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“Buncha freaks,” Brown muttered, as he started to walk away.

It was on the tip of Ronan’s tongue to curse the man out, but why bother? Brown was an asshole before he came to Salem and he’d be one after he left. Nothing Ronan said would change him. Some people had to learn lessons the hard way.

“What the hell did you say to that guy?” Jude asked. “He ran like the Wolfman was hot on his heels.”

“That asshole came here thinking he’d take a bite out of our city, I let him know he wasn’t welcome here and that there are things in Salem that bite back. Anyway, did you get the video footage people recorded?”

“Yeah, Fitz and I got three. Plus there are a bunch more on Insta, according to other witnesses.” Jude handed Ronan his phone.

Ronan watched in awe as the attack unfolded. Brown grabbed the back of his head and spun around several times like a deranged top, before he started swatting at thin air and screaming for help. “Wow. That’s crazy.”

“All the people we spoke with thought the guy was either on something or trying to get his fifteen minutes of Instagram fame. Both answers are fine with me. No one suggested the attack could be the work of a ghost.”

“Delilah really did a number on this guy.” Ronan pulled out his phone and flipped through the pictures he’d taken of Brown’s injuries and bruises.

“She sure did,” Jude agreed. “You actually think Delilah was responsible for the attack?”

“There’s no doubt in my mind it was her. I just hope she reaches out to Everly or Aurora so we can get to the bottom of what’s happening and how we can help Delilah to rest in peace.” Ronan hated that Delilah had been so cruelly kidnapped by the man who would eventually kill her. If anyone deserved a little bit of revenge, it was Delilah. Unfortunately, Ronan couldn’t allow her spirit to continually attack people, no matter how reprehensible they were. He just hoped that Delilah was willing to sit and listen to reason.

10

Tennyson

Unfortunately, Deliliah didn’t make herself known to either Aurora or Everly while they’d been investigating at Omen the night before. Aurora had called her name several times, telling Delilah that she was safe, but to no avail. All Ten could do now was hope Delilah made contact on her own. In the meantime, the kids had school.

Ten had gotten used to getting three kids out the door and onto their school buses, but according to Fitzgibbon, today would be the last day they’d be responsible for Aurora. From everything Ten had witnessed since the fight, Fitz seemed mostly back to his old self. Hopefully, with a little more time, he’d be the same old grumpy Fitz they all knew and loved.

West Side Magick had been slammed all day with clients, walk-ins, and those with appointments. October was in full swing, and with it came the tourists who simply had to experience Salem first-hand. Ten had worked with twelve in-person clients, along with two phone readings from his best, and favorite, customers. He was absolutely exhausted and couldn’t wait to get home to the chicken and dumplings he’d started in the crockpot before coming into work.

Grabbing his bag, Ten was stopped from walking out of his office by a knock on the door. Thank goodness it wasn’t another walk-in customer. “Come in, Cope.”

“Hey!” Cope slipped into the reading room and shut the door behind him. “I’ve got an idea.”

“Please tell me it has to do with running away to the Caribbean, changing our names and becoming professional beach bums.” Ten could think of nothing better than spending endless sunny days on the beach.

Cope snickered. “That’s not my idea, but let’s mark that down and do a little research. I’m actually here to talk about Aurora.”

Ten sighed and took a seat. “Is everything okay with her?” He hadn’t felt anything off with his niece, but he’d been so busy with clients all day that he hadn’t really checked in on any of the kids with his gift.

“Aurora’s fine. I was thinking about this thing with Delilah and how Aurora and Everly couldn’t contact her last night. Why? Do you think Delilah was hiding? Or afraid of something? Or maybe unable to communicate because she’d used up her energy attacking George Brown?” Cope asked, looking thoughtful.

“I’d been wondering the same thing. I know that sometimes happens with Bertha Craig when she’s made herself visible for too long, so maybe the same thing is true for Delilah. It would have taken a hell of a lot of strength for her to have punched Brown in the ribs hard enough to break them. I don’t think I have the strength to do that now.”

“And the world heaves a collective sigh of relief.” Cope snickered.

“There could be a number of reasons Delilah didn’t appear to Aurora last night. I’m not sure what our next step is, other than reading her journal to find out what happened to her up until she was murdered.” The idea of an innocent woman being murdered by a highly regarded member of the confederate army was mind blowing.

“What if we tempted her out of hiding?” Cope asked.

“What, by leaving a trail of breadcrumbs like Hansel and Gretel?”

“Yeah, only they’d be magical breadcrumbs.” Cope waggled his eyebrows. “What if I brought over my mother’s grimoire and her cauldron and we tried a couple of easy spells to see if Aurora has the magic in her?”

“Or if there’s a way to activate it,” Ten added.

“Exactly. Maybe if Delilah sees Aurora trying to use her magic she’ll appear to help or even just to talk. I bet if Aurora speaks to Delilah from the heart about wanting to meet and get to know her, then maybe she’ll appear.”

Ten nodded in agreement. “Let’s do it. I was on my way out the door to get the kids off the bus.”