“It wasn’t Lucas,” I say through gritted teeth and magic crackles around my hands.
“How can you be sure?”
“First of all, I think I’d know if my husband left me in the night to go on a murder spree. And second—no, you don’t get a second. It wasn’t Lucas. We were together all night.”
“So he hasn’t left the house? He’s still in there?” She looks past me at the backdoor. It’s not quite dark enough yet to think he could near the windows.
“You need to leave,” I say through gritted teeth, and the lights on the back of the house start to buzz. Scarlet pushes her way outside, standing by my feet. She lets out a growl, and I wish I could take her collar off and watch Ruby run away in fear. “It’s one thing to come here and talk shit about me, but another to come to my house and accuse my husband of murder.”
“Bodies were found,” she repeats. “Drained of blood. Kinda sounds like a vampire, doesn’t it?”
“A lot of demons drink blood,” I counter and hear Abby gasp. “I’d think you of all people would know that, right? You do teach at the Academy. Maybe I should tell Evander I don’t think you’re quite up for the job.”
“Please,” Ruby huffs. “Like anyone is going to take you seriously ever again. You left the coven—your family—for a vampire. You’re a disgrace to witches everywhere.”
“Shut your mouth,” I say and hold up my hand, bright blue energy swirling around my fingers.
“I have.” Ruby inches forward. “And now I’m paying for it. I looked the other way when you went all savage on the doctor, yanking his molars out one by one.” Her eyes narrow, and she conjures a small string of dark blue magic. “I figured that asshole deserved it after what he did to you, but I should have seen the writing on the wall. And then there was that time I defended you to the council. I really do think you did what you thought was right by allowing that vampire to come with you to the door. But this…this isn’t something I can sit back and shut up about. Protecting the coven has been, and always will be, my highest priority.”
“Then go protect the coven,” I retort. “You’re wasting your time here.”
“Really? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re defending a killer.”
“Guys,” Kristy says, holding up her hands.
“You are so obsessed with me,” I say with a laugh. “You’ll do anything to bring me down, no matter how fucking stupid it is.”
“Not obsessed,” Ruby sneers. “But I know the truth. I’ve always known the truth. There’s no way a witch brought in already past her tenth birthday could have known the things you did. There’s something wrong with you, Callie, and I’m going to find out what it is. Maybe Ruth was right all along and you are in communication with Satan.”
Hah. If only she knew.
“You don’t know when to leave well enough alone,” I shoot back, conjuring an energy ball. Binx shadows forward, followed by Freya and Pandora. But they go right past Ruby, going to the edge of the warding.
“Make this easy, Callie,” Ruby goes on. “Turn the vampire over and we won’t make a show of it. I’ll ensure his death will be as painless as possible.”
“Guys!” Kristy repeats, and I flick my eyes to her, noticing the panic. “There’s somethi—”
She cuts off when something crashes hard into the warding. We all jump, and Ruby whirls around. Magic crackles along the lines I’ve drawn, lighting up the yard and acting like a physical barrier. Whatever ran into the warding is on the ground, and suddenly the foul smell of sulfur pours from the woods.
“What the hell is that?” Kristy stammers.
I inhale, breathing in the scent of decay mixed in with the sulfur. Looking away from Kristy, I stare down Ruby. “Please tell me you invited some friends.”
She slowly shakes her head and narrows her eyes, looking out at the woods. “Me? No way. You summoned something, didn’t you, in an attempt to distract me?”
The creature on the ground gets up, and the magic settles back into place, offering a clear view through the lines which are invisible once again. The creature tips its head to the sky, letting out a harrowing roar. My heart skips a beat, and nerves prickle down my spine. My familiars hold the line, ready to attack if the thing somehow makes it past my protective spells.
“I promise I didn’t summon anything, and there’s nothing to distract you from. Like I said, Lucas didn’t kill anyone.”
“He’s not looking that innocent, as far as I’m concerned.”
“Guys!” Kristy repeats. “You can argue about that later. I think we have a bigger issue right now.” She turns her head from me and Ruby to that thing. “What is that?” She grabs my hand when it pushes against the protective lies again.