Prelude to a Witch, Amanda Lee [ebook reader web txt] 📗

recognized the girl. Not long ago she’d tried to take us on with magic she couldn’t correctly wield. We stopped her, modified her memory, and then let her return to her life.

That obviously hadn’t lasted very long.

“I’m sorry.” Landon sounded tortured as he moved in front of me to shield my view. “I thought you would want to know.”

“Paisley.” It was the only thing I could manage as I pictured the girl’s predatory smile from our previous altercation. “Paisley Gilmore.”

Landon nodded as he brushed my hair from my eyes. “Are you going to be sick?”

“I’ve seen dead bodies before,” I reminded him.

“This is different.”

“How?”

“You went out of your way to save her a week and a half ago,” he replied. “You thought you were doing the right thing, giving her a life despite what she tried to take from us. Now she’s gone.”

I sucked in a bracing breath. “I don’t blame myself for this, Landon. I didn’t do it. It’s likely she did it to herself.”

“I don’t think she did this to herself,” Chief Terry said from behind Landon. I could hear him but I couldn’t see him.

I wrapped my hand around Landon’s wrist and squeezed. “You did the right thing calling me out here.”

“It doesn’t feel like the right thing,” he grumbled.

I forced a thin-lipped smile that felt hollow. “I have to look at her now.”

Landon nodded and stepped aside. “Don’t get too close, okay? We’ve got a forensic team from the state on the way.”

My mouth was dry as I moved closer to Paisley. She’d been a vibrant girl, full of life. I hadn’t particularly liked her — actually, I’d outright loathed her — but I’d admired her energy. Now there was nothing but an empty husk that had once been a human being. “She was stabbed,” I said.

“She was,” Chief Terry agreed as he moved to my side. He was a father figure for me. He’d helped raise Clove, Thistle and me when our fathers disappeared from our lives years ago. He was obviously unhappy with my presence. “You don’t have to be here, Bay. I told Landon this was unnecessary.”

As much as I loved Chief Terry, his determination to protect me was occasionally a sore point. Unlike Landon, who was learning, Chief Terry wanted to keep me out of his investigations. Landon had figured out that I was good at the witch thing, even though it hadn’t been all that long since I’d been ignoring my powers. My future husband and I still butted heads about appropriate safety measures when investigating but he’d grown into an accepting individual. That’s why he’d called me out here today. He understood something Chief Terry didn’t.

“It is necessary,” I argued, shooting him a rueful half-smile. “Not only did we fight with this girl less than two weeks ago, she was killed in ritual fashion.”

Chief Terry’s expression never changed. “How do you know about that?”

“I watch a lot of television.”

Landon snorted. “She does like old reruns of that Criminal Minds show. I think she’s hot for Shemar Moore, but she also pays attention to the profiling angle.”

“It’s not just ritual in that way,” I argued. “It’s ritual in a witchy way.”

Landon was taken aback. “What do you mean?”

I pointed to the trees surrounding the clearing. “Someone used her blood to draw runes on the tree trunks.”

Landon moved closer to the nearest tree and frowned. “I don’t see anything.” He removed a flashlight from his pocket and switched it on, viciously swearing under his breath when he finally got a good look. “You’re right. His gaze was steady when it locked with mine. “How did you see that?”

“What answer will freak you out the least?”

“The truth.”

I bit back a sigh. “Things are different for me now,” I explained. “Since the necromancer stuff kicked in, I’m more powerful.”

Landon tugged on his bottom lip. “So ... you can see blood that other people can’t?” he asked.

“I can see the remnants of death,” I corrected.

Landon’s expression shifted into one of horrified sympathy. “I’m sorry.”

I laughed even though it felt out of place. “Why? I was born this way. Besides, I’m pretty sure you’re the reason I can handle it now. Before you, this would’ve freaked me out. Because I have you, I know more than I did before and I can accept it.”

“Oh, that’s ridiculously cute and makes me want to retch,” Chief Terry drawled. “There’s nothing I love better than watching you two fawn all over each other.”

I slid him a dubious look. “But?” I prodded.

“But I need to know what these runes mean.” He gestured toward the tree. “I can’t see what you guys are talking about.”

“We may have to use luminol to light it up for photos,” Landon said. “I can get copies of the photos for you, baby, if that helps.”

I nodded. I edged closer to Paisley, but not so close I risked treading on their evidence. “Her eyes are open. She saw what was coming.”

“I don’t know how long she lived after the initial blow,” Landon said. “She was stabbed multiple times. The medical examiner will be able to tell us about that.”

I nodded. “She would’ve seen it all.”

“Bay ... .” Landon reached out, but then dropped his hand. “Is her ghost hanging around?”

I cocked my head, considering. “I don’t see her.”

“You could call to her, make her come if she’s around.”

“I could,” I agreed, “but I prefer not to.”

He studied my face before nodding. He knew better than anyone that forcing ghosts to do my bidding was uncomfortable. I’d had more than a few nightmares about it. “Okay. There’s one other issue we need to consider.”

I waited for him to continue.

“Even with the blood on the trees, there’s very little on the ground. Given the number of stab wounds, there should be more blood.”

I’d been around him long enough to know what he wasn’t saying. “You think someone took her blood.”

“It’s a distinct possibility.”

“That means a blood ritual.”

“Which leads us back to witches,” Chief Terry mused. “I don’t suppose