Page 45 of Slouch Witch
‘When is Ms Harrington due back?’ he asked me.
‘Monday.’
He absorbed this and stood up.
‘Can I ask a question?’ Alice said. We both looked at her. ‘Why do you smell like a toilet?’
I rolled my eyes but Winter didn’t react. He replaced her gag and nodded in the direction of the kitchen. I did as he requested and walked in with him. Harold emerged from underneath the sofa and joined us then Winter shut the door.
‘The legal thing to do is to inform the Order and the police immediately. You could get into a lot of trouble for holding these two here, Ivy. You’ve also made me a co-conspirator by default.’
I folded my arms. ‘They’re dangerous,’ I protested. ‘As soon as I let them go, whether it’s to the police or the Order or the damn Knights of the Round Table, Eve will be at risk. So will I. And so will you. She says it was Diall who put them up to this and maybe it was but we don’t know if he was working alone. There might be others who want to silence us. The entire Order might be compromised. Not to mention that it’s highly suspicious that all this stuff with the sceptre and the attempt on our lives just happened too. They might not be related, there’s no proof, but it’s a hell of a coincidence. In fact…’
Winter put a hand on my arm. ‘I was going to let you keep going until you ran out of steam,’ he said drily. ‘But I was worried that you’d not taken a breath and you’d end up passing out.’ He sighed. ‘What I said was that telling the Order and the police would be the legal thing to do. It wouldn’t be therightthing to do.’
I blinked. ‘Are you also saying thatI’mright?’
‘Don’t let it get to your head.’
I held up a hand towards Harold. ‘High five!’ Harold started washing his ears.
Winter gazed at me expressionlessly. ‘We need to keep these two here until we know what’s going on. I’ll set up a perimeter spell. If anyone comes looking for them then we’ll know who it is and we can use it as evidence against all of them.’
Huh. That was actually a good idea. ‘Brill.’ I pressed my lips together.
‘What is it?’
‘I suppose now you want to go all gung-ho and storm off after Diall.’ My muscles screamed their reluctance to do anything other than have a hot bath and go to sleep.
‘You’re right, that is what I want to do – but it’s not what we’re going to do. Both of us need to be fresh and alert for our next move.’ He ran a hand through his hair. ‘If we go out again now, we’ll end up making mistakes which could cost us dearly.’ He paused. ‘I’ll sleep on your sofa. That way if anything untoward happens at least there will be two of us to deal with it.’
I squashed down my sudden, inexplicable thrill of glee. ‘Brutus will want to talk to you all night.’
The corner of Winter’s mouth crooked up. ‘If I can handle you, I can handle a snarky cat.’
Famous last words. ‘I should tell you that my boiler’s broken so it’s pretty cold in my flat.’ I twiddled my thumbs. ‘And there’s no hot water.’
Something akin to despair crossed Winter’s face. ‘No wonder it was freezing when I was there before. I’ll fix it.’
‘Really?’
‘I’m a witch of many talents.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘And so, apparently, are you.’
I felt a twinge of suspicion. ‘What do you mean by that?’
‘Fairclough might only be Adeptus Minor,’ he said, ‘but she scores higher than almost everyone else in magical aggression. You did well to bring her down.’
I wasn’t blushing. Nope. Not even a tiny bit. I coughed. ‘Well, then. I’ll give this lot some food and we can go.’
Chapter Thirteen
For once, I woke up early without using an alarm clock. I wiggled my toes, enjoying the warmth both inside and outside my duvet, and listened. In the other room, Winter appeared to be having a fruitless argument with Brutus.
‘I’ve given you lots of attention. Now let me have some peace.’
‘Pet.’
‘The last time I did that you scratched me.’
