“That was wise of you.” Eldric considered for a moment and Lia waited with bated breath. “And yes, I guess I owe you two an explanation.”

“But,” he studied the two ladies in front of him. “I need your cooperation and there’s something I want to ask.”

Tamara and Lia exchanged looks. Lia thought she already knew what he was going to ask.

“Very well,” Tamara said.

“Please don’t tell to anyone that I’m alive. Not yet. Besides if people know that I’m still breathing, they might also come after you. And I hate that I can’t do anything to protect you at the moment.”

He looked at both Tamara and Lia directly in the eyes, driving his point. The two women nodded. They were used in a life of secrecy.

“And your question?” Lia tried to hide the edge on her voice. She wanted her to be wrong.

Eldric swallowed and stared at Tamara. “Are you the witch?”

Lia pushed herself off the wall and stood beside her mother. “We are.”

She would not let her mother shoulder all of this alone. She would be the witch if needed.

Tamara and Eldric glanced at her, shocked. But her mother recovered right away, held her hand, and stared at her with misty eyes. “We are.” She repeated.

A look of confusion flashed through Eldric’s face before he schooled his features again. He shifted into a more comfortable position.

“I’m not going to judge you nor call you names. I came here because there was a report that linked the witch to something I was investigating.” He paused, studying their reaction.

When they did not answer, he continued. “I don’t know if you’ve heard of the happenings in town about people getting drunk then getting sick and then miraculously cured by the same alcoholic drink that started it all. The result is, they’d commit actions thinking that they are dreaming. When the moment passes, these people will be sick again. And it’s not just the usual hangover, mind you. Really sick, most commonly high fever.”

“What kind of things do these people do?” Tamara asked.

“A variety of things. There are reports that range from stealing to killings and other…debauchery.” Eldric set his jaw.

Tamara glanced at Lia, her eyes searching. Which made sense because Lia had been going in and out of the town in the past week. She did not hear any of it, though. But there was a faint memory that tugged at her mind.

She went to Yolly’s shop and waited for her order when she heard Yolly talking to her son.

“Don’t drink just about anything! Especially gin! You know what happens to people who drink! If you do something, I’ll be the one to turn you to the mayor!” she snarled.

Frankie just laughed it off and assured his mother that he would be careful. Lia thought nothing of that at the moment, thinking it was just something a usual reminder of a mother to her child.

“Yolly told Frankie that he should avoid gin,” she thought out loud.

That might have been true since Eldric nodded. “Most of the victims drank gin before it happened.”

“So, what, you thought the witch spiked their drinks?” Lia asked coldly. “Are we under your interrogation and surveillance now?”

Eldric winced at her words. Lia chewed her lip, his reaction was a dead giveaway. That was why he was in the woods. He was meant to capture them and judge them like what the townsfolk did.