Page 42 of Secrets of the Eternal Flame

We crossed the threshold and immediately saw why he’d not wanted to let me in: there were dozens of candles, crystals and more wands. Scarlett had been right, though: they were all small items.

Rather than looking pleased at having recovered such a mountain of stolen goods, Yanni looked crestfallen. ‘I think I owe Gwen an apology,’ she said. ‘I really did think she was forgetting things because of her age.’

‘In your defence, I don’t think she had any idea this much had been stolen,’ I said. ‘She only came to you about a mug and a grimoire.’

‘Our youngwerewolf seems to be trying to build quite an enterprise for himself.’ Yanni cast her eyes around the living room. ‘There must be at least a hundred stolen items here.’

While most of them looked like they belonged in Grimoires and Goblets, I suspected there were some that had come from elsewhere. Besides the wands, crystals and candles, there were amulets and rings, and several jars of herbs and potions that had probably came from the nearby apothecary. There were only a couple of miniature goblets and everything was small enough to slip into a large pocket. Other than a notebook-sized specimen, I couldn’t see any grimoires.

‘Do you mind if I have a look through these things?’ I asked. ‘I’m pretty sure Archer didn’t realise what the mug and the grimoire are.’

‘Which is?’ Yanni looked at me expectantly.

Crud. I stared back at her. ‘My client doesn’t want me to tell you and I have to respect her request for confidentiality. Ernie identified one of them for me.’

To my surprise, she didn’t give me shit; she simply pulled out her phone and dialled her beau. ‘Hey, Ern,’ she said, her voice suddenly softer and – dare I say it? – coquettish. ‘Beatrix said her client forbade her from telling me what the object was that you identified. What was it?’

As I watched, her jaw dropped then, uncharacteristically, she swore. ‘Fucking hell! The Cup of Completion? And Gwen’s been drinking herteaout of it?’

I couldn’t hear Ernie’s comments but I felt better that Yanni knew at least half of the equation. ‘The grimoire is a big deal too,’ I said.

She spoke into the phone. ‘Do you know what the grimoire is?’ Ernie obviously answered in the negative. She put him on speakerphone. ‘Do you know any famous grimoires that would make Bea nervous?’

‘The Bathmory grimoire?’ Ernie suggested.

‘Nope. Keep going.’

‘The Radlin Memoirs?’

‘Nope.’

‘The Codex Tenebrae.’

I grimaced: I couldn’t have stopped the involuntary reaction if I’d tried. And I hadn’t tried.

‘Bingo!’ Yanni said triumphantly. ‘What does that mean?’

Ernie’s voice was solemn. ‘It means we need to find that damned grimoirenow. It’s pretty much the darkest tome there is, and it’s supposedly written on human skin. If dark practitioners knew it was in Witchlight, we would be inundated with sorcerers. This is bad. Very, very bad.’

Yanni swallowed, hard. ‘Well then, we’d best find it.’

‘Can I help?’ Ernie offered.

Shelaughed. ‘I don’t know, can you?’

‘Not as far as I know,’ he admitted. ‘But let me think about it. I’ll see you later?’

‘Of course,’ she agreed. ‘But I’m not sure what time.’

‘Let yourself in – you know where the key is. Join me in bed no matter the hour. Bye, love.’

‘Bye.’

She hung up, but the damage was already done: Yanni’s skin was pink. ‘He didn’t mean join him in bed for hanky-panky,’ she blurted out. ‘He sleeps better with company.’ She paused. ‘And so do I.’

I smiled. ‘Somebody should be getting some. I’m fully on team—’ I broke off as I tried to come up with a couple name for them, then grinned as I realised that mashing Yanni and Ernie together just made them Yannie. Similarly, if I took Ernie’s beginning and added the end of Yannie’s name, I got Ernie. I snickered to myself.

‘What?’ she asked.

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