Page 48 of Secrets of the Eternal Flame

‘Do you want me to do something?’ Maddie said, eyeing me like I was a ticking time bomb. She wasn’t stupid; she could draw inferences too. ‘I don’t need to go in to work. I’m happy to stay here and see if it appears again.’ She chewed her lip. ‘Or I could help you follow up on your leads so you can stay?’

‘I don’t have anywhere to go until this afternoon,’ Nour joined in. ‘The three of us could wait here together.’

I shook my head. ‘Thanks for the offers,’ I said, ‘but I don’t think that’ll be a productive use of any of our time. I tried that before, remember? For hours.’ It would obviously only appear when it wanted to; this was the most frustrating game of peekaboo ever.

The Eternal Flame was something that was beyond my control, meaning that right now, more than ever, I needed to focus on the things that Icoulddo.‘Nour,’ I said. ‘I need to ask you something,and I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, okay?’

She nodded and stood up. ‘You want to be alone with Maddie. It’s fine. You’re besties and I don’t want you to think that I’m an interloper—’

‘Hey!’ I interrupted her. ‘That wasn’t what I was going to say at all.’ I touched her shoulder. ‘I love having you here – we both do. You’re welcome here whenever you want to come. White Wine Coven, right?’

She smiled. ‘Well, if you don’t want me to leave, what is it you’re nervous about asking me?’

Oof: she’d seen right through me. There was no point beating around the bush. I had started and now I needed to finish. ‘Those videos of your sister ... the way you said her magic seemed to have grown so much it was barely recognisable. Do you think there’s any way—’ I hated saying this ‘Do you think there’s any way she might have used something to try and increase her powers?’

She stared at me. ‘What?’

‘Something’s gone missing, something with extraordinary power.’

‘You’re talking about the mug that was stolen from Gwen’s?’ Maddie interrupted. ‘The one that looks all old and boring but is actually a magical goblet? Nana spoketo me about it last night. Do you think that could be increasing Nour’s sister’s powers?’

‘Maybe.’ I turned back to Nour. ‘The thing is, if itiswhat Farah’s using, that cup holdsseriousmagic. It’s not the type of thing she can mess with, even if she thinks she’s got control of it.’

Rather than replying immediately, Nour gave a low whistle. Her eyes skirted mine as she chewed on her bottom lip. ‘I don’t know,’ she said truthfully. ‘There was a time I would have said she’d do anything to increase her magic, but I haven’t spoken to her for months. I keep getting these messages in the family chat. We…’ she hesitated. ‘She was one of the more vocal ones against my relationship with Ezra and things have been rocky between us ever since.’

‘I’m sorry to ask this, but could you take me to see her? I need to speak to her but I don’t want to make things any more awkward between the pair of you.’

She scoffed, ‘They could hardly get worse. Farah is queen of making things awkward.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘She’s probably still at home. She doesn’t start work until midday during the week.’

‘Let’s go, then.’

‘Shall I come too?’ Maddie said, looking hopeful.

I was torn. I didn’t want Farah to feel like we were ganging up on her, three against one, because people in a corner tended to fight and I needed her to talk. At the same time, I didn’t want to exclude Maddie. I remembered what Ernie had said: Maddie needed to feel useful.

Nour could drive her own car and head home afterwards. ‘Could you drive me down there, Mads? Maybe take Eva for a walk while we’re inside?’ In some situations, asking people to look after their dog wasn’t exactly a big deal but Maddie knew how much Eva meant to me. I hoped she realised that it wasn’t a casual request; it meant I trusted her completely with my girl.

‘Sure,’ she nodded. ‘Actually, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about anyway.’ From the way that Maddie’s gaze shifted and her voice tightened, I got the feeling it wasn’t going to be a good chat. I racked my brains, wondering what sort of roommate code I might have inadvertently broken.

We trooped out and locked up the house. The moment I’d closed the passenger seat door, Maddie started to speak. ‘I don’t want you to take this the wrong way and I don’t want you to think it’s what I believe – or that it’s even what I want. It’s a suggestion, that’s all,’ she began.

Nerves were rolling off of her with such force that I had to strengthen my mental shields. I smiled at her. ‘Whatever you need to say is okay. Just say it.’

She started the engine, keeping her eyes fixed on the road ahead.

‘Just say it. Better out than in,’ I wished I could say something more to put her at ease.

She gripped the steering wheel tightly. ‘I know this is going to sound completely ridiculous, but do you think… Do you think it’s possible that the Flame appeared both times to me because ... maybe... I don’t know ... it—’

‘It thinksyoushould be the Guardian?’ I finished for her.

She blew out a long shaky breath. ‘Sorry, I didn’t know how to say it. It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? Of course it is.’

‘No, it’s not,’ I said as evenly as I could. ‘I had the same thought because it’s logical. The Flame has sentience, and if it doesn’t want to pick me it knows it must find someone it can trust to be its Guardian instead. With all the time you’ve spent with it, it wouldn’t be surprising if it chose you. I wouldn’t blame it – or you – in the slightest.’

Maddie’s knuckles on the steering wheel were white. ‘But if it’s sentient, it will have seen my dalliance with the dark side.’

‘Which you came through,’ I pointed out.

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