrow some of her fairytale books.”
“My demon dictionary probably has you covered,” I joke.
“You got the full history of the place?” Ethan asks Keith.
“Yep.” Keith takes one more bite of his sandwich, sets it down, and reaches into his bag, pulling out a folder. “Everything is in here and I am dying to fully let Anora dig into this.” He hands the folder to Ethan, who flips through the papers.
“I’ve seen it already,” Rene tells us. “It’s intense.”
“Don’t tell me anything.” I break my wrap in half, already full from the pita bread and humus I had as an appetizer before this. “Something already reached out the last time I was there. I’m pretty sure a woman was beaten to death,” I start, and Keith and Rene exchange looks. “None of that! I can’t have any precognition of what’s going on. There’s something dark there as well and if it realizes I already have a theory, it’ll play to that and can take advantage of me.”
“I really admire your determination to do this,” Keith says. “I know you don’t have to lie or play games to impress us since you’re the actual real-deal, but you also don’t have to do this.”
I shrug. “People are born with abilities for a reason. I wasn’t gifted to become an Olympic athlete or teach the next generation math or whatever. But I can talk to ghosts.”
“Your aunt would be proud,” Nik says quietly. He’s told me that a few times before, and every time it still makes me a little emotional. I have so many mixed feelings toward Great Aunt Estelle. From anger for her keeping the truth from me, to a great sadness that we never got to know each other. It’s a complicated relationship, even though she’s dead.
You’d think she’d at least have the courtesy of paying me a visit in a dream or using a spirit board to talk to me.
“I brought some equipment,” Rene tells us and shows off the new EMF meter she ordered. We finish eating, and the waitress brings us the check.
“I got this,” Ethan says, grabbing it before anyone else can. He takes the check up to the little counter to pay.
“Hey,” I start, leaning in a bit as soon as Ethan is out of earshot. “Don’t you think it’s weird he’s like not rattled at all about the whole getting arrested thing?” I had texted Rene and Keith a breakdown of everything that happened since that fateful Friday afternoon.
“He’s been arrested before, right?” Rene asks, shifting her eyes from me to Ethan. He’s behind two people, buying us a little more time.
“Yeah. And he’s always gotten off thanks to the Order. I’m still not convinced they’re behind this.”
“They’re the ones who got him off the hook,” Keith muses. “It could have been a setup to prove how much he needs them.”
“Ohh, I didn’t think of that.” I pick up my iced tea and take a big drink. “It’s a dirty move and totally something the Order would do. Especially given how shady this whole thing is.”
“What about the couple in the apartment?” Nik runs his finger around the inside of his milkshake glass, getting the last bit of whipped cream out. “Julia was able to talk to them and they have some very clear signs of memory loss.”
“Which means some sort of memory spell was cast. Either by a witch or a vampire.” I push my hair back. “And I think I can rule out a vampire. It doesn’t seem like their way of getting revenge.”
“Unless someone paid a vampire to do it,” Rene suggests. “I saw a thing on Reddit where people posted some of the shady shit they’ve done for cash.” She shrugs. “I would do it for the right amount.”
“Shit. I would too,” Keith sighs.
“It’s not unheard of,” Nik chimes in. “Newer vampires have been known to sell their blood for spells or gullible humans who think it’ll enhance their sex life or something. Though vampires need to be several centuries old in order to possess the power to hold someone spellbound. Still, like Rene said, some people would do anything for the right amount of cash.”
“Well, fuck,” I huff under my breath. “Okay, so I’ll addvampire for hireto my list. Still, I feel like Ethan is brushing this off.”
“Is he?” Nik leans back. “Or is he not obsessing over it because you are?”
“This is something that should be obsessed over. It’s a big freaking deal. Whoever set him up wanted him out of the picture for some reason or another. They were really good at covering their tracks and making sure nothing could be traced back to them. From the new renters not knowing who called in the tip to not being seen on any security footage in the area…there’s so many questions. The biggest is how they got Ethan’s fingerprint on the lighter. And they didn’t get their way so this whole waiting for the other shoe to drop is going to be the death of me.”
“It scares me too,” Nik admits. “Because I agree with you and I still think whoever did it sawyouas the target, not Ethan. If they actually wanted Ethan arrested, they’d have done a better job planting evidence and would have made sure he didn’t have an alibi.”
“Okay, now that’s a good point,” Keith says. “So, let’s just say they knew the evidence wouldn’t stand up in court if it got that far. Ethan would be out of the house and away from you for months. You’d be upset and distracted and…and…well, I don’t fucking know because I’m not evil or crazy.”
“You’re a little crazy,” Rene quips.