Page 1 of Secrets of the Eternal Flame

Chapter One

My heart was thundering in my chest. ‘We’ve found it.’

We’d been searching for six weeks, praying we weren’t on a wild-goose chase. Four times now, my ragtag group of friends and I had shown up full of confidence, convinced we were in the right place – only to find ourselves standing beside muddy puddles masquerading as lochs, in villages full of non-magical locals.

We had found one small magical fishing village, but there was no sign of an Eternal Flame. I knew what its presence felt like and it just wasn’t there in those half-dozen crumbling houses that were home to a medium-sized pack of werewolves. They’d offered us accommodation but, given that the following night was a full moon and one or two of them had already shown a noticeable tension in Ezra’s presence, we went on our way.

But this time I could feel it. I couldn’t define whatitwas, but my scalp was tingling with excitement. Iknewit was here. Somewhere.

‘I think you could be right.’ Fraser squeezed my hand. ‘There’s definitely something magical in the air. The Mother is strong here.’

Six weeks on the road with Fraser had definitely made us closer. I was learning more about the gorgeous selkie I was mated with – or at least had the option to be mated with – but we’d agreed to keep things between us at a glacial pace so we could focus on the task at hand. I was done with putting the Eternal Flame last on my to-do list; I was going to find it, and then I was going to be the best damned Guardian it had ever had.

‘What do you think?’ I asked, looking at Nour, Ezra and Maddie. ‘Can you guys sense anything here?’ We were standing together with both the car and Ezra’s bike parked behind us, looking down at a small village on the edge of a glittering blue loch.

‘This is it,’ Nour agreed triumphantly without a hint of uncertainty in her voice. ‘The light, the way it’s bouncing off the clouds around us – there’s some sort of protection spell on this place. I’d bet good money only magical people can find Hallowburn Harbour.’

‘Any chance you can use that magic of yours to locate the Flame’s exact location?’ I asked her optimistically.

‘I’m not sure,’ Nour admitted. ‘It might take me a bit of time to pinpoint it.’

As she turnedtowards the village, Ezra placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. ‘Can anyone else hear that?’ he asked, tilting his head.

I strained my ears but heard nothing, so I turned my attention to my friend. As a werewolf, Ezra had the best hearing in our group – even when he wasn’t in wolf form. His eyes were narrowed, his body tense. ‘We need to get a little closer,’ he said firmly. ‘I can hearsomethingbut I’m not sure what. Come on.’

He took the lead, moving down the hill at such a pace that I had to jog to keep up with him. We must have gone about half a mile when he stopped abruptly.

‘What is it?’ Maddie asked uneasily.

I’d stopped to catch my breath and now I could hear what Ezra had picked up on. There was a low thumping sound somewhere in the distance.

‘Honestly?’ He gave a slow grin. ‘It sounds like a party. A very, very big one.’

‘Aparty?’ Of all the things I was prepared for, a good knees-up wasn’t one of them.

‘Yeah. Singing and drums, that type of thing.’ He sounded excited at the prospect, but nerves were rattling me. A big party meant lots of people, lots of people with lots of emotions. Lots of people with lots of emotions who might not take kindly to our intrusion.

I locked down my mental shields as tightly as I could; I’d been working hard at strengthening them during the lulls in our search, and I was definitely getting better at it. I looked at Fraser, expecting to see the same trepidation in his eyes, but he looked pleased. ‘If it’s a big gathering,’ he said, ‘they won’t even notice a couple more guests. It’ll be perfect camouflage.’

We decided to walk into the village – a quick spell by a smart witch could take out your tyres or immobilise the engine in a heartbeat – so we left the vehicles just outside Hallowburn Harbour and trekked the rest of the way on foot.

‘What’s the plan?’ Maddie kept her voice low. ‘Bea, can you pinpoint the Flame?’

I was trying to do exactly that. ‘I don’t think so,’ I finally admitted. ‘It’s notmyFlame, so I can feel a general presence but no more than that. Maybe if we were closer?’ My voice sharpened with frustration. ‘I don’tknow.’

‘Hmm.’ Maddie tapped a finger against her lip as she considered. ‘Should we split up and ask people about their Flame, or stay in a group? I lean towards splitting up – we don’t want to look like we’re trying to intimidate them.’

‘We hardly look intimidating,’ Ezra scoffed.

Nour was dressed in a flowing skirt, a neat top and more bangles than a 1980s’ pop band, Maddie was rocking herfavourite tie-dye hoodie and even Fraser was in jeans. Ezra was right: our group looked more hippie than hostile.

He continued, ‘I’m more concerned that we might not be welcome, in which case there would be safety in numbers.’

‘But we want to slip in under the radar,’ Fraser weighed in. ‘I think Maddie’s right and it makes sense to split up. Let’s find our bearings, decide on a time and place to rendezvous, then we can separate into two groups.’

Ezra nodded. It had taken a little while for the two natural leaders to establish peace, but after a long walk and talk one day they seemed to have sorted out their differences.

It was no wonder Fraser had become the leader of the water shifters at such a young age because not only had he been born to lead, he was also a planner. He liked to be organised: he thought through every possible issue that could arise for every task we were about to take on. In comparison, I was an impulsive hot mess, but somehow our yin and yang natures worked well together. I added some spontaneity to his life and he helped me take a second breath before I dashed in and caused chaos.

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