Page 12 of Secrets of the Eternal Flame

‘What?’ I asked her.

‘Nothing.’ She smiled at me.

I wagged my finger. ‘Uh-uh, sister of the Wine Coven. You tell me what you suspect right now.’

She winced. ‘The Guardians of the Flame are bred for generations to use the Flame but Maddie wasn’t. Sure, she had training but without your mum guiding her. I’m scared she might have become addicted to its magic. That’s why she’s been so –erratic. When your Flame disappeared she turned to the dark magic in its absence, but without that and without Ernie to help her, she’s been struggling.’

I stared at her, aghast. ‘My God. Do you think she knows?’

‘I’m honestly not sure.’

I bit my lip. ‘Should I stop her from working with it now?’

Nour shook her head. ‘No, she shouldn’t go cold turkey. Hopefully this will give her a hit that will keep her going until we can get her back to Ernie. He can help detox her, though I suspect he can only do so much. If he can’t completely stabilise her then unless we can get the Witchlight back… I honestly think the withdrawal could kill her.’ She grimaced. ‘I was going to speak to Ernie about my suspicions before raising them with you.’

As if I needed another reason to retrieve the Flame. I’d do anything to save Maddie, even it meant giving up a piece of my soul. Ihadto get it back no matter what part of me it took. And if I couldn’t? Then I would get her a one-way ticket back here to Hallowburn Harbour.

I looked at Ezra and, more pointedly, the motorbike that rested behind him. ‘My brain is buzzing – I need to get out of here. Can we go now on your bike?’ I turned to Nourhastily. ‘Will you wait for Maddie and Eva and take Fraser’s car? I just... I need to—’

Nour nodded briskly. ‘You know that Eva’s not going to be happy that you left without her, though.’

‘She’ll understand.’

I needed to clear my mind – as much as itcouldbe cleared – and hurtling down a mountainside on a motorcycle was exactly the way to do it.

Chapter Eight

I slipped the helmet off my head and clutched my stomach. ‘Next time I say go as fast as you like, remember that’s coming from a person who doesn’t ride motorbikes!’ I complained. ‘I think we must’ve nearly died about seven times.’

Ezra placed his own helmet on the bike before turning to me with the widest grin possible. ‘You said you needed a distraction.’

‘Not by hurtling off the side of the road!’

‘You were perfectly safe. That was slower than I go on my own – and admit it, it felt good, right?’

‘Good?’ I raised my eyebrows. I had lost my stomach so many times that I was starting to think the laws of gravity were on the blink.

‘Fine, maybe you don’t like goingthatfast,’ Ezra conceded. ‘But did it distract you?’

It had because I’d been focusing on clinging to Ezra for dear life. I’d quickly learned that no matter how loudly I screamed, hecouldn’t hear me over the roar of the engine. Either that or he’d deliberately ignored me.

‘So, how are you feeling about everything?’ he went on.

‘Everything?’ I said. ‘That’s a pretty big category.’

‘Well, let’s start with you and Fraser. You seem close – and he seems like a good guy. Nour likes him and she has a good read on people.’

‘She’s great. And you two seem good.’ I said, trying to steer the conversation away from Fraser and me.

His dopey smile warmed my heart. ‘It’s going well. This trip has given us time to talk, reassess what we really want.’

‘And I’m guessing that’s each other?’

He grinned again, but it wasn’t like the mischievous smile he’d offered me earlier; this one was full of hope and excitement about the future. I didn’t even need to tap into his emotions to know that.

‘Yes, we want to be together,’ he said. ‘I shouldn’t have doubted that she can take on a role in the pack. If I can’t get them to respect my choice of partner then obviously I don’t have enough of their respect to be a beta – or an alpha in the future – and I don’t think that’s the case.’

He spoke so calmly that I found it hard to believe anybody, including the members of his pack, wouldn’t respect his choice of partner. He fixed me with a look. ‘Areyou going to tell me what’s going on with you and the selkie, or are you going to keep dodging the question?’

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