“They’re both pretty incredible to me,” the curly-haired witch replied. “My most illustrious relative was a Silver Moon Pursewarden about a hundred years ago.”
“Did my ancestor do a lot of…entertaining?” I asked.
Delphine wore a vague smile. “I think that’s something you’ll need to research for yourself.”
“One project at a time,” I said.
Emma pulled a brush from her handbag and ran it through her tangled hair. “I don’t know how Ananke handled it. I still remember how I felt when Daniel was dating someone else. It was one of the worst feelings in the world.”
“I assume that was before you were married,” I said.
Emma nodded vigorously. “Oh, yes. He’d rekindled a romance with a former girlfriend. Turns out he was under a spell, but still.” She paused for a beat. “It was pure devastation. When you love someone with that kind of intensity…Let’s just say I did all sorts of crazy things I would never dream of doing under normal circumstances.”
“That explains why there’s a special distinction for those crimes that take place in the heat of the moment,” Delphine said.
“Crimes of passion,” Emma clarified. “I’m not motivated by negative emotions in general, but I admit that jealousy lights a special kind of fire in my heart.”
Jealousy. Fire.
My heart thundered in my chest. “Sweet baby Elvis. I think I know who killed Bonnie,” I blurted.
Emma’s brow furrowed. “It wasn’t me. Daniel didn’t hit on Bonnie.”
“Not you.” My head was spinning. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner.” Then again, we’re always blind to the things we don’t want to see. It was human nature. Paranormal nature, too, apparently.
“I’ll call Sheriff Nash,” Delphine offered.
“Don’t,” I said. With Hector in custody, there’d be no sense of urgency.
“I’ll come with you,” Emma said. “You might need backup.”
“You go back to Palmetto House before a baby bursts out of you,” I told Emma. “I’ve got this.”
“No way,” Emma said. “I’m fully capable. I’ve got sorceress skills and I’ve been involved in this from the beginning, same as you. I’m going with you.”
“You’re pregnant.”
“With a special hybrid baby,” she reminded me. “Not to mention a certain grandmother by the name of Nyx.”
“I’ll pull the car up to the door for you,” I told Emma.
Delphine looked from Emma to me. “If I don’t hear from you in half an hour, I’m calling the sheriff.”
“Deal.” I gave her the address and raced out of the library.
Chapter Eighteen
Pam answered the door on the first knock, her eyes puffy and bloodshot. “Hey,” she said. “That’s sweet of you to check on me. I just dropped Nana off at the senior center for shuffleboard. I want to hit the gym.”
“Pam, this is Emma. She’s visiting from out of town.”
Pam stepped back to let us in and closed the door behind us. “I can’t hang out. The class with the hot yoga instructor starts soon. I need to do some serious work today after last night.”
“Her ex-boyfriend is Hector,” I said. “He was arrested for murdering her friend.”
“That poor nymph,” Emma said, playing along. “I heard about it. So awful.”
“Well, it seems like they deserved each other,” Pam said bitterly. “If only I’d known what a traitor Bonnie was, I wouldn’t have bothered to mourn.”
I kept a close eye on the banshee. “Except you did know, didn’t you?”
Pam’s eyes reflected surprise. “What do you mean?”
“She means you knew all about your friend and your ex and it drove you into a jealous rage,” Emma said.
I glanced at Emma and thought of her chemistry with Daniel, how there seemed to be a palpable energy when they were in a room together.
“You felt the spark between them that night at the bonfire, didn’t you?” I asked. “You said Bonnie went after him on your behalf—even punched him.”
Pam’s mouth formed a thin line. “You should’ve seen the expression on their faces. Pure lust. They might as well have torn each other’s clothes off right there on the beach. It was disgusting.” She spat on the floor.
“But nothing happened that night?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, but I sensed a connection.”
“So you started to stalk them, just to see.”
“It was easy to do. They weren’t aware of anyone else when they were together.” She scowled.
“Did you know the part about the blood bank?” I asked.
Pam shook her head. “Didn’t surprise me. Like I said, Hector’s a boob man and Bonnie liked to show hers off.”
“So you knew Bonnie was at Palmetto House that night,” I said.
“I knew that stupid landlord had a crush on her the size of Canada,” Pam said. “It wasn’t enough that she snagged my Hector. She had to seduce every male in her path.”
Although I knew that wasn’t true, it didn’t seem important at the moment. “So you made plans to kill her?”
Pam glowered at me. “I told you she would be missed. I didn't say it would be by me.”
“Why take revenge out on Bonnie?” I asked. “What about Hector?”
“Because she loves Hector too much,” Emma said. “She couldn’t bring herself to physically harm him.”
“Plus, he’s a vampire,” Pam said. “He could overpower me. Anyway, he’s my philandering ex. He owes me nothing. Bonnie’s a different story. She was my friend, at least she claimed to be. We cried on each other's shoulders. I've been to her apartment at three o'clock in the morning because she was out of ginger ale and had an upset stomach.”
“Now that's a good friend,” Emma said.
Pam looked at her. “I know, right? And how does she repay me?”
“She wasn't doing it to be spiteful,” I said. “It sounds like she was truly in love with Hector.”
“So what?” Pam's body rippled with anger. “So was I! It didn't stop him from cheating on me. Time and time again, he would regain my trust and then destroy it in one night. Bonnie knew what he was like. Why would she choose him anyway and betray me like that?”
“So you plotted to kill her?” I asked.
“I thought about it a lot, but I didn’t intend to kill her that night,” Pam said. “I lost my temper.”
“You happened to show up at her room that night with a murder weapon, but you didn’t intend to use it?” I asked.
“Good luck with that defense,” Emma said. “I’m a lawyer, I know these things.”
“It’s true,” Pam said. “I was moping earlier that night, so I put all my belongings that reminded me of Hector in a box. The top I wore the day we met, the underpants he liked…”
I snapped my fingers. “Fangs. You said he liked to role swap. I bet you had a set of fangs.”
Pam bit her lip, her guilty expression apparent. “They were charmed to suck. It was one of Hector’s favorite games in bed. He was a helpless female and I was a vampire.”
I held up a hand. “You don’t need to offer the details.”
“The more I sat with that stuff, the more upset I became. I tucked the fangs in my bra.”
“Ouch,” I said.
Pam shrugged. “It made me feel close to him again, which only made me more upset. I drove over to the inn, ready to finally confront Bonnie. When she answered the door, I could tell she was drunk.”
“Then why not leave?” I prodded.
“I was too worked up by then,” Pam said. “I told her that I knew.” Tears began to stream down her cheeks. “And Bonnie said she was glad. That now she and Hector could stop hiding.” Pam’s lip quivered. “She didn’t care how I felt. The only thing she cared about was how she felt.”
“And you snapped?” I asked.
“I couldn't bear the thought of them together,” Pam said. “I pictured them
in bed together, laughing about the stories I told Bonnie and the others in our private meetings. I felt violated.”
“And that's a valid feeling,” Emma said. “She broke your trust, but that doesn't justify murder.”
“Not to mention framing Hector,” I said. “You claim to love him. How could you do that to someone you claim to care so deeply for? He could’ve received the death penalty for a crime like that.”
“And now your head is on the chopping block,” Emma said.
“I don’t think so.” Pam reached inside her bra and produced the set of fangs. “I’ve been walking around with these close to my heart. I even had them in the sheriff’s office during Hector’s interrogation.” She laughed. “Might as well get more use out of them.”
I immediately turned to Emma. “You shouldn't be here,” I said. “You need to go.”
“I’m not leaving you alone with a murderer,” Emma shot back.
Pam's gaze bounced between us. “Give me some credit. Do you really think I’m the kind of woman who would harm a pregnant woman?”
I fixed her with a steely gaze. “You tell me. We've already established you're the kind of woman who would kill another woman. Why stop at a pregnant one?”
Emma recoiled from me. “Whose side are you on?”
“Emma, please go,” I insisted.
Pam popped the fangs in her mouth and advanced toward Emma. “Just because I said I wouldn't hurt her doesn't mean I can let her go.” In one swift move, Pam had Emma's neck in a chokehold and threatened to bite down on the exposed skin.
“It's a pretty hollow threat then,” I said.
Pam seemed to realize her error. “Fine, I won’t kill her, but I might still wound her enough that you’ll have to choose between capturing me and getting her to a healer. Blood loss isn’t good for a pregnant woman.”
I already knew what I would choose if it came to that. There was no way I would choose an arrest over the welfare of a mother and her unborn child. Pam seemed aware that the odds were in her favor.
“I’m glad I never had kids with Hector,” she said. “He would've been a terrible father.”
“Just because a man isn't faithful in a relationship doesn't necessarily mean he won't be good to his children,” I countered.
“And just because a man is faithful doesn't mean he’ll be a good father,” Emma croaked.
Pam began to drag Emma backward and put the other hand on the doorknob. “I’m not really interested in debating social issues with you. I'd rather get going. Picture me on a beach somewhere with a little umbrella in my glass.”
“Why didn't you leave already?” I asked. “If you had left right after Bonnie's murder, you could be on that beach right now.”
“For one thing, it would've made me the obvious suspect,” Pam said.
“Not necessarily,” I said. “Everyone knew you were having a hard time living in close proximity to Hector. It wouldn't have been out of the realm for you to decide to pick up and leave. Like you said, you didn't have children. Just Nana.”
“My alibi,” Pam said.
“Except Nana was asleep thanks to the potion you give her every night,” I said. “Thanks for sharing that with me, by the way.”
Pam’s face grew flushed with rage. “You can’t prove it. Nana will lie for me. She hates Hector because of how he treated me.”
My eyes widened. “You didn't stay for strategic reasons. You stayed to watch the rest of your revenge plan in action.” The expression on Pam's face confirmed my theory. “It wasn’t enough to kill Bonnie and frame him for it. You actually wanted to see him suffer.”
Pam yanked her one arm tighter around Emma's neck and wrapped the other arm around her chest, locking down Emma’s arms. “And why not? Do you know how much he's made me suffer? Do you know what it's like to cry over someone day in and day out? If I could make him feel even a fraction of that, then I would've been content.”
I blinked at her. “You murdered his girlfriend. You don't think that was enough? I know you find it hard to believe because of your own experience, but Hector seemed to genuinely care for her. As far as we know, he never cheated on her.”
Rage radiated from the banshee. “So it's my fault that he cheated? That he broke my heart? Because I couldn’t get him to love me the way I loved him?”
I waved my hands in front of me, beginning to panic. “No, no. That's not at all what I mean. I'm just saying that Hector has already suffered.” It was clear that Pam was more than just a banshee scorned—she’d cracked at her very core. I’d have to tread carefully so that nothing happened to Emma or her baby. Although they were no danger to the undead like Hector, those charmed fangs were deadly for the living. If they plunged into Emma’s neck, she could be dead within minutes.
I racked my brain for a spell that would render the fangs harmless. I had to think of the spell before I reached for my wand or I’d be too slow. I’d only have a fraction of a second to beat Pam to the punch—or puncture.
It was then that I noticed Emma’s hand glowing. Unfortunately, Pam held her in such a viselike grip that the sorceress couldn’t move her arms. Emma’s eyes met mine and I knew she was ready to strike.
Emma’s hand edged back and pressed into the side of Pam’s thigh. The banshee keened like death was imminent and released Emma from her grasp. As the sorceress scrambled to safety, I yanked out my wand and aimed it at Pam, pouring my will into the spell.
“Abscindo,” I yelled.
The fangs broke into pieces and fell to the floor.
“No!” Pam’s fingers flew to her mouth to investigate. It wasn’t often that I actually intended to break something with a spell.
Her gaze shifted to me and I caught the murderous glint in her eyes. Despite the lack of fangs, she wasn’t finished with me yet. She lunged—and blew backwards in midair, slamming against the wall.
I gaped at her slumped body in confusion before craning my neck to look at Emma.
“Blowback spell,” Emma said, still clutching her baby blue wand. “Comes in handy every now and again.”
At that moment, the door opened and Sheriff Nash rushed into the room, the star on his shirt catching the sunlight. “Rose, are you all right?” He reached for me, and then seemed to think better of it.
I tucked away my wand. “I’m fine.” I cut a quick glance at Emma. “You're good, right?”
“Yes, thanks. A little shaken up, but we are otherwise intact.” Her face paled. “That was a pretty close call, huh?”
I looked down at the unconscious banshee. “Yes, it was.”
“It wasn't Hector?” he asked.
“No,” I said. “Pam wanted to frame him.”
“So it wasn’t a vampire at all,” Sheriff Nash said. “I was so ready to blame a vampire…”
“The evidence was there,” I said. “Well, not all of it. Pam’s a bit OCD. She carries wipes, which she probably used to clean the crime scene.”
“I let my feelings about vampires cloud my judgment,” the sheriff said. “And I failed at my job as a result.”
I touched his arm. “You’re here now. You can take Pam into custody.”
The werewolf glanced down at Pam. “I guess I don’t need to cuff her.”
“If you need help carrying her to the car, I'm willing and able, Sheriff.” Alec’s tall frame filled the doorway and my spirits lifted at the sight of him.
“I can do you one better,” another voice said. Daniel appeared behind the vampire, his white wings spread wide. “I can fly her to the sheriff’s office.”
The color returned to Emma’s pale skin. “Daniel, you’re here.” Her relief was evident.
The angel was by her side in an instant, wrapping his arms around her expanded waist. “I should’ve known you’d find your way into trouble.”
“And get myself out of it again,” Emma said.
“Sounds familiar,” Alec said.
I looked up at the handsome vampire. “How did you know to come here?”
>
“Delphine,” he said. “She was worried. When she told me Emma was with you, I tracked down Daniel.”
“Thanks to Emma, we’re looking at an unconscious murderer,” I said. “Thanks for the help, granddaughter of Nyx.”
Emma smiled. “Right back at you, descendant of the One True Witch.”
Chapter Nineteen
Later that afternoon, I found Marley in the barn with Firefly. Her wand was pointed at the unicorn and her face scrunched in concentration. She was so focused that she didn’t notice me enter the barn. I continued to observe as she jerked her arm down in frustration when her magical attempt to change the unicorn’s color failed.
“Marley,” I said, careful to keep my tone gentle.
Marley’s head snapped to attention. “Great. I love an audience when I completely fail. Feels just like school.”
I approached the stall where Firefly patiently awaited Marley’s next effort. Thank the gods for a tolerant unicorn.
“I know this is hard for you,” I began.
“I don’t think you do,” Marley said. Her eyes swelled with unshed tears. “You stepped right into the role like you were born into magic…because you were!”
“And so were you,” I said.
“I’m half human,” she replied. “Maybe you’re right about Dad. Maybe the fact that I have any magic at all is a fluke.”
“It’s not a fluke, Marley,” I assured her. “You have to remember that neither one of us grew up in this world. Starry Hollow, paranormals, magic—we’re still adjusting to all of it.” I took a step closer to her. “And you know perfectly well that I didn’t effortlessly step into the role of witch. I still screw up on a regular basis and I accept that.”
Marley tucked her wand away. “You do screw up a lot, don’t you?”
I smiled. “It’s the Ember way.”
“I always wanted to be more like you,” Marley said. “I guess now I am.”
I wagged a finger at her. “Watch your tongue, missy.”
She laughed. “I’m surprised Aunt Hyacinth hasn’t sent over an emergency team of tutors. Now she has two embarrassing close relations.”
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