Page 89 of Enspelled

“I don’t know. Someone who wants everyone to blame Briar.”

“Do you know who that might be?” I ask.

“Probably Layla Markham.” She shrugs, darting a glance outside the window. “Look, I have to go back to work.”

“So, about you and Liam …?” My voice trails off.

Her face tightens. “Nothing is going on between us.”

“But there was?” I ask gently.

Rose was never a favorite Calla. She wasn’t blonde enough or as powerful as Delphine, Daisy, and Dahlia. It was why they ran Calla’s Cauldron and Diana stuck Rose in the sheriff’s office to keep a watch over anything that might happen in town that we witches should know about.

How she and Liam hooked up is a mystery, but she’s beautiful and he’s attractive, so maybe he was looking for a way to escape from his responsibilities, and she was looking for someone who wouldn’t care that she didn’t live up to the Calla name.

“He was just comforting me about what happened,” she says, her gaze fixed on her lap.

I dart a glance at Bodie, and he quirks his lips. We both know she’s lying, but what happens between Liam and Rose isn’t important right now.

“We want to see the body from the tearoom explosion,” I say.

Rose lifts her head, her brow creased in a frown. “Why?”

I hesitate. Should I tell her what I’m thinking, or should I wait until I’ve seen the body first?

Later. Or maybe never.

“I just do. It’s important.”

She shakes her head. “You can’t.”

“Why not?” Bodie asks. “You work in the sheriff’s office. Surely you can—”

“I could,” Rose glares, making it clear she might like Liam, but she’s no fan of Bodie, “if there was a body to see.”

I blink. “What?”

Her gaze returns to me. “Someone stole the body from the morgue early this morning.”

Silence.

“I thought this was a nice town,” Bodie says. “But you have morgue robbers?”

“It’s unusual,” Rose admits, her cheeks turning red. “It’s why I was meeting with Liam. To tell him that the wolves needed to investigate.”

“Why weren’t you meeting with the elementals to tell them?” I ask. “I mean, your aunt is back in town, so…” My voice trails off when her face freezes.

“Georgia won’t be staying. I have to get back to work.” Without waiting for a response, she’s out of the car and slamming the door hard enough to shake it.

I turn to watch her disappear into the sheriff’s office.

Bodie whistles. “I’m guessing she and Georgia must not be close, to provoke that reaction?”

“I guess not,” I murmur as I turn to face him. “We have to go to the green witch meeting.”

He swivels his head my way. “To look for a dead body?”

“No.” I start the engine. “To tell them that Layla Markham is dead, Vera probably is too, and it’s looking more and more likely that the person responsible was Briar’s aunt. Have you tried calling—”

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