“I’m pretty sure you did that to yourself,” Landon shot back. “You’re the villain in this story. Bay is the hero. I don’t feel sorry for you.”
“Even though she raped my mind?”
I hated that she used that word. “I did what I thought was right. You were a danger, to yourself and this community. I’m not sorry for stripping your powers or modifying your memory. I am curious, however, about how you managed to overcome the spell.”
“I’m not sure. It started with nightmares — that very first night — and then I started having them during the day,” Amelia explained. “It was like a wall coming down. If I fought hard enough, I could see more ... and more and more. Eventually the entire wall came crumbling down.”
Landon focused on me. “Is that possible?”
“I think anything is possible. She was stronger than the rest. We knew that from the start. I should’ve dosed her harder.”
“I won’t let you do it again,” Amelia warned, extending a finger. “I won’t let you change who I am again.”
I wasn’t certain it would be necessary. Amelia alone wasn’t strong enough to topple us. “Do the others remember?”
“No, and I’ve tried to jog their memories. They’re completely useless. Zombies.”
“That’s why you pretend to be disengaged, too,” I said. “You’re following their lead.” I really had changed them, I realized. Amelia had been faking, but the others were really that disassociated from their lives. “You wanted to hide among them. You slipped up a few times when we were visiting.”
“Yeah, and I’m not happy about it.” Amelia shook her head, as if collecting herself. “It doesn’t matter. I’m going to get revenge on you and your entire family, especially that crazy old lady.”
That nudged a smile out of me. “If you want to take on Aunt Tillie, that’s up to you. You won’t win. I would think you would’ve figured that out by now.”
“I’m not afraid of her.”
That was bold talk, the sort of which I didn’t believe. It didn’t matter, though. All I cared about for today’s purposes was the fact that Amelia wasn’t involved with the shades. She was a problem, but one for a different day.
“I look forward to your attempt. For now, you should know that it’s not wise to run your mouth. You should keep what you know to yourself.”
“And if I don’t?”
“No one will believe you ... but Aunt Tillie will go after you.”
“I’m not afraid of her.”
“Then you’re dumber than you look.”
25
Twenty-Five
“She’s dangerous.” Landon stopped at a festival kiosk for iced teas and then directed me to a table at the outskirts of the action.
“She is dangerous,” I agreed. There was no reason to pretend otherwise. “She’s also scared.”
“Of what?”
“Me.”
Landon held my gaze for a moment and then broke into a wide grin. “My badass future wife is terrorizing the town’s teenagers. I love it.”
I shot him a dubious look. “I’m not Aunt Tillie.”
“No, but you’re powerful, Bay. Amelia knows that.”
“But she might not care.” I glanced to where she still stood across the street, her back to Mrs. Little’s shop and glaring at us.
“I think she cares.” Landon said, looking at Amelia. “Do you think she remembers all of it?”
“I do, and that’s the problem. The girls splintered over their memories. Amelia doesn’t care about Sophia and Emma. She can control them. Paisley was more apt to resist.”
“Do you think she killed Paisley?”
My initial reaction was to dismiss the possibility outright. Then I reconsidered. “I just ... don’t know.”
He patted my hand and sipped his iced tea. He glanced over when Chief Terry approached us. “Is something wrong?”
One look at Chief Terry’s face told me that he was indeed concerned about something. “I got a call from Steve Newton about fifteen minutes ago. He’s on his way.”
My heart rolled. “Why?”
“I’m not exactly sure. He asked that I be available for a meeting. He wants Landon present ... and Hannah.”
That didn’t sound good. “Did you call the inn?”
“Hannah is awake and feeling ragged. They’re slapping her back together. The meeting is in two hours.”
“Well, great.” Landon exhaled heavily and dragged a hand through his hair. “Whatever he wants, it can’t be good.”
I was one step ahead of him. “You know it’s Brian.”
“I don’t know that.” Landon kept his tone even, likely in an attempt to keep me from freaking out. “We have more than one enemy. It could’ve been Amelia.”
“What could’ve been Amelia?” Chief Terry asked as he slid onto the picnic table bench next to me. “Did I miss something?”
Landon filled Chief Terry in on our conversations with Todd and Amelia. Chief Terry started swearing before Landon wrapped it up.
“Well, that’s just freaking great,” he grumbled, lifting his eyes to the sky, a gesture he did when I was a kid and he was trying to keep from yelling at us after catching us doing something stupid. “This is not good, Bay. You have to do something.”
“What am I supposed to do?” I was surprised at how pragmatic I sounded. “Do you want me to kill a teenager?”
Chief Terry looked around to make sure nobody had heard. “Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Look, Amelia is angry. Actually, she’s downright furious. But she knows she’s not strong enough to take us on.”
“She’s a teenager,” Chief Terry said. “Just because she’s aware of it doesn’t mean she believes it.”
“Oh, she believes.” I flicked my eyes to where the girl continued to glare. “Because of what happened, she understands about power. She knows that she wants it back.”
“Why not just go to Hollow Creek and do what she did the first time?” Landon asked. “Is there anything stopping her from turning those shards into another round of magical mayhem?”
I nodded.
His eyebrows hopped in surprise. “There is? What?”
“Me. I didn’t just modify her memory. I bound her powers, just like I did with Dani Harris before I allowed her to leave town.”
Landon stroked his chin. “Wait ... did I know you did that?”
“I don’t remember telling you I did it, but it seemed the thing to do.”
“I thought her powers weren’t real,” Chief Terry argued. “You said she collected magic from Hollow Creek and shaped it into something it wasn’t. If that’s the case, how can you bind a magical being?”
“That was the easy part. The hard part was digging in those girls’ brains and deciding what to keep and what to get rid of. There’s a reason I fashioned things so they would have intense headaches if they tried too hard to remember.”
Landon stirred. “Amelia mentioned a wall.”
“I couldn’t really remove the memories. I had to bury them. Apparently she was strong enough to dig for them.” I thought about what I’d said. “Or I did a poor job of constructing the spell and it wasn’t difficult at all.”
“I’ll believe the former,” Landon said, resting his hand on top of mine.
“I could’ve screwed up,” I said. “Until that night, I’d never modified anybody’s memory in that manner. I mean ... there were a few memory spells I messed around with as a kid, but Aunt Tillie has always done the heavy lifting on that front.”
“I still don’t believe it was you,” Landon argued. “You did fine with the other girls.”
“Or maybe Sophia and Emma are weaker than Paisley and Amelia.”
“Do you think Paisley remembered, too?” Chief Terry asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve been trying to figure out why she had to die and I come up with nothing. Did Amelia kill her friend because she didn’t remember? Paisley was stabbed several times.”
/>
Chief Terry nodded. “Five.”
“Doesn’t that speak to overkill?”
“And we’re back to Criminal Minds,” Landon noted with a wink.
“I’m just saying that five wounds indicate a frenzied attack. If it was a calculated murder, one stab should’ve been enough. Two at the most.”
“Unless we’re dealing with teenagers. Bay, no matter how worldly Amelia seems, she wouldn’t have been comfortable killing Paisley. Maybe she panicked and wanted to make sure she was dead so Paisley couldn’t tell anyone.”
“And then what?” I challenged. “Did Amelia drive to Paisley’s house, kill her parents without leaving any blood behind and dump the bodies on her own with no magic at her disposal?”
Landon bit his lower lip. “Maybe Sophia and Emma helped her.”
I tried to picture the three girls moving bodies. “That only works if they managed to drag the Gilmores’ bodies into the woods. Can you see the three of them doing that? They might like having the occasional cocktail in the woods, but they’re not going to spend hours out there digging graves. It’s not as easy as it looks on television.”
Landon arched an amused eyebrow. “How do you know that? Did Aunt Tillie force you to bury bodies when you were a kid or something?”
“Not bodies. Wine.” I answered before thinking better of it and then gave Chief Terry a guilty look. “Sorry.”
Confused, Landon switched his attention to Chief Terry. “What is she sorry about?”
“I caught Tillie in the woods when the girls were little,” Chief Terry replied. “She was out by my deer blind. It was dumb luck that I found her.”
“Not so much,” I countered. “Aunt Tillie purposely picked that spot because she believed someone would have to be stupid — or have a death wish — to go anywhere near your blind.”
“Of course she did.” Chief Terry rolled his eyes. “Anyway, they had shovels and guilty expressions on their faces. Bay was about nine. She burst into tears when she saw me.
“Then Clove followed suit,” he continued. “Clove, of course, was manipulating me. Bay was upset because Tillie instructed her to lie.”
Landon smiled. “Let me guess. Rather than make Bay cry harder, you swallowed whatever story they told you.”
“I didn’t swallow it. I knew Tillie was burying something illegal. It could’ve been wine or pot. I let them off.”
“You’re a big softie.” Landon’s grin was wide. “Picturing you rolling over and showing your soft underbelly to three little witches and their crazy great-aunt makes me warm and cuddly all over.”
Chief Terry murdered him with a look. “Keep it up. I’ll throw you in jail if you’re not careful.”
“On what charges?”
“I’ll make something up.” Chief Terry’s eyes sobered when they connected with mine. “I knew you girls were up to no good even then. It was my choice to let you go. Don’t feel guilty.”
He made me laugh. “I don’t feel guilty ... and it was definitely wine she buried. She made a killing on the stuff she sold near your blind.”
“I’ve always loved her entrepreneurial spirit,” he said dryly.
“We’ve gone off on a tangent,” I noted. “I’m just saying there’s no way those girls dug graves.”
“I have to agree with Bay,” Chief Terry said. “Everything would have to line up perfectly for them to carry that out. Someone would’ve seen them removing bodies from the Gilmore house.”
Landon didn’t appear bothered to have his pet theory shot down. “Then what happened? If the girls didn’t do it, are they free and clear of this?”
“They can’t be,” I answered. “Not entirely. Their relationship with Paisley puts them in the thick of this.”
“Do we assume that Amelia is the only one who remembers?” Chief Terry asked. “Is it possible the others do?”
“Amelia pretty much came out and said that Sophia and Emma don’t remember. I’m guessing that makes her frustrated.”
“Emma and Sophia are acting out of sorts,” I said. “They’re flat and uninterested in life. I did that to them. Amelia is pretending to act the same way, but she’s slipped. Twenty minutes ago, she didn’t even pretend to be removed from it all.”
“Not even a little,” Landon agreed. “She was angry. We asked her about watching when the shades attacked and she admitted to following us. She denied being in cahoots with the shades.”
“Cahoots?” I smirked at Landon’s shrug. “Yeah, the 1920s called. They want their word back.”
He pinned my feet between his under the table. “You know what I mean.”
“Do you believe her about the shades?” Chief Terry asked.
“I do,” I said. “She saw we were under magical attack yesterday. I don’t think she saw the shades. Knowing we have a magical enemy trying to take us out has emboldened her.”
“To what end?”
“She wants revenge.” I looked at Landon for confirmation. “She believes we took something from her.”
“Technically we did,” Landon pointed out. “Three weeks ago, she was magical and had a plan that she thought would deliver everything she wanted. She can’t see past her needs and wants.”
“You think she’s hoping to join forces with whoever controls the shades,” Chief Terry mused. “I guess that makes sense.”
“I’m betting she will go home and research shades,” I said. “She wasn’t raised to be magical. Everything those girls managed to pull off came from instinct, books and the internet. She likely realizes she can’t wield magic as long as I’m alive. I am responsible for binding her powers.”
Landon frowned. “Wait ... .”
“I’m not afraid of a teenager,” I reassured him.
“You should be,” he snapped. “Teenagers are irrational creatures. In fact, when we have kids of our own, I’m going to request we never have a teenager.”
I blinked several times in rapid succession. “So when we have a daughter she’s going to jump from twelve to twenty overnight?”
“No. She’s going to stick at a cute age forever. I’ll pick the age when I find one I like.”
I had to press my lips together to keep from laughing.
“I’m serious,” he insisted. “You’re a witch. You can figure out how to freeze our kid at a cute age.”
“You realize if we have a seven-year-old forever we’ll never be alone again.”
His eyes went wide. “Oh.”
Chief Terry chuckled. “Let’s worry about your magical offspring later. We need to focus on the demon teenager glaring holes into us. Landon is right. She’s wily enough to have called Steve. We need to be prepared.”
“That’s fine,” I said. “I still think it’s more likely that Brian called. He believes Landon messed with his business prospects. He wants nothing more than to hurt Landon. Brian thinks Landon is his adversary. He thinks I’m Landon’s pawn.”
Landon held my gaze for a long beat. “You’re right.”
“I’m always right.”
“Kelly thinks I stole that newspaper to set you up to make money for me.” Landon rubbed the spot between his eyebrows. “He’s convinced I set this all up.”
“You have to be ready in case Steve asks you about marrying a witch.” Something awful occurred to me. “You might have to distance yourself from me to protect your job.”
Landon jabbed a warning finger in my direction. “Don’t say things like that. I won’t do that.”
“But if Steve thinks there’s something hinky going on ... .” I trailed off, dark possibilities pushing to the forefront of my brain.
“There’s nothing Kelly can do to force me away from you.”
“He could tell your boss tall tales and force an investigation.”
“Do you really think Steve is going to drive here to demand I break up with you because Kelly told him some wild tale about Aunt Tillie cursing his penis to turn green and break out in sores?”
“Stranger things have
happened.”
“No, they haven’t.” He looked momentarily frustrated and then softened his expression. “Bay, why would he call Hannah into a meeting about my future marriage?”
Reality smacked me in the face. Hard. “Oh.”
He shot me a knowing look. “Odds are this has something to do with the case.”
“I’m with Landon,” Chief Terry said. “It has to do with the case. But if Steve wants answers on those runes, we have nothing to give him.”
“Then we’ll tell him that,” Landon said. “We’ll tell him where we are and go from there.”
Chief Terry looked at me. “You can’t come to the meeting.”
“Yeah. I’m pretty sure I figured out that Landon can’t take his fiancée to a meeting with his boss. I’m not an idiot.”
“I never said you were. I just don’t want you doing anything stupid ... like rushing into the office and throwing yourself on an invisible sword in an attempt to save Landon. Stay out of this until we know more.”
I’d been raised by busybodies, so that was easier said than done. “I’ll be good,” I promised. “I won’t do anything stupid.”
“What are you going to do?” Landon asked. “We know that Amelia isn’t behind the shades, but she could be working with them. If she isn’t already, she could soon join them.”
I glanced between a still glowering Amelia and the newspaper office. “I think I’m going to tap some ghostly help.”
Landon followed my gaze to the office. “You think Viola can help with this?”
“Probably not, but I have to at least ask. I’m stuck while you’re in your meeting anyway.”
Landon leaned forward and stared directly into my eyes. “You’re going to stick close to town until we can regroup.”
I feigned shock and hurt. “You act as if you don’t trust me.”
“I know you. If you get an idea in your head, you’ll run off and test it. I prefer you wait for me.”
I took pity on him. “I won’t run off. Besides, I won’t be able to focus on much of anything until I know Steve doesn’t want to bust you for marrying a witch. I promise to stay close to downtown.”
Prelude to a Witch Page 24