“Hey, what’s up?” he says with his mouthful, earning a glare from Nik.
“They found that hunter,” Sam repeats. “His body was half-frozen in the lake this morning.”
“Shit,” Ethan replies and stabs his fork into his bowl.
Perching on a barstool, I lean in toward Ethan. “You said he was killed in a witchcraft ritual. What makes you think that?”
“He had an upside-down pentagram etched into his forehead and an athame was found nearby. It also had an upside-down pentagram on the handle. I didn’t examine the body myself, but he had lacerations on his wrists like he was tied up, and remnants of herbs were found in his throat, like it was shoved down before he was sacrificed,” Sam answers and Ethan looks at me, slowly shaking his head.
“That doesn’t mean he was killed by witches,” Ethan goes on.
“Well, it seems pretty ritualistic to me, doesn’t it?” Sam spits back. She doesn’t trust me because I’m a witch, but I thought we had gotten past a lot of her issues. I guess not.
“It seems like someone wants you to think it was a ritual and watched too many cheap horror movies,” Ethan retorts.
“Why are you defending the murderer?”
“I’m not,” Ethan snaps back. “But accusing a witch of killing a hunter isn’t something to take lightly.” He eyes me again. “And witches don’t use the upside-down pentagram.”
“We don’t,” I go on, having just re-read a page in my book about it this morning. “The pentagram represents elements, and each point of the star is significant. If you invert it, it loses its meaning and power. The upside-down pentagram is used by non-magical Satanists who actually don’t worship the devil like you think. It’s supposed to be a representation of rebellion or whatever and has no magical meaning. And we call the five-pointed star a pentacle, not a pentagram.”
“Says the girl who’s been a witch for like a week,” Sam huffs. Nope. Definitely not over her issues.
“She’s right,” Nik says, unable to sit back quietly.
“Who is that?” Sam asks and I just give Ethan a look. Sam isn’t happy about her brother living with a witch. She’s definitely not going to be happy to know we have a faery houseguest.
“A friend,” Ethan answers. “Who does know quite a bit about magic. You’re jumping to conclusions, Sam. Which means letting the real killer get off the hook because you’re going to narrow your search.”
His words jar me, but he’s right. The Order is going to try and find who killed the hunter. And then they will punish them as they see fit…even if it’s a human.
“God, you’re so overdramatic. I’m not looking into anything. Or on this case even. I just wanted to relay a message.”
“You’re right,” I quickly say before she can hang up. “You didn’t insinuate anything, but since I am a witch, I wanted to make sure you knew the correct info.”
A few seconds of silence pass before she speaks again. “Yumi wants to know how the donkeys are doing.”
“They’re good. If you’re ever out this way again, we’d love it if you stopped by.”
“Yeah, we’d uh, we’d like that too. Be careful, Ethan.”
“Same to you,” he says and ends the call.
“Why would a witch kill a hunter?” I ask right away. “I mean, why would anyone kill anyone? But you’re right, well, I think. And I can find out more tonight, I suppose.”
“Slow down,” Ethan tells me. “And don’t worry. I’ll find out what I can. Most ritualistic killings are done by demons, though this still sounds like something set up. I’ve seen ritualistic killings and they’re not as obvious.” He shakes his head. “Leaving the murder weapon by the body…” He trails off and turns, resting a hand on my thigh. “Don’t worry, babe. You’re going to your coven tonight for the first time and like I said, hunting is a dangerous job. You piss off a lot of people—human people—along the way as well.”
“I know,” I sigh and plant my hands on the counter, pushing myself up. “I need to run to the feed store and put in another order of hay.” I look at Hunter. The feed store does allow dogs. “Want to come with?” He gives me a do you really have to ask look and wags his tail.
“Heading out now?” Ethan asks.
“Yeah. Might as well.” I look out the window. “It’s warming up. I might attempt my first ride on Mystery since, what, December?”
“It’s been a while.”
“The new barn and indoor arena cannot come fast enough. Though, I know my two lazy horses are enjoying their time off.”
“Funny how the times have changed,” Nik notes. “Horses used to pull carts. Now you’re pulling them in fancy trailers.” He raises his eyebrows. “I know what you spent on yours.”
I let out a snort of laughter. “Most horses have fared well over the years.” Getting up, I grab my phone and my purse. Ethan walks me to the door, grabbing me around the waist and pulling my hips to his.