Suddenly, Kristy released Andrea’s shoulders and got to her feet. Without saying a word, she stormed out of the room and returned a moment later with an armful of towels and sheets. Dumping everything on the floor, she then grabbed a navy blue sheet and threw it over the body.
With the body out of sight, Kristy finally turned and looked at Andrea. “You need to take a shower.”
Andrea blinked up at her sister in shock. A shower? Was that all Kristy could think of right now? Andrea wasn’t thinking of showers. She was searching every inch of her brain, wondering how she had ended up killing a man and all her sister could say was she needed a shower.
She knew Kristy was practical and goal-oriented. Hell, sometimes she was the only one who made sure Andrea held on to a calm reality, but this was too much. They had a dead man’s body in the middle of their living room. Calm was a far reality. She needed answers. “Kristy, what happened?” she asked.
Choosing to blatantly ignore the question, her elder sister grabbed a towel and began mopping up the blood. The unease in Andrea’s chest intensified. “Kristy, I know I did this, but what happened?”
Finally, Kristy looked up. Her eyes narrowed as a deep furrow dug into her forehead. “Don’t you dare blame yourself for this mess! Can’t you recognize him? Can’t you tell what he is?”
What he is? Andrea frowned and looked back at the covered body whose blood now soaked the sheet that covered it, darkening it. Andrea forced herself to take slower, deeper breaths and focused her attention on the elements in the room and what she had seen of the man.
It took a minute, but then a gasp escaped her lips the moment it hit her. “Wolf,” Andrea whispered.
Kristy nodded in confirmation. “He was at the bar last night.” She paused and gave Andrea a meaningful look. “He wasn’t alone.”
Memories flooded back, causing a shudder to run down her spine. Andrea could remember the man now. He had been at the bar where they had gone to grab a few drinks at the end of a long day.
The man had been loud and drunk. Not an easy achievement for a wolf shifter with their fast metabolism, but he had been wasted. And very much not alone. Andrea frowned as she tried to pry more information from her brain. There were at least eight guys in total if she remembered correctly.
“His friends…”
“Will come looking for him,” Kristy finished her sentence. “We can’t be here when they do.”
Andrea looked around the little house they had called home for the last two years. It was the first place they had actually lived in for so long. It hurt to think they had to leave it all behind again so suddenly.
Andrea swallowed around the lump that was forming in her throat. She had done this; she was the reason they had to leave their home again. Her eyes landed on Kristy, who was frantically cleaning the blood off the floor. But it was already clear no amount of cleaning would erase the evidence. Running was the only option once again. Andrea didn’t want to put her sister through this. Not again.
Kristy hadn’t been thrown out of the coven when Andrea was, but like a dutiful sister, she had left and stayed by Andrea’s side throughout the years without complaint. Not even when they had to leave town in the middle of the night to avoid trouble from other witches and supernatural beings. Which happened too often for comfort. All because they were vulnerable on their own without a coven or family for safety.
Kristy had already sacrificed so much for her. She wasn’t going to let her sister give up more of herself because of her mistakes. “We don’t have to run. I will take the blame. I did this.”
Instantly fuming, Kristy threw the soaked, stained towel down and bellowed, “You did nothing! And you are not taking any blame for anything. We are going to clean this up. Then we will dump his body somewhere far from here. Where it can’t be traced back to us. And then…” She took a deep breath, trying to rein in her anger. It didn’t work. She was shaking. “And then we are hitting the road and vanishing. That’s the plan. And we are sticking to it.”
“Kristy…”
“Listen to me, Andrea! I said that’s the plan. End of the story. I will not watch you get killed by some dogs for nothing. If you are going to be difficult, I will knock you out and do everything myself.”
The look of determination on her sister’s face told her Kristy wasn’t joking. Any further debate and Andrea would be taking another nap while Kristy cleaned her mess.
Andrea looked down at the blood that stained most of her clothes and their living room floor. She wished she could remember exactly what had happened. But then again, maybe it was best she didn’t.
Gingerly, she got to her feet. Kristy watched her with narrowed eyes, as though still trying to determine whether Andrea was going to go along with the plan or she would require a spell to put her to sleep.
Andrea knew Kristy was only trying to protect her. That was all she had ever done since they were young. And it was obvious her sister wasn’t going to change that role anytime soon.
Sighing, Andrea nodded in resignation. “What do you need me to do?”
For a split second, Kristy looked visibly relieved she wouldn’t have to knock her out. Andrea was equally glad. A magic-induced sleep wasn’t exactly pleasant.
Kristy waved a hand toward the door. “Take a shower. Wash all that away. I will clean up here and burn the evidence. You can also pack some of our clothes. We have to move fast.”
It was on the tip of Andrea’s tongue to argue that she should help with the cleaning, too. But the whole sight just made her stomach churn sickeningly. So, Andrea left the room and went to do as her sister instructed.
Ten minutes later, she was in the bathroom. She took a quick hot shower, scrubbing her skin raw to wash away all the horror. When she was done and dressed in clean clothes, Andrea threw some of their clothes in two backpacks.
They had always kept their possessions to the bare minimum because of situations just like this. So there was little to pack. Thank god. Within moments, she was done and gave the room one last look before turning away and heading back to the living room.
It was almost amazing what Kristy had accomplished in such a short time, Andrea thought when she entered the living room. The room looked to be almost in order again and empty of the body and all the blood. There was a faint smell of smoke in the air coming in from outside, so Andrea knew the evidence was being burned to ashes out back.
“Where is he?” Andrea asked Kristy when she walked back in seconds later.
Kristy gave the room a last glance, inspecting it for anything she may have missed before she looked at Andrea. “In the car. We will dump him somewhere.” She then turned back to the room and walked over to the table where several items waited.
Andrea could see a pile of rock salt, some herbs, and what appeared to be ash in a small bottle. She watched silently as Kristy mixed the ingredients into a small black bowl, added water, and then muttered ancient words of a spell.
After a beat, the pulse of magic could be felt flowing through the room the longer her sister whispered under her breath. Several minutes later, Kristy stopped murmuring and started walking toward the door.
“That will keep anyone who comes looking very busy for a while,” she said, passing Andrea on the way out.
Andrea fell into step next to her. “What did you do?”
“Nothing special. Just hide our scents and I made everything look normal.”
Andrea nodded, as though she had an idea how to do any of that. She was lucky if she managed to move a glass of water without shuttering it into a million pieces.
With Kristy leading the way, they got into their beat-up old Subaru. It was a nineteen ninety-eight model with a fading blue coat of paint, nothing special. Andrea got into the car and sighed sadly. She knew even without Kristy saying it. Just like the house, they would also get rid of the car. They would get rid of their clothes if it helped keep them alive.
She tried not to cry as Kristy pulled out of the driveway and took them away from the only peace she had known in a long time. It was all her fault. Kristy was not blaming her, but Andrea knew she had done this to them. Again.