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Gabe and Travis approached the little gold car, and the guy inside immediately stepped out. His face was drawn, and he gave both Gabe and Travis a handshake as I watched. I looked at Liam. “Do you recognize him?”

“Yes. He’s a local witch. He and his girlfriend, also a witch, live out toward Boston way. His name’s Murphy, and he has a girlfriend named Anna.”

“I wonder what they want. He seems to have been waiting for you guys to show up.” I inched forward, practically hanging over the front seat trying to get a better read on the guy but was coming up empty.

“Looks it,” Liam said. Though he carried on a conversation with me, his voice was a monotone, as if his heart wasn’t in anything he said.

When I peeked back out the windshield, Travis and Gabe were on their way back to us. Travis got in the car first as Gabe ran around the other side to scoot in beside me. Liam and I looked at them, waiting for them to explain.

“That was Murph—”

“Murphy,” I finished for Travis. “And he has a girlfriend named Anna and they live out toward Boston. What’s going on?”

“Anna’s pretty sick,” Gabe said, filling us in.

That would be the reason for Murphy’s pallor, but not for anything else. “Okay…”

Travis gripped the steering wheel. In front of us, the little sedan’s tail lights flicked on as he moved the car from Park to Drive. Travis did the same and pulled out behind him. “He thinks it has something to do with bad magic.”

“We told him we didn’t get the pull,” Gabe supplied, shrugging. “We didn’t tell him our magic has been off. Anyway, he’s still pretty insistent that Anna somehow is the victim of some bad shit.”

“So, what are we doing now?”

“We’re on our way out there,” Travis answered, following Murphy’s car as he took the next right up ahead. “Someone text Randy what we’re up to. He won’t be able to come, but he’ll want to know what’s going on.”

I looked at Liam, but he made no move for his phone whatsoever. Pulling my own out, I sent him a quick text about what we were facing today, and then told him I would text back when I knew more.

The drive didn’t take as long as I thought it would. I was too busy thinking things through in my own head. Liam had a familiar. Randy and I had contacted some questionable witches yesterday, and now we’d found out that a witch they knew might be sick due to some negative magic.

We pulled down a suburban street and sensing that we were close, Travis caught my eye in the rearview mirror. “You can come in with us, but we’ll just introduce you as a witch friend. I think it’s still best we don’t say anything about you being the fifth.”

I agreed completely. The less everyone else knew, the better.

The gold sedan pulled into a driveway and Travis pulled up to the curb outside the house. It was a one-story golden yellow ranch. Murphy immediately got out of the car and then waited for us to pile out as well. Travis and Gabe went up ahead while Liam and I lingered behind. It was odd not to have him say anything or introduce any new facts about the case. He was just so quiet. Too quiet.

Travis introduced me like he said he would, and then we all made our way into the house. The house was outdated, but cute. Small rooms lent itself to a chopped-up feeling, but it was also homey and pleasant.

Murphy jiggled his car keys as he led us into the living room. A blue shag carpet at our feet, I only barely noticed the woman who slept on the couch. Murphy knelt next to her and rubbed her shoulder. “Anna, Honey. Do you remember Travis, Gabe, and Liam? They’ve come here to visit.” She blinked, the hollows under her eyes became more pronounced. Murphy helped sit her up. It didn’t help her appearance that her hair was stringy as if she hadn’t washed it in days. She had a small smile, but it didn’t reach her ears.

Travis and Gabe glanced at one another. They seemed to have acknowledged something in their minds to one another, but I wasn’t privy to it. Unfortunately. However, I didn’t have to be a mind reader because we had Liam, and Liam said whatever was on his mind now. “Anna, you’ve lost some weight.”

She looked up at Liam, her lips chapped. She did look frail, but I wasn’t sure if that was a normal look for her. Some girls had that skin stretched over bone look. “I just don’t have an appetite,” she said, her voice crackly.

Travis shot Liam a warning look, but Murphy didn’t notice. He was staring at Anna with such affection. It didn’t go unnoticed by me and made my heart wrench. It was how I looked when staring at Liam now.

“I keep telling her she has to eat,” Murphy said, smiling for Anna’s sake, but I could tell he didn’t feel it.

She looked at him and her face did show a little sign of life as color rushed to her cheeks.

“When did you get sick?” Travis asked.

“About five days ago,” she said, coughing into her fist. “It just came over me all of a sudden. Murphy is freaking out, of course. That’s why you’re here, I’m guessing. I keep telling him that nothing is going on though. I haven’t done anything.”

Gabe moved forward. “Something is clearly going on though, I’m not sure it’s magic related. Have you seen a doctor? You should probably get to one.”

Murphy shook his head. “It’s not that. You’re not telling them everything, Anna. Tell them everything that happened. Tell them about the magic.”

Her head twisted toward him and her mouth dropped. “Why would you say that?”