Just as Ivy and Marina settled into the couches in Ivy's apartment, Ella and Aura waltzed through the door with barely a knock. Ella came bearing two white paper bags while Aura held a wine bottle in each hand. Ivy narrowed her eyes at Ella's hands.

"What did you bring us?" Leaning forward, Ivy tapped her fingers together like a classic villain in a movie to inspect as Ella placed them on the coffee table.

"Pastries from the Tulip." Ella grinned knowing she'd have approval from the group.

"Was Lachlan behind the counter?" Marina perked her head up from the magazine. Ivy looked puzzled at the question and didn't hide it in her features.

"He's the one that sold them to me," Ella answered as she settled into the couch.

Aura looked up from uncorking the wine, her hair wild around her face. "He's one of the good ones, right?"

"What do you mean, good ones?" Ivy's eyebrows knit together in confusion as she glanced amongst the group.

"You're so behind in the times." Ella chuckled shaking her head. She sat up to accept a glass of red wine from Aura who then offered it to Marina and Ivy. They each accepted gratefully.

"Ella, stop patronizing me," Ivy huffed taking a sip of her wine. The warm liquid went down smoothly without a hint of bitterness. She nodded in approval.

"Oh hush, you know I'm just teasin' you," Ella shot back.

Marina leaned forward to place herself in the middle of the conversation. "Lachlan is a fairy, but a good fairy. I swear."

"How can you be so sure?" Ivy raised an eyebrow. Then it hit her. Fairies can't lie...so neither can their feelings. Marina hesitated to answer as she noticed Ivy had put it together. "That's right. Fairies can't lie."

"No, but they are manipulators of the truth," Aura muttered as if she spoke from experience. She likely did with all the reporting and networking she had done over the years. "They speak just enough to the gray area where they don't lie but don't exactly tell the truth either. Still, Marina trusts him so I'll leave him be."

Shrugging, Marina smiled. Ivy had a feeling that the empath knew she had picked a good one. Plus, it helped that Marina could sense his emotions. Being a fairy, this Lachlan fellow probably kept a tight lid on them. However, Marina was so in tune with her powers (and him from working together so long) that if he had malicious intentions she would know. Ivy had to trust her friend and her judgment.

A brief lull settled over the group as they silently drank their wine. No one wanted to be the one to start yet someone had to. Ivy played with her nails as Marina pulled at the frays on the blanket draped over her. Aura tapped away at her phone, no doubt working on an article for Friday's paper. Ella's eyes jumped from each of them, waiting to see if someone else would step up. Clearing her throat, she straightened up and set her glass on the table.

"So, bad news and really only bad news." Ella fiddled with her fingers. She moved to rub the back of her neck, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "The body that we discovered awhile back is more than likely related to the string of disappearances. The mortal blow might have been fresh, but he had marks around his wrists and ankles that appeared much older. On top of that, there seemed to be almost torture indicators. Random pokes and prods but all done methodically."

Aura started to take notes when Ella placed a hand on her shoulder.

"This is all off the record by the way. Thought it went without saying." Ella stared down her counterpart.

"Never goes without saying." Aura dropped her voice to barely audible level. Ella heard it and sent her a glare that would put her six feet under. "But continue."

"In one of my off the books searches, I might have found someone in the woods." Ella studied her nails like they were the most interesting things in the world. Ivy knew she was about to ask for a favor or propose something risky. "Now, as a cop, I don't have enough for a warrant. Just a bad feeling that makes my witch senses tingle. The body appears to have come out of thin air, but it's consistent with the other bodies we've found."

"How?" Ivy broke Ella's monologue. "Wasn't he a werewolf? Could some of that be from chaining himself up during a full moon?"

"Maybe, but the wounds were so severe." Ella's head shot up, something dark flashing behind her eyes. She took another sip of wine at the unwelcome memory. "The other victims were also from the supernatural community. A couple fairies, another werewolf so two in total, and even a kitsune. We're not sure on vampires as their bodies can be disposed a multitude of ways."

"That's a long list of bodies..." Marina's mouth fell open as she rubbed her forehead. "And there's Cassie. At least we haven't found her body."

"Or that another witch hasn't gone missing," Aura piggybacked off the end of the sentence. "It sounds like a serial killer but the non-human kind."

"That's what I was thinking too at first," Ella shook her head, "but it seems so very specific."

"Aren't serial killers pretty specific?" Ivy asked, voicing what everyone was thinking.

"Some are but not all." Ella ran a hand across her face. "Serial killers in the supernatural community have a deeper reason, like amassing power."

"You think someone is doing this just to gain power?" Marina spoke up, surprising them. She wasn't usually someone that questioned these things. "Seems pretty farfetched."

Everyone hesitated as they tried to gather their thoughts. Ivy really had no clue. It made sense that it could be for power, but Marina had a point. Why would someone need to amass that much? If anything, the witches were slowly growing weaker since the Pentacle still hadn't fully sealed their powers when Cassie went missing.

"Everyone loves power," Ella stated matter-of-factly. "The rogues are always thirsty for more. The hunters wouldn't use magic as it goes against everything they stand for. Anyone could be staging a coup. The status quo isn't that way for everyone."

Taking a sip of her wine, Ivy nestled deeper into the armchair by pulling her feet under her. She nodded along to Ella's little spiel, waiting for the eldest witch to get to the point of it all. A favor would no doubt be asked of the group at the end of this.

"Back to the point of this, though," Ella gestured a rewinding motion, "Like I said, I can't get a warrant, but we could...go...snooping...as...civilians."

Asshe spoke, Ella physically reverted further into her nonexistent turtle shell,shoulders going up and her head back. Ivy suspected that Ella knew this was abad idea. Since Ella was a cop, this wouldn't be warranted even if she acted asa civilian. However, as members of the supernatural community, Ella likelywanted to impress upon them the responsibility to get to the bottom of this.

Pinching her bottom lip, Ivy looked cautiously at Aura and Marina. She didn't know how to respond to that favor. Marina glanced at Aura for guidance already sensing Ivy didn't have an answer. Aura avoided their gazes as the pressure bore down on her. She stared at the coffee table, chewing her lip while trying to sort out her next question.

"When and where?" Aura made sharp eye contact with Ella.

Ella went to answer when the front door jiggled. Keys turned the lock so she had to speak fast. "Meet at the town square or at the flower shop around 10 p.m." The door started to crack. Ella spoke at lightning speed. "We'll leave at 10 p.m. that way if any trouble arises we'll be able to escape back into a bustling Friday night."

Just as she finished, Hunter's smiling face faltered slightly at the sight of his living room overrun with a bunch of 24 and 25 year olds. He quickly recovered, setting his stuff down on the chair next to the door. Kicking off his shoes, he came over to sit on the armrest of Ivy's chair.

"The gang's back together," he said with what could have been construed as fake enthusiasm. Ivy knew it was just his joke falling flat. She pushed herself up with her arms to greet him with a speck on the lips.

"Hey babe."

A soft sigh or possibly even a low groan sounded from Ella's side of the room. Without a word, she downed her glass and hopped up to gather her purse.

"I'm going to go keep working on that case," she said sliding her jacket on. "Hunter, sorry I couldn't stay longer. There're pastries in there from the Tulip. Have at it. See you girls later!"

"Bye!" A chorus of voices let out at different times.

An awkward silence came down, hard.

Aura cleared her throat and got up from her space on the floor. "I better get going too." She slung her purse over her shoulders. "Thanks again for hosting Ivy. Really appreciate it."

"Next time we'll have to actually dive into the pastries." Ivy laughed and waved the air witch off as she disappeared through the front door.

"At least someone stuck around." Hunter slid onto Ivy's lap with his attention on Marina. "How are things? It's been a minute."

"It has! Haven't seen you at the Tulip recently." Marina leaned back into the couch and tucked her legs under her. Ivy breathed a sigh of relief at her choosing to stay.

To be honest, Ivy couldn't help the frustration that bubbled up after Ella's and Aura's hasty exits. If anything, the sudden departures were rude and uncalled for. They could have at least pretended before darting out of here. She knew both of their excuses were valid, that they were likely going to do those things, but they could have chatted with Hunter for a bit. He was Ivy's boyfriend after all.

Marina and Hunter continued to chat as Ivy listened. They talked about the town, how it had changed in the last year and what they had been up to. Eventually, it became clear Hunter was ready for his Ivy time. When he wasn't looking, Marina shot Ivy a look and wiggled her eyebrows. The earth witch understood right away and shook her head with a playful grin on her lips.

"Well, I won't hold you any longer." Marina stretched her legs out in front of her and stood up. "Hunter, I better see you at the Tulip more."

"Only if work calms down," he shot back. He leaned forward to give her a hug goodbye. "A pleasure as always. Don't be a stranger."

As their bodies came into contact with one another, Marina stilled, if only for a second. If Hunter noticed, he didn't show it. From behind him, Ivy gave Marina a puzzled look. Marina's smile returned as he pulled away.

"I don't plan on it." She stepped toward Ivy to give her a hug goodbye. "And I'll see you tomorrow."

"Can't wait! Girls night!" Ivy shook her hands in fake glee to try to sell the story. It was technically a girls night but with a little danger thrown in. Marina waved them bye and shut the door behind them.

Hunter came up from behind and snaked his hands around Ivy's waist. He left a trail of soft kisses along her shoulders and planted a hard kiss on the back of her head. Closing her eyes, Ivy leaned into him and melted into him embrace.

"Tough day at work?"

"You wouldn't know the half of it." He flipped her around, his hands resting on the curve of her hips. "I was hoping to come home to just you, cook a little and finish up in bed with the sheets tangled up around us."

"That can still happen," She pecked his nose. "But you get to cook."

Hunter gave her a disappointed look, but it didn't last long as he saw the wine bottle. He held it up in the light to examine how much was left before taking a swig. Ivy giggled at the college-like behavior and stole a sip for herself.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say Ella still hates my guts." Hunter looked back at his gorgeous girlfriend as he went for the kitchen. In admiring her, he tripped over the edge of an armchair and sent her into a fit of giggles.

"She's like that with everyone." Hunter glowered at her. "Okay, maybe she's still mad at you for what happened earlier this year."

"I was just trying to protect my girlfriend." His voice dropped as he remembered the day. Ivy had been curled up in bed, crying her eyes out and wishing she had never discovered her powers. Ella would have just made everything worse, especially since the two weren't close at all.

He jumped at the cool feelings of her lips against the top of his spine. "I know and I love you for that. I needed it then."

Flipping around, he brought her into his embrace again and pushed his lips against hers. Their lips moved in sync at the familiar motions. He paused and smiled against her mouth.

"Do I really have to cook tonight? Can't we just order in?"

Ivy awarded him one last kiss before swatting him in the arm. "No, we can save money. Cook at home." She separated from him and went to her perch on the barstool. "Clearly I'm too much of a distraction so I'm going to sit here and just watch so you have no more excuses."

Hunter groaned but let her go. Shaking his head, he went straight to work. "I'm going to make you the best damn omelette so then we can go destroy this in bed."

With a wiggle of his eyebrows, Ivy knew there was more than just the omlette that would be devoured. Giggling, she watched in pure delight as the chef did his thing.

--

A/N

Meant to get this out on April Fools' Day...that didn't happen. I got a project today at work. Woo! Yes, weird to be excited about.

Upcoming chapters are some of my favorites. I get to go into the different POVs for split seconds...well, don't want to give too much away. You shall see :D

Thanks again to everyone for reading, commenting and voting. Really appreciate it.

Hope you are all staying safe out there! #StayHomeSaveLives!