Southern Belle Read Free Page B

protect ourselves and to insure that the coven did not reform or break the curse, we divide the killings amongst the three of us. Each man took two names from a hat. We agreed on the night that the curse would take place and made sure we each understood what was required. Finally, and most important, none of us would know where the others buried their witches. This way, should something go wrong, we were protected from each other. The planned night arrived, and we did what had to be done. And I truly thought it was all over."
    "I don't think I'm going to like this next part," Max said.
    Leed licked his lips and arched his head back. "It's been quiet all these years, yet something inside me always niggled at the idea that it might not be done. Then yesterday morning I saw this." With his cane, Leed pointed to a newspaper on the coffee table.
    Max picked it up and saw a circled article headlined: PROFESSOR OF CULTS MURDERED. "This is Dr. Ernest?"
    "Oh, yes. You can take that with you. Read it in detail. For now, believe me when I say that all the signs are there — this murder was an act of rage and revenge and the first step into freeing the full power of the coven. If you look close, read between the lines, you'll see that Dr. Ernest was murdered by a ghost, and the only ghosts in Winston-Salem that would want to harm him belong to the coven."
    "But you said the curse prevented —"
    "Obviously, somebody found a way to break our curse, didn't they?"
    "And with Dr. Ernest's coven ghosts released, you think they murdered him."
    "They'll be coming for me soon enough."
    "To kill you for revenge?"
    "Eventually. But first they'll torture me to find out where I buried their sisters. And if a ghost can kill another ghost, they'll go after Drummond, too."
    "Then why all the secrecy from Drummond? If he was the one who helped you down here to begin with, shouldn't we warn him, maybe even elicit his help?"
    Leed turned an incredulous eye toward Sandra. "Have you not taught him anything about ghosts?"
    "What now?"
    Sandra faced her husband. "I think he's referring to the idea that some ghosts can turn."
    "Turn?"
    With a frustrated huff, Leed said, "Just because Drummond resembles a human being, he's not. He's a ghost. And ghosts have their own set of rules. Supposedly, if you put them in highly stressful situations, ones that make them face their ghostly existence, and keep that pressure on long enough, they can turn into nasty, evil spirits."
    "And this could happen to Drummond?"
    "It can happen to any ghost. So, we can't trust him."
    Max nodded — not because he agreed with Leed but rather because he could tell they had reached the crux of the whole story. "What exactly is it you want us to do?"
    Wagging his index finger as if Max were an astute scholar, Leed said, "The witches are in an unusual state at the moment. They are not resting in their graves like most dead people nor are they wandering like most ghosts. They've neither moved on nor stayed behind. They are no longer cursed yet they are not free of the curse either. Since at least one of Dr. Ernest's graves has been disturbed, the only thing left for us to do is release the other corpses with a spell that should move them on to the next world while preventing them from rejoining their coven."
    "Why didn't you use that spell to begin with?"
    "I didn't know it back then. And by the time I learned, I had no way of using it. Dr. Ernest might have been able to be convinced to divulge his burial locations, but Marshall Drummond had been killed. Where he buried his witches is something I still don't know."
    "Ah," Max said, getting to his feet. "You want us to find out Drummond's burial locations."
    "Exactly. Find the burial locations and perform the spell. Otherwise, we'll have unleashed a powerful coven that will haunt Winston-Salem for centuries to come."
    "Mr. Leed, I've done as you've asked. I've heard you out."
    "And you'll take this case?"
    "I'll look into it. See what I can