“They’re so young,” I whisper, taken aback when I see two girls who don’t look much older than twenty lying in the beds. Lucas silently closes the door, and I conjure a string of magic so I can look around the room.
“Carly,” I read, peering over one of the girls’ beds so I can read her hospital bracelet. Her date of birth is listed on there as well, and it takes me a few seconds to do the mental math to figure out that she’s only nineteen.
“This one is Maria,” Lucas says softly.
“How old is she?”
“Eighteen.”
“They’re just kids.” Why has Ruth recruited teenagers to do her dirty work?
“Do you recognize them from your coven?”
“No, and Carly’s last name isn’t familiar, though she could be from another coven in a nearby area.” I quietly move around the bed and stand in the middle of the room, holding my hands up. I cast a circle, soundproofing our little area. “Okay. I’m going to wake her up. I kind of feel bad, though.”
“They sent a hex that almost killed Betty,” Lucas reminds me, and now I want to poke my finger hard into Carly’s shoulder. I put my hand on her arm, careful not to touch the IV lines, and give her a gentle shake.
“Carly,” I say softly. “Carly.”
The girl’s eyes flutter open, and she looks at me calmly, assuming I’m a nurse. And then she sees the string of magic floating above my fingers.
“It’s okay,” I rush out. “I just want to ask you some questions.”
Carly turns, looking at Maria, who’s still asleep. And then she notices Lucas.
“Who are you? Did sh-she send you?”
“Did who send me?” I counter and notice the girl looks terrified.
“I…I…” She shakes her head, and Lucas speeds forward, leaning over the bed.
“What are you doing?” I ask. “You can’t hold witches—”
“She’s not a witch,” Lucas says, able to smell, or in this case not smell, the magic in her. He has the girl held spellbound right away. “Who are you?”
“Carly,” she replies.
“Did you create a hex bag and send it to the store Novel Grounds?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To get back at someone,” Carly answers. She knows what she’s saying somewhere deep in the back of her mind but can’t help but answer Lucas’s questions.
“Who did you want to hurt?”
“I don’t know her name. Only that she’s a bad person.”
“Hmm.” Lucas nods and turns to look at me. “If she’s not a witch, how did she perform spells?”
I slowly shake my head. “I don’t—holy shit.” My eyes widen, and I let out a shocked breath. “She used a conduit, that slimy bitch. It’s basically a funnel for her powers, protecting her from a return-to-sender spell. It would hit them instead of her.” The string of magic glows red with my anger.
I can say these girls were stupid for teaming up with Ruth, but bottom line is she used them. And I’m willing to bet they had no idea.
I step closer, gripping the bedrail and wrestling to keep my anger in check. “Who is the ‘she’ you referred to earlier?”
“Answer her,” Lucas says.
“Ruth.”
“Why would you help her?”
Tears slowly fill Carly’s eyes, but she’s compelled to keep looking Lucas in the eyes. “She said she would get us powers. Real powers. She said she could make us witches.”
“You can’t be made into witches,” I start.
“She said he would give us powers. But we had to find him first.”
“Who?” Lucas asks, but I already know.
Lucifer.
“The Dark Lord,” Carly goes on. “She said he would reward us like he’s rewarded others.”
And that’s why Ruth isn’t attacking me. She doesn’t actually want me dead. She wants to break me down to the point of submitting to her because she still thinks I’m in cahoots with the devil.
She’s batshit crazy and power hungry.
“Do you know where Ruth is now?” Lucas asks.
Carly shakes her head. “No. She moves around a lot. She’s paranoid someone is watching her.”
“When was the last time you saw her?”
“Three days ago, when we made the hex bag.”
“And where where you?”
“A cabin in the woods,” Carly answers. “By the lake.”
“Lake Michigan?” I ask.
“Yes. We could hear the water from inside.”
That narrows it down to a few thousand cabins. I let out another sigh.
“Where is your phone?” Lucas asks her, and Carly points to a clear plastic bag on the little table at the foot of her bed. Lucas gets it and holds it up to her face to use the facial recognition.
“You humans really need to learn the dangers of technology,” he notes and looks at me. “Her location services were turned on. She visited this address thirteen times in the last week.” Lucas takes his own phone from his pocket and takes a photo of the screen. “It’s near the lake.”
“Perfect,” I say with a smile, heart speeding up in my chest. “How did you get involved with Ruth?” I ask, shifting my attention back to Carly.