Page 74 of For Dear Life

“A witch saw you.” Marci interrupts and sinks back and wipes a hand down her face. “Now I wish we hadn’t told you about the house. I thought you’d be more careful.”

Again, I’ve remained economical with the facts. Marci isn’t aware of the witch’s phone call or arranged meeting, and most certainly unaware about Maxwell and the constructs. This is a ‘need to know’ basis. I refuse to simply accept and believe Marci’s innocence, particularly considering her dislike of me.

Holly remains silent, watching and absorbing, waiting for the moment she needs to jump in. I promised her I’d pull back on any words or behavior that could cause tension, but I’m unsuccessful so far.

“We need to locate the shifters and witches who may be involved, and quickly. Now I’ve evidence, I’ll pass my findings on to Dorian who can locate the shifters to assess their wellbeing and apprehend these witches. Then authorities can interview them all.” I smile. “Simple.”

“Simple?” She chokes a laugh.

“Yeah, I doubt the witches will allow anybody to find them easily,” says Rowan. “Let’s hope Dorian’s chat with Sawyer and Josef brings us closer to more facts.”

Josef. I blink away images of Grayson injured by the sadistic creature; my stomach suddenly unsettled. Why hasn’t Grayson contacted me to let me know he’s safe?

“All Dorian needs to do is find and apprehend the witches. Even if they’re skilled in mental magic, Dorian’s men will be superior and can trawl inside their heads for the truth,” I say.

“And what is the truth?” Marci leans across the table. “Because you’re hiding something. Do you know what happened to Rory? Or where Oz is?”

“I can genuinely answer no to those questions,” I say. If we’re talking about recently and not his time wandering the town in an undead state.

“But you think the witches are involved in the murders?” she presses, and I nod. “Directly?”

Rowan turns to her from where he’s watching those around. “At some level. Again, once Dorian gets a hold of the witches, things will become clearer.”

“We will get justice for Wesley and Rory,” I say. “We’ll find anybody who’s involved, inside or outside the academy. Do you suspect any academy involvement? You’re a bigger part of the social web than we are.”

Marci taps her fingers and looks to Holly, who nods. “Did you know that Mr. Wallis left? He isn’t coping with Wes’s death.”

“What? When?” asks Rowan.

“There’re rumors around Darwin House that he’s resigned,” says Holly. “I’ve heard there’s an announcement to the whole academy at an assembly later today. I bet that’s the reason; Mr. Wallis definitely isn’t here anymore.”

“And that puts Mrs. Lorcan in charge?” I ask, and Marci shrugs. “The school is now under full supernatural control. Rowan, did you look into Mrs. Lorcan’s connections? All the professors?”

Holly frowns. “You think people inside the academy are linked to this?”

“We can’t rule out the possibility, especially as Wes’s murder ended the human influence over the academy—the headmaster left,” says Rowan. He shifts to face me. “I researched, yes. So far, everybody I’ve looked into worked at the academy for a number of years. Dorian closely vetted everybody. Unless anybody’s drifted into these witches’ influence and is hiding well, there’s nobody questionable or anyone new on the staff.”

But someone did break into my room. Tried to frame me with runes in Wesley’s room.

“Then we continue to watch them all,” I say.

“We can’t put every professor under surveillance. Not all twenty of them,” says Holly.

“No. But we can monitor for suspicious activity.” I’m itching to ask Rowan about his research into the students—Marci and Holly. Nita and Zoe. Their families may have ties to each other.

Rowan agrees that we can’t mention anything about the necromancy or Sawyer’s connections, so of course, Marci knows I’m holding back. But I’m sure she’s doing the same.

“The pendant you gave Rory,” I say. “Explain more about that.”

“Simple protection talisman.”

“Yes,” says Rowan. “But why did you choose the particular symbol? Because it coincidentally matches one that belonged to Kai and Wes.”

“I explained to Violet—I found the spell in one of the library books we discovered, Rowan.” She tips her head. “Are you still trying to decipher the code?”

“How does Marci know about that?” I ask sharply. “Did you write it, Marci?”

“No. We spent a lot of time together in the library in the past.” Marci smiles. “Much like you do. Although…” She chuckles. “Me and Rowan didn’t spend all our time looking at books.”

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