The Witching Hour

Chapter 11 - Discussion

Just as Ivy and Marina settled into the couches in Ivy's apartment, Ella and Aura waltzed through the door with barely a knock. Ella came bearing two white paper bags while Aura held a wine bottle in each hand. Ivy narrowed her eyes at Ella's hands.

"What did you bring us?" Leaning forward, Ivy tapped her fingers together like a classic villain in a movie to inspect as Ella placed them on the coffee table.

"Pastries from the Tulip." Ella grinned knowing she'd have approval from the group.

"Was Lachlan behind the counter?" Marina perked her head up from the magazine. Ivy looked puzzled at the question and didn't hide it in her features.

"He's the one that sold them to me," Ella answered as she settled into the couch.

Aura looked up from uncorking the wine, her hair wild around her face. "He's one of the good ones, right?"

"What do you mean, good ones?" Ivy's eyebrows knit together in confusion as she glanced amongst the group.

"You're so behind in the times." Ella chuckled shaking her head. She sat up to accept a glass of red wine from Aura who then offered it to Marina and Ivy. They each accepted gratefully.

"Ella, stop patronizing me," Ivy huffed taking a sip of her wine. The warm liquid went down smoothly without a hint of bitterness. She nodded in approval.

"Oh hush, you know I'm just teasin' you," Ella shot back.

Marina leaned forward to place herself in the middle of the conversation. "Lachlan is a fairy, but a good fairy. I swear."

"How can you be so sure?" Ivy raised an eyebrow. Then it hit her. Fairies can't lie...so neither can their feelings. Marina hesitated to answer as she noticed Ivy had put it together. "That's right. Fairies can't lie."

"No, but they are manipulators of the truth," Aura muttered as if she spoke from experience. She likely did with all the reporting and networking she had done over the years. "They speak just enough to the gray area where they don't lie but don't exactly tell the truth either. Still, Marina trusts him so I'll leave him be."

Shrugging, Marina smiled. Ivy had a feeling that the empath knew she had picked a good one. Plus, it helped that Marina could sense his emotions. Being a fairy, this Lachlan fellow probably kept a tight lid on them. However, Marina was so in tune with her powers (and him from working together so long) that if he had malicious intentions she would know. Ivy had to trust her friend and her judgment.

A brief lull settled over the group as they silently drank their wine. No one wanted to be the one to start yet someone had to. Ivy played with her nails as Marina pulled at the frays on the blanket draped over her. Aura tapped away at her phone, no doubt working on an article for Friday's paper. Ella's eyes jumped from each of them, waiting to see if someone else would step up. Clearing her throat, she straightened up and set her glass on the table.

"So, bad news and really only bad news." Ella fiddled with her fingers. She moved to rub the back of her neck, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "The body that we discovered awhile back is more than likely related to the string of disappearances. The mortal blow might have been fresh, but he had marks around his wrists and ankles that appeared much older. On top of that, there seemed to be almost torture indicators. Random pokes and prods but all done methodically."

Aura started to take notes when Ella placed a hand on her shoulder.

"This is all off the record by the way. Thought it went without saying." Ella stared down her counterpart.

"Never goes without saying." Aura dropped her voice to barely audible level. Ella heard it and sent her a glare that would put her six feet under. "But continue."