Page 23 of They Were Broom-Mates

“Delia’s sister.”

Hestia turned to stare at the raven-haired woman just as Delia lifted her head and spoke. “You know about Roz? How do you know about Roz? I’ve never…”

Then mid-sentence, Delia stopped and rolled her eyes before dropping her head back down. “Right, Seer. I forgot.”

“Is that really what’s important right now?” Amelie interjected just as she saw Hestia gassing up to start freaking out again. “The important thing is that we need to figure out a plan that we can enact, the four of us.”

Amelie walked over to where Delia was crouched and extended her hand. “Come on. Let’s go sit at the table.”

She almost wasn’t sure that the woman had heard her the first time, but after a couple of seconds, Delia, without lifting her head, reached up and took Amelie’s hand.

“Alright.” Amelie tugged gently, helping the death witch to her feet. Glancing to the side, Regina had wrapped an arm around Hestia’s waist and was leading her over as well. Throwing a grateful look toward the dark-haired woman, Amelie helped Delia into her chair before sitting down herself.

Once everyone was seated, Amelie folded her hands on the table in front of her. “Okay. I think the best course of action is for everyone to take a sip of their tea and then let Delia explain what she thinks is going on.”

Regina raised her brows but reached out for the cup, wrapping her fingers around it and laughing softly in surprise.

“It’s still hot.”

Amelie smiled as the other two witches tentatively reached out and took their own cups in their hands as well. Regina’s gaze was entrancing and comforting all at once; Amelie wanted to stare into her blank eyes forever… but for now, they had work to do.

“Kitchen Witch. Remember?” Amelie grinned. “Now, Delia? If you would.” Amelie picked up her own cup, took a sip, and gestured to the death witch.

Delia took a drink of her tea and then began with a nod.

“My best guess as to why the zombies are being created is because they’re feeding off the magic in Roz’s blood, which I guess spilled when she was on the property a couple of days ago. But resurrection… true resurrection magic requires a lot more than just the spilling of blood. It requires spellwork, ceremony, and a whole hell of a lot of intention; part of it has to do with physically calling the being’s spirit back from the other side.

Roz didn’t do that when she spilled her blood on the grounds, so there aren’t any souls to inhabit the bodies that are being reanimated, leaving us with empty, blood-thirsty vessels.”

“Okay.” Hestia nodded. “That makes sense. But why can’t you just send them back into the ground?”

Delia pursed her lips and sighed. “I’ve never dealt with anything undead before. I used to use my powers to take the life force of beings that were close to death and suffering, or even speed up the rotting process of other organic materials, but with these creatures… there’s nothing for me to grab onto.”

Looking down at her hands, Delia’s jaw tightened. “I looked into that creature’s being when it came at us in the crypt, and all I could feel was cold. It was as cold as me… there was nothing to take.”

“And there are more coming,” Regina concluded, placing her cup back on the table.

“Delia and I saw some awakening when we were investigating the cause.” Amelie piped up.

“Oh, great,” Hestia murmured, slumping back in her chair slightly.

“Do you have a tome on blood magic that you could reference?” Regina suggested, tilting her head slightly to the side.

“No.” Delia shook her head. “The only reason I know what I do is because I read some pieces of a book that my Great Aunt had hidden under her bed when I was younger. Honestly, I may have read the whole thing, but I can’t remember all of it… it was so long ago.”

“How about another book? Something about putting spirits to rest or binding them back to the earth?” Amelie suggested, leaning forward slightly.

Delia considered her words for a moment. “It’s… possible… but I would need to check my library, and that could take a while.”

“Okay.” Amelie set her teacup down. “Here’s what we are going to do. It seems that the reanimation isn’t happening very quickly, so I will make us all some dinner while Delia searches for solutions in her books. In the meantime, Regina, try to reach out to the Council to see if that communication bypasses the barrier.”

“What do I do?” The three turned their attention back to Hestia as she interjected.

Amelie sighed and smiled at the Illusion Witch. “You can help me prepare dinner.”

Chapter nine

Delia hurried off to her wing of the cathedral in search of her tomes, and shortly after, Regina set off to try and contact the Council. Amelie had already stood and was beginning to clear away the dishes from the table when she noticed Hestia still sitting in her spot, staring out the window.