“Isabel,” she said. “You’re with me.”
Isabel was in her eighties, and she merely nodded, slowly pushing herself out of her chair. I turned and walked out of the suite, plucking the keycard for the suite next door out of Gemma’s hand.
Marie scowled at me as we sat in the living room next door. Kyla had taken Isabel into one of the bedrooms and closed the door.
“You have no right to do this,” Marie said.
“You know, the more you protest about this investigation, the more I wonder if you had something to do with the fire.”
Shock flickered in her eyes, instantly replaced by rage.
“I was in New York.”
“Uh-huh. We both know that ward had to be messed with to allow the killers inside the house. All you’d need to do is introduce the house to their magical imprints.”
The blood slowly drained from her face and I was small enough to enjoy it.
“You’re not pinning this on me, you bitch.”
“Right now, you’re at the top of my suspect list. You’ve been an asshole since you learned I was investigating, you refuse to cooperate, and you were conveniently out of the city when the coven was killed.”
She gaped at me. “You honestly think I had something to do with this?”
I shrugged. “Tell me why you didn’t.”
“Guilty until proven innocent, is that right?”
I showed her my teeth. “This isn’t a human system of law.” We both knew what would happen to whoever was found responsible for the murders. There would be no life sentence in a maximum security prison. Witch covens may include women in their nineties, but those women had lived through the Decade of Despair. The witches had carved out their territory and fought tooth and nail for every ounce of power they had in this country.
“Why would I want my family dead?”
“You tell me.”
Her eyes were suddenly wet and she fixed her gaze on the wall behind me. “The love of my life was in that house.”
The suppressed pain was obvious in her voice. “Who?”
“Heidi. We’d danced around it for a few years, both of us seeing other people. But eventually it was obvious that we were meant for each other.”
“Did anyone have a problem with your relationship?”
“No. At least, not that I knew of. We snuck around for a few months, but we didn’t really need to. It was more that we just wanted to keep it private. Then, on her birthday, Heidi had a few too many glasses of champagne and kissed me in front of everyone.”
A tear spilled from her eye and she wiped it away, fixing her gaze on the wall again. “People teased us, but it was more of a ‘how long has this been going on for?’ kind of way.”
“Okay. Take me through this trip to New York. Why did you guys go?”
“The coven leader is Gemma’s second cousin. They’ve stayed in touch over the years. Most covens are… secretive. We don’t trust easily.”
Yeah, no shit. Marie was obviously choosing to forget I was a witch, but it was no skin off my nose if it helped her cooperate.
“But Gemma has some kind of what… alliance with this coven?”
Marie sneered at me again. I was getting really tired of seeing that look on her face, and something in my expression must have communicated exactly that, because she lost the attitude.
“It’s not an alliance. Just a friendship. Both Gemma and Louisa realized that a little cooperation could help both of their covens. Since they’re in different states, they’re not in competition for territory or power.”
“What kind of cooperation are we talking about?”
