Page 49 of Last Witch Attempt
“Are you going to ask her about the costume changes?”
“That and I want to talk to her about what Evan brought up. He thinks maybe our monster was waiting for a fourth victim. There was a convenient tree that might’ve made a good spot for a fourth. You know … the four corners.”
“Does that mean something I’m not aware of?”
“Maybe we’re dealing with the sort of creature that utilizes four-pronged magic. It might help us narrow things down.”
“Okay, we’ll be behind you. I can be at the inn in about an hour.”
“I guess I’ll be seeing you soon.”
“I’ll be the one with the cookie in my hand.”
12
TWELVE
Evan rode with me to The Overlook. Once there, he headed toward the trees rather than the inn.
“Mom and the others will want to see you,” I called after him. “You’ll hurt their feelings if you take off this way.”
“I’m not interested in hurting their feelings,” Evan replied. “Trust me, that’s not my intention. But I’m not interested in having to explain who I am to the Feds.”
“We could just tell them that you’re a family friend,” I offered. “We don’t have to go into the vampire thing. Trust me, they’re never going to guess what you really are.”
“I haven’t decided how I want to be involved in that whole situation,” Evan admitted. “I’m thinking about it, but right now I don’t really want to be around them, Bay.”
I understood his concern. It was one thing to tell Steve I was a witch. That seemed harmless enough in the grand scheme of things. The whole day-walking vampire with a soul thing was something else entirely.
“I’m not telling him about you guys. There will be no mention that Easton is a gnome from another plane. There will be nomention of Scout being a pixie witch or Gunner a shifter. I would never spill your secrets.”
“I know.” Evan was solemn. “I’m not worried about that. I just prefer keeping my distance at present.”
“Okay.” I forced a smile I didn’t feel, wondering if I’d made a terrible mistake because this would put distance between me and the people I cared about.
“Hey.” Evan took a step in my direction. “I’m not walking away from you and your family. Tillie would punish me until the end of time if I tried. I just don’t want to hang around the Feds. I’ll still be around to help you.”
“That’s good.” Some of the tension that had been building fled. “I’ve been second-guessing myself a lot,” I admitted. “I’m not sure this was a good idea.”
“Do you not trust Landon’s boss?”
“I trust him,” I replied. “I trust him a great deal. I just … it’s always been ingrained in me that I should keep this secret.”
“You can’t put that cat back in the bag. They knew about you before you agreed to work with them. It’s better to control the flow of information. At least you have a modicum of control this way. Otherwise…”
“It feels like everything is changing. I don’t do well with change.”
“If Landon believed this partnership endangered you, he wouldn’t allow it to continue.”
“He loves being an FBI agent more than anything,” I said. “He’s going to try to find a way to make it work regardless.”
“Not more than anything,” Evan countered. “There’s one thing he loves more.”
My cheeks heated under his pointed stare. “I don’t want to be the reason he loses his job. He wouldn’t mean to, but he would be bitter and ultimately blame me.”
“I don’t think you’re giving him enough credit. Either way, you’re nowhere near that place yet. Try to unclench a bit. We have options at our disposal if things go poorly.”
“You mean a memory spell. This has gone too far for that.”
