Page 2 of Secrets of the Frostbound Cottage

I’d already called the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, as well as a few local dog charities and vets. I’d sent them all a picture of BonBon. If he’d wandered off, finding him at one of the charities was the best-case scenario.

Rowena made a ‘hmm’noise that told me she was the type of client that wanted an update every second of the day, hopes be damned. She went on, ‘I was thinking, Beatrix. Maybe they left some clues around the house that I missed? Should we hire a forensic team? We can do that, can’t we? Money is no object.’

I took a deep breath. There had been no sign of a break-in and nothing on her doorbell cam to suggest there had been intruders. The camera didn’t have a complete view of the area, so access to the house was still possible but it was highly unlikely. It was far more likely that BonBon had slipped out of the garden and taken himself for a frolic.

I was taking her concerns seriously because her anxiety was real. She insisted that he’d never wandered off before; unfortunately, though, there was a first time for everything.

Rowena was convinced that BonBon had been taken and ferried away in one of the cars captured on her footage, but she lived on a busy street. To say the list of vehicle registration numbers was extensive was a wild understatement – and I hadn’t even started going through the neighbours’ CCTV.

I’d already done a load of leg work, interviewing and discounting her neighbours and her gardener. One of the number plates she’d given me had been her husband’s car, which was apparently so new that she’d flagged it up in error. Still, I’d done my due diligence, gone through all the plates I could verify easily and identified the ones I couldn’t. Now, I was waiting to hear back from my contacts at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and the police to see whether any of those were leads worth pursuing.

‘I told you about his collar, didn’t I?’ Rowena pressed. ‘I’m sure that’s why they stole him, because of the rubies on it. But I don’t care about that. You can have them as your bonus if you get him back.’ Her voice was wheedling. ‘All I want is my little BonBon back.’

Rubies. On a dog collar. I wondered if BonBon had wandered off to protest about being forced to wear jewellery worth more than my car.

‘I know, Rowena,’ I said gently. ‘I get it, I really do. And I’m trying, I promise. I won’t give up.’

My mum’s voice rang in my mind,Never give up, Bumble Bea.

I won’t,I promised back silently as I always did.

Rowena sniffed down the phone and I felt bad for my annoyance at her repeated calls. She’d phoned me every two hours since I’d taken the job, but her dog was family to her and I knew better than anyone what it was like to lose family.

‘I’ll ring my contacts again now.’ I tried to sound reassuring. ‘I’ll hurry them up a little.’

‘Thank you.’ Her voice was warm and relieved. ‘I really do appreciate it, Beatrix.’ She was still sniffling when she hung up.

Missing cases, whether human or animal, are never easy. I liked to think I could detach myself, that I didn’t get pulled into the emotion of it all, but if someone’s feelings were strong enough I couldn’t help picking up on them. And whenever missing family was involved, there was a lot of emotion flying around ready to hit me in the gut.

Wanting to stay true to my word, I scrolled through my contacts list and gave both of them another call. Neither answered so I left messages.

I was reaching for my glass of Oy Bay when there was a knock at the door.

I froze, fingers brushing the glass stem. It was starting to feel like there was a conspiracy to keep me from drinking my favourite glass of heavenly nectar.

I licked my suddenly dry lips. The only person who ever knocked on my door was my landlady, Trini, usually to remind me about the rent despite the fact that I’d paid it on time every month since I’d moved in more than six years ago. But it couldn’t be Trini because I’d paid her last week. So whowasit?

I didn’t have friends who dropped by whenever they fancied; I’d not had many friends at all, not since I’d left Witchlight Cove. Sure, I had a couple of friendly acquaintances, but they didn’t know my address. I didn’t give my address to clients or my martial arts students, and even though I’d had some guys over once or twice, I’d made it perfectly clear that I didn’t expect to hear from them again unless I called. Which I never did.

So who the hell was it?

When you’ve been brought up to fight the way I was, the average person wasn’t a threat. My concern was that this might not be an average person…

My heart thundered. Had my grandmother found me?

I gritted my teeth. Hiding wouldn't answer the question. And maybe it was just a door-to-door salesman. There was no need to freak out.

I stood up and went towards my front door, but before my hand even touched the handle I was hit by a wall of emotion so strong that it took my breath away. Fear: pure fear. Not my grandmother, then, because she feared nothing other than her own mortality.

Relief rushed through me and helped to counter the overwhelming feeling of terror and desperation coming from the person on the other side of the door.

The feelings washing over me were so strong that I knew without a doubt that the person on the other side of thedoor was from the hidden magical world. My empath magic didn’t connect as strongly with humans; I could pick up their feelings if I tried, but they didn’t hit me over the head with a sledgehammer like this person’s were doing.

Whoever it was, they weren’t going to hurt me – I knew that much straight away. They needed me,reallyneeded me. Their fear was rattling my bones and making my heart race.

Their angst was so visceral and strong that it was a real effort to open the door but I did it anyway – and found two wide, red-rimmed eyes staring up at me.

‘Please,’ the young girl said, her voice trembling as she took big rasping breaths. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her waist. ‘Please,’ she repeated desperately. ‘I think you’re meant to help me.’

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