Loch Nessa

by Clare Kauter

  Ed put the phone on speaker and after a couple of rings Death answered.

  “Any news?” he asked.

  I cocked an eyebrow at Ed. “News?” I repeated.

  “I’m here with Nessa,” Ed said quickly.

  His hasty response did not escape my attention. “And Nessa would love to hear this news, too,” I said.

  “Evening, Nessa,” Death said smoothly. “How’s the case going?”

  “It’s fine,” I said. “I’m more interested in your news.”

  “I don’t have any news.”

  “Ed’s news, then.”

  “She wants to know if you’ve ferried her witch across to the afterlife,” Ed said, obviously trying to distract me.

  “Alora?” said Death.

  I sighed. “Yes, Alora.”

  “Haven’t seen her,” he said.

  “So she’s still alive?”

  “For now.”

  “Uh, excuse me?” I said, suddenly panicked. “What exactly does that mean? Do you know where she is?”

  “No idea,” said Death. “But I wouldn’t dilly dally.”

  “I wasn’t planning on it.”

  “So don’t go getting distracted.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’m not going to get distracted.”

  “Good,” said Death. “I’ve gotta go – Rupaul’s on. Ed, keep me posted on the other thing.”

  “What other thing?” I asked.

  “I thought you weren’t going to get distracted.”

  Death hung up and Ed slipped the phone back into his pocket. “OK, so we know she’s not dead. I think we should –”

  “Ed, if you think I missed that exchange between you and Death then you are sorely mistaken.”

  He sighed. “I didn’t think you’d missed it.”

  “I’m not going to let it go.”

  “I’m not going to explain it to you.”

  I crossed my arms. “Death’s got you doing a job for him, hasn’t he? That’s why you have his number,” I said thoughtfully.

  “Tell yourself that if it makes you feel better,” said Ed.

  “Tell me what Death’s up to.”

  “He’s not up to anything,” Ed lied. “Anyway, seeing as Death hasn’t seen her, that means she’s still alive. I think you should try scrying her.”

  “We already tried that back at the church,” I said. “That’s how we knew she was missing in the first place.”

  “You should still try doing it from here,” he said. “Maybe now that you’re closer it’ll be easier for you to see her.”

  I nodded. “I guess.”

  “I’ll help you,” said Ed. “Not quite as good as a whole coven, but it’s worth a go.”

  “I should ask the others to help,” I said. “For the extra boost.”

  Ed screwed up his nose. “We should try by ourselves first. If we can’t find her that way, then you can ask the others. No point waking them for no reason.”

  “Are you just looking for excuses to hang out with me?”

  He smiled. “Do you have a bowl?” We’d need some sort of receptacle to hold the liquid for scrying.

  I bit my lip. “No,” I replied. “Maybe there’s something in here we can use, otherwise we might have to raid the kitchen downstairs. I’ll try the ensuite.”

  While I was searching the bathroom, I heard Ed raiding the cupboards in the bedroom. There was a clang and then he said, “I’ve got it.”

  “Why do you sound so unenthusiastic?” I asked, emerging from the bathroom. “It was your idea to – is that a chamber pot?”

  “I think so.”

  I was bewildered. “But there’s a toilet attached to the room. Why on earth would I need that?”

  “I imagine that the toilet is a recent addition. The middle ages aren’t known for their spectacular indoor plumbing.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Thanks for that. I just meant why haven’t they gotten rid of it?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe they just forgot. Or maybe it’s backup in case the pipes freeze.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t even want to think about that.”

  “Anyway, we should fill it up.”

  My jaw dropped. “What the hell –”

  “With water,” he said, cutting me off. “So we can scry.”

  “Oh. Right.”

  He shook his head. “Demons below, your mind is a scary place.”

  He tried to hand the pot to me but I refused to touch it. Narrowing his eyes at me, he took it into the next room to fill it with water for the scrying. When he emerged, he sat the pot on the ground and we sat either side of it. Ed put his hands out to hold mine and I eyed them warily.

  “Maybe you should wash up before we do this.”

  He rolled his eyes and grabbed my hands. “I’m sure you’ll survive.”

  I glared at him, but he was already staring down into the water. Sighing, I started channelling energy for the scrying. At least, that was the plan. Things didn’t quite work out that way. After a moment, Ed looked up at me.

  “Are you going to start?”

  “I just tried to,” I said, trying not to look as worried as I felt.

  “What’s wrong?” Ed asked. Apparently I hadn’t been hiding my worry as effectively as I’d hoped.

  “I’m – I’m not sure,” I said. “It just isn’t working.”

  “What isn’t working? Your magic?” he demanded, suddenly seeming very intense. “How long has it been broken?”

  “It’s not broken,” I said. “I used it earlier, just before you got here.” Was it the room that was blocking me? I didn’t know how it could be – I had done magic in this room earlier when I’d put up the wards, so what exactly was my problem now?

  He nodded slowly. “OK, so you were fine before dinner. Is it possible that you ate something that’s inhibiting your powers? Could they have slipped you a potion?”

  I shook my head. “It’s not like that.” As a test, I sent a quick burst of energy at the water and it splashed into the air before raining down on us. “I didn’t think that through,” I said, trying not to think about the germ-laden water dripping down my face.

  “So there’s nothing wrong with your magic?”

  “No,” I replied. “I think I’m just having trouble seeing outside this room.”

  He thought for a moment. “Maybe it’s got something to do with the clouding,” he said. “Or maybe this castle has some sort of ward that blocks people from seeing in and that’s what’s preventing you from looking out.”

  Both of those theories seemed plausible. “What do we do, then?”

  Ed shrugged. “Go outside, I guess.”

  “Are you insane?”

  “What?”

  “It’s the middle of the night, right before the full moon,” I said. “That forest is crawling with dark magic, and you told me yourself that I shouldn’t go wandering the castle alone at night.”

  “You won’t be alone,” he said.

  “What use are you? You’ll flee at the first sign of trouble.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Just this once, I’ll make an exception. Besides, I doubt there’s anything in that forest as dangerous as you.”

  I stood up and stretched my neck. “I hope you’re right.”

  CHAPTER 11

  ED and I had just found the perfect puddle of water to use for our scrying when we heard something coming through the woods towards us.

  “Can you feel its energy?” Ed hissed at me.

  Taking a deep breath, I shut my eyes and sent out my magical feelers. It was tricky getting through the dark mat of magic sitting over the forest, but with a little rub of the Doomstone, I managed it. I sensed the creature moving directly towards us through the trees. My heart began to race.

  “It’s coming this way,” I whispered. Ed shifted slightly and his face took on a familiar look. “Don’t you dare run!”

  “What is it?” he asked.

  I didn’t want to close my eyes again in case w
hen I opened them I found that Ed had disappeared, but I didn’t have much choice. I needed to figure out what we were dealing with, and sensing energy in this environment was a lot easier with closed eyes. I reached out again, feeling the energy of the creature burning hot against the darkness around it, like an infra-red sensor.

  “It’s a creature of the light,” I said, opening my eyes again.

  “So it’s one of your friends.”

  “No,” I replied. “I don’t have friends.”

  “Who is it? Can you tell?”

  “No, I can’t tell,” I hissed. “The magic out here is interfering with my powers. I can’t –”

  “Nessa, I know you’re out here,” called a voice. “I can smell you.”

  It was Henry.

  Ed and I made eye contact, and even before he spoke I knew what was about to happen.

  “Well,” he whispered, “now that you’ve got someone else to help you, I guess I’ll be off.”

  My blood began to boil. “You can’t be serious.”

  “What? It’s not like you’re in danger.”

  “What happened to you making an exception this once and not fleeing at the first sign of trouble?” I asked through gritted teeth.

  “Henry’s hardly trouble,” said Ed. “Don’t be such a wuss.”

  With that, he popped out of existence. Next time I saw that slimy little –

  A large wolf broke through the trees next to me.

  “Really, Henry?” I said. “You could smell me? That’s a bit rude.”

  He nodded, shifting from wolf form into his human body. I was slightly taken aback – Henry didn’t spend a lot of time as a human. For whatever reason, he mostly preferred to go through life as an animal.

  “Wolf senses,” he replied. “I didn’t mean it as an insult.”

  “Whatever. What are you doing here?” I asked.

  “I went to your room to visit you and you weren’t there so I came looking. What on earth are you doing out here alone?”

  I hadn’t been alone, but I couldn’t exactly tell him that. If he wasn’t planning on arresting me already, he definitely would be if he found out that I was hanging out with Ed.

  I gestured to the pool of water in front of me. “I was going to try to scry Alora again. I thought maybe now that I was closer I’d be able to track her down.”

  Henry nodded. “That’s a fair idea. Why not do it in the castle, though?”

  I debated whether or not to tell him, but I couldn’t see the point in holding the information back. “I tried, but I think there’s a ward or something over the castle that was blocking my powers.”

  He sat down cross-legged across the pool from me. “Really? How interesting. I didn’t notice any dampeners…”

  “It wasn’t a dampener,” I said. “I tested my powers and they still worked inside the castle. I just couldn’t see outside.”

  Henry nodded thoughtfully. “Well, if you’re still planning to scry her, I’m happy to help. Unless you’ve managed it already?”

  I shook my head. “I only just got here,” I said. Frowning, I asked, “Why did you go to my room to see me?”

  He sighed. “You really shouldn’t have come out here alone,” he said. For a moment I thought he was trying to change the subject – until he continued speaking. “Especially not with that vampire Pierre chasing you. I know his girlfriend saved you when we were in the North Pole, but she might not always be around to keep you safe from him.”

  I felt the blood drain from my face – and not because I was being attacked by a vampire. My suspicions had been confirmed. Henry remembered everything.

  “So you remember?”

  “Enough to know that I’m not going crazy,” he said. “However much you might have wanted me to think that.”

  “I didn’t want that!” I said. “I just panicked and couldn’t think of a way out and –”

  “You know what? I’ve changed my mind,” he said, cutting me off. “I don’t really feel like talking about it.”

  We sat in silence for a moment.

  “What should we talk about instead?” I asked. “The case?”

  He shrugged. “Sure. Any theories?”

  “The dragon ate her?”

  “Unlikely.”

  “She met a nice local chap and decided to elope?”

  “This is a serious case. You shouldn’t make light of it.”

  Betrayed Henry was not a lot of fun. I missed Blissfully Ignorant Henry. Maybe I should swipe a couple of cones from Ed anyway, even if they would send Henry crazy. As long as it was a happy sort of crazy, who cared? The thought of Ed made me grit my teeth – stealing his cones would have to come after I punished him for leaving me alone to save his own skin. Again.

  “Sorry,” I said. “Do you have any ideas?”

  “Not really.”

  “What about our hosts?”

  “What about them?”

  “I don’t trust them.”

  “They let us into their home out of the goodness of their hearts.”

  “They don’t have hearts,” I replied. “A blood sacrifice to open the door? You’re telling me that didn’t set off alarm bells for you?”

  Henry sighed. “Just because it’s dark magic, that doesn’t mean you can’t trust them.”

  “You’re really not concerned by it?”

  “The castle is hundreds of years old. It’s from a different time, so yes, the security system is a little archaic.”

  “So why not get an upgrade?” I replied. “They could swap the blood sacrifice out for a password.”

  “Better a blood sacrifice than a human sacrifice.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “I mean that there are plenty of other magicals who live around the loch. This place is teeming with dark energy.”

  I nodded. “I felt it when we were walking through the woods earlier.”

  “As potential hosts around here go, Fachan and Gladys are definitely the most gracious.”

  “Best of a bad lot, is that what you’re saying?”

  “I’m saying that a blood sacrifice is a small price to pay for their protection.”

  Shivering, I crossed my arms, but I wasn’t sure if it was the chill of the night air or the general creepy vibe that was getting to me. “I still don’t trust them.”

  Henry nodded slowly. “That’s probably for the best,” he said. “You don’t know who you can trust these days.”

  He stared directly at me. I met his gaze and his eyes bored into mine.

  “Is there something you want to say to me, Henry?”

  “I feel like there’s something that needs to be said,” he replied. “But why don’t you go first?”

  I shrugged. “Not sure I have that much to tell.”

  He crossed his arms. “Oh, I think you do.”

  Silent for a moment, I wondered what to say. “So, I guess your memories sorted themselves out, then?”

  “Mostly,” he said. “Although for some reason I still have one pesky memory I can’t shake.”

  “Oh?”

  “You trying to convince me that I was insane to save your own skin,” he said. “But that couldn’t be right, surely.”

  “You’re taking it too personally.”

  “Oh, really?” he replied, louder than he usually spoke.

  “If it helps at all, I feel worse about what I did to you than I do about my murders.”

  Henry frowned. “That doesn’t help. At all. Why would that help? If anything, it makes it worse. You should feel guilty about killing people.”

  “I do, it’s just –”

  “Once you’re in a hole, stop digging.”

  “Right. Forget I said that, then.”

  “I’ll try.”

  Then the awkward silence set in.

  “So…” I said. “What now?”

  Henry shrugged. “I don’t know. Are you planning on killing me?”

  “I’ve never actually planned on killing anyone.”r />
  “Oh, good. So when you do murder me, at least I know it won’t be premeditated.”

  I rolled my eyes. “That’s not what I meant. I’m not going to kill you.”

  “Right. You draw the line at convincing me I’m crazy?”

  “You’re being rather melodramatic about this, Henry.”

  “Melodramatic?” he cried, flinging his hands in the air. “How dare you!”

  Tilting my head back, I looked up and sighed. We were in a rare patch of the forest where the foliage didn’t totally block the view of the sky. The air was clean out here, and the clouds from earlier in the day had thinned out so that now there were patches of twinkling stars peeking through. A puff of cloud slowly rolled in front of the moon and the forest around us grew a little darker. A thought occurred to me and I took my gaze back to Henry.

  “How did you break the clouding spells?” I asked.

  “How did you get your hands on them in the first place?”

  “I wasn’t the one who clouded you,” I said.

  “Ed?”

  I nodded.

  Henry glared at me. “So this whole time when you were pretending to…” Trailing off, he looked down at the ground.

  “I wasn’t pretending anything,” I said. “Other than, you know, that I hadn’t killed those grabbers.” I paused. “Or cured that vampire.” Pause. “Or blown up Dick.”

  Or that I didn’t know exactly where the Doomstone was.

  “You mean you weren’t helping Ed?”

  I shook my head. I mean, I wasn’t helping Ed. I just wasn’t trying to turn him in. That was basically true, right? Right?

  “I’m not sure I trust you.”

  “You must trust me a little,” I said. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have followed me out into a dark forest in the middle of the night.”

  “I could take you in a fight.”

  “If you can remember what you’ve seen me do, you know that’s not true.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Someone sounds a bit cocky.”

  I crossed my arms. “We should hurry up and scry this witch,” I said. “Even if you are as unbelievably powerful as you claim to be, it’s stupid of us to stay out here longer than we have to. You never know what might be lurking in this forest.”