Free Charmed & Deadly by Candace Havens Page B

must have been nasty. It put him flat on his back and turned him green. His body spazzed and twitched for a bit, then his mouth foamed. I heard him whisper a healing spell, but it was too late.
    Twitching, he raised a hand as if to throw something and then it fell to the ground. Dead.
    What an idiot. He’d just killed himself.
    “You killed him already?”
    Simone’s voice made me jump and I twirled around.
    The demon slayer stood in the doorway, her long hair pulled into a ponytail. The legs of her leather pants were in shreds and it looked like she’d been bathing in demon blood. Kind of smelled like it, too. A coppery scent flooded the room.
    She moved toward me. “Damn, Bron, I wanted to kill him. Rip him apart.”
    “Sorry, the idiot already killed himself by accident.” I told her what happened.
    That’s about the time Cole walked in.
    “Jesus, Bron, you could have told someone.” He bent down and looked at Nox, without touching him.
    “How’d you get here so fast?”
    He chuckled. “Had you followed. I was already on the way, once they told me you were outside this building.”
    “Did you know about Nox?”
    “Nah, but it explains a lot. So, he did this to himself?”
    “Yes, the idiot.” It’s awful but I wanted to kick Nox in the nads. I didn’t, but I really wanted to. “He ruined everything.”
    “We’ll clean it up. Why don’t you go back to the house and check on Garnout? Are you going to tell the sister?”
    Argh! Lilyana would have to know. It’s never easy telling someone about ultimate betrayal, but it had to be done. “Yep. I’ll tell her.”
    Monday
9 a.m .
    What a night.
    When I came back, Lilyana had recovered from fainting earlier. I’d wondered if maybe we should feed her something before telling her the truth.
    I hadn’t absolved her of all guilt; it was under her leadership that the coven had broken the rules and attacked other covens. But I’d seen in Nox’s mind how he had manipulated her. She’d trusted the wrong man. I’ve done that more times than I care to remember.
    I checked on Garnout, hoping that since Nox was gone, the confusion spell would be banished. No such luck. I hate feeling helpless, but that’s exactly how I felt. I’m supposed to be one of the most powerful witches on the planet and I have no idea how to help one of my dearest friends.
    I called and ordered coffee and sandwiches from Zabar’s and had the food taken down to the basement. I watched. At first they tried to ignore the meal, but it didn’t take long. Lilyana wrapped her hands around a coffee mug and held it tight.
    I gave them another hour, and then I went downstairs.
    They hadn’t spoken a word while they ate, and Lilyana eyed me suspiciously. The investigators informed me that the couple had continued to argue once Lilyana woke up. Nothing had been settled.
    I sat down on the table between them. “Okay. You two still have things to work out, but there’s something you both need to know. I think the easiest way to do this is to show you what happened.” I shifted further back on the table and crossed my legs. I’d informed Cole, who had followed me into the room, of what I had planned to do.
    “I need you to move your chairs where you can each hold one of my hands. No funny stuff. I’m only showing you memories, and trust me, you both need to see this.”
    Constantine gave me a look that could have frozen a penguin on the spot. I sent him a mental message. “You need to be here for her.” He gave a slight nod and moved his chair in front of me.
    Lilyana followed him.
    I stretched out my arms. “Take my hands.” I wondered if perhaps I should give Lilyana some kind of warning of what she was about to see, but I decided I’d pull back as Nox threw that last spell.
    I grabbed their hands. Cole stood behind them both. We had no idea how either of them would react.
    Rewinding the memories I’d borrowed from Nox, I let them all play out. Lilyana gasped when she saw him talking