Witch Hearts

by Liz Long

  Footsteps sounded behind her and she waited for Cooper to speak. Instead, the person sat down next to her in silence - Michael, who looked as though he’d aged ten years in the last hour.

  “I’m sorry,” Ruby said.

  He barely looked at her, his red, wet eyes not leaving the sidewalk. “Are you?”

  She shrugged. “We both know how I felt about Rebecca, but that’s not exactly the way to go. I’m sorry you have to deal with this.”

  “You’ve been dealing with it for the last week. You and Cooper both.” Michael sighed, stretched his long legs out in front of him and leaned back on his palms. “I knew when we got here what the chances were of her being alive. I thought I was prepared. Seeing her like that…I hadn’t really expected it to be that awful.”

  Restless, he sat back up, gripped the end of the porch with his hands. Sympathy flooded through her at the sad look on his face. Ruby hesitated, then put one of her hands on his. He relaxed slightly at her touch.

  “Believe me, I know more than anyone how terrible it is to be a part of this, to find a body this way,” she said. He leaned in, cocked his ear to hear her better as she spoke in a low tone. “But at least you’ll be able to move on; we all will, now that the killers are found and dead.”

  “Shame they handled it that way. I was rather hoping to kill them myself.”

  “You sound like Cooper.”

  “I don’t blame him. When I heard what he did to you, how he stalked you and lured you into that house to find Denise…I almost lost my mind. And now this. Rebecca didn’t deserve it.”

  Ruby looked up at him, bit back a comment about Rebecca since now didn’t seem the be the time to shake him. Cloudy gray met blue as their eyes locked and Ruby felt torn; she didn’t even flinch as Michael flipped his hand over to interlock their fingers together.

  “Thank you for helping me tonight, to find her. You’re an incredibly good person to do what you’ve done for me. And I don’t only mean today, but for the last few years.”

  Ruby said nothing, bit her lip as she looked down at her lap.

  “I didn’t deserve you,” he continued. “And I still don’t. But I want to spend the rest of my life trying.”

  They looked at their intertwined hands. Just as Ruby decided this was a bad idea to encourage him, to pull her hand away, someone behind them cleared his throat. Ruby broke their hold, pulled away to find Cooper standing behind them. His tight jaw and pained expression were enough to tell Ruby he’d heard everything. More importantly, he’d heard her say nothing, which, when it came to Ruby and Michael, was saying a lot.

  “Detective Phillips wants to ask us a few questions, if you two aren’t busy,” Cooper said, his voice layered with jealousy and anger behind clenched teeth.

  Ruby hopped up like a scared rabbit, knew she’d been caught having a moment with her ex-boyfriend. Now was no time to start a fight; she’d have to try and explain to Cooper later.

  Detective Phillips appeared in the front doorway, his breath showing in the cold night air. “Well, it’s not what I’d call a win in the books, but we got our men. It’s a damn shame they got that poor girl. Now I need to know, how did you find this place?”

  Michael and Ruby shared an uncomfortable look. After a long moment, Michael cleared his throat.

  “We used magic to find her.”

  “I beg your pardon?” Phillips asked, raising an eyebrow at them.

  “Magic,” he repeated. “We scried for her location and it led us here.”

  “Scried?”

  Michael sighed in annoyance. “Should we lie and say the killers called us and told us to come here? Seriously, we used magic. I don’t know if you want that in the report, but it’s the truth.”

  Phillips eyed them like they were all crazy, but cleared his throat. “Let’s say for a second you did use magic - if that were a real thing - how am I supposed to explain that?”

  “I don’t bloody care how you explain it,” Michael snapped, his nostrils flaring. “My girlfriend is dead because of those assholes and now you’ve caught your serial killers. That’s about the entire sum of things. Congratulations.”

  Phillips’ mustache twitched as he bristled at Michael’s reaction. Cooper maintained his stony silence, so Ruby tried to ease the tension.

  “Sir, whether you believe us or not, what Michael says is true. I’m of the “write whatever makes the most sense” option for your report since I understand it’s difficult to accept. I assume since they’re dead, there’s no trial and we won’t need to lie in court. Can we maybe say that we got an anonymous tip and leave it at that?”

  Phillips relaxed an inch. “If the only other answer you’ll give me is “magic,” then I suppose I don’t have much of a choice. No way in hell can I write that you danced naked under the moon or stirred a cauldron to get an answer.”

  Michael and Cooper both tensed at the detective’s offensive idea of humor but Ruby thought of something no one had mentioned yet. “Did you find Rebecca’s heart?”

  “Ah, no, no heart. Not yet anyways,” Phillips said. He shifted his weight from one foot to another, his finger rubbing against his notepad.

  Ruby and Michael exchanged looks. If they didn’t have Rebecca’s heart down there, where was it? With the killers dead downstairs, the ritual was also moot. Why on earth would her heart not be with them?

  “I’ve got what I need from you all,” Phillips said. “Michael, Officer Marshall and a few other guys will follow you back to check out your apartment and collect evidence. I’ll be there shortly.”

  They all nodded, halfheartedly waved goodbye and got in Michael’s car. No one said a word, didn’t even clear their throats. Ruby could almost feel Cooper seething from the backseat. Michael pulled up to his curb two minutes later and they quickly got out. Officer Marshall pulled up behind them; two police cars arrived behind him and the cops piled out to stand near the front door to wait for him.

  “Did you want to come up?” Michael asked Ruby, ignoring Cooper completely.

  “Ah, no. You’ve probably got some cleaning up to do, anyway,” she said.

  Michael’s face dropped in disappointment - maybe the realization that he had more hard work ahead of him tonight. “Yeah, okay. Call you tomorrow?”

  “Okay.” Ruby couldn’t bring herself to say no to his pained face, felt bad for what he would endure the rest of the evening. He had to go upstairs to face the damage, the destruction those men had created in his safe space. She didn’t envy him and instead turned around, walking in silence with Cooper to her car.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Cooper took the wheel, finally broke the silence as they were halfway to her apartment.

  “I’ll drop you and your car off at home,” Cooper said.

  Ruby gave him a curious look. “What about you?”

  “I’ll grab my stuff and get out of your hair. You should be safe now that the killers are dead.”

  “You’re not…in my hair, Coop. You don’t have to go.” Ruby reached for his arm and he shifted away from her, his eyes never leaving the road.

  His rejection stung more than she’d thought possible. No way had they come this far only to throw everything away over a misunderstanding, over some stupid error she’d let happen.

  “Sure I do,” Cooper replied. “It’s my fault Courtney and the other girls are dead, you made that pretty clear in the basement.”

  “That’s not what I meant and you know it!” Ruby sighed, tried to put together a tangible sentence. “I’m so tired of all of this and when you said it might not be over, I snapped. I’m sorry. I need this nightmare to be over, Coop. Those girls are dead because evil men did terrible, unspeakable things. They are not dead because of you.”

  Cooper said nothing, kept his eyes straight ahead. A minute later, he said, “I guess I’ll have to deal with that. In the meantime…you should get back to your old life and I better go find a new one somewhere else.”

  “I don’t want my old life
. And I don’t want to get back together with Michael, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  “Could’ve fooled me. You two looked pretty comfortable out on the porch and he’s practically already proposing. You can skip over my wedding invitation.”

  She almost screamed at the bitterness in his tone, at how wrong he was about everything. She wanted to yell at him, tell him he was being childish, but she couldn’t. If the situation were reversed, she’d be as pissed off and jealous as he was right now. He’d stayed to protect her, gone with her to save a girl he didn’t know because she wanted to go, and she was off comforting her ex.

  “You can’t leave!”

  “I won’t stay here and watch you get back together with that asshole. I can’t, not after everything that’s happened to us. It’s hard enough losing Courtney, but to lose you, too…”

  He clammed up, clenched his jaw as he sped through a stop sign. Her car squealed to a halt in the parking lot. With one swift movement, he got out and she stumbled out of the car as he locked it. As she hurried to catch up, he tossed the keys over his shoulder to her.

  “Tell you what,” he said, “I’ve changed my mind. You can throw my stuff out. Burn it for all I care. I’m leaving now.”

  He fished his motorcycle keys out of his pocket and began to walk away from her.

  Tears welled in her eyes as she stared at his retreating back. How did she make him understand? “It’s not like that,” she called out. “I felt sorry for him.”

  “And you should, he’s been through a hard time,” Cooper replied, his voice nearly disappearing into the wind. “Wish you many happy returns.”

  “I don’t want Michael, you idiot!” She screamed it at the top of her lungs, wanting to force him to hear her every word. She would’ve stamped her foot if she weren’t avoiding bursting into tears in the middle of the sidewalk. “I want YOU!”

  He paused long enough for Ruby to sprint to him. She threw her arms around him from behind, determined to hang on even if he walked away. She pressed her face into his back, smelled that all-too-familiar cologne that would stay with her until the day she died.

  “I only want you, Cooper. I’ve only ever wanted you, now more than ever. Please, please don’t leave me.”

  Cooper’s demeanor relaxed, his muscles loosening as he turned around to look down at her. “Are you sure about that?”

  She glared up at him, made sure he saw every bit of fierce emotion on her face. “I’ve always been sure about it. You’ll never have to ask me that question again.”

  Without hesitation, Cooper ducked his head to kiss her, wrapped his arms around her in an embrace tight enough to sweep her off the pavement. Her feet left the sidewalk as she jumped up to wrap her legs around him. She clung to him, kissing every inch of his face as he wiped away the tears on her face.

  “I thought…,” he swallowed hard before continuing, “when I saw you two sitting there together, holding hands, after you said you kissed him…I thought I’d lost you, before I even really had a chance with you.”

  She pulled her head back, put her hands on either side of his face as she spoke to him. “No one but you has ever had a chance with me. It’s only now that we’re finally making it the right time.”

  Cooper smiled, his green eyes lighting up with joy at her words. “I love you, Ruby.”

  Tears filled up her eyes again, only this time they were from joy. “I love you too.”

  Her legs still wrapped around him, he carried her the entire way back up to her apartment, planted kisses on her face as they banged into walls and entryways. Neither of them cared; all that mattered was them.

  *********************************

  An hour or two after Cooper made love to her, Ruby’s dream landed her right at her ritual spot in the woods. Ruby glanced around at the small fire going in its place, at the darkness that hung over the trees. Fire made shadows dance everywhere but silence had come over the forest’s inhabitants.

  “So you got them, huh? Congratulations.” Courtney’s sarcastic, flat tone was unmistakable and Ruby spun around to look at her, bewildered. Blood still coated Courtney’s white shirt.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked as Courtney walked over and stood in front of her by the fire. Her hands went up in confusion.

  “I’m as surprised as you are, believe me. I thought I was supposed to see pretty white lights or at the very least a cute angel that resembles Ian Somerhalder.”

  Ruby bit her lip, puzzled. “I don’t understand.”

  “Me neither. Does this mean I’m stuck here? Did I hang around too long and miss my train to the land of endless shopping sprees and vodka cranberries?”

  Ruby paused to raise an eyebrow. “You’d want to shop forever? That sounds exhausting.”

  “Fine, maybe not endless. But definitely once a week with no credit limit.”

  “If heaven has corporate malls, I’m going to request a transfer,” Ruby grumbled. Courtney grinned at her.

  “Maybe that’s the upside. I might be stuck here, but thank the goddess my gossiping and partying didn’t land me in a fire pit.”

  “You at least seem happier than the last time I saw you.”

  “Sure, you got my killer and his buddies. Hey, tell Coop it’s not his fault, okay? He never could’ve stopped those guys and at least now they’re dead.”

  Ruby blinked in surprise. “Actually, I’ve seen him hold his own.”

  “Really? He’s not using again, is he?”

  “Not dark magic,” Ruby replied, shaking her head. “He’s got it under control.”

  “Good. I guess it doesn’t matter now, but I was worried they’d go after him once they heard he was back in town. I can put two and two together, even if I am dead.”

  “Cooper and I both thought you’d sort of…I don’t know, go into the light or whatever after we found your murderers tonight.”

  “That was my hope too. Jesus, I hope I’m not stuck here. Your dreams are hella boring.”

  Ruby shot her an annoyed look and Courtney shrugged, her face showing no remorse. Ruby sighed, used to her best friend’s blunt attitude. “So what do we do to get you out of the spirit plane?”

  “Got me. Can you check your Book of Shadows and find a spell maybe?”

  Ruby nodded. “I can look.”

  “Great. While you’re at it, maybe find Rebecca’s heart. Makes me a little nervous that it’s still missing.”

  “I don’t even know where to start. I really hope Ben calls in the morning to tell me he’s found it.”

  “And if he doesn’t, you need to find it,” Courtney snapped.

  Ruby’s lips parted at the anger in her voice. Courtney’s pretty face scrunched up in regret. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m sorry, but something’s not right. You’re missing a thing or two.”

  “Now there’s two pieces?” Ruby grumbled.

  “Maybe.” Courtney swatted at her, the ghostly hand going through Ruby’s arm.

  Ruby grimaced. “Where should I start looking?”

  “Use my Book of Shadows?”

  “Your Book of Shadows is in a police evidence bag.”

  Courtney booed, a loud sound that sent the birds scattering from their tree branches. “Not okay with that. It’s a family heirloom! Ugh, well, I don’t know then. You’re the smartypants. Think of a plan that keeps you and Coop alive.”

  Ruby nodded and Courtney added, “Oh, and get my book out of police hands and back into yours. We need it back.”

  “Okay, okay. Couldn’t really help it, you know.”

  There was no time to retell the nightmare. Courtney began to shimmer and they both knew what it meant now. Instead of fighting, Courtney scooted closer to Ruby. Courtney’s head hovered above Ruby’s shoulder, in the spot where she used to put it when she was alive. When she used to cry over boys in college, when her parents died, when she told Ruby everything would be fine if she left Michael.

  Ruby’s heart threatened to crack in t
wo and she told herself to wake up.

  Her eyes opened to see her nightstand, the clock clicking to a bright green 1:03 a.m. Ruby shifted her head against the pillow, a tear-soaked spot damp against her cheekbone. She looked out her window, thinking hard on what Courtney said. Anxiety curled in her belly at the ring around the moon.

  An hour later, Ruby exhaled a puff of breath, frustrated she couldn’t fall back asleep. With a glance at Cooper’s sleeping form, Ruby slipped out of bed and went into the kitchen to get a glass of water. She noticed Cooper had rearranged some of the food and utensils in a peculiar fashion and stored it away to ask about it later. After she filled a cup and set the water pitcher back in the fridge, she turned around to find a large shape in front of her.

  “Sorry Coop, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “He won’t be up for a while,” an unfamiliar voice said. “But you’ll be long gone when he wakes.”

  Ruby’s hand spasmed in terror and her glass fell to the floor with a crash, spilling water everywhere. “Get out.”

  “Not without you, dearie.”

  The shape came towards her in a blur, his arm coming out and throwing a powder in her face. She might be immune to any of his spells, but he knew how to get around it with potions. Ruby choked on the dust, smelled lavender in the mix and knew he’d turned a sleeping potion on her. She had seconds before she passed out.

  “Cooper!” she cried. No reply came and the shadowed figure reached for her as she fell in a heap to the tile floor.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Odd clicking sounds woke Ruby. A dull ache in her head made her keep her eyes closed, though she feared what she’d see if she opened them.

  “Wakey, wakey,” that hoarse voice seeped in. “I know how much I gave you. Time to open those baby blues so we can have a chat.”