Page 34 of Witch You Weren't Here

‘Oh. Like the runes my friend Ilina has on her wrist.’

‘If that’s your friend who lives in Berlin, then yes, but that’s just for Germans. This one is more general and inclusive.’

‘That’s a good idea.’

‘Yes. It might be helpful for us to wear it for the rest of this journey in case we run into trouble. Worth a shot, isn’t it?’

‘I suppose so. Won’t they be mad that we’re not actual members of their community, though? The UK’s separated itself from Europe and aren’t the best at building bridges, are they?’ She didn’t need to keep up with witching news to know that.

Harry quirked his eyebrow, acknowledging the grim truth – non-magical and magical alike, the powers that be in the UK tended towards arrogance and twisting the rules, rather than joining the larger communities. ‘I would hope they wouldn’t hold it against us. And I can …’ He paused and bit his lip.

‘You can what?’ She narrowed her eyes at him.

‘Well, I could just infuse the image with a little push towards compassion.’

‘Convenient.’

‘It is. That’s why it’s called a “gift”, Kay.’ He pressed his lips together. ‘Look, I know you don’t like the principle of it. Especially from me. But it’s such a small image, all it will really do is prompt a tiny amount of positivity, if that person is already inclined towards it. Is that such a bad thing?’

‘If it’s such a small amount, why bother?’

‘Because … because I can, I guess. It’s not going to hurt anyone.’

‘That’s what influencers always say, but it’s trickier than that, isn’t it? It removes people’s own choice …’ Kay broke off before they started down that path again.

Harry lowered his eyes to his pen and was quiet for a moment. She figured he was going to tell her to find her own way home, without him and his Biddicote magic compass. Why would he want her with him, constantly cramping his style by objecting to him influencing people to get a little extra luck and special treatment sent their way?

But then he just nodded. ‘Fine. I’ll do it without.’

She lifted her hand, and he took it in his, twisting it, so the side along her pinkie finger was turned to him. Her heart rate pattered fast at the feel of his cool fingers sneaking inside her palm, his thumb pressing gently against her knuckles.

But then he just held still.

‘What are you waiting for?’ she asked, sounding breathy and hoping it came across as impatience.

His fingers twitched, seemingly involuntarily, around hers, the sensation of his hold tightening making a sudden wash of heat drop into her belly. He swallowed and took an exaggeratedly slow breath in, letting it out again with controlled steadiness, and his grip eased again. ‘I just need to clear my thoughts and feelings. Have an empty mind if I’m to avoid putting anything into the picture.’

‘Oh.’ She nodded and tried to wait without fidgeting, while he took his time, looking like he was centring himself. She’d never really considered how difficult it would be for him not to use his gift. She’d assumed he just switched it on and off like a tap, but it wasn’t like she could do that with hers, and there was no barrier he could put in between like she had with her glasses. It was either draw or not draw, she supposed. Or try to have an empty mind. Possibly not the easiest thing to do when he was feeling stressed.

That brought to mind her own current magical issues. She had always blocked being able to see her gift with her glasses, but surely that couldn’t be the blockage Madam Hedvika was talking about? She’d told her about the glasses and plenty of witches used similar things to stop them from being distracted by their gifts constantly. No one had ever said that it would cause a problem.

And if Harry was right, there was nothing blocking the way she affected people’s emotional awareness. Madam Hedvika couldn’t have meant that kind of a block. It was too obvious.

Finally, after another minute, he put the pen to her skin and, with sure strokes, began to draw an intricate design, like a Celtic rune pattern, along the edge of her hand. The nib of the pen tickled, and he tightened his hold again when she flinched a little.

‘No giggling, you’ll jog me,’ he murmured in a distracted tone of voice, his breath caressing the sensitive skin on the inside of her wrist. Goosebumps rose along her arm. She couldn’t help it. The feel of his hand, firmly wrapped around hers, the vision of his head bowed over, copper and bronze hair falling forward in a messy kink on his forehead and his eyelashes lowered, was like stepping into a teenage dream again. ‘There, you’re all done.’

Kay took a deep breath and turned her hand towards her, studying the pattern, all the while her heart skittered in her chest, fluttering like a trapped bird, because that wall she knew she needed to have between them was looking decidedly shaky.

Chapter Nine

10.30 a.m.: saturday 30 october

Dusseldorf Central Station

384 miles and 28(+1) hours and 30 minutes until the wedding

They couldn’t get a train leaving for Amsterdam until midday, which didn’t make Kay optimistic about getting to the wedding rehearsal dinner that evening and felt like hours and hours to wait until they saw how ridiculously packed the station at the airport was. The journey to Dusseldorf central station was only about fifteen minutes but waiting in the queues was going to be tedious.

---