room. To the right of all that was a large table that sat ten. A lady, who had to be in her late forties or early fifties, was sitting there waiting for us.
"I had a feeling you'd be showing up soon." Her eyes landed on me as she picked up what appeared to be a teacup and took a sip. "I've been dreaming of you and knew it was only a matter of time before you appeared." Her dark amber eyes held mine.
I wasn't quite sure what to say to that. "I'm sorry if I caught you at a bad time."
"No, dear." She placed her cup back on the table and pointed at the open chair beside her. "Please sit. All of you." Her eyes glanced back to Kassie, Tommy, and James.
"I'll leave." The witch who'd been with us the entire time headed to the door.
"No, Star." Agnes arched her dirty blonde eyebrow and pointed to the other open seat beside her. "You'll be part of this discussion as you'll be expected to know how to handle these types of things when I die." She leaned back in her seat, causing some of her long blonde hair to fall over her slender shoulders. Her eyes moved back to me. "How can I help you?"
Since she sounded blunt and to the point, I figured it'd only be wise for me to return the favor. "I need to see if you can help me figure out something." I reached into my pocket and pulled out the red and black marble with the double infinity symbol inside it. "I went to Rose, but I couldn't find her." I wasn't going to accuse one of her coven members yet. "So I was hoping you'd be willing to help."
"Rose?" There was a darkness in her words. "She's been helping you?"
There it was, all the confirmation I needed. Rose was someone I should've never trusted, but now, I had to figure out what her motives truly were.
Chapter Seventeen
"Well, I'm not quite sure it was actually helping," Kassie muttered as she crossed her arms across her chest.
"Oh, I'm quite sure she hasn't been either." Star shook her head and wrinkled her nose. "Of course, she'd be involved in this somehow."
I wasn't expecting this reaction. I expected to either run into Rose right away or at least have these people not thrilled with us being here. I moved to sit in the seat Agnes had pointed to.
Neither was I. Mason sat in the open seat beside me. We don't want her to feel threatened.
That was a good point. I sat in the hard wooden chair and locked eyes with Kassie. My eyes darted over to the chair.
She huffed and took the seat next to Mason while James and Tommy followed suit. Tommy allowed James to sit in between him and Kassie, probably ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.
"Enough." Agnes narrowed her eyes at Star, a warning clear on her face. "So that's all you want? For us to look at it and see if we can glean anything from it?"
"Yes, please." I was hoping they could figure out something. I was almost sure it was mixed with a witch's black magic.
The witch took a breath and picked up the marble with her pointer finger and thumb. As soon as she picked it up, she dropped it once again. "Oh, goddess." Her eyes were widened, and her face crumbled.
"What is it?" Star jumped to her feet and glared at me. "Did you hurt her somehow?"
"What? No." I didn't know what had happened, but Agnes’s features took on a look of pure agony.
"No, it's fine." Agnes took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. "It's just… I never realized this would happen."
"What do you mean?" Mason shifted in his seat so his whole side was plastered to mine. If she makes any sudden moves, we run out of this house. Got it?
"It's her, isn't it?" Star sat back down with her nose wrinkled and her lip raised above her teeth.
"What the hell is going on here?" Kassie stood, and her breathing was ragged.
"You aren't in danger." Agnes waved her off and turned her eyes to me. "But you are."
"That's why we're here." Tell me something I don't know already.
"May I touch your hand?" Agnes held a hand out, waiting for me to close the difference.
Be careful. Mason's words were thick with worry.
I slowly placed my hand in hers, not sure what to expect. Her fingers gently