Hearing Alistair use Everly’s nickname for Wolf made his stomach turn. He backed away from the stage, slumping into an empty seat in the front row. “What do you want, Alistair?”
“Everything, Cope. I want everything that’s yours. Thanks to your stunt the other night, I’ve lost nearly everything I ever held dear to me. My talk show will be hosted by some Hollywood actress again. All of the good work I’d done to help people is all undone. My podcast patrons and advertisers have all dumped me. Those Debunked fuckers have plastered my face far and wide to make sure that other people aren’t duped by me. No client will ever trust what I say again and it is allyourfault!” Alistair shouted, his voice echoing around the room. “You owe me, you son-of-a-bitch!”
“It’s my guess that no women will trust you or take you for a lover or allow you to trick them out of their money again, either,” Cope said, sounding much calmer than he felt. If Alistair wanted money, he could have it, but there was nothing Cope could do to restore Alistair’s reputation.
“What are you talking about?” Alistair sneered.
“You know our husbands are detectives and are very good at their jobs.” Cope offered an icy smile. “We heard all about what you did to Aunt Endora, who I had a lovely chat with the other day. I had the pleasure of reuniting her spirit with her old friend Bertha Craig. Not only did Endora tell us how you killed her, with belladonna in the blueberry cobbler, she also told us to look into your past, and boy, what a ride it was and that’snotcounting the time you did in juvie.”
“Do tell,” Alistair arched a questioning eyebrow.
Cope felt like smirking and probably would have done that very thing if Jude wasn’t missing and Wolf was safe at home. “Okay, we’ll just start with your seven wives, shall we? Tinsleyfellat home and died from a skull fracture. Marilynaccidentallydrowned in the hot tub. Jeannie had a heart attack, which makes me wonder if you used belladonna on her too. Kelly-Ann died from liver disease. We think she was an actual love match and died from natural causes. With as sick as she was, it wouldn’t have taken much to end her suffering, but I digress.”
“Is this true, Alistair?” Amity asked, her voice shaking.
Alistair’s nostrils flared in obvious annoyance, but he didn’t answer the question. He fisted his hands and continued to stare at Cope.
“Molly,fellinto a gorge. Cynthia died from acute ethylene glycol poisoning that was ruled a suicide, but we both know no oneis drinking antifreeze out of a highball glassvoluntarily. Michelle died in an auto accident when her brakesfailed. Then last but not least was your fiancé Jessica who was bitten by a rattlesnake.” Cope paused for a moment and watched the play of emotions across Alistair’s face. In a matter of seconds he’d gone from cocky, to surprised, to shocked, to angry.
“And what, Cope, you think I killed these women; my soulmates?” Alister wore a who-me look, as if to say butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.
“Yes, and I’m not the only one. Our husbands turned this information over to the Salem Police Department.” Cope knew damned well that Cisco wasn’t going to make a move to arrest Alistair until there was more concrete evidence found or Alistair confessed. Cope needed to ramp up the pressure and hope Alistair blurted out something unintentionally.
“What, and the fine men and women of the Salem Police Department are supposed to rush in at any moment and arrest me?” Alistair paused, as if he were waiting for the cops to do just that. “Cops already would have come for me, but they know just as well as you that all of your evidence is circumstantial.”
“Circumstantial or not, you haven’t answered my question,” Amity said, stepping around Wolf to confront Alistair.
“And what if it is? What if I killed all of those stupid bitches? They deserved it! Every single one of them with their money and prissy attitudes thinking they were better than me. Well, I sure as shit showed them who was boss!” Alistair shouted, his voice booming. “What areyougoing to do about it? Take your magic back?Hurtme?Killme? Christ, look at you, with all your power and gifts, you couldn’t even save yourself from the gallows!”
Amity’s lips began to move. Cope knew she was reciting some kind of spell, but couldn’t hear the words well enough to know what she was saying. It was much easier to figure out what kind of spell she was working when Alistair started to scream. He clutched the left side of his chest and collapsed to his knees on stage. By the sounds of his screams, it sounded like Alistair was in absolute agony.
Cope dashed out of his seat and boosted himself onto the stage. He knelt beside Wolf, found his heartbeat and scooped the boy into his arms. He ran down the stairs to the right of the stage toward Tennyson who held his arms open. Cope handed him his son. “Get out of here. Find a way out. There are stairs to the balcony in the back. Maybe the doors out of the theater aren’t locked up there.”
Ten nodded. “What are you going to do?”
Cope shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I’m gonna have to save Alistair’s life. Amity isn’t messing around. When I was on stage grabbing Wolf, I heard her reciting the death spell.”
“The one your ancestors used?” Ten asked, his mouth hanging open.
“Close enough,” Cope said. “Mine has a little bit of Cajun magick in it, but Amity’s version has something else. Something elemental from Salem itself.” He kissed the top of Wolf’s head. “Go. Get him out of here. Find Jude. Call Cisco.”
Ten took off running to the back of the theater. When Cope turned back to the stage, he saw Ronan standing near a foot or so away, watching in amazement as Alistair writhed and screamed.
“What the hell do I do?” Ronan shouted over Alistair’s screams.
“Let me try to reason with Amity. You go for Alistair if I can get her to release him.” Without waiting for Ronan’s approval, Cope ran back onto the stage. He stood behind Amity, his hands twisted together and hoped he could find the right words to make her stop. “Amity, let him go. He’s not worth the blood on your hands this would bring you. Please. I’ll make sure he’s arrested and prosecuted for what he did to his wives, fiancé, and aunt.”
Amity’s back stiffened but she didn’t turn around. Didn’t ease up on Alistair whose voice had gone hoarse from screaming.
“I know how to counter the death spell. Please don’t make me do it,” Cope said. He’d learned a lot from Camden Devereaux in the short time they’d had together the spell and its antidote were top of mind. He didn’t want to hurt Amity’s spirit, but he would.
Alistair screamed louder.
Amity wasn’t going to stop torturing him unless someone stopped her. Cope went over the antidote to the death spell in his head and was about to speak it when the theater doors slammed open. He watched as Everly ran into the theater. Fitz was behind her. Greeley came last, helping a bloodied Jude, who looked barely conscious.
Amity’s body slackened and she stepped away from Alistair who stopped screaming and collapsed the rest of the way to the stage. Everly, who’d run onto the stage, took her hands and pulled her away from Alistair.
Out of the corner of his eye, Cope saw Ronan spring onto the stage to check out Alistair. Seconds later, he rolled the man to his back and started performing CPR.
