Page 41

Chapter Forty-One

Silence filled the room. I was still holding Maddie; she was so light that at any other time that would have been easy, but at that moment my own body felt heavy and sluggish.

‘How long?’ Fraser demanded. ‘How long has the Eternal Flame been gone?’

I bit the inside of my cheek. ‘Fraser, please. Can we deal with one crisis at a time? We can talk about this later, but we need to get help for Maddie now.’

His eyes remained locked on mine for a second longer before he nodded. ‘You’re right. We’ll table it. I’ll find her keys.’

My relief was absolute. ‘They’ll be in a bowl by the door or on the kitchen worktop.’

I don’t know where he found them, but by the time I was out by the car he was unlocking the doors. ‘Here, let me do that,’ he said. He took Maddie from me and lowered her gently onto the back seat, then I slipped in next to her to hold her body in place.

Fraser slid into the driver’s seat. Eva promptly jumped over his lap and into the passenger seat before he had the chance to open the other door.

‘We need to go to Shingle’s End. You know where it is?’ I asked.

He didn’t reply but he started the engine, which I took to mean yes. As he reversed away from the house, I held Maddie’s head in my lap, stroking her limp hair and pushing it behind her ears. I had lost her because of my own stubbornness and heartache and I had only just got her back. There was no way I could lose her again. I just couldn’t.

As I fought my tears, I promised myself that if she was restored to me, there would be no more running. I would stay in Witchlight Cove forever if that was what she wanted.

‘How long?’ Fraser asked again from the front of the car.

‘Sorry?’ For an instant, I thought he was talking about how long Maddie and I had known each other – but I’d told him that less than an hour before. Then I realised he was talking about the Flame.

‘How long has it been out?’ he clarified.

‘About two weeks,’ I said quietly.

‘That’s why you came back. ’

I nodded then realised he couldn’t see me. ‘Maddie didn’t know what had happened. She’d got wards in place and no one had broken in. There was no evidence that the Flame had been extinguished. It had just … disappeared.’

He let out a ‘hmm’. I tried to sense his emotions but my own were too much of a mess to focus. ‘Who else knows?’ he said after a pause.

‘No one.’

‘Yanni. She’s Maddie’s grandmother, isn’t she? She must know.’

‘No. Maddie didn’t want to put her in that situation. She wanted to see if me being here would help it come back, or if we could figure something out together before we worried anyone else.’

‘I don’t know if that was sensible or stupid. But let’s keep it that way for now until we work out what’s going on here.’

Tears pooled in my eyes. How had everything become such a mess?

‘Could what’s happened with her now have something to do with the Flame going missing?’ Fraser continued with his questions.

‘Maybe, ’ I said, swallowing hard. ‘Possibly. Maddie’s used the Flame to make her wards. I didn’t know how she’d managed to continue without it, but she said she’d found a way. I guess… I guess…’ I couldn’t say it out loud.

‘Do you think Old Jacobson will know how to help her?’

‘I’ve no idea,’ I admitted truthfully. ‘But like you said, we can’t go to the covens. He’s all we’ve got.’

I’d had two meetings with the old man so far: the first had ended with him throwing me out of his garden, and the second had ended with him hurling Fraser across Sonny’s coffee shop. I really hoped this was a case of third time lucky because if it wasn’t I was about to have another impromptu flying lesson and, frankly, I was sick of them.

‘It’s up here,’ I pointed down towards Shingle’s End over Fraser’s shoulder. A minute later, Jacobson’s house came into view. The knot in my stomach twisted even tighter. If he turned us away, I didn’t know what we’d do. We’d have to go to the covens and that wouldn’t end well for any of us.

‘You go and make sure he’s in,’ Fraser said, as we juddered to a stop. ‘I’ll carry Maddie in.’

I flew out of the car, raced across the garden and pounded on the door. I didn’t care what wards Old Jacobson had in place. He could throw me off his property a dozen times, but I would get right back up every single time and knock again. I was not giving up. He had to see me.

‘Who’s there?’ came a voice from inside.

‘It’s Beatrix! I need your help – my friend needs your help!’

‘Beatrix who?’

‘Beatrix Stonehaven! I’m not my grandmother,’ I added desperately. ‘And I need your goddamned help!’

When the door opened I wasn’t faced by the scowling face I’d seen on previous occasions; instead his expression was one of pinched concern. ‘What’s happened?’

‘It’s my friend, Maddie. She’s been doing some magic, magic that normally uses the Eternal Flame, but she hasn’t been able to use it recently. She’d been getting really tired and then we came home today and there was pink smoke everywhere and she was unconscious and I can’t wake her up. And… And…’ I didn’t want to say this last bit, but I knew I had to. ‘And her fingernails have started turning black.’

He recoiled. ‘She’s been doing black magic?’

‘I don’t think it was on purpose. I know her and she doesn’t have an evil bone in her body. Please, can you help her?’

As I waited for a reply, Fraser appeared beside me clutching Maddie. Jacobson immediately picked up her hand and examined her nails. ‘This isn’t good. It’ll take some time to fix. Come in, I need to look at her properly.’

Relief washed over me. He’d said it would take time, not that it was impossible. Maddie would be okay; I wouldn’t let myself think any other way.

I wasn’t sure what I’d imagined Jacobson’s place would look like – maybe something damp and mouldy with overgrown plants spilling out of pots. But it was nothing like that. His living area was whitewashed, with books meticulously ordered along the walls. Beside them was a shelf with small glass vials and jars of herbs, tinctures and powders.

‘Please tell me there’s something you can do,’ I begged.

‘We’ll see,’ he said crisply. ‘I need time. Space.’

As Fraser placed Maddie gently down on the table, Jacobson placed his hands on either side of my shoulders. ‘She’ll be alright. Just let me do my thing.’

I knew that’s what I had to do, but it was so hard to see her in this state. I felt that same sense of helplessness I’d experienced when I’d seen my mother and father running towards me, when I’d seen my grandmother wielding her power as she’d tried to steal me from my family. But this couldn’t end badly. It just couldn’t.

‘He’ll do what he can,’ Fraser said softly. He stood beside me as the old man’s hands started hovering above Maddie’s torso. ‘And if he can’t, we’ll find another solution. This isn’t the only magical place, remember? We’ll go somewhere else, somewhere with another Eternal Flame. I’ll help you.’

‘Fraser, about the Eternal Flame…’

‘It’s okay,’ he said. ‘That’s not a discussion we need to have right now.’ His eyes flickered towards Jacobson.

I nodded again. At some point, and without being conscious of doing it, I’d folded myself into him and my head was resting against his chest. When I realised what I was doing, I couldn’t bring myself to move away from him. Not until my phone buzzed in my pocket.

I saw the name on the screen and fresh panic flooded me. ‘It’s Yanni,’ I said, my voice trembling. ‘What do I say?’

‘Do you need to answer it?’

Yanni was my employer, my friend and my family. She deserved a response no matter why she was calling. I nodded. ‘Yes. Just … keep an eye on Maddie, won’t you?’

‘Of course,’ he promised solemnly. ‘You can trust me.’

And despite everything, I did.