as he scooted back. “I don't know of another way to get them out of this glamour.”
“No, this is fine,” I said and stood. “But if anyone,” I glanced at my new friend, “sorry, Olivia, not even you. If anyone gets to slap Sam, it’s me.” I shooed Wally out of the way. “You go slap the sheriff.”
Olivia’s face broke into a huge grin and she burst out laughing. “Hang on, one sec.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket. “Okay, do it.”
I let the magic pool in my hand again and looked at Sam. “Sammy?”
He glanced at me and once I was this close to him, I could tell his eyes weren’t right. “Yes?”
“Remember in middle school? When we were doing the talent show?”
He smiled. “Yeah, we had a lot of fun.”
“You remember how you got scared and left me up on the stage all alone and I had to sing the duet myself? Both parts?”
His bland smile didn’t change. He just kept nodding. “Yeah.”
“This is for that.” I hauled back and slapped him as hard as I could.
Wallie smacked the sheriff at the same. Their heads jerked and Sam stood, grabbing my wrist. We locked gazes and I could see that his eyes were clearing. The glamour, vanishing. After a few moments he drew his brows together and frowned. “Did you just slap me?”
I smiled and relaxed while moving my hands so our palms pressed together. “Do you feel better?”
“Better from what?” Sam stepped back from me and lowered into his seat.
“What the hell is going on?” Drew asked.
Taking my seat again, I gave him a half-hearted smile. “Ah, now that you’re yourselves again, we can try this again.” I turned toward the food and began building my burger. “Drew, we know you’re descended from a family of hunters and that Carmen is your cousin.”
Drew’s jaw dropped. “Holy shit. I didn’t even recognize her.”
After several seconds, he confessed that his family were witch hunters, but he was not. He didn’t have anything to do with that life. “I hated that life and could never see why my family hated witches so. As far as I know witches had never threatened us or harmed us. So, I didn’t see the justice in hunting them down like animals. That’s not who I am.”
While Drew spoke, I did a simple truth spell. I didn’t care if it made me out as mistrusting. I didn’t know Drew or his intentions.
But he was telling the truth. He didn’t hunt witches. But could he hunt down a family member that was a hunter?
“Okay, well, we need to find out about Carmen,” I said. “Drew, can you get any information on her?”
I thought of his words about not liking the family business. If I hadn’t done the truth spell, I’d call bullshit. But he was truthful. He didn’t want to be a hunter. That didn’t mean he didn’t use the magic that flowed through his veins.
“Yeah, sure, let me just call my mom.” He left the dinner table and pulled his phone out of his pocket.
I met Olivia’s gaze as we ate quickly and quietly, all of us straining to hear what he said, but he spoke too softly. Darn it.
Several minutes later, he returned, taking his seat across from me. “So, I had no idea Carmen was in town or hunting, first of all. It’s not like I keep up with distant relatives. Most of them think of me as an outcast.”
He shook his head and finished his burger before continuing. “Hunters can see witch marks, and I saw William’s. So yes, I knew he was a necromancer. I figured his killer was a hunter, but I didn’t know for sure or even who. As far as I knew I was the only hunter in the area.”
“But you’re not a hunter,” I pointed out with a raised brow and a flat tone.
He pressed his lips into a thin line and worked his jaw. “Exactly. So, it wasn’t me.”
I sniffed. “Me neither.”
After a few minutes of staring at each other, he said, “I’m sorry for not coming clean about that sooner. It might’ve gotten us answers before now.”
“Yeah, and maybe Betty would be alive,” I said darkly.
He shook his head. “No. The coroner says Betty died a couple days before William but was probably in some sort of cold storage for a while before the body was dumped.”
I shuddered at the thought of sweet Betty stuffed into a deep freezer. “Poor Betty,” I whispered. “Maybe she