“And you think she’s really going to show?” Dante asked. The doubt in his voice was clear enough. I could’ve really done without the look.
“I don’t have a ‘look,’” he replied defensively.
I managed a snort as I walked around him to the other side of Caroline. We were moving the statues of Pete and Caroline and I’d nearly forgotten how heavy they were. I was pretty sure I was going to have to see about getting a new spleen after all the pushing and moving but it wasn’t like we had much of a choice. We had to move the bodies ASAP.
Though why we had to move them all the way through the store and out the ridiculously narrow side door to set them outside was nothing short of torture. Pete was already in the small plot of grass out back, a sheet tied and bound by bungee cords to keep him hidden. Now it was Caroline’s turn.
I grabbed one end and continued, “A, you most definitely have a look, and two, she’ll be here,” I huffed out.
While we’d been over at the Andersen’s the day before, Chase and the others had woken up from their Dante-induced mini-comas. The only reason I knew they were awake was because Chase had sent me a text letting me know they were alright. His next text was a little less welcome. The sheriff had gone to see about a warrant to search the emporium for any information on Pete or Caroline’s whereabouts. I was still pretty upset over his recent behavior (Chase’s not the sheriff), but at least he was still himself enough to give us the heads up about what the sheriff was up to.
Maybe Dante knocking him out had actually knocked some sense back into him.
Dante made a rude sort of noise in the back of his throat. “If I knew that’s all it took, I would’ve knocked him out a long time ago.”
I laughed and it felt good.
I continued forward as we moved Caroline through the shop floor, reaching the side door. I hadn’t even known there was a door there until Dante had moved a metal shelf full of old crockery and pots out of the way. The hinges had screamed in protest when he’d first opened it, dust and rust flying all over the place.
According to Dante we had to be under the light of the moon to work the magic that would unfreeze Caroline and Pete. Cassandra’s words came back to me: When the moon is ripe, pour this upon those you would save. Stone will bleed, freeing flesh.
We both knew the deal. Today was the last day – the full moon was tonight and everything came down to whether or not I’d convinced Andy about the importance of forgiveness and trying to make amends for what she’d done. Chase, the sheriff, everything else would have to take a seat in the back while we settled up with Asher.
I was pretty sure I’d gotten through to her. We'd talked for hours. Only stopping once when I'd let Mrs. Andersen inside the room with some hot soup and cold sandwiches.
Andy hadn't said much to her mother but the former beauty queen had poured her heart out to me. She'd told me everything about her deal with my aunt, but more importantly, why she’d gone to her in the first place. I couldn’t lie. I’d wanted to know why she’d thought my aunt was the way to go. Out of all the ways to get back at a former friend, black magic and spell casting was in a different spectrum of crazy.
“I hope you’re right,” Dante said, breaking into my thoughts. He shifted his grip so he could maneuver Caroline through the doorway. She was a little harder to get through than Pete because of the way she was bent over herself. I still couldn’t get over the details of the Medusa’s effect. Every strand of hair was accounted for but every last one had been turned into hard stone, more white than gray.
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Bad Influence (Seven Deadly Sins #2) ✅ Completed
Paranormal17-year old Eliza sucked her evil Aunt Celeste into a Monet painting and just survived negotiations with her aunt's demonic boss, Asher. She also managed to save her new-semi-cursed boyfriend's soul from eternal damnation (at least for the next 30 d...