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CHAPTER31

“What wereyou doing out in the Everwoods on the night of October tenth?” Officer Howahkan asks, staring at me across the white table, his long dark hair pulled back in a braid.

The interrogation room is small, plain—it looks like every other bland, ominous interrogation room I’ve seen on TV. The only difference is that the walls of this one are lined with spells. They shimmer and jiggle a little when I focus on them.

I’ve only been in the Politia’s interrogation room for five minutes, but I already feel the magic on those four walls closing in on me.

“I can’t remember,” I say.

I reach a hand down and stroke my familiar. Nero bumps my hand, giving me the courage I so desperately need.

I still haven’t reported what happened last night, and now I’m not sure whether I should. Except for Kasey, I don’t know the names of the witches who attacked me.

Officer Howahkan sighs. “In your earlier testimony, you said the following: ‘He tracked blood into my room. When I realized it wasn’t his, I decided to follow the trail back to its source.’ Do you deny that now?” The officer glances up from his notes, his eyes piercing.

“No, I’m sure I knew what I was talking about at the time.”

The officer gives me a foul look, like I’m giving him an attitude. “Yet you can no longer tell me anything about the incident.”

“I can’t remember anything about it,” I clarify. “I’m not trying to withhold memories from you on purpose.”

Officer Howahkan holds my gaze. Despite the enchantments in the room that compel me to speak the truth, I get the distinct impression he doesn’t believe me.

His eyes drop to Nero. “That’s your familiar?”

Nero stares up at the officer, looking wholly unamused with this situation.

“Yeah, he is,” I say.

“He’s a panther?”

“Yes…”Don’t know where this is going.

“I imagine your panther hunts in those woods.”

My brows come together. “Are you accusing my familiar of killing Charlotte?” The thought is horrifying.

I put a hand on said panther.

“No,” the officer says emphatically. “A human killed the witch, not an animal. But still, I’m curious about the order of events you describe in your original testimony.”

“The order of events?” I echo.

“You say you saw blood and followed your familiar back to a body. One could rearrange that timeline to suggest you came from the body to your room, then discovered your familiar dragged evidence back to your doorstep, so you returned and reported the incident to make yourself look innocent.”

I can’t seem to take a full breath of air, and I feel myself paling.

“Are you suggestingIkilled this woman?” I whisper, horrified.

I thought this was just some routine questioning.

Officer Howahkan shakes his head. “As a homicide investigator, I have to cast doubt on every single person and look at the evidence from all angles. Unfortunately, your memory loss doesn’t help clear you.”

“I didn’t choose to erase these memories,” I say hotly. “I don’t get that luxury, something you’d know if you pulled any of my files from Peel Academy or from Henbane Coven.

“You want my alibi?” I fish my planner out of my bag. “Here, you can look at this.” I plop the thing on the table.

Officer Howahkan slides it over to his side, and after a moment, he thumbs through it.