Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
T he next morning, Esme woke up to find Luke’s body pressed against her back, one of his arms curled protectively around her torso. She stretched, feeling at home in her own body in a way she couldn’t remember ever experiencing before.
‘Morning, beautiful.’ Luke’s voice was a low rumble and it set off a chain reaction of pleasurable sensations. Esme couldn’t even bring herself to tease him for being suave.
She tried to reach for some water, but Luke growled and pulled her close.
‘I’ll have morning breath,’ she objected, snuggling back against him for a delicious moment.
He kissed her neck. ‘I don’t care.’ Then he moved and reached across her to retrieve the glass. ‘But you’ve reminded me about mine.’ He drank some water and then offered the glass to Esme.
Lying back down, facing each other, Luke’s expression was warm and his eyes had a softness that she realised he reserved for her. A balloon of happiness inflated in her chest.
‘Are you all right? About last night?’
‘Definitely,’ Esme said. She wondered whether they had time for a re-run before Luke had to go and open the shop.
A small crease had appeared on Luke’s forehead. ‘I don’t want you to think I expect…’
She stopped him with a kiss. And then another. Answering him without words.
Lewis awoke, disorientated and groggy, in the early hours. Bee told him he was safe and that he could go back to sleep. She knew that she had an unthreatening appearance, and was sitting up to guard him from Lucy’s interest. Diana was in her room, keeping away. To a boy like him, she probably looked like a grandmother, and she hoped that was a soothing image for him. He glared around at the room for a little while, but then his heavy eyelids got the better of him and he fell back to sleep.
When he woke again in the morning, she made him coffee and toast. He asked her practical questions. Where was he? How had he got here? Bee said as little as possible. She was tired from sitting guard all night and the worry over Tobias’s absence was dragging on her mind. She had more important things to deal with than babysitting a criminal.
‘Your brother lives here,’ she said. ‘He has been looking for you and I called in a favour to find you. You can go and see Luke now, if you like.’
Now that she had confirmed he was alive and awake, Bee wanted the boy out of her house. The longer he stayed, the bigger the chance that Lucy would find him, and it was impossible to know how she would react.
After Luke had left to open the bookshop, Esme showered and got dressed. She returned to the book of retrieval spells, determined to make headway. Now that her mind was free from worry over Luke, she felt clear and focused. And there was a new confidence, too. In all her fears of getting closer to Luke, of opening herself up to the possibility of rejection, she hadn’t realised one essential truth – the payoff outweighed the risk. She smiled as she replayed the previous night. Being with Luke. Really with Luke. Definitely worth it.
So much for focus, she thought, gently chiding herself to get back on task. The book had spells for finding small objects like lost keys and less prosaic ones for ‘rekindling lost affection’ or ‘regaining memories’. There wasn’t a spell specifically for returning a person, but there was one for a lost cat. ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained,’ she said out loud.
Jet, who was stretched on the kitchen floor, stopped rolling for long enough to give her a slow blink.
Esme fetched a length of blue fishing rope. She kept a reel for garden use, but didn’t see why it wouldn’t be suitable for magic. It would be better if it was dark or a new moon, but Esme was pretty sure that her intention and focus were the main ingredients. She sat on the kitchen floor and drew a rough circle in chalk on the tiles. She placed pebbles at each of the four compass points. It ought to be candles, but something told her that she needed to invoke the island.
She held the rope in both hands and quietened her mind, conjuring the image of Tobias as clearly as possible. She pictured his kind face, tweed clothes, and the way he leaned on his walking stick when he paused on a walk to chat with her.
Then she began tying knots in the rope, making sure she worked from the end furthest away towards herself. It was important that the knots were pulling Tobias to her and not pushing him away.
By the third knot, her eyes were firmly closed and the image of Tobias was getting more detailed. She could have sworn that she could sense the stones that she had placed around the circle. The island was watching, willing her on.
The knots were getting more difficult to tie. The rope felt slippery and uncooperative, as if there was a weight at the far end, preventing her from making the necessary loops. Her fingers burned as she struggled with the rope and finally her eyes flew open, the image of Tobias disappearing as if torn away. The stones had gone quiet.
Spring was still a long way off on the island, and Hammer had his jacket done up against the sleet-filled wind, thick boots and a woolly hat pulled low on his head. He had left Winter lying in front of his stove. The dog had barely lifted his head when Hammer had asked him if he wanted to go for a ‘walk’. He thought that was the magic word for dogs, and was now wondering whether it was possible for a dog to have depression. What he knew, but was refusing to think about, was that Winter was pining for Tobias. It made him feel sad, but that translated to him wanting to kick the world in the bollocks. Anger was familiar. Anger felt safe.
There was a familiar figure on the street, increasing Hammer’s annoyance with the world. That good-looking bastard Luke grinned at him with a shit-eating smile. ‘Morning.’
‘What the fuck are you looking so happy about? I thought you were off on the mainland? Didn’t you go to play detective with the criminal pals of your waste of space brother?’
The smile didn’t dim. It got wider, lop-sided and knowing. Hammer treated himself to a little daydream of punching Luke Taylor in the face. He was a resident now, it was true, and he had proved himself trustworthy enough. So he probably should restrain himself. For the moment. If he took a single tiny step out of place, though. If he even looked like he was going to hurt Esme…
‘Lovely day for a stroll,’ Luke said, one eyebrow raised.
There was a mocking edge to Luke’s voice. More than usual. Hammer wondered if he had started to read minds. He grunted in response and made to walk on.
Luke seemed to be in a chatty mood, he reversed his direction to walk with Hammer. ‘I’m heading to work.’
‘Good for you,’ Hammer replied.
‘You’re not heading there?’
‘Why would I be going to the bookshop?’
‘You look like a scholar.’
Hammer stopped. Something was off. He always found Luke Taylor annoying, but there had been an uneasy truce after he had helped him out with a situation. He knew the man didn’t like owing him a favour, he wasn’t stupid, and maybe that was playing on his mind. ‘I might pop in, after all,’ he said slowly.
Luke waited until Hammer started moving before joining him. Like he was being weirdly polite all of a sudden.
They turned down Widdershins Wynd in silence. The wind dropped in the shelter of the narrow lane, revealing the sound of gulls calling. The grey cloud had lifted and the sky was a slice of blue above the stone cottages.
Hammer waited for Luke to unlock the shop.
Luke was staring at the building like he had never seen the place before. ‘Never thought I would own a bookshop. It’s a decent size, too.’ He stepped to the side. ‘After you.’
‘You didn’t lock up?’ He spoke as he tried the handle on the door.
It turned and opened just as Luke said ‘nah’.
Hammer hadn’t been back in the bookshop since he had helped Luke to repair the floorboards. The smell of dry paper and warm wood filled his senses, and he felt the ever-present knot of tension between his shoulders loosen.
He eased through the narrow corridor to the front room.
‘Bloody hell,’ Luke said from behind him.
The lights were flickering.
‘Be right with you,’ a voice called from deeper in the building. Luke’s voice.
Hammer turned in confusion. Luke was behind him, that strange ‘aw shucks’ grin on his face. But his voice had come from further away.
Luke appeared, trailing one hand along the shelves as he walked, as if soothing them.
He stopped when he saw Hammer and the man Hammer now realised must be his twin brother. ‘Look who I found. A lost lamb.’
‘Surprise,’ Lewis said, raising a hand as if planning a little wave and then lowering it again.
Hammer wondered what he had seen in his brother’s face. As far as he could tell, Luke looked blank. ‘Well, isn’t this cosy,’ he said. ‘I’ll leave you two to catch up.’
‘Don’t go,’ Luke said. ‘Might need your professional opinion.’
Hammer hesitated. He didn’t like Luke Taylor much, but he was the Book Keeper. If The Book Keeper was asking for help, Hammer knew that Tobias would want him to stand guard.
‘We should go outside,’ Luke said. He cast a quick look at the bookshelves. His hand patted the nearest one.
Lewis’s face darkened. ‘You saying I’m not welcome?’
‘Pub,’ Luke said. His voice was strangely robotic and his expression was still blank. Hammer knew he had been looking for his brother for over a year and guessed he was in shock. It didn’t look like a happy surprise.