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Chapter Thirty-Four

The minute I opened the front door, the smell hit me. ‘Maddie? Is that…?’

‘In the kitchen,’ she called happily. She was standing over the stove, stirring something with a wooden spoon.

‘You didn’t!’ I said, feeling the grin stretch my lips.

‘Yanni rang and said you’d had a bit of a rough morning so I thought I’d make us hot chocolate. And if you look in that bowl there…’

I glanced into the dish she pointed at, and my heart surged with affection for my best friend. ‘You’ve picked out all the pink marshmallows for me?’

‘I did, because I’m wonderful,’ she said smugly.

‘You are,’ I agreed over the sudden lump in my throat.

Maddie eyed me curiously. ‘So, what the hell happened? My phone’s red hot with calls about you and Old Jacobson getting into some kind of magical fight.’

I sighed. ‘A magical fight implies you can both do magic, which we both know isn’t the case. But … it was weird. He got so freaked out wh en he saw me,’ I paused then told her the only conclusion I could draw in the circumstances. ‘I think he knew my grandmother and I guess we look alike. He saw me and totally lost it.’

Maddie frowned. ‘But he moved here after your grandmother’s … incident.’

She was right. I hadn’t thought about that; I’d been too distracted by the muttering, the heavy stares and hearing my name being whispered. ‘I guess he must’ve heard about her,’ I said. ‘Maybe seen some photos. But honestly, it was like he thought he was looking at her and seen a ghost.’ I paused. ‘A terrible, evil ghost.’

‘Don’t take this the wrong way, but do you actually look like your grandma? I mean, I saw her too, with her scary hair and crazy eyes. She looked nothing like you.’

‘Right.’ I’d thought that too. The image of my grandmother isn’t something that will ever fade from my memory – I don’t even think the strongest amnesia spell could shift it. Given all the time she’d had me, I’d had a pretty good look at her and I hadn’t seen any similarities between us. I hadn’t even twigged that we were related until Dad showed up.

‘Do you think Old Jacobson knew her before she came here?’ Maddie said. ‘When she was young? Your age?’ Her eyes widened. ‘God, is he a sorcerer? ’

‘Honestly, I have no idea. I’m guessing he didn’t mean to hurt me though, because he definitely had the power to do that if he wanted to. I feel bad that Fraser got hurt trying to protect me.’

‘Sorry, what?’ Maddie turned to me, her mouth hanging open. ‘Bea! Please don’t tell me you’re talking about Fraser Banks?’

I rolled my eyes. ‘Do you know any other Frasers?’

‘What the hell were you doing with him? Bea, he is the enemy. ’

I sighed. Maddie could be a little black and white at times. ‘He was at Sonny’s and he offered to pay for my drink so that I could go and talk to Jacobson. Actually, he offered to pay for our drinks from this morning and buy me another.’

‘I have a horrible feeling you’re starting to like him,’ Maddie scoffed. She narrowed her eyes. ‘You realise he’s manipulating you, right? He wants to get into this house – and we cannot let that happen.’

I held my hands up to placate her. ‘I know, I know. We won’t let him in, I promise.’

I’d considered Fraser’s motivation for trying to get close to me, but everything about him felt genuine. The chemistry between us was unreal and you couldn’t fake the rush that I’d felt at his touch. Then there was the small matter of me feeling his emotions even when my shields were up: his compassion had swarmed all over me. Still, there was no way I could tell Maddie about any of that because it would open a whole new can of worms.

‘Are you enjoying your new job?’ Maddie changed the subject as she stirred another spoonful of sugar into the hot chocolate.

‘It’s a little more active than Yanni promised. So much for sitting around answering phone calls all day – I’ve barely been at my desk. But I absolutely prefer it that way.’

She lifted two large mugs from the cupboard above her. ‘Any closer to working out who’s behind Warren’s death?’

‘No – but it wasn’t Mrs D. It couldn’t be.’

‘I know, and for what it’s worth I think Yanni knows it too. It’s…’

‘It’s her job,’ I finished for her.

‘Exactly,’ Maddie said. ‘How long have you got before you go back to the station?’

‘I need to be back by seven.’

As she handed me a mug, she grinned. ‘Great. Plenty of time for a midday film while we drink our hot chocolates. What do you think?’

‘Sounds good. I fancy some sort of crime thriller. Something actiony?’

‘Too late,’ she said with a smirk. ‘I’ve already picked one.’

I should have known. Maddie loved romantic clichés like a moth loves an open flame – and with about as much self-preservation.

Two grown women curled up under blankets in the middle of the day sipping hot chocolate with marshmallows while we watched a cliché-ridden romcom was ridiculous. Maddie hadn’t managed to get whipped cream for the drinks but I couldn’t hold that against her after she’d picked out all the pink marshmallows for me. Her choice of film, however, I could hold against her. And I totally would.

‘I can’t believe you still love these ridiculous movies,’ I said as we watched a couple embrace in the pouring rain after ninety minutes of will-they-won’t-they tension. ‘No kiss in the rain could ever be nice.’ I huffed. ‘That girl’s got cold water running down her spine, soggy socks and a ruined blow-dry. If I were her, I’d be more focused on getting to a radiator than snogging some bloke with suspiciously perfect hair. It’s unrealistic and completely unsexy. Who actually kisses anyone in the rain in real life?’

‘We get it. You’re not a romantic.’ Maddie grimaced. ‘Though I was hoping Ezra might change your mind.’

I threw a cushion at her head. ‘Will you quit it with the Ezra thing? He’s a great guy but there’s no attraction there, no spark. Not on my side, at least.’

‘You haven’t given him a chance,’ Maddie objected. ‘Maybe you’ll see things differently on Friday.’

I knew that she only wanted me to be happy but I really needed her to see that Ezra and I wasn’t going to happen. ‘Maddie, I’ve got to survive the week first. Let’s see how I feel on Friday.’

‘Fine.’ She sounded crochety. ‘Just as long as you’re not giving him the brush off because you’ve got a crush on our sworn enemy Fraser Banks. Because if you are, I swear on my best tattoo gun that I’ll stage an intervention.’

I didn’t answer. But my stomach did a little flip. I was doomed.

On the floor by our feet Eva was gnawing on a meaty treat that Maddie had given her. It looked rubbery, tough and altogether grim. I didn’t bother asking what kind of animal it came from; my limits for ‘gross’ had shifted dramatically since I’d become a dog owner. Letting Eva chew on a pig’s trotter in my living room? Sure, why not. A knucklebone at the end of the bed? Absolutely.

Maddie’s eyes were already drooping. Considering how early she’d gone to bed the previous night, I found it difficult to believe she wasn’t getting enough rest. I frowned. ‘Hey, Mads, are you okay? You look shattered.’

‘Yeah, I did a big tattoo session this morning – Shady the vampire. He doesn’t usually bother with them given that he owns a nightclub, but he’s doing a bit of travelling. He wanted to make sure he wasn’t confined to night-time sightseeing. It always takes a bit more out of me than normal when it’s not a regular customer.’

‘You still haven’t explained how you’re doing these tattoos without the Eternal Flame,’ I noted.

Given that I’d been right beside Maddie when she’d learned to harness her powers, I had a pretty good grasp of her methods. I certainly understood more about her magic than the elementals’ magic, or Old Jacobson’s. But everything I’d seen Maddie do had involved the Flame and I couldn’t figure out how she was enchanting her ink without it.

‘I’ve been doing it the same way any alchemist who doesn’t have access to an Eternal Flame,’ she said sassily. ‘Good old hard work. I’ll get the hang of it eventually. It takes practice.’

I wanted to believe she was alright, but I knew how stressed and worried she was about the Flame being missing and keeping it from Yanni. I’d only been doing it for two days and already I couldn’t imagine doing it for a whole week.

I twisted around on the sofa so that I was looking directly at her. ‘Promise me you’ll tell me if you’re overdoing it, right?’ I said.

‘Says the woman trying to solve a murder, protect her home and deal with a vicious ancient sorcerer.’

I shook my head. ‘Old Jacobson wasn’t vicious. He was … startled. And I’m not even sure that he’s a sorcerer. I still think he might be a really powerful witch.’

Seeing his power had only confirmed that I needed to speak to him again and make him talk. He had power and a lifetime’s worth of experience. He wasn’t associated with a coven so he was the perfect person to talk to about the Eternal Flame – if he’d let me get near enough to actually speak to him.

‘I think I need to close my eyes,’ I said as the film credits started rolling. ‘Can you wake me up in a couple of hours so I’m not late for work?’

Though I’d asked Maddie the question, it was Eva who looked up from the floor. She replied with a bark.

Maddie laughed. ‘That sounds like a yes. Go to bed – we’ll make sure you wake up. Well, one of us will, anyway. ’

I didn’t need telling twice. I left Eva chewing at her snack, whatever it was, and headed upstairs to my bedroom

I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.