by R K Dreaming
I stared at her suspiciously.
“You thought what?” I said.
Her cheeks went pink. “Well…” She cleared her throat and looked at me anxiously. “Don’t be mad. I thought you might prefer me not bringing granny into this. A Westbrim in a prison cell! She would have been furious…”
Her voice trailed off again.
“And?” I asked, looking at her with a feeling of mounting horror.
“And so I told Agent Constantine that, er, that you’d just been through a difficult illness and a bad breakup with your husband and it had all been too much for you…”
She screwed up her face as if it was painful to have to admit she had done this.
I clapped my hands to my cheeks in sheer mortification.
Darn right she should be screwing up her face. She knew how mad this would make me.
“I can’t believe you told him that!” I hissed at her.
Oh my gosh! Chris Constantine had just been told that I was a pathetic loser.
I cringed at the thought of it.
“I can’t believe you told him that,” I said again.
“I’m so sorry,” she wailed. “I didn’t know what else to say to him. I thought if I explained why you were acting out and that you weren’t normally like that, maybe he would take pity on you.”
I covered my face with my hands. “Oh Allegra, why couldn’t you have come up with something else?”
My insides were squirming. It was mortifying knowing that Chris Constantine knew what had happened with the breakdown of my marriage. I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me. No wonder he had looked at me with that pitying look in his eyes.
My insides squirmed harder.
“I’m so sorry,” said Allegra reaching for my hands to squeeze them. “But it worked, didn’t it? I thought it wouldn’t because he didn’t say anything, and then he went to interview Oberon Senior, and then he let him go and I was really angry. But now I think maybe he made a deal with him to drop the charges, because then he went and let you out of there immediately afterwards.”
“What?” I gasped in astonishment. “You mean he let Oberon Senior out? That vampire killed Lily! It had to be him. I can’t believe he just let him go like that!”
I was shocked, and more than a little bit angry. Not at Allegra. Just at life.
My shoulders sagged. I was tired too. It had been a long night. Quite frankly all I wanted to do was go home and collapse in to bed and not think at all about the oncoming dawn.
In fact, now that I had thought of the dawn, all I wanted to do on Earth was get the heck out of this police station in case Agent Constantine changed his mind and decided to lock me up again.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said, and hustled the other two out of the door.
* * *
“I can’t believe he let him go,” I lamented again later, when we were back home in Mansion House.
Allegra had etherhopped me and Jasper back here.
When we’d opened the door, we had been greeted with the surreal vision of a yawning Aunt Adele with her ghostly hair in ghostly rollers and a ghostly nightcap on top of them floating towards us.
She’d told us that we simply must eat all of the things she had left out for us and she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
After making us some hot cocoa as if we were still children, she had floated off to bed, yawning widely.
I realised I was famished, and Allegra and Jasper must have been too, because we scoffed down all the food left out for us.
To my joy, it was not just cakes this time. She had made delicious little spiced lamb kebabs grilled on skewers, served with crispy salad and still warm fresh naan breads. It was exactly what I needed, the lamb in particular.
I stuffed the last juicy morsel in my mouth and savoured it.
Perhaps more red meat would help put a stop to all of my cravings, I thought interestedly. It was something I was going to have to explore.
Jasper and Allegra were yawning. “Do you two want to stay the night?” I asked them.
Allegra shook her head. But she looked really tired. She was disguising a yawn behind her hand.
It hit me that it probably hadn’t been very safe for the three of us to etherhop together when she had been so tired. Ether-fraying was something that witches and wizards lived in horror of.
“Actually, that’s not even a question,” I said firmly. “Of course you two are staying. Allegra, I can’t have you etherhopping anywhere again tonight. Not until after you’ve had some sleep.”
I took them up to my tower, to the guest bedrooms which were below my own floor. Together we managed to find some bed linens and make up the beds, and I bid them good night.
I left them with Allegra helping Jasper brush his teeth with magic from her wand, since I had no spare toothbrushes. They were giggling as I walked out, and bursts of foam kept flying out of his mouth.
I slept like the dead, and woke up in the morning feeling possibly more tired than I had felt when I’d gone to bed.
After getting ready for the day, I went downstairs to find Jasper and Allegra in the kitchen trying to help Aunt Adele make breakfast.
“No, no, no,” she was saying. “Now will you two leave me in peace and go and sit down and wait while I finish this off?”
Allegra caught sight of me. “You’re up!” she said excitedly, and came over to hug me as if she hadn’t seen me in weeks.
“Morning,” I said sleepily.
I was very glad when Aunt Adele thrust a cup of steaming coffee in my hands. It was exactly what I needed.
When Jasper and Allegra looked like they were going to go in to the café, I quickly shook my head.
“I can’t face all that light,” I grumbled, as if I was too sleepy for it. “Let’s go to the family lounge instead.”
This sunlight situation was becoming dire. I couldn’t even spend normal time indoors with my family. I needed to find a cure desperately and soon.
In fact, as soon as I got rid of Allegra and Jasper, I intended to do what Aunt Adele had told me to do all along and go up to the Black Tower to beg the ghosts to let me take a look in the family grimoire.
We got to the family lounge to find it dim in there. All the curtains were still drawn.
When Allegra went to open them, I said, “No. The sunlight hurts my eyes.”
She lit up the chandelier high above instead with her wand, lighting only half the candles to keep things fairly dim. “Is that okay?”
“I wish I could do that,” I said enviously, looking up at it. I’d always been forced to use a lantern or light the wall sconces, being unable to reach the chandelier.
And I was always having to search for matchsticks in this place. I still hadn’t been brave enough to do even the smallest of spells.
I was going to have to stop being a wimp and just embrace the witching lifestyle in Brimstone. But I was worried. Either my paltry magic would make me feel crap, which was an embarrassing thing to admit to myself. Or once I started using even a little magic, I might realise what I’d been missing and be tempted to use it when I got home to London.
I was happy with who I was, wasn’t I? I had carved a life out for myself without having to use magic at all.
Allegra was looking at me with concern. “You don’t look right. I should have known you weren’t recovered yet. We should get Healer Haldi to take a look at you.”
“No!” I said quickly. “I feel fine. And you know I don’t like a fuss.”
But just then I went into a coughing fit. Jasper had taken a seat at the piano and opened the lid, sending a plume of dust into the air. I’d caught the brunt of it and inhaled a lungful.
“Sorry!” he said.
“See!” she said.
“It’s the dust,” I protested. Then to distract her, I blurted the first thing that came into my mind. “So, you’ve met Chris Constantine then. What did you think?”
She frowned. “I was hardly going to be admiring
him when he was busy arresting you.”
“Don’t give me that. I know you’re single and ready to mingle. Tell me you didn’t think he was as cute as in his movies?”
She smirked. “Cuter.”
Jasper started picking out a tune on the piano. We both stopped talking to listen. It was lovely and very familiar, though I couldn’t put my finger on what it was until he started singing.
“If you say 'Come with me off to Brimstone Bay Beach'…”
His voice was deep and lovely.
“Then to Brimstone Bay Beach we will go,” Allegra sang with him.
Her expression brightened. She went to sit beside him to continue their duet.
Allegra had a beautiful singing voice and so did Jasper. I could have listened to them forever.
When they were finished I cheered. “Yay!” And clapped my hands as Allegra blushed and laughed.
Jasper gave her a high-five, and I could have sworn she blushed harder.
As if sensing my scrutiny, she quickly got off the stool from beside him and asked him, “What prompted that?”
He raised an eyebrow. Shrugging one shoulder, he said teasingly, “You know… The two of you are as good as sisters… And one is a writer…?”
All his pauses for effect were having no impact on Allegra who was looking at him in consternation.
He continued, “A handsome young man comes into both of your lives… You start discussing how attractive he is…”
I threw a cushion at him. “If you’re implying that we are little women, I will have you know that we are no such thing as little, thanks very much.”
Jasper laughed and caught the cushion. He threw it back at me.
“Pfft!” said Allegra. “Mr High and Mighty Chris Constantine is a non-entity in my life.”
“That’s what they all say,” he said with a grin.
“Ha!” I said. “High and mighty is exactly what I think he is. Captain Villain calls him Mr Fancy Pants.”
Jasper burst into laughter. “I hope he doesn’t have a nickname for me.”
“You wish.”
“Maybe he’s just taking his time,” said Jasper. “I would hate to think I was beneath his notice.”
Allegra rounded on me. “Don’t you be changing the topic, Esme Westbrim. I haven’t forgotten that I wanted to take you to see Healer Haldi. You were acting very oddly last night.”
“Oh that!” I said. “I felt odd after I had that drink that Lorcan Hardwick was going to give you. And he would have succeeded if Petra hadn’t taken it away and handed it to me instead.”
Her mouth dropped open. “No!”
“Yes,” I said. “Have you done anything to annoy Lorcan recently?”
“Not that I know of. “ She scowled. “That cheeky little so and so. He’s taking a trick out of his sister’s book. Remember how she tried to spike our drinks at that Halloween party back at school?”
I nodded.
Jasper looked doubtful. “I don’t know. Lorcan Hardwick is a pretty decent guy. He wouldn’t play a prank like that.”
“How well do you know him?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Well enough. We’ve hung out sometimes over the years.”
“I’m pretty sure he did put something in that drink,” I said. “You heard me running my mouth last night. I couldn’t stop babbling. I don’t usually say stupid things like that. At least I hope not!”
Jasper looked thoughtful. “I have heard that the Hardwicks and the Westbrims don’t get along—”
Allegra and I burst into laughter.
“That’s an understatement,” she said.
“The family feud is centuries long and will probably last another few centuries at this rate,” I said.
“Yeah, I’m beginning to see that,” he said. “You don’t really think that he is so mad at you for inheriting the castle that he is actually trying to harm you, do you?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I didn’t actually see him put anything into the drink, but it’s just that I felt ill afterwards and I felt a bit… You know, like I had lost my inhibitions a bit. I couldn’t stop saying that stuff even though it was going to get me in trouble. Maybe Lorcan just wanted to make a fool out of me.”
“Or out of me,” said Allegra. “Either Westbrim would do. Which just goes to show he’s a Hardwick to the core. What a dirty little trick. I would have thought he’d outgrown stuff like that by now.”
“But he didn’t seem to dislike either of you,” said Jasper. “And it was he and his buddies who came over to join us.”
“Yeah, but that was clearly Oberon’s doing,” said Allegra. “Me thinks young Oberon has a little crush on you, Esme.”
I snorted. “I hardly think so. Oberon is nice. I like him, but not that way. I’m pretty sure he feels the same. He’s so easy-going. He likes everyone.”
“I don’t think so,” she said thoughtfully. “Oberon isn’t the sort who chases after all of the girls, unlike some people.” She gave Jasper a dirty look.
“Hey!” he protested.
I nodded. “Oberon seemed pretty hung up on Lily to me. And totally heartbroken.”
“If he was heartbroken, he wouldn’t be out partying within days of her death,” said Allegra.
I shook my head. “Petra told me she’s been trying to cheer him up. She’s been forcing him to come out. And anyway, I think Oberon wanted to hang out with us because he’s confided in me and Jasper. We know how he feels.”
“Aaw, that’s sweet,” she said coming to sit beside me and put her arm around me. “I hate to say this, but he is still a vampire. You know how people in this town are, and it is not just granny. The whole witch and vampire thing is still taboo. Even as just friends. Oberon is a nice guy, but he’s still a vampire.”
I scowled. “He’s a dhampire, not a vampire. And he’s different. Everyone likes him.”
To my shock, Jasper was nodding in agreement with Allegra.
“A dhampire can still turn a witch into a vampire,” he said. “The more a person hangs out with a vampire, the more of a risk they’ll fall under the vampire’s Mesmerism. Even we baena believe in the prophecy of Nosferatu…”
His voice trailed off because I was giving him a dirty look. “But I thought you liked Oberon!”
He nodded. “I do. I’m just saying what other people might be thinking.”
“This is exactly why I left Brimstone Bay,” I said angrily. “Everyone is always sticking their noses into things that are none of their business. It’s this small town mentality.”
“Or you could think of it as people trying to watch out for each other,” said Allegra.
“After all, Brimstone Bay is unique,” said Jasper. “And we have our own unique set of problems.”
I threw the cushion at him again, harder this time. “Look at you, being all sensible and adult-like.”
He smirked. “I can do that sometimes. But not too often. I’ve got a reputation to protect.”
His fingers played a jaunty little tune over the piano keys.
He stopped when Allegra spoke. “The lesson we’ve learned from now on is never take a drink from any of the Hardwicks. Not even Mr Butter Wouldn’t Melt In His Mouth Lorcan. Agreed?”
I nodded. “Agreed.”
“Good,” she said briskly. Then added, “Are your showers always cold in the mornings?”
“Oh,” I said, flushing. “Sorry about that. It’s just that now Aunt Adele is a ghost I suppose she hasn’t thought of things like that and I didn’t want to trouble her.”
The water heating system in this place ran off magic, since there was no electricity. And it was no longer working.
“Oh Esme!” said Allegra, looking upset. “Why didn’t you tell me? It’s no wonder you’ve been unable to shake off this virus!”
She stood up and looked around with a frown, as if trying to spot more issues I had not told her about.
Her eyes paused on the fine layer of dust on the surfaces. Clearly things had go
ne a little downhill since Aunt Adele had died. And I’d had other things to worry about rather than cleaning. I flushed.
“She’s very house-proud, you know,” I said defensively. “She’s been busy every day starting up her café business again. She’s always up at nights going to and fro tidying things away. She just hasn’t got around to it in here. And clearly neither have I.”
“You’ve been sick,” Allegra said.
“I’ve been a lazy sod.”
“Right!” she said.
“Woah,” I said. “No need to agree so enthusiastically.”
It turned out she had been deciding on a course of action rather than commenting on my dusting routine.
“I’m going to fix that heating and make this place clean and cosy for you, but first I am going to find you some fairy-flickers. Aunt Adele must have some lying around the place.”
“I don’t need them,” I protested. “Honestly. I’m fine with lighting candles.”
Fairy-flickers were festive lights made from fairy cocoons.
“Nonsense,” she said. “Why bother when I can enchant the flickers to follow you around to wherever you want them to go? That’ll be lovely!”
Allegra had spent half of our teenage years inventing ways to get around my lack of magic. It seemed she wasn’t done yet.
“Really Allegra, I don’t need help. I’m perfectly fine as I am.”
But she wouldn’t listen and marched off towards the kitchen to ask Aunt Adele whether she had any flickers.
“She’s a very take-action sort of person, isn’t she?” Jasper commented.
I glared at him. “Did you just call my cousin bossy?”
He threw his hands up into the air as if warding off bullets, and chuckled. “Absolutely not. I would never say anything bad about the Westbrim cousins.”
“I should think so,” I said.
“She’s very good with her wand,” he commented.
I looked at him suspiciously. “You’d better not be wondering what other things she’s good with. You keep your mitts off my cousin until your lady-killing days are over.”
He grimaced at the word lady-killing.
“Message received,” he said. “And anyway, what makes you think I’m chasing after your cousin? Maybe I’m not done chasing after you yet.”
