Staring at Gayle, Devin saw it all so clearly. “You,” she said. “You killed Melissa Wilson. Beth wasn’t in on it, then, was she? Then you chickened out for a few years. You didn’t want to get caught. You knew who you were—who Beth was—who your ancestors were, right? Margaret’s sisters-in-law. How stupid are you? Did you really believe in a bunch of old legends about Satan? No devil is going to make you live forever and give you everything. How the hell could a woman of your intelligence fall for the Strega of Satan? Well, it’s over now.”
Gayle smiled at her. “Beth was always my best student,” she said. “Ready to keep on learning as she grew. So, you know, huh? You’re Margaret’s descendant. It’s only right that it ends with you.”
Devin had Beth’s athame and the pepper spray, and she was ready to use both. But to her astonishment, Gayle drew a gun.
“Drop them. Drop the athame and the pepper spray. Buy yourself a few more seconds of life,” Gayle said.
“Gee, a bullet, or my throat slit,” Devin said.
But before she had to make a decision, she saw someone in the woods.
“Drop the weapons and let me do this right,” Gayle said.
“It’s Melissa Wilson,” Devin said. “She’s come to get you.”
“Seriously? Oh, come on, Devin. So what if a ghost is here? I’m protected by a stronger power!”
“Well, I’m not saying that a ghost is going to get you, Gayle. But someone is,” Devin said.
Because Rocky was right behind Melissa Wilson, who had led him straight to her.
Gayle spun around, ready to fire, just as another scream rent through the night—a different scream.
Poe.
Poe soared through the night and dive-bombed Gayle’s head. She fired, but her bullet went astray.
Another gunshot.
And Gayle screamed as Rocky’s bullet caught her gun hand. She dropped her weapon and fell to the ground, sobbing and screaming and cursing them all.
Rocky rushed to Devin. She dropped the athame and the pepper spray, and fell into his arms.
“You didn’t kill her,” she whispered.
“I should have. But she wanted to die, I think. Maybe find the ‘master’ she was serving. I think a lifetime in prison is going to be a different hell for her. She needs to live, and so does Beth. They need to find hell, all right—hell right here on earth.”
Jack, blood dripping from his forehead, came staggering toward them.
He looked at the fallen women, then back to Rocky and Devin.
“I don’t believe it,” he said. Then his eyes widened.
As if, Devin thought, he’d seen a ghost, just like the expression said. She watched as he shook his head, as if to banish what he thought he’d seen.
Devin turned. Melissa Wilson smiled at them, then turned and walked away. As she neared the huge gnarled oak, she met up with the ghost of Margaret Nottingham.
Together, they disappeared.
“Rocky,” Jack gasped. “Rocky, I just saw... Oh, man, that bitch really did crack my skull.”
*
“We weren’t figuring on two killers—and we sure as hell weren’t figuring on women,” Rocky said.
Three hours had passed since Gayle and Beth had been taken away in cuffs, and now they were gathered in Devin’s cottage—Rocky and Devin, the Krewe members, Brent, Jack and Haley—who’d driven Jack back from the hospital, where he’d had his head stitched up—Vince, Renee and, of course, Auntie Mina, who sat on the sofa next to Devin, an arm around her. She touched Devin’s hair every now and then, a true doting great-aunt. Devin could have sworn she felt her touch.
“I still can’t believe it,” Devin said. “We should have seen it. Remember back when we were in school and Gayle—Mrs. Alden to us back then—was always telling us how important out pasts were, especially if our family trees went back to a key moment in history, like the witch trials. She must have researched all our family histories. And religion—she used to talk about all religions and how closely religion and history were connected. She must have found out what went on and read so much about Satan that she convinced herself there really was a devil who would reward her. And she was still Mrs. Alden in this town. She must have started going crazy—I mean really crazy, diagnosable—somewhere in there, but people looked up to her. No one would have thought to question her even if she seemed...off sometimes.”
“And the hotel security system wouldn’t have been a problem for her. She ran the computer lab at school. She was always a whiz at tech stuff,” Brent continued.
“What I’d like to know,” Jack said, “is how the hell Gayle got Beth under her spell. So to speak.”
“We know for sure Beth wasn’t involved in Melissa’s murder,” Devin said. “Which...I guess that’s something.” Tears filled her eyes. “She was my best friend. Maybe if I hadn’t moved away, she wouldn’t have—”
Rocky stepped in then. “Devin, it’s not your fault in any way.”