Page 25 of Coven of Corpses

“Brady and Dave do fight a lot,” Cody said.

Demmy and Ollie both stared at him.

“What?” Cody said.

“Out of the five of you, you think Dave and Brady are the ones who fight a lot?” Demmy crossed his arms. “Really?”

“Fine. All right. They bicker. Roman and I fight.”

“There we go, much better,” Ollie said.

“This is what you’re marrying into,” Cody said. “Think you can handle it?”

“I’m ready.”

Demmy put his hands out, one toward each of them. “Okay, if the posturing and insults are completed for the morning, can we share information and work together? That would, after all, be in the best interest of everyone we love and the town itself.”

Cody exchanged a look with Ollie.

“He’s acting kind of righteous, isn’t he?” Ollie said to him.

Cody shrugged. “He’s earned it. Grant and Mac and their kids have taken over our house.”

“I’m standing right here, listening to the both of you, and I know you’re doing that to get a rise out of me.” Demmy gave Cody a raised eyebrows look. That was about the sixth or seventh one he’d received from different people this week. He might have to start keeping track. “It’s not going to work.” Demmy looked back at Oliver. “Why don’t you tell us what you know, and then we’ll tell you what we know?”

“I don’t know much other than what my grandmother told me this morning,” Ollie said. “A woman’s body was found out here in the woods last night under mysterious circumstances. Word is it was Rita Haines, who worked as a mechanic at Drives Rite.”

Demmy glanced at Cody. “Name matches.”

“Yep.”

“Matches what?” Ollie said. “Your turn to share.”

They took turns explaining about the hex bags and Cody’s encounter with Tracey and Heath the night before. Cody then related what Clarabell had told him while sitting in his truck in the library parking lot.

“A witch,” Ollie said. “Holy shit.”

“Yep, pretty much what we’ve been saying,” Demmy said.

“Why now?” Ollie said.

“What?” Cody asked.

“I mean, there’s been some crazy and dangerous stuff going on all year. Why would a witch start making big moves now?”

“Maybe she just got to town,” Demmy said. “She heard about the vampires and the zombies and the shape shifting water sprite and decided to check things out for herself.”

“Goddamn Sandals resort for monsters,” Cody muttered.

“Do we know much else?”

“Clarabell told me a little bit about what they’ve found in their research,” Cody said. “A coven of witches settled in these parts back in the late 1600s. They escaped the witch trials in Salem and decided to call this area home.”

“I never heard about that part of the town’s history,” Ollie said.

“Does that surprise you?” Demmy said. “No one’s going to want to claim their town was founded by a coven of witches.”

“That would make a hell of a TV series,” Cody said. “And they weren’t the official founders.”