Page 13

Chapter Thirteen

After I’d finished the conversation with Mum and Dad – most of which happened in my head in case someone was listening and overheard the issue about the Flame – I headed back to the house.

The moment I opened the door, Eva bounded over wagging her tail like she had missed me so much she’d barely coped. Honestly, the level of drama in that dog was unparalleled; if she could have thrown herself onto a chaise lounge and wept, she would have. I might have believed she’d been traumatised by my absence had it not been for the fur that covered Maddie’s jumper. Clearly they’d been getting in some great cuddles. I was only a smidge envious.

‘You can’t leave Witchlight ever again,’ Maddie said as she looked at me. ‘I don’t think I can live without this dog now. She’s perfect. Do you know that she found my slippers and brought them to me? ’

‘Did you?’ I glanced at my golden retriever, who tilted her head to the side. ‘You never do that for me,’ I accused. ‘Mostly you just steal my keys.’

She tipped her head further and gave a slight whine, sinking into her shoulders at the same time as if she were shrugging and saying, ‘I am totally innocent of all wild accusations.’

Maddie studied me, no doubt noting my red eyes that were the consequence of my chat to my parents. ‘Are you okay? You’re later than I thought you’d be.’

‘Sorry. I went to visit Mum and Dad.’ I smiled awkwardly. ‘Thanks so much for the calla lilies.’

‘You’re welcome. Just so you know, they’re not a spell – I get them at the florist every month. I spell them then to make sure they last until the next month, but I know how much your mum loved real flowers.’

‘That’s sweet of you.’

As I dropped down to stroke Eva, Maddie continued. ‘Nana rang and told me you went to see Mrs D. Is she alright? I can’t believe she was poisoned. It’s crazy.’

‘She’s pretty shaken up.’

‘I bet. Claude is a complete mess. I saw him clearing everything up when I was on my way home.’ Claude was a three-foot brownie who, like the rest of his family, had run the bakery for decades; he’d made all the pasties. ‘He was devastated. He said he’s never had anything like this happen before.’

I frowned. ‘I don’t think the food was to blame. If there was something wrong with his pasties, surely everyone would’ve got sick?’

‘True, but you know how ridiculous people can be when something unexpected happens. They scare easily. Especially people in our community.’ She rolled her eyes.

She was right: Witchlight excelled at mass hysteria. We could probably win awards if there was ever a ‘World’s Most Overdramatic Village’ competition. I knew that from personal experience.

Silence settled between us and I suspected Maddie was thinking about the Eternal Flame. People would definitely be scared if they knew that it was missing.

‘Mrs D gave me a name of someone who might help us,’ I said finally. ‘Old Jacobson who lives down at Shingle’s End. She reckons he’s a witch but apparently one who doesn’t mix with the others. He might help us work out how you can make your inks and tattoos without the Flame – without telling him it’s gone, obviously.’

‘I know the guy you mean, but I didn’t even know he was a witch. He really keeps to himself. I thought he was an ogre or something.’

My eyebrows rose. ‘Wow, he really is reclusive then. ’

‘Yeah. I’ve seen him at Sonny’s once or twice but he doesn’t really speak to anybody there.’

‘Sonny’s?’ I asked.

Maddie sighed dramatically. ‘My God, I can’t believe you’ve been gone so long that you don’t even know Sonny’s. It’s a coffeehouse – Insomnia Coffee – but everyone calls it Sonny’s. He’s the owner and he makes the most amazing coffee. He’s a seriously cranky vampire. I do his sunlight tattoos so you’d think he’d give me a discount on my coffee, but no. He is the most miserable guy ever – even for a vamp. But he roasts the beans himself and the coffee is divine. We should get one tomorrow. Which reminds me – Nana said she’s expecting to see you at the station at eight.’

‘Eight in the morning?’ I asked, horrified. Yanni hadn’t been kidding about the bright and early thing.

One of the joys of being self-employed is that I get to pick my own hours and before Eva had arrived, that generally meant nothing before midday. Since I’ve had her, I can only stay in bed until she starts whining and needs to be let out. Even so, she’s a true queen; she knows her owner loves to sleep, so she tries to give me until 9.00 or 10.00am. The thought of not only being up at eight but dressed, awake and ready to deal with the public was a little daunting .

‘In that case I guess I need to get an early night.’ I yawned and at the same time realised I hadn’t eaten since the service station stop that morning. Tired as I might be, I was also starving and food always takes priority in my book. ‘How do you feel about ordering in pizza?’ I asked. I didn’t know what Maddie’s cooking skills were like nowadays, but standing over a hob or chopping up food was more than I had in me.

She grinned. ‘Pizza sounds perfect. Let me get the number.’

As she flipped open her phone, I remembered there was something else I needed to tell her. ‘I meant to say – Fraser Banks came by.’

Maddie’s gaze narrowed on me. ‘Of course he did. He probably knew I’d be at the fayre and was using the opportunity to sneak in. Ass wipe. You didn’t let him inside, did you?’

‘Of course I didn’t! Though you didn’t tell me he was that good-looking.’

‘Really?’ Maddie chuckled. ‘Oh sure, I mean if you go for that obviously attractive, well-groomed thing. But that man is toxic, I’m sure of it. You need to stay clear of him.’ She wagged her finger at me.

‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to mix business with pleasure. ’

A smirk lilted her lips. ‘And speaking of pleasure, I saw Ezra at the fayre before it all went to pot. He got very excited when I mentioned you were back.’

‘I heard he had to do a shifter thing and couldn’t take part.’

She nodded. ‘Yeah. He was too late to enter but we watched the contest together.’ She sent me a sideways glance. ‘I thought maybe we could all go to Shady’s one night and catch a drink.’

I could tell from the way her eyes glinted that she obviously had visions of me and Ezra hooking up, which was not going to happen. Once we had the Flame back, I’d be hightailing it back to London and I had no intention of hurting one of my oldest friends by doing so. Hurting them more, I amended mentally.

‘Shady’s?’ I asked, not rising to her bait.

‘That’s what they’ve renamed the club. It’s run by Sonny’s brother.’

‘Another vampire business? I guess the pair of them are taking over the village.’

She laughed. ‘Rumour has it they don’t get on at all. But Shady’s has damn good cocktails and Ezra promised to get the first round. So what do you reckon? Friday night?’

I knew she wanted me to say yes, but I’d only just got back to Witchlight Cove. I already had a new job to deal with, plus three investigations to look into if I included Mrs D alongside Fraser Banks and the missing Eternal Flame. I wasn’t sure I had the mental capacity to deal with people asking me questions about what I’d been up to for the last ten years when the truthful answer was, ‘Not much, but I got a dog.’

‘Are you okay if we wait and see how I’m feeling?’ I asked Maddie. ‘I don’t want to agree and then be knackered and not able to go out. I’d feel like I was letting people down then.’

‘Sure. Ezra’s not going anywhere. I’m pretty sure he’s already waited ten years for you to come back,’ Maddie drawled, but the mischief in her tone was unmistakable.

I sighed, reached for my phone to place the order – and it buzzed in my hand with a message. From Ezra.

My stomach twisted.

Maddie grinned. ‘Told you so.’