Page 9 of Sparkle Witch
***
We ended up in a long room filled with row upon row of filing cabinets. Instead of opening the first one marked with the letter A, however, Iqbal made a beeline for the Ts.
‘Is this right?’ I asked.
‘Yes,’ he replied easily. ‘The Society’s filing system is, um, unusual. It takes a while to figure it out.’
I squinted. ‘So why T?’
‘You’re looking for information on an object that belongs to the Order. All Order files are kept under T.’
‘T for…’
‘Twats,’ Iqbal said, without looking up.
‘Hey!’ I protested. ‘That’s not fair!’
He pulled out a slim manila folder and smirked. ‘My, you really have drunk the Kool Aid, haven’t you?’
‘I…’ Damn it. ‘Yes. Yes, I have.’
He patted me on the shoulder. ‘It happens to the best of us.’ He flipped open the folder and we scanned the first sheet. ‘Well, it’s valuable, alright,’ Iqbal commented. ‘And old.’
‘Ancient. It’s been around for even longer than Grenville has, and that’s saying something.’ I tapped a paragraph towards the bottom. ‘I don’t read Latin. What does this say?’
Iqbal frowned and bit his lip as he translated. I could tell the moment he’d worked it out because he paled dramatically and snapped the folder shut. ‘Maybe you should get Winter to take you on that holiday now, Ivy.’
‘Iq…’ I wagged my finger in warning.
He sighed. ‘Fine. But you’re not going to like it.’ He cleared his throat. ‘If the Angel is removed from the Hallowed Order of Magical Enlightenment, then the earth shall be rent open, fire shall spew forth, the witches shall be afflicted with disease and magic itself will be forever cursed.’
I absorbed this. ‘So,’ I said slowly, ‘fiery volcanoes and green pustules.’
Iqbal nodded. ‘Effectively.’
‘Maybe it’s talking about a different angel. Maybe there are lots of valuable silver angels hanging around the Order.’
‘Sure. I’m sure there are hundreds. Thousands. There’s no chance that this angel is the same as the one that’s gone missing.’
I ran a hand through my hair and slumped. ‘We’re all doomed, aren’t we?’
He beamed at me. ‘Yep.’
***
Iqbal took me back to the main entrance to show me out. I was just about to take my leave when a familiar figure walked in, shaking out her shiny brown hair. Her face lit up when she caught sight of Iqbal and then her cheeks turned bright red when she noticed me.
‘I—Ivy!’ Eve stammered. ‘What are you doing here?’
The last thing I wanted to do was panic her with tales of the witchy apocalypse. ‘Research,’ I said smoothly. ‘On Christmas traditions.’ Sort of. ‘You?’
She licked her lips. ‘I’m doing research as well. On witch–human relations.’
I nodded sagely. ‘Well, have fun. I’ve gotta dash.’
I nipped out of the door, then darted to the side where I couldn’t be seen and pressed against the wall. After waiting for a beat or two, I peered back in, grinning to myself before using up the last vestiges of magic left inside me to cast a quick rune and create the illusion of a sprig of mistletoe. It wasn’t as if the Arcane Historical Society had any other decorations to boast of. Just to be sure that one of my sneaky friends noticed it, I gave it a little magical shake. Iqbal glanced up and, when the smile spread across his face, I knew. A heartbeat later he was locking lips with Eve. He was at least half a foot shorter than her and they were as much opposites as Winter and me. Apart from their mutual hearts of gold.
I allowed myself a tiny inner squeal of happiness. If this was the end of the world as we knew it, at least we’d all die happy.
