Page 81 of Enspelled

The second I have, she leans in close. “Sera!” she screams in my face.

I wince.

Her gaze moves away from me and her smile turns lusty. “And the wolf with the sexy—”

“Eleanor, is something wrong?” I cut in, having to scream to be heard over her.

She winks at Bodie, who I swear presses himself against his door before she turns to me. “First Layla does a disappearing act, then you leave the coven, and now Vera doesn’t show up for the meeting she organizes? The way things are going, I’ll be leading the coven.” She cackles. “That might not be such a bad thing. I’ll certainly add a bit more excitement to the stale affairs they’ve been. I remember when…”

I tune her out as I process her words. Vera didn’t show up for a meeting?

I dart a glance at Bodie, who seems to be struggling to tune Ellie out from the way his eyes are twitching.

Briefly, his eyes meet mine, and understanding flashes in them. Something must have happened to Vera, which means someone is definitely on a mission to do… something. Kill all witches? Or just kill the green witches?

“But at least we know it can’t be Briar Fenix this time,” Vera says, ending her lengthy ramble.

“Why not?” I ask, since it would be pointless arguing all the reasons it couldn’t be her in the first place.

“Well, unlike Layla, no one saw Vera heading to the tearoom.”

I freeze. “What did you say?”

“I’d have thought you had sharp young ears.” She leans closer to me. “I said, unlike Layla, no one saw Vera heading to the tearoom,” she screams in my face.

I close my eyes as her piercing voice rattles around my head. My ears ring over and over, and for a second I think she’s made me deaf—but no, she’s still talking.

And then it hits me what she just said.

My eyes snap open, and I grab for the car wheel. “Someone saw Layla Markham heading to the tearoom before she disappeared?”

Ellie nods. “Probably to…”

Again, I tune her out. It isn’t important.

Whatisimportant is that there was an explosion in the tearoom. A big one. And the firemen only pulled one body out of it. One, when there should have been two.

I grab the keys and start the engine. “Eleanor, we have to go.”

She waggles her eyebrow, seemingly not the least bit annoyed that I keep shouting over her. But I guess she must be used to it since it’s the only way anyone can get her to stop talking in this town.

“I see.” Her gaze dips to my clothes. “You were wearing those same clothes yesterday.” She turns to Bodie, and I know what she’s hinting at.

Shit. She’s going to spread her gossip all around town. By the end of today, everyone will be talking about me and Bodie.

“Eleanor, that isn’t—”

“Yes, we have a date,” Bodie interrupts me.

I glare at him. “No, we don’t.”

He gives me a significant look. “We do.”

Is he that desperate to get away from her voice that he’s willing to have Ellie gossiping about us? “But we—”

Bodie turns to Eleanor with a wide smile. “Thank you.”

I blink at him. Why is he thanking her?

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