Page 6 of Dance With Death

Holly I'm not sure I want to do this anymore.

Marci Why? Violet won't know.

I straighten.

Holly I’m not worried about Violet finding out.

Marci Hol, don't back out now.

Nita We need your help.

Holly I can’t. I don’t agree with it.

Marci FFS Holly. You’re part of this now. They trust you.

Holly I can't help anyway.

Nita Why?

Holly I'm going to Scotland with Violet for a few days.

Marci No you're not. I won’t let you go anywhere until we’re done.

"Look." I turn the laptop so Rowan and Leif can see the screen.

The messages from earlier in the same week vaguely reference times and a meeting place off campus abbreviated to SIW, not their meeting room in the Pendle cellars.

Rowan reads through the exchange, dragging his fingers through his hair as he does. "So, I am right. A coven. You now know about their secret meeting place, so they’ve found a new one."

"Or worse. That message could be interpreted as a threat to Holly. Did Marci stop Holly from leaving? Did Holly know something that Marci worried she might share with us?”

“Check out Holly and Marci’s private chat,” suggests Leif.

Rowan flicks across and I study the messages over his shoulder. "Hmm. If that theory is true, why would Marci send Holly repeated messages asking if she's okay?"

"Misdirection, in case someone enters Holly’s account? Like we have?" I switch back to the committee chat. "I’ve never looked into the group of girls closely. I presumed Dorian's background checks were enough."

"Do you think Nita knows about Rory and the necromancy? They were uh… lovers before Viktor changed him." Leif rubs his nose. "Someone in the academy knows something."

“Like the person who broke into your room,” adds Grayson. “The one who took your potion.”

My stolen potion. The line once drawn from Rory's to Wes's name on my murder board. Both were acts by somebody who could gain entry to mine and Holly’s room.

"Marci? If she took the potion, she must be working with a staff member, since the bottle found its way into the confiscated items room beneath the old library. The staff member will also know if the potion is missing from that room.”

I can't process this. Did Holly let Marci into the room? Give her a key? Holly wouldn’t do anything to threaten me or help others against my family. Would she?

“Maybe we should watch Marci, Nita, and Zoe more closely?” Leif suggests.

“Um. No. Maybe I should question them.” I stand, and Rowan places a hand on my arm. “What?”

“Do you honestly believe the witches would admit anything to you?” he asks.

“If I threaten to hand them over to my father, the trio would be wise to tell me everything instead.”

“No.” He taps the laptop screen. "'Holly' can ask the girls more, and we might figure out exactly where the group meets. And we'd know whether the committee are involved with Holly's disappearance by how they react to the message."

With a sigh, I re-read Holly's personal chat thread with Marci from this morning.

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