“Spells, mostly. Some witches are just good at thinking on the fly and creating new spells.”
I nodded. Evie was one of those witches. She’d always had a knack for magic, along with the kind of instinctive creativity that couldn’t be taught.
“So you guys share spells?”
“Some of them. Sometimes it’s spells, sometimes information about other covens, that kind of thing.”
This was interesting. Gemma’s coven had always been powerful, but there was no doubt that it had grown over the past few years. Maybe Louisa had regretted forming that alliance.
“Do you know anyone who might have wanted to hurt Brooke specifically?”
She frowned. “No. Why? You think Brooke was the target?”
“Just a question.”
She gave me a look that told me she didn’t buy what I was selling. Not my problem. I’d tell Gemma what had happened to Brooke, and then it was up to her whom she told. With her contacts in human law enforcement, she’d likely find out soon anyway.
I glanced down at my list. “Tell Caroline she’s up next.”
A muscle clenched in her jaw at my dismissal and she got to her feet, stalking out the door. Pissing her off wasn’t necessary, but I had to take my joy where I could find it today.
Misty was in my lap, and it hadn’t lit up once while Marie was talking. She may not like me, but she wasn’t lying.
Caroline clutched a wad of tissues in her hand as she walked in a couple of minutes later. Her blue eyes were huge and wet, and she sniffed, wiping at her nose as she took a seat on the sofa across from me.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hi. Gemma said we needed to tell you everything we could think of, but it’s just so hard.”
“I know. All I need is for you to tell me what happened.”
She sniffed. “Okay. Where do you want me to start?”
She took me through her history at the coven. I knew some of it, but I wrote down most of what she told me anyway. Caroline was Gail’s niece, but she’d lived in Houston for most of her life. She’d left her old coven five years ago, and Gemma had agreed to a trial run when she’d moved to Durham. Then she’d quickly become indispensable to the coven, thanks to her healing spells.
“I, uh, volunteer sometimes at the human hospital,” she said shyly. “They always need healing spells, and I’m good at them. I’ve even come up with something that can treat the common cold. Not the cold itself, but I have a spell that can remove all of the symptoms.”
Now that sounded like a spell I could use. She smiled slightly at whatever she saw on my face. “Let me know if you catch a cold and I’ll give Evie the spell to try.”
“That would be great, thanks.”
I made a few notes on my phone and then glanced up.
“What can you tell me about Brooke? Did you ever see anyone hanging around? Did she ever mention anyone who was giving her trouble?”
Something flickered in Caroline’s eyes at the question, and I went still. “You know something?”
“No, it’s just…”
“You can tell me.”
She was silent for a long moment. “She told me about this guy who was a real dick. At the corner store.”
Disappointment made my shoulders slump. “Yeah. We’ve spoken to him. Thanks. Anyone else?”
More tears leaked down her pretty face. “No, but I’ll let you know if I think of anyone.”
I interviewed five more witches, and by noon I was desperate to get out of the hotel. I waited until Kyla had finished up with her last interview and then poked my head in the bedroom door.
