Free Elemental Moon: The Eldritch Files, Book Three by Phaedra Weldon Page B

magic?" Jack ventured.
    The computer flickered on and I walked to it, waiting to see if Ivan was remotely accessing it. And he was. I saw the browser open and a local news story about the two mutilated bodies appeared. "Looks like Ivan's been searching."
    "The rumor is that Arcane Magic destroys Witches. It makes them crazy and they become destructive."
    "You mean like your dad's house?" Jack's eyes widened as he looked at me with a newfound fear and respect.
    "Yeah." I stroked Grey's fur as she leaned against my thigh. "Then there's no going back and the Witch Finders are set loose and your head is removed from your body." I gave Jack a half smile. "You know the old saying. Power corrupts. But absolute power corrupts even the incorruptible."

TEN
    I t was close to four o'clock that afternoon before Crwys got us into the morgue while Ivan and Grey stayed at the shop. It was the same one at the same hospital. But this time he got us in on a favor from the guard, who apparently owed Crwys for getting rid of two speeding violations.
    The same smells as before assaulted me as the elevator doors opened and Crwys led us back to the same storage room. But this time the gurney with the latest victim was out and ready. Crwys unzipped the body bag and stepped away so Bastien and Jack could move closer. They did their sniffing the body thing while I tried to keep that Chinese food down. Crwys stood close to Kyle and I. "Where's Ivan?"
    I snorted before Kyle leaned in to Crwys. "He had a date."
    "A date?"
    "He said he wanted to stay at the shop and work, but I'm pretty sure he's got a date somewhere else. He is allowed to date, Crwys." I gave him a hip-bump. Imagining Ivan actually having a girlfriend brightened my mood considerably. The weight of not knowing what was happening to me, being terrified of where that extra voice was coming from, compounded with Cromwell and his Hive asking too many questions about my dad's house…it all balled into a knot in the pit of my stomach. If I didn't watch it, I was gonna get an ulcer.
    But what bothered me the most was the house. How did they know? As far as I could tell, part of whatever it was I did included altering the memories of everyone those in the house were connected to. I wasn't surprised the neighbors' memories were hazy about the house, or about George Hawthorne and his wife Pauline. Cromwell Dryden was relentless in his search for the truth within the Witch community. He was going to find out exactly what happened, and he was going to keep an eye on me. Fred was going to see to that.
    "What's on your mind?" Crwys leaned in close.
    "Lots of things. I'll tell you about them later."
    Bastien and Jack stepped away in unison. Bastien pointed to the body. "Not frére ."
    "He's right. It's not," Jack agreed.
    "Can you be a bit more specific?" Crwys moved to the gurney's edge. "Was he Lycan?"
    "It's the same as the girl. It's yes and no. Like Bastien said, this guy is stuck between, just like she was. And there is a smell."
    Now I ventured forward, but made sure not to look at the body. Eh…I didn't do well. I did smell Arcane, but I also looked down. This body had its face removed as well. In fact… "Crwys…can you grab the other body and wheel it out here?"
    He gave me an odd look but he did as I asked. Once the two gurneys were side by side and the body bags open, my suspicion was glaringly obvious.
    Kyle said it. "They were mutilated the same way."
    "It looks almost identical," Bastien said. He was really getting into this by leaning down, raising his hands to measure. "How does something eat in the same way?"
    "Because these bodies weren't attacked for food." I needed my dex . That would tell me something about what I was seeing. It might even help identify what these two people were. I still had the spell; I just didn't have the Elements to make it happen. But could I still cast the spell with just a little Arcane?
    "Sam…" Kyle was watching me. "Don't."
    "I have to know, and I