Turned out there were already rumors, but nothing solid. The Silver Thorn had a reputation for being even more secretive than was average for wiccan covens, and there were rumors not just of sexual assault but of demon worship.

Of course, not all witches cared about devil worship. Some of them seemed perfect fine with it. And having met demons, I even thought some of them might be okay.

I wasn’t one to judge, I supposed, although I hadn’t exactly wanted to go rule a corner of Hell myself. But those were the rumors. That and a confirmation of what Bruce had said about their high priestess. She was young and didn’t seem to have actually been ordained anywhere.

Not all wiccans seemed to care about that, either. Maybe it was pretty standard for them. Maybe there just weren’t enough seminaries to fill the need.

Either way, it was the sexual assault rumors I was interested in. I wanted to find an ex member who could back up the ghost’s story.

One who might be willing, if not to press charges against them, at least to do some exposure. If they couldn’t get new members…

“If they can’t get new members…”

Kanesha shook her head. “They’ll change all the names and start over. I mean, none of these people are using their real names.”

“True. But I’m not about to go with the ghost’s solution either. I don’t think what they did…” I tailed off. Maybe I should think it did.

“I want to embarrass and humiliate them. I want the world to know what they did. I don’t want them dead,” I said, finally.

Kanesha nodded. “But there might not be another way to stop them.”

I shuddered, hearing those words from her. I wasn’t sure I had a soul to worry about; I knew she did. “I’ll find one.”

And if not, I’d let the ghost have them, I supposed. It wasn’t like they were good people. And it wasn’t like they weren’t heading for some kind of trouble.

There would be more trouble. I could kind of smell that, or at least feel it. Sense it.

I really hoped Bruce had warned Clara properly. “I need to take a walk.”

“I’m tempted to ask to come, but…”

“Eh. I’m not going looking for trouble.”
Which was probably the most stupid thing I could possibly have said right before leaving the house at night.