I spotted a spiderweb hanging from the ceiling, but the room was spacious, the mattresses were firm, and while this wasn’t the Ritz, it could easily compete with a three-star hotel. Maybe Tim had lowered his standards enough to entertain a lady friend here after all.
“Aren’t you going to pull any rabbits out of your hat?” Ange pulled off her witch hat and twirled it around.
“There’s nothing in this room.”
“Do you want to be alone next door or is there anything we can assist you with?” Reina asked.
I handed Ange my drawing. “Can you identify this plant?” I’d tried my best to capture the fern-like stalks and the flattened cluster of flowerheads that reminded me of tiny daisies.
She glanced at it. “I’d say, it’s Achillea millefiorum.” She noticed our blank expressions. “Common yarrow, for you non-botanists. Why?”
“I might need it for a spell.”
“You might?”
“To the best of my knowledge. We’ll see what comes up when I’m in the room.” I picked up my broom. “Give me a couple of minutes before you follow me.”
“Do you want a soundtrack to cover up any weird chants?” Ange started a playlist on her phone. “Season Of The Witch” filled the room.
I chuckled. “Maybe a little later. You are getting into the spirit of things.”
“And we’re not?” Harper opened her overnight bag and presented a bundle of oak sticks and fresh willow. “If we’re going to unleash our inner witch, we’ll all play the part.” She dived into her bag once more to bring out a copper cauldron. She and Reina danced around it. Ange joined them.
My sleuthing could wait a few more moments, I decided. I grabbed my broomstick, planted it between my legs, and danced with them. Only when the song ended did I stop. “I’ll bang on the wall when you can come over.”
Outside, I peered at the inky sky. The moon and the stars shone with an intensity I’d only experienced once or twice, down by the ocean, far away from the light pollution that even a small town like Willowmere caused.
My chest tightened. No matter how much of a jerk Tim had been, someone had taken his right to walk and breathe under this magnificent sky away from him.
I’d come here with my friends to clear Candice once and for all. Maybe that was the wrong focus. Maybe I should instead aim for exposing the killer, whoever that turned out to be.
The broom felt lighter in my hand as I unlocked the door to unit 7. I took it as a sign. I’d arrived weighed down by my self-imposed (and my inherited) duty. It was time I instead embraced the joy and possibilities of my unique position. Bex Merriweather, ready to unleash her very own season of the witch.
Inside the room, dark blue carpet with light blue swirls showed a few dust bunnies in one corner. The air smelled fresh.
I took a chair and put it in the center of the room. Then I sat down, with my hands resting lightly on the broomstick, and let my witchy senses loose.
Something rustled. The twigs of the broom bristled and bent slightly, toward the corner with the dust. I rose and inspected it. The spell the book had invited me to refresh popped up in my head, and with it, a faint rectangular imprint, the shape of a briefcase or something similar, became visible.
The twigs bent further, but that was all.
The letter. Cosmo had said all would be revealed.
I took it out and held it in one hand. The other hand, I put on my heart. The connection to Candice that the handwritten message created was so strong, that I saw her with her pen, bending over the paper.
Yet nothing in this room held the slightest trace of her personality. That was good. Now, I needed to do the same psychic investigation for Skye.
I banged against the wall.
A bang from the other side confirmed that my friends had heard me.
I opened the door to wait for them.
Harper held her own improvised besom as she led the way. A few twigs escaped the cord, but I was impressed with both her workmanship and the speed.
Reina entered behind her wife. “Is it okay if we sit?”
“Sure. Where’s Ange?”
