Page 37 of Familiar of the Witch

The day was indeed fine and sun was streaming into my bedroom. His words reminded me that I hadn’t drawn my curtains so I hurriedly attended to them. I was in too much haste to get this potion done; I mustn’t get sloppy. No one could learn of Grimmy’s existence or he’d be a target for theft or destruction, and I wanted neither of those to come to pass.

When I’d taken him to Edinburgh with me, I’d toyed with the idea of using anything I could find in his pages to save Abigay but I knew she wouldn’t have let me. Benji had taken charge of Grimmy and encased my grimoire inside his body, where Grimmy had still been when Benji was shut down. When Benji handed him back, I’d feared Grimmy might have suffered some damage but luckily I’d seen no evidence. Even so, I was keeping a watchful eye on him; somehow he did seem a little different.

‘I need the potion for finding someone’s mate,’ I explained

‘How very pedestrian.’ Grimmy sighed, unimpressed with my request. He opened the bartering. ‘Four weeks.’

I laughed. ‘I’m not giving you four weeks of my life force for that tiny spell. I’m ninety percent sure I remember the potion anyway,’ I lied smoothly. ‘An hour.’

‘An hour?’ he spluttered. ‘Why, Miss Amber, you wound me! It is almost like youwantme to wither into nothingness.’

‘Not at all! I value you, Grimmy, you know that. There’s no other tome like you.’ A little flattery never hurt.

‘An hour!’ he continued to splutter. ‘You certainly donotvalue me, Miss Amber! A day and not a moment less!’

Thatwas actually an okay deal. I hoped it was a rubbish day that our agreement would take from me, rather than a good one. ‘A day,’ I agreed. ‘Done and done, payment on successful completion of the potion.’ It was a small price for getting the ogres off my back and the contract to kill me cancelled. Certain death versus a day off my life: yes, it would do.

‘You wound me with your lack of trust.’ There was a pause then he drew in a sharp breath. ‘Miss Amber! You have a familiar! I see the bond as clear as day! Oh my, why you let me blather on when you had such joyous news I do not know. A familiar! What is it? Oh, I bet it is a cat like the one resting beside me in your safe! Is it a cat?’

‘Kind of,’ I said, thinking of Bastion in all of his glory. He was half-lion after all, which was a big cat…

‘Do not keep me in suspense a moment longer!’ Grimmy pleaded.

I sighed. He wasn’t going to like this; he’d been made in a time when Ante-Crea sentiment was rife. ‘It’s a griffin.’

The silence was deafening. When he finally spoke, his tone was disbelieving. ‘A griffin? How can that be? I have never in all my days heard of a familiar bonding with acreature.’ His voice dropped to a whisper. ‘You are cursed, child.’

Gee, thanks Grimmy. Don’t pull your punches on my account.‘I am no child, nor am I cursed,’ I said firmly, hands on my hips. ‘I am a witch. And I am honoured andproudto be bonded to Bastion.’

‘A creature of death,’ Grimmy whispered. ‘No good can come of this, Miss Amber. None at all.’

‘What would you have me do?’ I asked snarkily. ‘Sever the bond?’

‘Goddess, no!’ The response was immediate and gratifying.

‘Then what do you suggest?’

‘I do not know,’ he replied slowly. ‘But it is a troubling and mystifying development. A bond with a creature. What a thing!’

At that, the light faded from him and he slumped back onto the bed; apparently Grimmy was done wasting his life on my troubles. The book didn’t close, however, but remained open at the potion I needed. I recognised the spikey writing that I’d studied once before: it was an old ancestor’s potion.

I didn’t want to heave Grimmy around my flat, so I took a picture of the two pages. I turned to the next one and it was blank, as were the rest of his pages: he only showed you what you’d bargained for. Having securedthe potion – for now and always – I closed him and placed him back in the safe.

I felt a jolt as I saw my stuffed cat sitting there. It was a gift from Aunt Abigay. She had been ripped away from life, and from me, far too soon. As there was no one to see, I grasped the cat and gave her a quick hug. How I wished I could hug Abigay. I hadn’t done it enough in life and, though I tried hard not to drag regret around with me, that omission stung a little.

I placed the toy cat back on her shelf and swung the safe shut with a clang. I wished that the sound was less ominous. It felt like a dark foreshadowing of what was to come.

Chapter 31

I was sweating over the potion that was simmering away in a bronze cauldron even before I increased the flames underneath it to make it really boil. I was brewing in a small cauldron, but it was one of my most powerful receptacles.

I pushed back a sticky strand of hair that had fallen loose from my braid. With a sigh, I grabbed another clip to keep it out of my face and out of the potion. A stray hair from me and the whole thing would be ruined. I didn’t fancy keeping Krieg hanging around much longer; he’d already been waiting for more than six hours. Still, the potion had to be right and the ingredients wouldn’t be rushed.

I crushed the milk thistle and waited for the temperature to rise. The brew was bubbling vigorously and if I waited too long to turn it down, it would be ruined. It had to be timed to perfection. The thermometer was in the cauldron but in truth I didn’t need it to tell me that the potion wasready for me to add the milk thistle. I poured it in deftly with one hand whilst stirring with the other. I continued to stir with my right hand as my left hand doused the flames.

I kept one eye on the temperature of the liquid. When it hit ninety degrees exactly, I carefully lifted the cauldron and placed it in an ice bath. The cauldron hissed in protest at the shock of the cold, and steam rose. I smiled smugly. Perfect. Now for the final ingredient – and Krieg wanted to be present when I added that.

I walked back through my office and into the living room. The atmosphere was tense. Krieg was sprawled on my sofa with his two henchmen standing behind him on sentry duty. Bastion’s body was rigid. Violence stirred in the air.

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