Page 50 of Secrets of the Eternal Flame

Nour looked as if she were giving herself a pep talk as her hand hovered in front of the door for a full five seconds before she finally knocked on it.

Usually I enjoyed speaking to suspects or witnesses; even if they weren’t particularly pleasant, it often resulted in a couple of extra pieces being added to the jigsaw, even if it was simply clearing their name and crossing them off the list. This time, however, I wasn’t looking forward to it at all; I didn’t want to make things worse for Nour and Ezra.

In the videos that Nour had received, Farah had always been standing alone with no visible background, which meant it had been difficult to tell how big she was. I hadn’t expected her to be over six feet tall even when standing barefoot on the tiled floor. She was wearing a skirt and shirt, her dark tresses piled in an elaborate updo, and she was clearly ready to leave the house.

‘Look at that,’ Farah sneered, looking down at Nour like she was dirt on her shoe. ‘My baby sister comes crawling back.’ Her eyes sharpened. ‘And that only means one thing – you want something.’ Technically, she wasn’t wrong.

Nour inhaled audibly. ‘You know I want something, Farah, because I sent you a message on my way over, which I know you saw even if you couldn’t be bothered to reply. As the message said, my friend wants to ask you somequestions.’

‘Ah yes, your mysterious friend.’ Farah twisted slightly so she was looking down her nose at me. ‘You can certainly pick them, can’t you, Nour? First that werewolf piece of trailer trash and now the wonky witch with the screwed-up powers who landed that poor vampire in hospital.’

Her insult hurt but I tried to ignore it. ‘I’ll be sure to let the beta of the werewolf pack know that you called him trailer trash,’ I replied. Farah flinched and her smirk faltered a little. ‘We can do this out here,’ I continued coolly, ‘or inside, where the neighbours can’t see or hear.’ Her faultless exterior suggested she was someone who cared about appearances.

‘Whatever,’ she spat, stepping back to let us in. ‘Come in, if you must. You’ve got five minutes. I have an appointment.’

Unlike Nour’s place, Farah’s house was a stereotypical witch’s home. There were flowers drying on rafters and jars on display, some containing things I recognised like frogspawn and pickled spiders’ egg sacks, other containing things I didn’twant torecognise. Beside the jars were small bottles in various colours, and I wondered if one of them was the elixir she’d used to draw out the magic from the cup of completion. If indeed, she had the cup.

Farah didn’t offer us a seat but I sat down anyway. ‘So, what is this about?’ she demanded. ‘As I said, I’m busy.’As she waved a hand to emphasise her words, a Flame appeared in the middle of her palm. Although she looked relaxed, when I lowered my barriers slightly I could feel a buzzing excitement radiating from her. That told me that this magic was new to her and she was still enjoying it.

‘I wanted to talk to you about some items that have been stolen from the shop Grimoires and Goblets,’ I said.

‘Grimoires and Goblets?’ Farah said. ‘Why on earth would anybody steal from that cesspit? The owner sells junk and trinkets to unsuspecting tourists who think it’s edgy.’ Her nose crinkled as if the very existence of the shop disgusted her.

‘There are some useful things in it, too.’

She shrugged. ‘Well, each to their own, I suppose,’ she said. She leaned forward; despite herself she was interested. ‘What was stolen?’

‘There are two items I’m looking into. One is a cup that may increase a witch’s strength.’

‘Well, I could see that could be useful,’ she said. ‘But why are you here?’ It took barely a breath for her to realise she knew the answer to her own question. She glared at her sister. ‘You’re not serious? You told this wannabe detective bitch that I stole it? How dare you?’

‘No, I didn’t,’ Nour said firmly. ‘She drew her own conclusions from the information she’s got. You have toadmit that it’s strange timing, Farah. The cup was stolen and suddenly your powers increased massively.’

‘Is this a joke?’ Farah shook her head, her expression disgusted. Her jaw was so tight with tension that her teeth were clenched. ‘You’re so self-involved, you really have no idea, do you?’

Nour was trying to hold herself together in the face of her sister’s anger. ‘No idea of what?’ she asked tightly.

Farah sidestepped the question. ‘I can’t believe you have the audacity to accuse me of stealing something to strengthen my powers.Youwere the one Mum nearly went bankrupt for, having to pay for all those cleansing options and rituals after you decided to play with dark magic!’

‘That wasn’t what happened and you know it.’ Nour’s voice was trembling.

‘And you have the gall to come here and accusemeof stealing?’

‘You know that what happened to me was because of—’

‘I don’t know anything about what happened to you, Nour. Like you don’t know anything about what has happened to me. That’s because we never got on and we don’t talk – we may share parents but that’s about it. We’re living proof that family isn’t always everything.’ She stuck her nose in the air. ‘But I’ll do better than Mum with my own kids.’ She patted her tummy pointedly.

Nour’s eyes shot to Farah’s middle.

‘If you’d actually bothered to speak to any of us, you’d have found out that the reason my powers have strengthened is because I’m pregnant!’

Silence swallowed the room.

I’d never been close to a pregnant witch before but I’d heard stories about how it could change their magic. Often the baby’s magic would try to manifest through their mother, and if they both had the same kind of magic it could result in a significant increase in the mother’s power.

‘You’re pregnant?’ Nour said quietly.

‘Yes. Mum insisted we tell you in person – so here we are. You’re going to be an auntie.’ She gave a hard, cynical laugh. ‘I actually thought the reason you were coming round was because someone had told you and you wanted to congratulate me. But of course not!’ she snarled. ‘And an accusation is rich coming from you. You know there’s only one person in our family who’s done something that goes against the coven’s code.’ Her implication was clear.

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