“We go down to the beach to party. That’s it.”
Simms nodded, disappointed. “Did you know I was from Beverly? That’s why I got your case—because I understand the area and know the people. I used to party on that beach. Same spot, too.” She gave Lily a conspiratorial look, like they were buddies. “But in my day we used to go there to drink, smoke, hook up, and eat takeout. Every now and again someone would have weed. You know what the strange thing is about your bonfire?” Again, Simms’s tone changed swiftly. “No empties, no cigarette butts. Not even a hint of marijuana. We couldn’t even find a Taco Bell wrapper. Just footprints in the sand.”
Lily kept her mouth shut and slid back into her own head. Everything around her turned into static. Simms put a card in her hand, in case Lily “remembered” anything else. The police officers stood up, milled around, wandered in and out of the room, until finally one of them said something about being sorry for her loss, and they all left. Lily sat in her chair, not really seeing or hearing anything. She could feel her coven waiting for her in the living room. They were worried, sad, and stricken. She smelled the smoke from a fire being stoked in the fireplace.
Lillian. How could you? He was your father, too.
I’ve had to make a lot of tough decisions in my life. I’ve had to sacrifice my personal feelings many times. But I remember what I’m fighting for. Come back, Lily. Come back and no one else has to die.
Did you think killing my father would make me agree with you? Sympathize with you?
No. You’ll always hate me for this. Just so you know, I didn’t order Carrick to hurt him first, and he will be punished before the end. Hate me or not, you’ll agree with me once you know the whole truth.
You better watch your back, Lillian. Carrick isn’t the only one who’s going to get punished for this.
Lily shoved Lillian out of her mind like she was slamming a door. She stood up and went into the living room. Juliet was crying on the sofa. Breakfast sat on one side of her, scared out of his mind, and Una sat on the other side, holding Juliet’s hand. Tristan and Rowan were standing in front of the fire, waiting for Lily.
“What the hell?” Breakfast said, his voice shaking.
“They have no physical evidence any of us were involved,” Una said in a level tone. “There’s no way they can pin this on us. Period.”
“They can make our lives miserable, though,” Tristan said quietly. “And they can do it for as long as they want. Agent Simms made that clear.”
Rowan shook his head and sighed. “Lillian didn’t have Carrick kill Lily’s father to get you all in trouble. She did it to send a message.”
“What message?” Tristan asked.
Rowan’s dark eyes met Lily’s, inviting her to answer.
“Come back to my world and take my place, or I’ll kill everyone around you,” Lily said.
“Carrick will start with your parents,” Rowan said. “Lily can’t be everywhere at once, so when you all scatter to try to protect your families some of you will be separated from her power. He’ll be able to pick you off one at a time.”
“What do we do?” Breakfast asked. “My parents are dicks, but I still love them.”
Anger raged in Lily until she had to fight to pull it back. She looked each of her mechanics in the eye in turn, ending back where she began, with Rowan. “I want Carrick dead.”
Rowan nodded once, accepting her order. “He isn’t far.”
“You can feel him?” Tristan asked.
“Barely. And that’s why I think I know where he is.”
“Surrounded by granite,” Lily guessed.
“Remember that turkey I cooked?” Rowan asked Lily. She nodded—confused, but going with it. “While I was hunting it I followed the Sudbury River and I found a long street cutting through the woods called Salem End Road. On it, there’s this huge granite boulder marking the Danforth plantation site. I got curious—for obvious reasons—and looked it up online. There are caves in those woods. Granite ones.”
“The Witch Caves, right?” Juliet said. “I’ve heard about that. There’s a legend of the witches fleeing down Salem End Road to get away from the trials, and supposedly some of them hid in the caves for the winter.”
“If I needed to hide from a witch who wanted me dead, that’s where I’d go,” Rowan said. “The more granite, the better.”
“Why is granite so important?” Tristan asked.
“Granite is full of quartz crystal, and quartz vibrates at one rate, like clockwork,” Lily said. “In order for my willstones to affect yours, I need to be able to manipulate matter and energy on the level where it’s all just vibrating strings. I change the vibration in order to change the things themselves. But large amounts of quartz in between my willstones and yours block me. It’s like drowning out a symphony by outshouting it with one monotonous note.”
“It also blocks mindspeak between willstones,” Rowan continued. “Only people who have a blood bond and don’t need willstones to communicate can still hear each other, and even then, just barely.”
“So we’d be cut off from Lily’s power,” Una said.