Page 73 of Time's Fool

She seemed to be at something of a loss for words, which I gathered was unusual for her. But she waved an arm around at the multicolored fight visible through the gap between buildings up ahead. I couldn’t see much of it, but it appeared to be ferocious, which was odd considering that there were only supposed to be two witches at the alehouse.

So, who was fighting the Circle?

I didn’t know, like I didn’t know who the woman was who had just poked her face into mine while Rhea and Hilde quarreled. I reared back slightly, as far as I was able on my tether, and for a moment, we simply stared at each other. I didn’t know what her reason was, but mine was that she was transparent.

As transparent as me.

She was pretty, with light brown hair done up in a bun, a long, pale blue dress in a strange style, and possibly blue eyes. I couldn’t be sure about the latter, since I could see the street through her, which was leeching some of her color. She also had the biggest arse I’d ever seen on a woman.

Or a man.

Or possibly a horse.

She saw me noticing and blushed slightly. “It’s called a bustle,” she said. “It isn’t . . . that isn’t all me in there.”

“Good to know.”

“But it was all the rage when I died . . . or it will be . . . or it will have been by the time that . . .” she sighed and gave up. “Despite working for the Pythian Court, I am really not good with time travel.”

“That makes two of us,” I whispered.

She frowned at my rasp of a voice and leaned closer, eyeing up my slightly bobbing form. “She’s losing power,” the woman—the ghost, I supposed—told Rhea worriedly. “We have to get her back to her body.”

Hilde broke off their conversation to curse some more. “You brought the librarian?”

“Considering that Dorina is practically a ghost, thanks to you?” Rhea asked. “Yes! She was with me when I received the call, as we were attempting to look up information about a certain obscure English village—”

“The one you asked about,” the ghost told Hilde. “It was destroyed in a plague, or it will be, a few years hence. That was sadly common in these days. We think that was why its ruin did not end up changing time, although why Morgan targeted it, or if she did—”

“She did,” I said, with difficulty. It suddenly felt like my mouth was full of porridge. “As a distraction.”

“A distraction?” Hilde repeated.

“To cover up the theft of the ring.” I tried clearing my throat, but wasn’t able to. “T’was the witch’s death she wished to hide, making it look like a random attack. But the Circle would have investigated, and possibly uncovered the truth—”

“Unless the Senate was already looking into it,” she finished for me. I nodded, so that I wouldn’t have to speak. “Ah, that makes sense. I assume this was something that Lord Marlowe discovered?”

I didn’t have to worry about how to convey information silently that time, because Louis-Cesare broke in.

“What is happening?” he said, looking between the two witches. “How is Dorina?”

Hilde told him. And then he was the one cursing, only in French. “And you are wasting time discussing a village? What happens if we do not find her body soon enough?”

“She will remain this way permanently,” the ghost said, although I didn’t think he heard. The witches seemed to have no trouble hearing and seeing ghosts, but it was obviously not his gift. “That is what happened to me, you know,” she told me. “I just wanted to finish my book before I left—I only had another few chapters—but by the time I did—”

“Dorina can’t die!” Hilde said. “She is supposed to live for centuries yet, and play a part in the war—an important one!”

“Die?” Louis-Cesare abruptly went pale.

Which was a good trick for a vampire.

“Well, maybe you should have thought of that before you left her,” Rhea snapped at Hilde.

“I left her to scout for Morgan, who was supposed to be in 1588,” the older woman snapped back. “This lot were on a simple fact-finding mission, nothing more. How could I know that Morgan would follow them here? Why should she? She already has the damned ring!”

“Is she here?” Rhea demanded. “Or is this merely another Circle attack on the covens. They were rife in this era—”

“She’s here,” I said thickly. “Saw her.”

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