Chapter Forty Eight
Again, Ophelia wondered how life kept going after so much upheaval.
But it did. She went home, went back to work, and resumed her daily life.
Except this time, she didn’t feel lost. She had a sense of closure knowing that Jack killed Mawmaw.
A small sense, though. There still wasn’t a suspect identified for the other victims, and Jack wasn’t talking.
Etienne was there to support her, too. He was her person now, and they looked after each other.
A couple of weeks following Jack’s arrest, Ophelia was being treated at Prytania Botanica when the door chimed signaling a new customer.
Ophelia poked her head out of her shared treating and ritual office and saw Mrs. Beulah walking to the front desk.
Ophelia stepped out of the office, meeting Avery at the register.
“Mrs. Beulah,” boomed Avery’s voice. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”
Mrs. Beulah smiled. “I’m actually here to see this one,” she said, pointing a bony finger at Ophelia.
“Oh? Do you need to be treated?”
“The arthritis in my knee hurts like hell, Ophie.”
Ophelia gave her a sympathetic face and waved her into the office. Ophelia offered Mrs. Beulah a seat next to hers, and before Ophelia had a chance to fully sit down, Mrs. Beulah grabbed Ophelia’s hand in a death grip.
“Ophie, I don’t need you to treat my knee. I had a vision. Normally, I’d tell Avery, but it’s about the Cutthroat Killers.” Ophelia noticed how she said the plural noun. “I don’t want him to get all worked up again.”
Ophelia nodded, her curiosity piqued. “What did you see?”
“Something is happening, Ophie. Tides are turnin’. We were all being ousted for being magical— losing our jobs, loved ones, and being exiled from our communities.”
“How was it happening?”
“A movement. A shift in our society’s values. It’s coming, my girl. The murders were one thing, but this...this is bigger.”
Ophelia nodded but felt light-headed. She didn’t know what this meant or how to react to it. She took a centering breath and reminded herself that she could withstand anything—beauty and terror.
THE END