Witch Hearts by Liz Long Read Free Book Online

know?” Ruby asked.  
    “Don’t know what?” Rebecca asked sharply. “What do you know?”
    Cooper spoke up for her instead. “The bastard cut out my sister’s heart.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

    Gasps of horror spread through the circle. Lacy’s curls shook as she trembled and for a moment, Ruby thought the petite girl would burst into tears. The rest of the group remained stunned. Even Rebecca had the decency to look appalled. Witches, for the most part, were a quiet group who preferred to stick with nature and their covens. A few bad apples were always there, but that type of violence didn’t often happen.  
    Denise broke the silence, waved her hand as if she weren’t terrified. “I thought that was a rumor, something the media had stirred up to try and get photos released. The police denied it when reporters questioned them.”  
    “They’re trying to keep it under wraps - either because it’s that awful or maybe they don’t want to release his MO. He didn’t just take Courtney’s,” Ruby butted in. “She was the third victim, the third witch, with her heart stolen. Michael, I understand why you wouldn’t want anyone to panic, but they need to know the truth so they can protect themselves. I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you everyone, but we’re all in danger.”
    Ruby knew Michael was trying to compose himself before he spoke. He met her eyes and she saw remorse. He’d made a mistake to keep it from them. Ruby was surprised, hadn’t expected to still communicate with a glance. Rebecca bristled at the interaction.
    “How do you know all of this?” she asked Ruby in a snide tone. Ruby saw several of the others exchange looks at her outburst. Michael put a hand on her knee and Ruby saw him grip it tightly for a brief second, as though telling her to stay quiet. Rebecca’s full lips went back into their hard, straight line.  
    “Michael came to me the day Courtney was murdered. He wanted to make sure I didn’t hear it from someone else.” Ruby shrugged and kept her voice matter-of-fact. Deep down, she felt a brief streak of perverse pleasure at making this awful woman squirm.  
    Rebecca glared at her, shot a sideways look at Michael, who remained calm. He looked around at his coven, who gestured and whispered urgently among themselves.  
    “My friends, I’m sorry I didn’t inform you sooner. I worried it would ensue panic. I don’t blame you for being angry but now we must band together and be extremely vigilant,” Michael said.  
    A man by the name of Andrew spoke up, tried to copy Denise and overcome his fear with skepticism. “Do we know for sure he’s taking witches? I mean, how do we know he’s not some psychopathic freak?”
    Michael hesitated, a sign Ruby knew to hide much more. Michael grimaced at the bite in her question as she asked, “What is it?”
    “There is something else that recently came to light,” he said. “My source in the department didn’t know because they’re keeping it quiet, but the way this man took their hearts…he left a symbol on them.”
    “He’s using dark magic?” Cooper asked, his green eyes flashing.
    Michael nodded. “I believe so - he’s using a tool, a particular symbol on them, which leads me to believe it’s for his own rituals.”
    “What’s the symbol?” Ruby asked.
    Without a word, Michael got up and retrieved something from his binder on a nearby table. Coming back to the circle, he handed her a piece of paper with a penciled sketch of the symbol. She took a long look while everyone held their breath, waited to see if she knew it. They sighed in disappointment as she shook her head and held it out to the group.
    “Anyone know this symbol or what ritual calls for it?”
    Not one person replied, not even Michael or Rebecca. Cooper gave the paper a hard look, sighed in frustration when nothing came to him. Ruby took out her phone and photographed the image before handing it back to Michael.  
    “Can you get a photo of the