Page 242 of His Blazing Witch

Selena nods. Indeed. Although those two are of the same blood, if they were brought here by people unaware of Silver City being such a special place, it is one interesting point... plus Nephera's history, and myself.

"Told ya..." sighs Ayesha.

"Next time, you state your intentions more clearly," I growl.

She shrugs.

"It's every witch for herself out there, girl. We don't all have a full pack of werewolves ready to back us up, okay? Moreover, a witch can't trust another witch. We mess with each other more often than not. It's hard enough to survive by ourselves, now we have to look out for those other greedy bitches."

I frown. So none of those three were probably working together. They were all brought here by their common interest in the curse, but because of the barrier, the werewolves, and myself, they couldn't do anything.

"What about the tattoos?" I ask.

Selena and Nora must have received an explanation from Liam, because neither of them seems surprised to hear me asking. Ayesha, however, rolls her eyes.

"Once again, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Stop playing dumb!" I growl. "You had that professor from the university post all the–"

"Mara," suddenly says Selena. "You should call your friend Kelsi."

I frown, confused for a second, but just then, my phone vibrates. I forgot Selena's actually Ben's Alpha... she must have mind-linked him... I struggle to get it out of my pocket, with all the damn mud on it. Leather pants, not such a good idea for fights...

"Kelsi," I sigh.

"Mara! I have good and bad news," she begins immediately, talking fast and out of breath. "First, Professor Vutha vanished from the university. So, when Benny and I got there, we looked around and got a hold of someone from the university's IT department, managed to convince him to check for us and all. Very nice guy, by the way, but a bit too interested in me, so Benny was a little upset. Anyways! We confirmed that it was her behind the blog post and all, but when we ran her identification information, it all turned out to be fake! I could tell at a glance that her identification papers were completely photoshopped, the phone number didn't work, her address was a house that’s been up for sale for the last three years, and even her emergency contact was a stupid manicure shop!"

"Okay. ...And the good news?"

"Oh, uh... I guess I m-miscalculated, or that was probably the good news... Well, the better one of the two."

Crap, I don't like this... I hear a lot of noise in the background, as if someone was rummaging through a lot of stuff, papers, and wooden furniture. Kelsi's moving non-stop too, as if she's running around, yet she still manages to speak and breathe.

"Okay," she resumes, "so, basically, after Benny and I convinced the IT guy to shut down the full post about the pattern for the tattoos thing, Benny asked the nice IT guy to run a full check, and it turns out that wasn't the only creepy witch thing she put out there. He’s still with him, trying to compile everything, but she was super active. The last time Benny updated me, there were over a hundred, so we're going to have to sort out whatever she did. Of course the IT guy is shutting it all down, just in case, but it's probably for the better. While Benny was doing that, I found a security guy and managed to convince him to let me in her office..."

"You've been busy," I chuckle nervously.

"Yes," I hear her sigh. "Well, I'm still here and going through all this stuff. I really found a bunch of things in her office, boo, and it's not good. Really, really not good. A lot of witch stuff, of course, but there are even some curses and magic circles I've never seen before, and you'll probably be the only one able to decipher them. I'm trying to take as many pictures as I can and gather them..."

I hear a loud meow in the background.

"Oh, and Spark's been helping me too. Did you know he can unlock some locked drawers? Saved me a lot of time and a couple of hairpins."

"Yeah, he does that from time to time."

"I kind of love him now, I promise I'll be nice to him from now on... Right, Spark? Yeah, good kitty... Oh, anyways! I found more of that same pattern that was tattooed everywhere, as if she had been distributing them to the students or something."

"Okay, so more tattooed idiots than we thought, probably..."

"Yep, sounds like it. Nothing seems to have happened so far, though. I've been checking the university social media, nothing creepy or slightly witchy to mention. How are things on your side, by the way?"

"Uh... Okay, I guess...?"

While Nora helps me up, I try to recount the events on my end to Kelsi. Aside from my fight, there isn't much to mention. Selena forces Ayesha to stand up, closely guarded by the two black wolves. She must have injured herself too during our fall or been bit because she’s limping a little.

"Oh, goodness, boo, are you okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry, Nora healed me already, and I got... reinforcements."

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