“Shall we take it with us or just photograph the pertinent chapters?” she asked, opening the book to see that it truly was the one we wanted.
“We’ll take it with us,” Kane stated. “I don’t care if he notices it’s gone. It belongs to the library, and he stole it first. Let’s go.”
We’d reached the door when my phone rang. “Palmer is approaching the house.”
Everyone tensed. We looked around frantically, but there was nowhere for us to go, and nowhere in the flat to hide. Only one set of stairs led up to Jack’s flat.
“Shall I stop him?” Ashley asked, but Kane shook his head.
“No, let him come up.”
I gave him a wide-eyed stare, but he exited the flat calmly, closing the door behind us. With a couple of gestures, he replaced the wards he and Giselle had taken quite some time to unravel.
Handy.
Instead of heading down, he took a stance in front of the door, holding the book securely against his side. It didn’t take long for Jack’s steps to approach. In a few moments, he appeared on the landing below us. He glanced up, and stumbled to a halt.
“What the fuck?”
Kane showed him the book. “I’m taking this back.”
“You broke into my home?”
“Feel free to take the matter to the police,” Kane said with a sneer.
Anger marred Jack’s handsome features and he squeezed his hand into a fist. When he opened it again, there was a ball of blue fire on it. My heart jumped in fright.
“You’d torch your own home just to get to us?”
“Might be worth it.”
“Let me remind you that you can’t attack me,” Kane said, sounding amazingly calm.
“I can always attack the women.”
Kane straightened, his muscles tensing. I could practically feel his anger brushing against my skin. I’d seen his temper, but never this furious.
“You do that … and I’ll end you.”
The threat was the more terrifying for how calmly he delivered it. Jack ground his teeth together, but the fireball disappeared.
“It seems we’re at impasse,” he said. “I can’t let you descend these steps with the book, and you’re blocking the entrance to my home.”
A growl reverberated from the stairs below him, making the small hairs in my body shoot up in primal fear. Jack jumped around, almost tripping. Ashley—or the wolf that she’d become—stepped onto the landing, snarling.
Jack retreated to the corner, slowly sinking down against the wall, leaning tightly to it as if making sure the wolf couldn’t get him from behind, his knees curled in front of him to block the soft parts of his stomach.
Kane nodded. “We’ll be leaving, then.”
My legs weren’t as steady as they could’ve been when I followed Kane down the stairs, past Jack who was staring at us with eyes so wide the whites stood out.
I couldn’t resist a sneer at him, although I had to steel my spine to slip past Ashley. I knew it was her, but the sheer size of the wolf made me fear for my life. It didn’t help that she snarled at us too when we slinked past.
I didn’t pause until I was back on the street again. My shoulders slumped in relief and my knees were tottery.
“That went … well.”
Kane looked grim. “It wasn’t flawless, but we got what we came here for. I’ll go get the car.”
It took me a moment to figure out why we couldn’t just walk there. We couldn’t let a bloody big wolf wander around a residential neighbourhood in the middle of the day.
Good thing we hadn’t taken the Jag. She would never have fit in it in her current form.
Then again, she wouldn’t have properly fit in her human form either.
Giselle, braver than me, waited with Ashley in the hall, ready to hide her with magic, and to make sure Jack didn’t sneak up on us. Although it was probably more for his safety than ours.
He might end up as Ashley’s lunch if he surprised the wolf.
Kane brought the car over and opened the door to the back. Giselle let the wolf out, following with her clothes, as Ashley hurried into the car. Kane closed the door behind her firmly.
We sighed collectively in relief when the wolf settled down on the floor of the boot. “We’d best get her home,” Giselle said. “It’ll take a while before she’ll be able to shift back at this time of day when it’s not even full moon.”
“But we need to stay to keep an eye on the house,” I pointed out, and Kane gave me a questioning look.
“Do you think Blackhart will come here?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think he lives here. There were no signs of another resident in Jack’s flat.”
Giselle nodded. “Only Jack’s.”
“But Jack might lead us to Blackhart,” I continued, “Or he might visit.”
Kane looked like he would argue, but Giselle made the decision for him. “I’ll take Ashley and the book home and return for you later.”
With that, she climbed behind the wheel and was soon driving down the street, leaving us staring after the car.
He shot me an amused look. “I guess we’re on a stakeout, then.”
A stakeout on a residential street would have been much easier if we’d had a car to wait in. There was nothing to hide behind, nothing to sit on. In our business clothes, we didn’t look out of place—unless you wondered why we were loitering on the street—but they weren’t exactly suitable for sculking in the bushes.
Not that there were bushes on this side of the house to sculk in. All the greenery had been saved for the back garden.
“How about the cellar?” I finally suggested. “We can keep an eye on the hallway from the steps if we crack the door there open.”
Kane opened the lock on the basement door with magic again, and soon we were climbing the concrete steps to the door that separated the cellar from the entrance hall. They were narrow and there was no room for the two of us, even if one of us hadn’t been spelled to repulse the other.
“Let’s take turns. I’ll take the first one.”
The relief on Kane’s face when he could retreat to the bottom of the steps really irked me. Maybe because we weren’t any closer to breaking the spell.
“I’d like to assure you that criminal activities aren’t considered part of your duties,” he said, sitting down on the bottom step, trying to find a comfortable position for his long legs. It would’ve been easier for him to sit on an upper step, but that would’ve brought him too close to me.
“This is a one-time exception and I’m sorry you were dragged into it.”
“Again,” I noted dryly. “So does that mean I won’t be paid for today’s work?”
The corners of his eyes crinkled as he grinned. “I would be a bad employer if I made you do burglary for free.”
I grinned too, happy that he wasn’t angry that I’d forced him this far out of his comfort zone.
“Maybe I could add this in my resumé as a skill…”
His mouth quirked. “Considering I did all the breaking and entering, you would be falsely advertising.”
“And you were good at it.” I heaved a sigh. “It would be really handy to learn some of your skills. Are you sure a mundane like me can’t be taught?”
“I’m afraid not.” He made a commiserating face. “The inner ability to manipulate the physics has to be there.”
Since he’d recently ended a secret society run by mages, i.e. Danielle and Blackhart, who were conning humans into thinking they could learn magic, I let the matter be.
He took out his phone and began to go through his emails. I took out mine too. Just because we weren’t at the office didn’t mean the work didn’t need doing, but I had to keep an eye on the hallway and couldn’t let my attention waver.
Nothing happened. Clearly everyone living here had somewhere to be during the day, and no one was home. There were no deliveries, or even a mailman making rounds. I was bored before an hour had gone by, and my bottom
was starting to go numb on the cold step.
I stood up to stretch my legs and get the blood flowing again.
“Do you want to switch?”
My attention on the door, Kane’s voice right behind me made me jump. My leg slipped and I would have fallen down the stairs if he hadn’t managed to wrap his arms around me.
I clung to him, my heart beating in fright. He held me tightly, momentarily ignoring how sick I made him, until an involuntary shudder ran through him. Reluctantly, I detached myself.
“Thanks.” My voice was breathless. “I was just stretching my legs.”
He studied me, his blue eyes full of concern. “I don’t mind taking a turn.”
I could have continued my watch, but he clearly wanted to switch places, so I nodded.
I turned to descend the stairs—carefully—when the front door buzzed, indicating that the lock was being remotely opened.
We froze, unable to breathe, as the front door was pushed open and someone walked in. My mouth dropped when I recognised her.
Ida.
She didn’t glance in our direction but headed briskly up the stairs. We waited until we were sure she couldn’t hear us before we let ourselves relax. We shared baffled stares.
“She really took the breakup to heart, if she’s sacrificing her lunch for this,” I said, pleased. “I hope she can talk some sense into Jack.”
“It might be difficult, considering that his actions weren’t caused by the young couple.”
He was right, but I held on to the hope. I didn’t care all that much about Olivia’s happiness, but she could make my life difficult if things didn’t go her way.
“Mind you, my life would be a tad less complicated if the wedding stayed off,” I noted, remembering what I’d meant to tell him earlier. His brows shot up.
“How so?”
“The wedding was supposed to be held the day we have the auction.”
He blinked. Then the corner of his mouth curled up in amusement. “I’m sure we could’ve managed just with Mrs Walsh this once.”
My dismay on his careless dismissal of my importance must have shown, because he laughed and pulled me into a hug—a real, spontaneous show of … I don’t know, affection? Amusement?
It ended before it had properly begun, because of the spell—and because he suddenly remembered we didn’t hug. He cleared his throat, acutely awkward, like only a proper Englishman could be.
“Sorry about that.”
“No problem,” I said, breathless again, but not for fright this time. When Kane forgot to behave like a Victorian gentleman, he was really … charming.
The sounds of two people approaching down the stairs startled us to action. Kane closed the door to the hallway and pointed at me to descend to the cellar, following right behind me. We hurried out and were peering around the corner of the house when Jack and Ida exited.
They were talking animatedly about something, but neither of them looked angry or disappointed. Maybe their discussion had gone well, short though it had been.
Fingers crossed.
Jack walked Ida across the street to her car—or maybe it was his, because he gave her the key. He held the door open for her, but they stood there talking for a few more minutes.
Then she reached up, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her tightly against his body. And then they kissed.
Passionately.
Chapter Fifteen
My legs lost their integrity and I leaned heavily against Kane, not caring whether he could handle it or not.
“I did not see that coming…”
I fought to keep the contents of my stomach down, though I don’t know why. I wasn’t in love with Jack. I wasn’t even attracted to him anymore. He could kiss whomever he wanted.
But Ida…
I had thought she was sincere with me when she warned me about Jack. She hadn’t indicated in any way that she might be interested in him, let alone deeply involved with him.
Why would she do that? What game was she playing?
Kane cleared his throat. “I’m sorry.”
That brought me back to my surroundings enough to stand on my own legs. He was getting better at not showing his revulsion, but I could see the lines around his mouth ease when I stepped away.
“It’s not about Jack,” I explained. “I’d sort of thought Ida could be my friend. But she kept this to herself. Allowed him to flirt with me at the engagement party and didn’t comment at all when I went out with him. And why did he ask me out if he’s with her?”
Other than that he truly was a womaniser. But what sort of a woman watched from the side and encouraged such behaviour?
I know what my reaction had been when I learned Troy had been cheating on me.
Kane patted me on the shoulder, a bit clumsily. “I’m sorry about that, then.”
Ida and Jack ended the kiss. She got into the car and drove away, leaving him standing there, staring after the retreating vehicle. He had not looked at me with such longing, not even to pretend he was interested in me.
When the car had disappeared around the corner, he visibly shook himself. Then he headed resolutely up the street and turned towards the heath at the corner.
“Let’s follow,” I said to Kane, already going after him.
“What if he’s going for a jog?” he asked, catching up with me.
“Dressed like that?”
Jack was wearing the same business casual as when we’d encountered him in the hallway, jeans and a blazer with a chequered shirt. His leather Oxfords most assuredly weren’t meant for running.
I wouldn’t necessarily go for a walk in them either.
“He might be headed to Henry’s,” I said. “The family lives at the north-western edge of the heath.”
Whatever Ida had said to him must have been effective to get him to act immediately—and on foot, since he’d given her his car.
There were no trees blocking the view and we could easily see Jack, leisurely walking up the hill. But he wasn’t heading to where the Sanfords lived. He was walking towards the viewpoint at the top of the Parliament Hill.
“Why’s he heading there?” Kane asked bewildered.
“Instagram photos?” I suggested, half in jest, but I wondered the same. “Maybe he’s just crossing the heath.”
He shot me a sidelong look. “What could possibly draw him at the other side?”
I wasn’t familiar with Hampstead Heath, despite having climbed to the viewpoint myself a couple of times to watch London stretch below me. I took out my phone, opened the map app, and we paused to study it; we could see Jack from afar, and Kane had the spell tracking him too.
“He could still take another path north,” I said, but I didn’t really believe it, as it would be an odd detour. “Maybe he’s off to play tennis.” There were tennis courts on the eastern edge of the heath.
“Wouldn’t he be carrying some sort of equipment bag in that case?” Kane asked. But there were other possibilities.
“There are several restaurants and pubs on Highgate Road. Maybe he’s meeting Henry in one of them.”
“Or Blackhart.”
My heart jumped. I put the phone away and we followed Jack at a brisker pace, Kane’s considerably brisker than mine, thanks to his longer legs.
“What if he’s keeping tabs on me with his tracking spell and knows we’re here?” We were far enough behind him that even if he turned to look, he wouldn’t recognise us, but a spell was different.
“Do you feel the pressure on your neck?”
“No.”
“Then I’d say the chance is remote. And it’s not like we have a choice.”
The heath was large and there were a lot of people around, enjoying the day. Jack didn’t pause to speak with anyone, but headed resolutely down the hill to its east side, exiting onto Highgate Road. Hedges lined the park, blocking our view, and we hurried to catch up.
“I sense him continuing straight forward,” Kane said as we
reached the street. We looked around and spotted Jack on the other side of the busy street heading towards the residential area east of the heath. “There are no restaurants in that direction.”
“Maybe Blackhart lives there?” I suggested.
“Or someone wholly unrelated to this business,” Kane noted dryly, but he didn’t slow down. For a boring antiques dealer, he was really entering into the spirit of sleuthing.
The street turned uphill again, and despite my newly begun spin classes, I was starting to feel the strain of the long walk. To make matters worse, the fabulous leather boots that I loved turned out to pinch my feet when used for actual walking.
And still Jack went on.
A vast park spread on the right side of the street, and I hoped Jack wasn’t on a trek through local green spaces. It looked vaguely familiar, but it wasn’t until I spotted a large crypt that I recognised where we were.
“That’s Highgate Cemetery!”
It was a huge old place, with Victorian crypts and celebrity tombs, though I only knew Douglas Adams and Karl Marx. It was a tourist attraction and a nature reserve, a wild, beautiful place even in autumn, the foliage turning gold and red.
The gatehouse, a large limestone building from the 1830s, was further up the street on the western side, which was the older half of the cemetery. Under our baffled watch, Jack headed straight there.
“I did not see this coming,” Kane said, slowing down while Jack showed something at the gate and walked in.
“I thought the place was only open on weekends,” I mused. “Or with guided tours.”
We walked closer and a sign informed us that the East Cemetery was open every day, but the West Cemetery was open only for those who had family graves there.
Jack apparently did.
“I didn’t take him for a familial fellow.”
Kane’s eyes tightened at the corners as he studied the gatehouse. “Maybe something else is going on. Come on.”
He walked to the ticket booth and purchased us tickets to the East Cemetery. I didn’t demure and offer to pay mine. It was only four pounds, and I was here because of magic trouble.
I also didn’t point out that Jack had headed to the West Cemetery, because one couldn’t buy tickets there today.
Saved by the Spell. House of Magic 2. Page 12
