Page 78 of Coven of Corpses

“These boys are not themselves,” Amelia said.

“Well, I can understand that, what with all the witchcraft being thrown around, and a fucking demon running loose possessing people,” Eileen said.

“No, it’s not—wait, what?” She looked at Eileen, who was happily puffing on her pipe again, looking satisfied to have dropped that bit of gossip. Amelia looked between them until finally setting her sharp gaze on Demmy. “Is that you?”

Demmy sighed and his shoulders drooped. Cody pressed his lips together as he shook his head, recognizing the signs of defeat so familiar in Demmy’s own body, now being acted out in his own. “Demmy…” Cody said in a warning tone, then realized what he’d done, closed his eyes, and made a face. “Dammit.”

“What the hell is going on?” Eileen said.

“They’ve… swapped,” Amelia said, looking between them before settling again on Demmy. “I’m right, aren’t I? You’ve swapped bodies.”

“Jesus tramp stamp Christ, are you serious?” Eileen said.

Cody couldn’t help himself. He busted out laughing. Eileen and Amelia both gasped.

“It is true!” Eileen said.

“I knew it!” Amelia said.

“Yes, fine, all right. We’re swapped, okay?” Demmy said. “But please don’t tell anyone⁠—”

“Dieter!” Eileen called, turning slightly toward the front door of her condo. “You gotta see this!”

“Otis!” Amelia waved her arms as she yelled across the lawns. “Come down here! You need to see this!”

“Son of a bitch,” Cody said.

* * *

Cody scrubbed his hands over his face. After a lot of explanation inside Eileen and Dieter’s condo, it finally felt like he and Demmy had managed to get Amelia, Eileen, Dieter, and Otis settled down and caught up.

“You’re really Demetrius?” Otis said, bending over with hands on knees and squinting as he looked Cody in the eyes.

“Easy there, Otis. Don’t lose your balance and give me an accidental lap dance,” Cody said, reaching out to grab Otis’s shoulder and steady him.

Otis straightened up and returned to sit beside Amelia on the love seat. “Yep. That’s Cody all right.”

“Not sure how to take that,” Cody said to Demmy who sat in the armchair beside him.

“You know how to take it,” Demmy said, then blushed and looked away, shaking his head. “It’s like unintentional double entendres just come naturally to your body.”

“It’s a gift.”

“I’m a direct descendant,” Amelia said.

“What?” Demmy looked at her in surprise. “We are?”

“You’re partly a direct descendant,” Amelia said. “Your father wasn’t from here originally. But your mother’s and my side of the family have been traced all the way back to the early 1700s, and I’ve stayed here in Parson’s Hollow.”

“Seriously?” Demmy said.

“It’s true. I’ve got a book down at the condo about it. Shows the lineage and everything.”

Demmy sat back in his chair, staring at Amelia. “That’s interesting. But it’s too dangerous. There have to be other descendants we can ask to do this.”

Amelia’s expression hardened. She sat very straight with her hands folded in her lap as she looked at Demmy. Cody himself shrank down a bit when he saw the look on her face, and he could see Demmy do the same.

“I’ll have you know that I’ve been making my own decisions for a good long time now, Demetrius Barnaby Bower-Singleton, and I’ll not be relinquishing that control anytime soon. I managed my own finances, my own investments, and my own personal life. From what I recall, last summer when the town was facing zombies, of all things, I found a crossbow and learned to use it.”