Page 46

Dove arrived to take Gilbert to the police station. A triple murder was beyond Yanni’s usual scope and the main magic council would need to be brought in to handle it.

As we walked towards Maddie’s car with Yanni leading the way, I tried to hand Fraser’s jacket back to him. ‘It’s fine. You keep it,’ he said softly.

I’m not one to keep things that don’t belong to me, but I wasn’t going to say no. The moment I’d taken it off earlier, I’d felt an unusual chill. Now I was wearing it again, the jacket seemed to fit me perfectly – which was bizarre given that Fraser was twice as broad as I was. It had to be something to do with the water: the leather must have tightened or reshaped itself.

‘So, let me get this straight,’ Yanni said as we drove toward Old Jacobson’s house. I could tell she was trying to piece it all together so I stayed quiet and let her work through it. ‘As far as you know, the Eternal Flame disappeared about two weeks ago. It wasn’t stolen, no alarms went off, it just disappeared? Was it extinguished?’

‘I don’t know,’ I replied. ‘Maddie just said it was gone. But it’s not possible to extinguish it. We should know, we tried often enough as kids.’

Yanni ignored that piece of idiocy. ‘Okay.’ Her voice was still sharp. ‘But rather than coming to me, or consulting a coven, Maddie waited a week. In that time, she somehow mastered black magic so she could keep on making her tattoos. Then, when the Flame still hadn’t come back, she brought you back to Witchlight Cove – and on top of that, she convinced me to hire you at the police station. Was that so you could keep an eye on me? Make sure I didn’t find out what was going on?’

‘No,’ I said quickly, stung by the accusation. The idea that Yanni thought I’d manipulate her like that hit hard. ‘I’ve hated you not knowing. Honestly, I wanted to tell you but it was so difficult. We didn’t want to put you in an awkward position. And, for what it’s worth, I’ve loved spending time with you. Apart from the early starts and answering the phones.’

Yanni snorted. ‘It’s not like you’ve actually done much of that, is it?’

‘Well, no,’ I conceded.

‘I think it’s best if you go back to doing what you’re best at. Being a PI.’

I blinked. ‘Are you firing me?’

Her expression softened. ‘I’m setting you free with one month’s severance pay. I’ll try and get someone else to man the phones. Someone who’ll actually do it.’

I winced. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said piteously. ‘I didn’t mean to hurt you.’

I could feel the pain radiating from her, sharp and raw. She was scared, and no wonder. She’d already lost her daughter and she barely ever saw her son. Maddie was all she had left.

‘I know.’ She reached out and took my hand. ‘But I wish you’d both trusted me with this earlier.’ Silence descended, painful and prickly like my conscience.

‘Well, that has to be a good sign.’ Fraser’s voice drew me from my thoughts.

As I looked up and followed his gaze out of the windscreen, my heart leapt.

Maddie was standing at the window of Jacobson’s house. Even from this distance, I could see how pale she was. Her skin looked almost translucent but she was standing upright, her eyes open, and the ghost of a smile played on her lips when she saw us.

The car had barely stopped when Yanni flung open the door and raced toward the house. As she struggled with the front door, Jacobson appeared and opened it. Eva barrelled out and raced towards me.

‘I’m alright, I’m alright,’ I said as she placed her paws on my chest and nuzzled her head against me. She always sensed when there was danger, like during the fire at the house, so perhaps she could sense what had happened to me, too. Not that I was entirely sure what that was.

‘I should leave you here,’ Fraser said.

I immediately stopped fussing over Eva and looked at him. ‘Are you sure? You could stay … to see if Maddie’s okay. If you wanted to?’ I wasn’t sure why I didn’t want him to leave yet, but I didn’t.

He smiled gently before leaning forward and planting a kiss on my forehead. ‘It’s okay. You need time with your family. But you and I ... I’d like us to talk soon, if that’s okay. Maybe over dinner?’

‘That would be nice,’ I said.

I remembered thinking the same thing when we were at the beach talking about our families. I had wished then that we could sit and talk for hours. I wanted that now, but it felt different. It wasn’t a want but something more – a need .

‘Message me when you get back to the house,’ he said. ‘Just so I know you’re alright.’

I nodded. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d needed to text a guy to tell him I was home safe, and it wasn’t as if I was going home alone. But it didn’t feel like an unreasonable request given all that we’d been through.

Fraser bent down to ruffle Eva’s ears before turning and heading back down the lane.

Inside the house, I hugged Maddie so tightly I was pretty sure I heard some of her joints pop. ‘You’re gonna have to let go of me or I’ll suffocate,’ she said with a shaky laugh.

I drew back to look at her. ‘You scared the life out of me! Don’t you ever do that again! Old Jacobson said you were dealing with black magic. What the hell, Maddie?’ I prodded her chest with my index finger.

‘I didn’t realise... I mean, I knew it was different from what I’d done before but I thought you had to be – I don’t know – evil or something to use black magic. Everything I was doing was to help people, so I assumed I was tapping into something different. I swear I didn’t know I was doing black magic.’

I couldn’t be mad at her. I wanted to be absolutely furious, but I believed her completely. Maddie didn’t have a bad bone in her body; there was no chance she’d ever tamper knowingly with that side of magic .

‘But you’re okay now?’ I glanced at her fingernails. The black had gone, though they were definitely redder than normal.

Rather than replying immediately, she bit down on her lower lip. For the first time I noticed how much older she looked, and not because of the years we’d spent apart. She was the same age as me and yet there were crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes and thin lines around her lips.

‘Jacobson’s going to help me, but he says there’ll have been effects. Using my life source instead of the Eternal Flame has taken something from me.’

‘It’s taken something? What does that mean?’

She looked away from me. ‘It could be a couple of months ... could be a couple of years.’

Her words hit me with as deep a physical pain as the impact of the gunshot. ‘Are you serious, Maddie?’ I whispered.

She lifted a hand to silence me before I could continue. ‘I know, alright? I know. But like I said, Jacobson will help me. There’s a way to work around this with white magic to put back whatever ... whatever it was I’ve taken away. I don’t know how it will work exactly, but he’s going to help.’

I felt the weariness radiating from her. She was absolutely exhausted; this wasn’t the moment to push her further, but I needed more answers. ‘Where’s Old Jacobson now?’ I said. I might not be able to question her but I could definitely question him – and hopefully I’d get some answers.

‘I think he’s in the kitchen with Yanni.’

‘Actually, I’m here,’ a voice said.

We turned to find Jacobson standing in the doorway. ‘And if you don’t mind,’ he added, ‘a little less of the “old”. The name’s Ernie, Ernie Jacobson. And Beatrix, it’s time you and I had a conversation.’ A smile flickered on his lips but it faded almost immediately, probably because of the way I was glaring at him.

‘Maddie told me about the life source thing. She said that the magic has drained her, drained her actual life.’

‘We will talk about Maddie later. For now, she is stable. It’s not her I want to talk to you about, it’s you. About your parents.’

I blinked. ‘My parents?’

‘I think you might want to sit down.’

I didn’t want to sit down. I couldn’t think of a single reason why Ernie Jacobson would want to talk to me about my parents. He hadn’t even lived in Witchlight Cove when they were alive. Yet there was something radiating from him, something that told me I had to listen.

‘Maddie,’ he said, glancing at my best friend. ‘Do you mind? I would like to speak to Beatrix alone for a moment.’

My response was instant. ‘Whatever you want to say to me, you can say in front of Maddie,’ I said. ‘And Yanni too,’ I added, when I saw her standing in the doorway.

Jacobson’s cheeks sucked inward and for a moment his scowl nearly returned, but he shook it away. ‘Please?’ he asked.

I relented. ‘Just give us a moment,’ I asked the others.

‘We’ll be through here if you need us,’ Yanni murmured as she shut the door to the lounge behind them.

Ernie Jacobson sighed. ‘There’s no easy way to say this.’ His gaze flickered. ‘I don’t want you to be upset.’

I gave a dry, humourless laugh. ‘Whatever you’re about to tell me, I’ve had worse. Trust me.’

He nodded and exhaled sharply. ‘Beatrix. I’m your father’s father.’

‘Sorry?’ The word fell from my lips. My father’s father? Who even spoke like that? The repetition made it worse, made it harder to process.

Then it hit me and a cold dread crept through me, as if every window in the world had been thrown open. I knew what he meant, but my mind refused to accept it. Rejected it outright. I opened my mouth to speak but no words came. I needed him to say it, really say it so there was no room for misinterpretation.

He stepped closer and took my hand. His grip was firm. His throat bobbed as he swallowed, his eyes searching mine in a plead for understanding.

‘Beatrix,’ he said slowly, deliberately. ‘I’m your grandfather.’