Part 37 (1/2)
”Wasn't that a miracle?”
She shrugged. ”Semantics.”
”June wasn't able to raise Roland the last time she tried,” Raye said.
”Why not?”
”She took too long to kill me. I doubt she'll make the same mistake twice.”
”If she needed a full moon why didn't she use one?” I asked.
”She needs the moon, a sacrifice, believers,” Ca.s.sandra clarified. ”A full moon should speed things up, give her more juice. Since she's failed once, she's gonna want both.”
”If she fails again?”
”There's always All Hallows' Eve. It's one of the most powerful nights of the year.”
”For magic and witchcraft, right?” I asked. ”But the Venatores Mali hate witches.”
”They do, but power is power, and raising the dead is magic. Dark magic, but still magic.”
”That makes no sense.”
”You expect them to make sense?” Raye shook her head. ”Don't.”
”She's going to move soon.” Ca.s.sandra noticed I'd finished my coffee and handed me another. ”The longer she waits, the more chance there is that someone else will kill more witches than she has.” At my bemused expression, she continued. ”The nut job with the most witch kills is considered the leader of the Venatores Mali and is the one who raises Roland. The longer she waits to bring him back, the less chance she has of being the one to do it.”
”If she raises him, what does she get?”
”Whatever's behind door number three.” Ca.s.sandra shrugged. ”It's a mystery.”
”We should set a trap.”
Everyone looked at the FBI agent.
”We know Mistress June is here. We think she'll try and raise Roland again tomorrow night. She'll need a witch to kill.” Franklin's forehead creased. ”As the two of you will be ultravigilant, and a lot harder to s.n.a.t.c.h than your run-of-the-mill witch, I think she'll look elsewhere for her sacrifice.”
”How are we going to keep an eye on every witch in town?” Ca.s.sandra asked.
I burst out laughing. ”Every witch in town? This is Three Harbors. There aren't any.”
”That's what I thought about New Bergin,” Raye said. ”I couldn't have been more wrong.”
”How'd you find out who was a witch?”
”They turned up dead and branded.”
”We need a better way.”
”You think?” Raye asked, with the exact inflection I would have.
How strange. Or maybe not very strange at all.
”Is there a coven here?” Ca.s.sandra asked.
”If there were, I wouldn't know about it.” I paused. ”Jeremy was going to check on that.”
”Jeremy?” the priestess repeated.
”Reitman. He's a forensic veterinarian. He came here to examine the animal sacrifices at Owen's house. He also happens to be a witch.”
”Coincidence?” Franklin murmured. ”I don't think so.”
”He's the best forensic veterinarian in the state,” I protested.
”Which means if there were animal sacrifices, he'd be called. I don't suppose anyone tried to kill him while he was here.”
”Owen's mom, but she's schizophrenic.”
”Did she try to kill him because a voice told her to?”
”Maybe?”
”That voice could very well be Roland's,” Edward said.
”Are you trying to tell me that Owen's mom isn't crazy? That the voices she's been hearing for most of her life are real?”
”Is the voice of a dead man real?” Edward wondered.
”Yes,” Raye said. ”Although I doubt that Roland's been whispering to Owen's mom since she was young. We weren't even born then.”
”According to you we were born four hundred years ago, which means we were.”
”Time travel gives me a great big headache,” she said.
I couldn't argue there.
”Has Owen's mother tried to kill anyone before?” Ca.s.sandra asked.
”Owen.”
”Because?”
”She was never very forthcoming on that.”
”Does she hate witches?”
I shook my head. ”There were times she thought she was one.”
”Is she?”