Page 55 of Big Witch Energy

Clark was standing in the doorway, smirking. “Oh, girls, this is not going to look good when I call Celia at the precinct to report that the three of you broke into my office.”

“Really? You’re going to tell on us?” Riley pulled her mask up. She sat in Clark’s desk chair, fluffing her mussed hair, as if this wasn’t a terrifying turn of events. “We’ve been worrying about you potentially being this big bad supervillain, and your response is to tattle? I’m almost disappointed.”

Caroline took her own mask off, because what was the point? Poor Alice stood frozen, her uncovered neck gone ghastly pale.

And yet, Riley still seemed bored with the whole thing. Caroline supposed this was what came with living with dead people; Clark didn’t seem like much of a threat.

“No, wait, scratch that,” Riley said. “I’m glad I have this opportunity because I want to tell you what an absolute dick you are—lying to my aunt like you did, trying to trick her, take advantage of her. And the only consolation I get from the whole thing is that she was smarter than you. She knew something was off about you. She never let you in the house. She never trusted you completely, so all your smarmy bullshit maneuvering didn’t work. You were outwitted by a septuagenarian. Congratulations. You suck at life and being a supervillain.”

“Oh, Riley.” Clark’s grin was sharp and smarmy. “I’m flattered you see me as that much of a hazard, but I’m just a small part of the bigger battle. I’m a contractor, the help. Oh, no, don’t frown like that. I’ve never been too proud to admit it. I don’t care about the living or the dead. I care about getting paid. You need to worry about that big picture because it’s coming into focus, faster than you can even imagine. And I have a feeling you’re not going to like what you see.”

“Oh my god, this metaphor is getting labored,” Riley muttered, managing to sound bored.

“You don’t need to worry about me,” Clark said. “You need to worry about that big picture. You need to worry about the inside threat, the rat in the silo, gnawing away at you. You’re not going to know what hit you, and it’s going to hurt.”

Caroline swallowed heavily. What could Clark mean? Who could hurt them like that from the inside? One of their own family members? Her mother? One of her brothers? She couldn’t think of anything they could know or do that would damage their efforts at Shaddow House. Though Caroline guessed that was the whole point of “not going to know what hit you.”

Riley, though, didn’t show a moment’s doubt on her face, simply smiling at him. Which seemed to piss Clark off.

“Go ahead and grin,” he hissed at her, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “You fucking witches, thinking you’re all so smart. Your bitch aunt, lording it over me, thinking that I had to dance to her tune.”

“Easy there, speaking ill of the dead,” Riley told him blithely. “You say I should look at the big picture? You’re missing a couple of things yourself.”

She pointed upward, and Clark followed her hand motion, finally realizing that the letter opener—a pretty little pewter piece with a mother of pearl handle—was floating near his face. He blanched as he backed away. He didn’t dare reach up to grab it as the point was aimed directly at his eye. He retreated until he fell back against a nearby chair, tumbling into the seat.

Riley rounded the desk and leaned closer. “For one thing, we’re not the only ones who have something to lose here. We have proof, concrete proof, that you paid Kyle to break into my house for the sole purpose of stealing from me. Not like this little late-night visit that could be misconstrued as us having an urgent legal matter and not understanding your business hours.”

“I thought the office had a public back entrance,” Caroline said, her eyes wide and intentionally guileless. “How were we to know Clark wasn’t here?”

“What?” Clark scoffed. “Kyle would never think to keep—what do you have?”

“Why would I tell you that?” Riley laughed. “I have enough to at the very least, get you disbarred.”

“Oh, now Riley, play fair!” Clark exclaimed.

Riley brought her arm down, and the letter opener plummeted toward his chair. Clark’s legs parted just in time for the blade to dig into the wood between his thighs. “The time for fair play and worrying about feelings is at an end. Am I clear?”

Clark swallowed thickly and nodded. “Crystal.”

“We’ll leave out the front,” Riley said, smiling at him. She stopped to pull Alice gently toward the door.

“Did you really just reverse-Uno-card blackmail him?” Caroline said.

Riley frowned. “Not really sure. It was my first time blackmailing someone.”

“Well, you did great,” Caroline told her.

Alice was pale, her hands trembling as they pushed the door open.

“Hey, are you OK?” Caroline asked. “Clark was probably just talking out of his ass, trying to sow discord.”

“It just got a little scary for a minute there, more physical than I expected. Good thing that letter opener was haunted,” Alice whispered.

“We probably could have used some warning you were going to stab his chair,” Caroline noted. “You scared the hell out of me.”

Riley pouted slightly, muttering, “I wasn’t aiming for his chair.”

Chapter 11

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