Page 87 of Which Witch Is Wicked?
"After death—la petite mort—or before climax?" Claire explained.
Aerin quaked with laughter, causing her to grab her sides. "You have tostop. You'rekillingme here."
"Ha! I see what you did there." Claire and Aerin dissolved into whiskey-aided giggles.
"All right, you two have had enough, and I not nearly." Moira stood, reached over, and took the whiskey bottle from between Aerin and Claire and filled her glass to the top. "Why would Death care about something harmful in the manor?"
"Because Tierra carries his spawn and he wants her alive," Claire said. "It's Aerin he wants dead."
"Not just her," Tierra admitted. "He threatened to kill anyone I slept with."
"Oooh, that's soooo romantic," Claire said, her words slurring.
"It is not!" Tierra said.
"Very Heathcliff," Aerin agreed with a nod of her head that almost had her toppling out of her chair. "Obsessive, wrong, and politically incorrect, but you gotta admit, it must have thrilled you a little bit."
"The hell it did."
"Liar." Aerin snorted. "If Julian had said something like that to me, I would have blown him right there and then."
Tierra tried to steer them back to the original subject of conversation. "We have to consider that it isn't a thing in the house, but a who." She held up her hand when Claire opened her mouth. "Hear me out. Yesterday, Gwen and Lucy were here, Aunt Justine too. And Tommy is always here. They all had access past the wards. We need to divide them up and take a hard look at each one of them."
"It's not a bad idea," Moira agreed. "There are four of them and four of us."
Claire pointed at Tierra. "She doesn't get to investigate Tommy."
Fine with her. She hadn't been able to be in the room with him long before feeling the need to vomit. "I'll take Aunt Justine. I can be objective where she is concerned." She looked at Moira. "Or I can take Gwen." Lucy made her too nervous.
"No, I'll take Gwen," Claire said, her eyes narrowed to slits in thought. "There's something about her."
"I'll take Lucy," Aerin volunteered. "I want to get to know her better anyway."
"This is an information-gathering mission, not a let's-make-friends mission," Tierra said.
"I know," Aerin said. "But you have to admit, she radiates power. I'd like to know what kind. That leaves Moira with Tommy. I think that works as she's dealt with many...interesting characters."
"Hey, what do you mean by that?" Claire asked.
"Just that Tommy doesn't have a pulse. You have to admit that."
"Well, Julian oozes disease."
"Not to me, he doesn't."
"He would if he could and did, once upon a time," Claire said. "You were one sick puppy when we first met you after he infected you with his 'disease.'"
"Wish he would try and infect me again," Aerin muttered and grabbed the whiskey bottle from Moira, and tipped the bottle to her lips.
"So I could cut off his balls and feed them to him."
"I think you've had too much to drink," Claire said. "Give me."
"Not even close," Aerin said. "I see Aunt Justine."
"There ain't enough whiskey in the free world to make that okay," Moira said, holding her hand out for the bottle and refilling her glass.
"Are you girlsdrinkingbefore breakfast?" Aunt Justine asked, censure heavy in her voice. She planted her hands on her hips just like Moira liked to do.
