16. Chapter Sixteen
I couldn’t stay in my apartment. Firstly, Orla had indeed turned it into a greenhouse. All of the plants were alive again and all of them had grown; I was more than a little taken aback at the sight of greenery covering every surface. Secondly – and more importantly – the emotions were too much. They were mostly positive, but they were absolutely battering me. There was so much love – so much joy and relief billowed from the family that I had to hold myself up against the wall.
After a while the joy faded and guilt started to come through, the guilt Simone and Barrie felt at leaving Orla. Orla’s residual fear was snaking through me, too, for even though her parents were home, the body can hold onto dark emotions for years. I knew that, and now she would too; she would never forget those nine days where terror, grief and bewilderment had dictated her every moment.
It had been a long time since I’d felt anything that strong – and the poor little boy in the icy house had already given my emotions a magical walloping. I really couldn’t cope with any more right now.
One thing this brush with death had taught me was that I might no longer live in Witchlight Cove, but magic wasn’t done with me – and I couldn’t afford to be done with it. From here on out, I was going to practise shielding. One day I’d have to return home and I couldn’t be crippled by my vulnerability; Mum and Dad would have been ashamed of me. Some protector I was.
I needed to practise my shielding every day, as I had when I was a kid. After my parents had died I hadn’t had the will to do it, and I’d been battered and bruised by the grief of our magical community. It was one of the reasons why I’d had to leave my home. During that period of grief and apathy practising shielding had seemed pointless, but now I knew otherwise. I had given up – and Mum would have kicked my ass if she’d been alive.
I hoped it was Orla’s parents’ guilt that was riding me but I suspected it was actually my own. I could leave Witchlight, I could abandon the eternal flame, but I couldn’t make magic leave me no matter what I did.
I needed to get away so I mumbled some sort of excuse and tumbled out of the tiny apartment. As I headed outside, I felt a presence following me so closely I could almost feel her fur brushing against my ankle. Tears welled behind my eyelids; I was absurdly grateful for her presence.
I burst out into the fresh air, sat on the ground and leaned back against the cedar tree that had led Orla to me. The puppy wriggled and cavorted on my lap, as if staying still was too much to ask of her. She made me smile.
‘Well, that was an adventurous first day together, wasn’t it, pup?’ I said.
Her head snapped to the side as I once again referred to her without a proper moniker. Even if I hadn’t been able to feel her emotions, I’d have known what she was thinking.
‘You know what I said,’ I told her reluctantly. ‘I can’t give you a name because that’s an owner’s job. You know that, right?’ She lifted her paws and placed them on my knees then looked into my eyes so soulfully that her feelings shot right to my trembling, cowardly heart.
‘It’s not that I don’t want to,’ I said, hoping she could feel the truth in my words. ‘I always wanted a dog when I was growing up and I used to imagine the names I’d give them – Doug the Pug, Daniel the Spaniel, Eva the Retriever.’
As I spoke the last name, the puppy gave the loudest bark I’d ever heard from her. She bounced up and down and her tail whipped so hard on my leg that it stung. Love and excitement blasted from her.
It took me a second to realise why. ‘What? You’re a retriever? I know that. I was just saying… I wasn’t saying that was your name, I was just—’ I stopped.
We’d been together less than twenty-four hours – and they had been a hectic twenty-four hours, too, what with releasing her from captivity, the demon and the frost elf, not to mention the long car journey where she hadn’t even needed to stop for a break and all she’d had to eat had been a share of my cereal bars. Throughout it all, she hadn’t let out a single whine.
Then I remembered how I’d had my best night’s sleep in more than half a decade in my cold and rusty car just because she was next to me.
I sighed. There was no point denying it. I had bonded with her far more than I’d done with anyone or anything since I’d left Witchlight. It wasn’t the sort of bond that anyone from a non-magical family could ever forge. We had slayed demons together. Okay, there was only one, but still. How could I send her into the non-magical world after all the things she had seen? It wouldn’t be fair.
I realised that I wasn’t thinking about what was best for her, I was trying to convince myself because at that moment I wanted nothing more than to scoop her up, carry her up to the apartment and fall asleep with her on my chest.
Would that really be so bad? I had gone long enough without real friendship and love, and I was willing to bet it was the same for her; she’d been born in a puppy mill for goodness’ sake and locked in cage from the moment she was born.
As I looked down at her, I felt a smile twisting the corner of my lips. ‘Eva, then. Eva my retriever. You’re okay with that?’ She wagged her tail again and gave a sharp bark as she bounced up and licked me on the cheek.
‘Eww! I’ll take that as a yes,’ I said, laughing as I wiped away her doggie spit. I opened my arms and she jumped into them. As we cuddled, she snuffled her little head into my pocket and pulled out my keychains with her teeth.
‘Hey,’ I objected. ‘Give me back my keys, you little pickpocket!’
She blithely ignored me and trotted over to where Rosie the Rustbucket was parked. ‘You want to go for a drive?’ I asked.
She barked once, chased her tail for a moment then pointedly pawed at Rosie again.
‘Why not?’ I murmured. I could give the elves some privacy, and I really needed to get some supplies for Eva: dog food, collar, lead. Some toys.
Treats.
I opened the passenger door and climbed in. Eva hopped in after me. I was going to make sure she was the most spoiled dog in the world; after all, she’d already saved me from a demon and if that didn’t deserve treats, what did?
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Here's a sneak peak at the blurb!
PI by day, reluctant witch by necessity—Beatrix has a case to crack and a legacy to reclaim.
I walked away from my magic, my past, and the home I was born to protect. For the last decade, I’ve been scraping by as a PI in the non-magical world, solving human problems and ignoring the legacy that should have been mine. My magic is barely worth mentioning—unless you count my ability to sense emotions, which is frequently about as useful as a chocolate teapot.
Then my best friend breaks into my flat with a desperate plea, and suddenly, I’m heading back to Witchlight Cove—a hidden magical town on the British coast I swore I’d never see again.
The Eternal Flame, an enigmatic magic that protects the town, has vanished. A ruthless property developer is circling my family home like a vulture. And a poisoning at the village fête proves there’s something far worse lurking in the shadows. If I don’t figure out what’s going on, I’ll lose everything—not just my inheritance, but the only people I’ve ever called family.
With my fiercely loyal retriever by my side, a murder to solve, and a smug, insufferably attractive rival getting under my skin, Witchlight Cove is about to test me in ways I never imagined.
Some legacies can’t be escaped. Some flames refuse to die.