Page 67 of For Dear Life

“But nobody can know that we’re associating with you,” says Zoe sharply. “Or we’re all linked and in danger.”

My head spins in circles. “Right. Do you know where this house is?”

“What’s left of it, yes.” Nita rubs her cheek. “I’d meet Rory there some nights.”

“At night? In an old house?” I frown. “What on earth for?”

“Privacy,” says Holly curtly.

“There isn’t much of the house left now,” says Nita. “But Rory started spending more and more time at the place—became obsessed by the money he was earning, and I saw less of him.”

Once the necromancers killed him.

“Did he spend this money on anything interesting?” I ask.

“No. He saved. Rory couldn’t start flashing the money around or people would ask questions.”

“You could ask your father to look into who the witches are?” suggests Marci. “We’ve started, but haven’t gotten far.”

As if I’d tell them. How can I trust these girls?

“Why not tell me all this sooner, Holly?” I ask. I’m about to blurt that I know of her items in the closet, but it wouldn’t help if she knew I snooped and suspected her.

“Because we didn’t want anybody to know in case it threatened us in some way,” repeats Zoe. “Especially if anybody discovered the truth about Rory and Nita.”

“What about the police?” I ask. “Didn’t you tell them?”

“Tell them what? That Rory had an illegal job, and witches might be involved in the murders? That wouldn’t help with the tensions between the academy and town.” Nita shakes her head. “My parents are prejudiced against shifters too.”

“Oh!” I straighten. “Do you think they—”

“No!” She looks at me in disgust. “They live hundreds of miles away and know nothing about me and Rory.”

I’ve so many questions but many I can’t share, even though they’re sharing with me. Mention Sawyer? No. But I’ll look into connections between this elderly couple and Sawyer. Perhaps discover another between them all and the witches Dorian identified.

“Will you work with us to help Nita?” asks Marci.

“Why? I have the information now. I don’t need you.” Nita’s eyes narrow until they almost disappear. “Um,” I slide a glance at Holly. “And also because you’d be in danger?”

“I want to bring these people to justice,” says Nita, voice rising. “This is my fight.”

Good grief. “Alright. But how could we possibly work together if you don’t want anybody to know you’re connected to me?”

Holly’s face fills with too much glee for a situation where we’re discussing murder in the presence of a grief-stricken girlfriend. “That’s simple. You can join the Spring Ball Committee.”

And have Marci commanding my actions? Over my temporarily dead body.

23

VIOLET

I stand with Rowan outside the low, green-painted gate and regard the front of the house. Ivy clambers around the wooden porch and up the dark brick, swallowing the windows of the two story building. The older Victorian style home isn’t as large as the mansions on many of the old witch estates, but still stands out as an embodiment of a bygone era where witches had more wealth. Although set on part of a founding witch family estate, most of the land was sold to humans who’ve built a modern housing estate nearby.

Not waiting, I open the creaking gate and step onto the slate pavers running through the neatly tended front lawn bordered by bushes with tiny blue flowers. I’d expect sounds from the renovations, but the only rumbling comes from passing car engines on the main road a few streets away. In fact, the whole area is quiet, save nearby warbling birdsong. Is this good or bad? Whether there’re people working on the renovations or not, we’ll take a look. If nobody’s at the house, we can sneak away to snoop. If the residents are home, we can field them with some mental magic.

Are there any remaining workers? Such as Trent. I’ll take a wander into the minds of anybody working outside, should they still have one.

We’ve looked into the resident family further, and there’s nothing suspicious about the people who own the house, or their connections. They’ve lived in the home most of their lives, and all their children and grandchildren are accounted for and unsuspicious. Although the couple are old enough to remember a time where Confederacy and Dominion battled for supremacy in the supernatural world, they’ve also no past links to the rogue Dominion.

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