Page 35 of Dark Desire
Hours passed as I paced the small room back and forth. Officers came in and gave me water and food, but no one would tell me what was happening. My magic was itching to be used to get myself out of this situation, but I’d spotted the cameras in the corner of the room and knew I couldn’t. Even if I said to hell with it, so what if I expose myself in front of humans because I’m going to die soon anyway? It was the aftermath of destruction that could possibly cause harm to my kind that stopped me. Witches had spent centuries trying to cover up the exposure of our past against humans, knowing how much fear it would evoke if they believed we were real.
I pressed my hands against my eyes for the millionth time, trying to force away the stinging sensation. Not only was I sleep deprived, but I had never been so stressed. And I have been in many, many stressful situations. I just didn’t know how to get out of this one.
Finally, the doors opened and both officers returned with apologetic expressions. I paused, my eyebrows furrowing as I stared at them.
“Miss Knightsbridge. You are free to go. We are sorry for the misunderstanding.”
Um, what now?
I didn’t move, worried this was some kind of test. “I beg your pardon?”
“You are free to leave.”
I frowned. “So, you are not arresting me?”
“No.” PC Mawdly shuffled in his polished shoes. “We don’t often get things wrong, but when we do, we are quick to apologise.”
“Hang on, so it was Beryl? She admitted it?” I gasped.
They both looked confused. “No. It was a rather large wolf. We found it deceased on the moors. We believe it was also responsible for the cows that have been recently slaughtered. We expect the wolf was digging for the corpse but was startled by something and ran off before it got to it. Again, we are so sorry for the misunderstanding.”
A wolf? My brain wasn’t registering. What the hell were they talking about?
“And the book?” I questioned.
They glanced at each other with quizzical expressions. “What book, Miss Knightsbridge?”
I froze. Okay, what the hell was happening? The part of my scrambled brain that was in survival mode screamed at me to stop questioning things and get the hell out of here.
“Nothing,” I muttered, shaking my head. “I’m confused. I’ll go then.”
They both escorted me to the entrance of the station, handed me back my handbag and then smiled at me as I walked out the doors. I slumped against the station wall, feeling completely insane. What the hell was that? It took me a few minutes to snap out of my bewilderment and peer around to notice that the sky had darkened in the early evening hours. I had been in there all day.
I rubbed my face with my hands and pushed off the wall. There was only one possible explanation for all of this and I knew exactly who was to blame.
“Ah, you’re back. I wondered whether we’d see you in here again,” Nige, the barman, greeted me as I leaned against the wooden bar top.
“Decided to stick around.”
“Ever find that woman you were looking for?” Badger asked from his stool next to me.
“Sure did.” My lips twitched as I fought a smile. “Beryl Dorestone. She’s my great-aunt. I’m staying with her for a few days. Name’s Zachary.” I held my hand out in greeting to the old man as I had seen so many people do around here. He shook it and smiled.
“Didn’t know Beryl had a nephew. Well, welcome. Hope you’re enjoying your stay.”
“I’m starting to.” I nodded at the men and took my pint to my table.
Lifting my glass to my lips, I studied the locals. For the second time, I sat at the small table in the dark corner, nursing my Cornish beer and listening to all the village gossip. Tonight, the gossip was much more interesting than before.
“So, they arrested her?”
“Yeah! And I heard they had to kick her door in because she refused to open it. That shows a sign of guilt if ever I saw one.”
“Well, I heard that she killed Betty, but I didn’t believe it. Now I don’t know what to believe.”
“She’s always been a strange character. I’ve never been sure of her.”
I smirked behind my glass. They should have released her by now after I hypnotised the two officers who came by Beryl’s to question her. I made them believe that they had found a wolf up on the moors that was responsible for it all and I took the spell book from them, demanding they forget it ever existed. I had no plans to actually have the witch locked up. I just enjoyed messing with her too much.
