“Men never gave me any happiness,” said Mavis. “She’s better off without them. She won’t have to suffer from any heartbreak or trouble if she’s not dating.”
“But wouldn’t you like grandchildren?” asked Bryony.
“Little snot nosed half dragons running around the place, coughing out smoke balls all the time and singeing my antiques? That’s not my idea of fun.” Mavis shoved her chair back and stood up. “I’ll collect the bowls.”
Mavis grabbed the soup bowls from the table, grunting with displeasure as she saw Ivy’s untouched bowl of soup. She left the room, the door slamming behind her.
“Sorry about that,” said Agatha.
“From what your mom said about curses, she doesn’t seem interested in them,” said Bryony.
“She could be lying,” said Ivy. “She’s not the most open of women I’ve ever met.”
“One thing she is lying about is my dad,” said Agatha. “He’s not dead.”
“Where is he?” asked Bryony.
“Mom drove him away years ago. She snapped and snarled at him for so long, he lost the will to live and escaped. He did ask me to go with him when he left, but I couldn’t leave Mom on her own. She doesn’t have a single friend left in Old Sarum. She drives everyone away with her bad moods. Dad is healthy and well and living in the magical commune by the Braunstone goddess statue in Cambridgeshire. I visit him a couple of times a year, so I know he is very much alive.”
“Why did your mom say he’s dead?” asked Ivy.
“Because he abandoned her,” said Agatha. “He walked out on her and left her alone. For all the good she gets from him now, he might as well be dead.”
“It must be tough, the man you married leaving you like that,” said Bryony. “But I can see how living in a situation you’re unhappy with will only make you miserable.”
“Your mom is mean enough to curse you,” said Ivy. “Perhaps she’s doing it as a ploy to get you to move back home?”
“I don’t think it's her.” Agatha looked forlornly at the closed door. “And I know she’d love to have grand babies, despite what she says. Although I know she’d like me to breed with another dragon blood to strengthen the family line. And there aren’t many of them around Old Sarum. At least, none that I like the look of.”
“I can sense your mom is more powerful than she says she is,” said Ivy. “Dragon magic doesn’t dissipate over a few generations. She might not be able to transform into a full dragon, but I bet she’s got some fire in her still.”
“Ivy, don’t go pushing her too far,” warned Bryony, recognizing the challenging tone in her sister’s voice. “We’re here to see if she is a suspect in setting the curse on Agatha. We don’t want to annoy her.”
“Yes we do,” said Ivy. “Leave it to me. And if you need to get out when things get a little hot, don’t concern yourself with me. I’ll be fine.”
“What are you going to do?” Agatha’s eyes widened as she stared at Ivy.
“Don’t worry. I’ll do the talking when Mavis returns.” Ivy pressed a finger to her lips and winked at Agatha.
Bryony opened her mouth to protest, just as Mavis shoved open the door, the two pies in her hands.
“We’d better eat these.” She dumped them on the table, a knife sticking out of the top of one of them.
“I’ll cut them up.” Agatha jumped from her seat, a worried look on her face as she sliced the pies into large chunks and handed them around.
Mavis returned to her chair. “Save some for tomorrow. We don’t need to eat them all now. And the girls said they weren’t hungry.”
“That’s right, just a small piece for me,” said Bryony.
“I heard a rumor the Graytooths are experts when it comes to hexing and cursing other magic users,” said Ivy. She waved away the piece of pie Agatha thrust at her.
“Your information is wrong. We don’t need curses when we have fire,” said Mavis.
“You've never used a curse on anyone?” asked Ivy.
“Never needed to.” Mavis stuffed a large piece of pie into her mouth.
“But your dragon abilities must be weak,” said Ivy. “The blood diluted dozens of times over. I bet the most you can do is blow a few smoke rings.”
Mavis’s dark beady eyes shot in Ivy’s direction. “Be careful what you wish for, girl. I’d be happy to blow a few smoke rings around you.”
“You won’t be able to,” said Ivy. “You’re too old and slow to do me any damage.”
Mavis’s dessert fork clattered onto the table. “Why do you care about my powers? Why would I bother with childish curses? I can do you plenty of damage if I want to. I don’t need to go begging and buying other magic.”
“But everybody thinks you’re weak,” said Ivy. “You hide away in this old house, never going outside and confronting the people who are talking about you behind your back. Surely a powerful supernatural with dragon magic would want to put an end to all the gossip.”
“Old Sarum has always been full of gossip and evil minded liars,” said Mavis. “And it got worse after my useless husband died.”
“You mean when he left you because your powers became as feeble as your body,” said Ivy.
“Ivy! That’s too much.” Bryony stood up. “We’ve outstayed our welcome and it’s time to go.”
“Wait just a minute,” said Mavis. “How do you know about my husband?”
Ivy raised her eyebrows. “Everybody knows about him and the reason he left. Your abilities grew weak and you had to fall back on other magic users’ powers to get by, and that included using curses. He decided he didn’t want to be with a second-rate magic user and left you to be with the goddesses instead.”
“What happens in my family is none of your business.” Crumbs of pie flew from Mavis’s mouth. “You Thornheart witches are all the same. Your mother was a troublemaker, dancing around with any man who took her fancy and ending up pregnant with the two of you. No wonder she never married. Couldn’t find a man to put up with her rude brats and her harlot ways.”
“Our mother has nothing to do with this,” said Ivy darkly. “I’m more interested in you and your abilities. Or rather, your lack of them.”
The temperature in the room rose sharply. “Let me give you a small demonstration of some of my powers. Perhaps then you can stop the lies being spread around this village.” Mavis stood up from the table, the little old lady transformed into a straight backed, red eyed, malevolent magical force.
Ivy grinned and looked over it Bryony. “You might want to take a few steps back. Looks like she’s building up to something impressive.”
“You don’t know the half of it, girl.” Mavis tipped her head back and a fountain of orange flames flew from her mouth in a wide arc around the room, joining together in a circle and spinning over their heads.
“Mom, stop! You’ll burn the house down.” Agatha took a step towards her, but the heat radiating off Mavis stopped her getting any closer.
Ivy nodded. “She does have some abilities, after all.”
Mavis wiped a hand over her mouth and the fire stopped. “Perhaps you’d like a close-up demonstration?” She took a large inhalation of air.
“There’s no need for that.” Bryony hurried to her sister’s side, worried that Mavis was about to go on the attack.
“Oh, there’s every need,” said Mavis. “You come into my house uninvited, eat my food, ask me dozens of questions about my family, and then have the cheek to suggest I have no powers left. That calls for a demonstration. A reminder that the Graytooths are still powerful magic users.”
“Bring it on,” said Ivy.
Mavis opened her mouth, this time the flames were directed straight at Ivy. Before the fire emerged, she was hit in the face with an enormous snowball.
Bryony stood there with her hand open, another giant, magically created snowball ready to throw.
Mavis spluttered and choked on the icy mess lodged in her throat. “You’d better run,” she c
oughed out.
“That’s exactly what we’re going to do.” Bryony grabbed hold of Ivy’s sleeve and yanked her to the door. “Sorry, Agatha. I hope you get things sorted with your mom.”
“So do I,” said Agatha, standing by Mavis’s side and patting her on the back. “We’ll be fine, but you’d better go before the fire magic heats up again.”
“I haven’t finished,” snapped Ivy.
“Yes you have,” said Bryony. “Let’s get out of here before you get burned to a crisp.”
“She’d never do that.”
“Mavis can’t now she’s covered in snow,” said Bryony. “But it won’t last.”
“You spoil all my fun.” Ivy reluctantly followed her sister out of the room.
The girls hurried out of the house and along the road, Spike gambolling along beside them.
“I knew Mavis had more power than she was letting on,” said Ivy. “Did you see that fire circle? It was impressive.”
“It was deadly, as was what she had planned to do to you,” said Bryony. “You’ve risked a dragon’s wraith by making her so angry.”
“Only to help her daughter,” said Ivy. “That’s what you wanted me to do, wasn’t it?”
“But not by putting yourself at risk,” said Bryony.
“I knew you’d have my back,” said Ivy. “The snowball was a neat trick. Definitely something Mavis wasn’t expecting.”
Bryony shook her head. “It was the first thing I thought of. Hadn’t meant it to be quite such a large one. I hope Mavis is okay.”
“She’ll be fine. She can burn away that snow in a few seconds.”
“We’ve not helped the family relationship with Agatha by going to see Mavis,” said Bryony. “If anything, we made things worse.”
“They’ll work things out. Families always do,” said Ivy. “But she’s still a suspect. Mavis may be powerful with some dragon abilities, but I bet she’s not beyond using a curse. She’s sneaky and sly. We can’t rule her out.”
“Fair enough, she can still be on the suspect list,” said Bryony. “But we’ve got more people to investigate. Agatha isn’t free from her curse yet.”
Chapter 10
Gabriel smoothed down his hair before walking through the entrance of the Love Cauldron. He warned the fluttering sensation in his stomach to stop. This was business, not pleasure.
“Afternoon, Bryony.” He smiled as he spotted his favorite blonde haired witch behind the counter in the store. “Have you got a minute?”
She smiled at him brightly. “Always for you. What do you need this time? We’ve had a new delivery of ragwort come in just today. Fresh from the fields and extra strong.”
“I don’t need to buy anything this time,” said Gabriel. “I’ve got a mystery case on my hands and wondered if you might be able to help.”
“You want me to be on an investigation with you?” Bryony’s face radiated delight. “How exciting.”
“I don’t want you quite that involved.” Gabriel was thrilled by Bryony's enthusiasm. “But I’m dealing with a tricky case and think it involves curse or hex magic.”
The smile slipped from Bryony’s face. “A curse? We don’t get many of those in here.”
“I know you don’t sell them,” said Gabriel. “But you have your ear on the magical grapevine when it comes to the magic that individuals need to get their hands on. And I know Ivy is a dab hand when it comes to the darker arts.”
“Which she doesn’t sell here,” said Bryony stiffly. “I wouldn’t let her put the store in jeopardy by doing anything so foolish.”
“No, of course not. This magic has most likely come from an outside source.” Gabriel wanted the smile back on Bryony’s face. He hated making her unhappy. “I can’t reveal too much information because it’s an ongoing investigation, but we’ve had somebody who’s been put into a magical coma because of the power of a curse or dark magic.”
Bryony’s plump tanned cheeks paled. “That’s terrible news. Is it somebody from Old Sarum?” She glanced over her shoulder as if expecting someone to appear.
“No, someone from out of town. In fact, it’s a male red blood.”
Bryony’s fingers went to her forehead. “A red blood has been cursed? How awful.”
“It’s bad news. Has anybody been in the store asking for curses or dark magic that would be powerful enough to do a human serious harm?”
“No. And if they did I wouldn’t sell it to them.”
“Do you know of anyone in Old Sarum who is peddling that kind of magic? Maybe someone down on their luck and in need of some extra money? Willing to break the rules and hand over dangerous curses?”
“Oh dear, no, nobody like that.” Bryony bit her bottom lip, it was a habit Gabriel found endearing. “And how is the red blood? Have you got him free from the curse?”
“Not yet, but we’re working on it,” said Gabriel. “We had to retrieve him from the other side of the border. Whoever inflicted the curse, broke through our magical border and attacked this human. It’s strange behavior.”
“It does sound strange.” Bryony turned away from Gabriel. “Well, I’m sorry I can’t be of any more help in your investigation.”
“If anyone comes in asking about curses like that, could you let me know?” asked Gabriel. “This may be a one-off, but the border was breached by two different magic users on the same day, so I don’t think this is an isolated incident. For whatever twisted reason, we’ve got someone in Old Sarum who has developed an interest in crossing the border and testing dark magic on innocents. I can’t let that continue.”
“No, I’m sure that’s not it.” Bryony turned back to Gabriel.
“Why do you say that?” asked Gabriel.
“Well, I mean, I don’t know anything about it,” said Bryony. “But I can’t imagine anyone here would want to do anything malicious to red bloods.”
“I wouldn’t mind trying out a few dark spells on them.” Ivy sauntered in from the back room of the store. “But you can rest assured, we don’t sell curses like that. And if we were thinking about it, I’m sure my sister would put me on the straight and narrow. You’re wasting your time coming here.” Her dark eyes speared into Gabriel, and he resisted the urge to take a step back as a shudder ran down his spine.
“I’m only making inquiries,” said Gabriel. “I don’t think either of you have anything to do with this.”
“We have nothing to do with the curse.” Bryony’s hands fluttered over the counter.
“This has nothing to do with us.” Ivy shot her sister a dark look. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have a business to run.”
Gabriel’s own mood darkened. Every time he tried to have a pleasant conversation with Bryony, Ivy intervened. He didn’t know why, but she did not like him. “Well, like I said, if you do hear anything of interest about curses, let me know. The information may help save the red bloods.”
“Two red bloods!” Bryony leaned against the counter. “You found two of them?”
“Yes, both cursed by the same spell,” said Gabriel. “And both of them in a magical coma. We have them at the station until we can figure out how to help them.”
“I’m sure you’ll get to the bottom of it.” Ivy walked to the store door and opened it. “Don’t work too hard.”
“Thank you, Ivy.” Gabriel stalked out of the door and along the street. He felt like an idiot going to the store and wasting their time. Gabriel tried to convince himself there was a genuine reason for going to the Love Cauldron and asking about the case, but he knew it was so he could get a glimpse of Bryony. If he went more than a day without spotting her, his heart started beating in a strange rhythm and he lost his appetite.
He shook his head as he walked towards the Charm Police headquarters. He needed to get better hobbies. Something, anything, to keep Bryony Thornheart out of his mind.
Chapter 11
“What should we say is wrong with the car?” Bryony peered at the engine of their small red Mini.
“We can’t waste any more time on finding out who really set this curse on Agatha,” said Bryony. “After that visit from Gabriel earlier today, I haven’t stopped shaking. I’m sure he knows we’re involved.”
“You need to stop being such a dimwit,” said Ivy. “He doesn’t have a clue that we’re involved. And it was lucky I spotted him coming down the road and hid our own comatose red blood under a cover spell. Not that it really mattered. Gabriel was so obsessed with gazing into your blue eyes he didn’t even glance at the sofa. But if he had, he would have seen something was going on and we’d have been found out.”
“Do you think we’ll go to prison for our involvement in this case?” Bryony’s face looked distraught. “We are concealing evidence. And we do know who harmed those poor red bloods.”
“The Charm Police will fix them soon enough,” said Ivy. “And those poor red bloods deserved it. They shouldn’t have been so eager to kiss a strange woman without getting to know her first. And we have made some progress on reversing the curse on the one we’ve got in the store. I’m sure he opened his eyes for a few seconds today.”
“But he’s not fixed,” said Bryony. “And if Gabriel finds out what we’re up to, he may not think much of me.”
“Which is a good thing,” said Ivy. “He hangs around far too much as it is. If Gabriel turns up again, I’m going to run him out of Old Sarum.”
“Don’t you dare,” said Bryony. “He’s good at what he does. Come on, let's get this car to Bruce and see if he reveals anything useful about Agatha’s curse.”
They hopped into the Mini, Ivy driving, and drove the short distance to the garage Bruce Creed worked at.
Ivy stopped around the corner from the garage. “Get out here. We’ll have to push the rest of the way. I’ll pull out the leads and we’ll get Bruce to take pity on us when we arrive at his garage. Two sad looking witches with a broken car. There’s no way he’ll be able to resist helping us.”
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