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“I think now would be a good time for you to tell me exactly what’s going on!” Newton yelled.
He stood in the middle of Alex’s living room, soaking wet, trying to towel himself dry with an enormous bath towel. He scrubbed at his clothes and rubbed his hair with fury, until it was standing up on end. He was wearing casual clothes, jeans and a t-shirt, with an old university hoodie, so that despite his anger, he seemed far more approachable now than he had been before. His drenching had removed some of his command.
Alex stood opposite him, also soaking wet, and also trying to dry himself while shouting. “I think it’s pretty clear what’s going on. Our friend Reuben was attacked and almost killed. Would you like me to file a report?”
“Only if you think you could explain what the hell happened. I’m not sure magic really qualifies for a good statement.”
“Well, magic pretty much sums it up,” Alex said snarkily.
“Start from the beginning. And tell me everything.”
“First, tell me how you knew we were there.” Alex demanded, his eyes narrowed with suspicion.
“One of my colleagues had spotted you hurtling up the lane and called it in. I’ve asked for everyone to watch your cars for suspicious activities.”
“Really! You’re spying on us?” Alex asked, incredulous.
“For your own good,” Newton shot back.
“We’re not bloody children!”
“No. You’re just unleashing magic onto an unsuspecting community,” Newton said dryly.
“Actually, no, we’re not! The only people we’re unleashing our magic on are other witches who are intent on doing us harm and stealing our grimoires! Witches we didn’t know even existed.”
Newton stared icily at Alex. “But innocent people have been hurt in the process.”
“Not by us.”
“Tell me everything,” Newton repeated.
Alex glanced questioningly at Avery, and she nodded.
Alex sighed and started to explain.
Avery looked from one man to the other, mildly amused, but also slightly amazed at their antagonism towards each other. They were like chalk and cheese, and she decided not to get involved.
She sat in front of the blazing fire, wrapped in a blanket after towelling her hair dry. Reuben was lying on Alex’s bed, where Briar was using her healing spells, trying to bring him back to consciousness. El was with her. She presumed they’d call if they needed any help. Avery reckoned Alex must have dished out every towel and blanket he owned.
It was dark outside now, the fury of the storm continuing unabated. They had returned to Alex’s flat a little under half an hour ago. They had all helped carry Reuben to the car park, and then split into groups. Briar and Avery brought back Reuben’s car, with him on the back seat, while Alex returned with El. Newton had followed behind. Avery had driven, and stopped briefly at Briar’s place for her to pick up some herbs and gemstones that she needed for healing. She lived in a tiny cottage tucked on one of the town’s back streets, and Avery had waited in the car, and then swung by her own flat to feed her cats. She wasn’t sure what time she’d end up getting home later. She was relieved to find that her wards remained sealed.
A huge rumble of thunder cracked overhead and Avery jumped, jolting her out of her reverie.
Newton scowled again, his arms crossed in front of his chest. “You have no idea who the woman is?”
“No,” Alex said patiently. “I have never seen her before in my life, but she was trying to bring the mausoleum down on Reuben’s head. She meant to kill him. We need a plan.”
Alex was right. Faversham had killed Gil, and now they were all at risk; they had to fight back. Before she could think coherently she needed food. The smell of warmed pizza filled the flat, and Avery dragged herself from the fire and over to the kitchen. She pulled out plates and cutting boards and placed the three pizzas out, grabbing a slice for herself.
“Hey, guys, you should eat.” She pushed plates towards them, and then carried some through to Briar and El.
The bedroom was only lit by candlelight, and the sweet smell of incense drifted across the room. Briar sat cross-legged on the bed next to Reuben. She had placed healing stones on certain points of his body, a poultice on his head wound, and she held his hand as she quietly whispered a spell.
El looked up as Avery entered, her expression grim.
Avery placed a plate with a couple of slices of hot pizza into El’s hand.
El shook her head. “I can’t eat.”
“I don’t care. Try. Force yourself.”
El rolled her eyes, and took a bite, chewing unenthusiastically.
“How’s he doing?”
“All right. Briar’s amazing. She’s been sitting like that for the past 20 minutes. His breathing is stable, and his colour’s good.”
Avery smiled, relief washing through her. “Do we know why he was in the mausoleum?
“To spend time with Gil? I don’t know, we haven’t talked in days.” El’s pale blue eyes filled with tears again.
“It’ll be okay. Just give him time.”
El nodded and turned away.
Avery headed back to the living room and did a double-take. Newton and Alex were leaning on the counter, a slice of pizza in one hand, a bottle of beer in the other. They still looked antagonistic, but clearly hunger had exhausted them.
“Any idea why Reuben was at the church?” Avery asked. “The weather’s foul. It just seems odd to me.”
“I’ve no idea. I’m too tired to do this right now,” Alex said.
Avery sighed and reached for another slice of pizza. “Me, too. But we need to hide where we are from Faversham. I feel like we have a homing beacon on us. Reuben was a sitting duck on his own. Especially in the middle of a deserted graveyard.”
Newton looked at them, frowning. “So, how long has Faversham been involved?”
Avery shrugged. “Since the beginning. We think he’s the one responsible for the demons.”
“So, he’s the one responsible for killing the woman in the car and the cleaner in the museum?’
“Maybe,” Alex said. “He did kill Gil. We saw it.”
“I think that was a pretty important thing to leave out of your statement,” Newton said, clearly annoyed.
“He conjured a bloody great rock monster and slammed Gil against the wall. If it hadn’t been for Avery, we’d probably all be dead. How would you like me to phrase that in a statement?”
Newton looked as if he would argue, but then he nodded and sighed.
Avery decided she’d had enough of secrets. “Newton, you need to tell us about your part in this. You know magic, you know us. We’ve levelled with you, now please, be honest.”
“You haven’t told me everything, Avery.”
“We’ve told you a lot.”
“What are the hidden grimoires?” He leaned against the counter, watching her.
It didn’t seem worth lying about anything else to him. It was strange, but despite the little they knew of him, she trusted him. “They’re our old family grimoires, hidden from the Witchfinder General back in the 16th century. From what we can piece together, Helena—my ancestor—was betrayed, or set up by her accusers—the Favershams—and burnt at the stake. The other families tried to argue for her, but it didn’t work, and after she died, they moved and the grimoires were lost, until now. We’re still foggy on the details. “
Alex added, “We don’t have all of the grimoires—only three. Faversham threatened us to get them. He wasn’t joking.”
Newton groaned and put his last bite of pizza on the counter. He looked at Avery and Alex, his grey eyes tired. “All my life I have been warned about this, warned that it may happen in my generation, but we are always warned, and then the threat passes. But now it seems it’s true.”
Alex looked nervous. “What’s true?”
“That my real job is just starting.”
Avery gaped. “What are you talking about?”
“The soul of old Octavia Faversham is bound with a demon’s and lies somewhere beneath White Haven. Your ancestors put it there, and it’s my job to keep it there.”
Alex looked stunned. “Is that a joke?”
“No, unfortunately not.” Newton looked as sane as anyone could after uttering such a bizarre sentence.
A horrible trickle of fear ran down Avery’s spine. “The spell in the back of the grimoires. Is that what it is? A binding spell?”
“It could be. I have no idea where they put Octavia’s soul, or how they did it. I just know it was performed by all the witches to contain Octavia and her pet demon, and as a threat to the rest of the Favershams to back off.”
“And you didn’t think to tell us?” Alex asked, furious again. “You’ve known, all this time!”
Newton looked at the floor, and then back at Alex. “I didn’t know. This information is passed down, generation to generation. How do I know what’s relevant or not? I never really believed it, if I’m honest.” He appealed to both of them. “I mean seriously, demons?”
He had a point, Avery had to admit. She could scarcely believe it herself, and she was a witch.
“And,” Newton continued, “these activities have only happened a few times before. Approximately once every century.”
Avery sighed. “Addison Jackson.”
Newton narrowed his eyes. “Yes. How did you know?”
“Anne’s research—Gil’s cousin. I’ve been trying to build a picture as to what happened to Addison. But Lindon said he committed black magic—killed his family for the grimoires.”
“No. That was a lie that was fed to his family and descendants. He fled, with his wife and children into hiding to protect them. I believe he did use black magic—blood magic—to conceal them. But he didn’t kill them. I’m hoping he had a happy, peaceful life.”
“Oh, great,” Alex said. “He just left Gil’s side of the family to mop up the mess.”
“I didn’t say he was perfect,” Newton said, reaching for another slice of pizza.
Avery’s head was reeling, and she was pleased to see Alex looked just as shocked. “The Favershams threatened him back then?”
“So I’ve been told. And the times before then, too, in other generations. There’s a reason witches leave White Haven.”
“Yeah, so I keep being told, too,” Alex agreed. “Well, it ends here. I refuse to be chased out of my town by some thieving necromancer and his crooked family. And when we find the other grimoires, we’ll be more powerful and far harder to manipulate.”
“Hold on,” Avery said, thinking furiously. “The grimoires have two functions. They detail powerful spells that we’ve never come across before, and they contain one hidden binding spell that was used to bind Octavia Faversham and her demon. We have no idea what Faversham wants, but presumably the latter. Does this mean they want to break out Octavia’s soul?”
Alex looked baffled. “I guess so.”
“But why? What relevance does it have? I mean, what did she do that was so bad that she was bound in the first place, and why is it so important to release her and her pet demon? They have demons coming out of their ears!”
“Didn’t your demon-hunting, White Haven-saving ancestors pass that one down, Newton?” Alex asked.
“It seems not,” Newton snapped. “I guess your demon-binding, soul-snatching ancestors didn’t, either.”
Oh great, Avery thought. Testosterone. “Guys, we need a plan. You said it, Alex. We’re being attacked. Gil’s been killed. This is not a game. We need to protect ourselves, and work out a way to attack them first. I hate being on the back foot. And, who are they? We need to know! Faversham and who?”
“Well, I guess that’s where I come in,” Newton said. “I have access to records you can’t get to. I’ll check out Faversham’s family, his contacts, everyone. Then we’ll know who we’re up against.”
***
They spent the rest of the evening waiting for Reuben to wake, and looking at the grimoires and the documents.
Newton was behaving less like a policeman and more like a friend. Avery had offered to show him what they’d found and he sat on the sofa, looking through the papers and the transcripts of the trial.
“What’s your first name?” Avery asked Newton. She was sitting on the floor next to Alex, looking through the three spell books, a witch light hovering between them. “I mean, calling you Newton seems rude.”
He looked up, the ghost of a smile on his face. “Mathias, or Matt, but everyone calls me Newton, so you can stick with that.”
“Fair enough. What do you think of the papers?”
“Interesting. And chilling. I don’t suppose you’d care to tell me where you found them?”
“Not really,” Alex said, bristling for an argument again.
Newton raised his eyebrows. “Probably for the best. I’ve heard about my ancestors and the Witchfinder General, but reading these threatening letters makes it more real. It makes my blood boil, actually.”
“At least your ancestor wasn’t burnt at the stake,” Avery pointed out.
Newton nodded, “True.”
Briar came out of the bedroom and stretched. “Now I need pizza. Is there some left?”
“Is Reuben okay?” Avery asked.
“He’s fine. It was touch and go for a while—his head injury was huge, and his arm was badly bruised.” Briar looked shattered, but still very pretty. Her long, dark hair was half tied on top of her head, the rest cascaded down her shoulders. She wore a long, dark red summer dress that set off her hair, and made her skin look even paler. Newton did a double-take, and leapt to his feet.
“Sit down, Briar, let me.” He ushered her to the sofa, and then went to get her some food and a glass of wine. Briar seemed oblivious to his attentiveness, but Avery wasn’t. Maybe something good would come out of this after all.
Briar sank into her usual corner and within seconds Newton had handed her a glass of wine. “Pizza will be a few more minutes,” he said.
“I’m fine,” she said, flustered. “Don’t rush.”
But Newton was already busying himself in the kitchen.
“How’s El?” Alex asked.
“Panic-stricken. Things aren’t good with those two. Reuben’s in a bad space right now.”
“Not surprising, but he’ll come round, he’s a good guy.”
“I’m not so sure. He’s blaming her for Gil becoming involved in the search for the grimoire.”
Avery was stunned. “Why? That doesn’t make sense. It was Reuben who pushed Gil to search for it.”
“He’s looking to blame anyone now. Of course he’s blaming Faversham, but El got caught in it, too.”
“Why not me? I’m the one who got the box in the first place.”
“I think there’s a bit of anger in there for all of us,” Briar said sadly. “I can’t say I blame him.”
Newton sat next to her and handed her a plate stacked with pizza, cheeses, and olives. “There you go.”
“Thank you,” she said, and gave him a beaming smile. “So how are you involved in all this, Newton?”
“Long story.”
“I’ve got time.”
Newton started to explain about his family history and Alex nudged Avery, whispering in her ear. “I’m thinking of leaving El and Reuben here tonight. Can I come back to yours?”
“Of course,” she stuttered, feeling a rush of pleasure that he’d asked.
“Cool,” he said, and leaned a little closer, the warmth of his skin against hers making her tingle. He pointed at the hidden spell in the back of Briar’s book. “Briar’s book is all about healing, of course, but there are some interesting earth spells, too. This hidden spell, the one we think may be the binding spell, seems to tie the spell to a certain spot.”
“Does it? How?” Avery leaned closer, pushing her hair behind her ears.
“This part here.” Alex pointed to a line. “The place within the centre of the pentagram, there shall the binding be strongest, rooted to the earth, anchored by the elements, for all of time as the spell desires.”
“Within the pentagram? What pentagram?”
“Well, that’s the big question, isn’t it?” he said, his gaze travelling down to her lips. “Do you think we can get away with leaving now?”
She flushed and grinned. “I don’t think so.”
“Go on. You know you want to.” He smiled mischievously.
“You’re a very bad influence,” she whispered back, a thrill of anticipation running through her.
“I know. Fun, though.” Alex looked up at Briar, interrupting her conversation with Newton. “Do you think Reuben will wake tonight?”
“I hope not. I’m hoping a long, natural sleep will help him heal. Sorry Alex, you’ve lost your bed for the night.”
“In that case, I’m taking Avery back home, and you two can leave when you’re ready. I’m going to let El sleep here, too.”
Briar’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked between Alex and Avery, and then a smile spread across her face. “Fair enough. I’ll hang around for another hour or two, just in case there’s a problem, and then I’ll go home, too.”
Newton looked speculatively at Alex and Avery, and then back to Briar. “I’ll wait with you, Briar, and then take you home. In fact, from now on, we should all keep an eye on each other.”
“Er, okay,” Briar agreed, “thank you.”
“That reminds me,” Alex said, rising to his feet. “Me and Reuben had been thinking about a design of some runes that can hide us from Faversham. The only thing is, it needs to be a tattoo for full protection. Interested?”
Newton frowned. “For me as well?”
“You’re part of the team now. You’re as much at risk as the rest of us.”
“I’ll think on it.”
“Me, too,” Briar said.
“Good.” Alex pulled Avery to her feet. “Give me a couple of minutes, and I’m good to go.”
