Page 47 of Familiar of the Witch

‘You’re my fantasy,’ he growled, pulling me in for a hard, possessive kiss that made my head spin. Parts of my body tingled at his attention and I groaned aloud. Things might have gotten very interesting if someone hadn’t knocked at the door at that precise moment.

We slid apart as Oscar stalked in carrying a large cardboard box. He threw it down onto the coffee table dramatically. ‘Your cloak,’ he proclaimed to Bastion.

Bastion leanedforward, opened the lid and carefully pulled out the cloak. He stood and effortlessly whirled it around his shoulders, looking for all the world as if he put it on every day.

He raised the hood and his face disappeared – even his eyes vanished from sight. You could tell from the fall of the cloak that he was large and bulky, and most people who saw him would assume he was male. Not much could be done about that, but otherwise he was wholly incognito. Even his clothes had disappeared from view in a swirl of atmospheric black smoke. The Seers are so dramatic.

My phone blared: Voltaire. I swiped to answer and hit speakerphone so we could all hear him. ‘DeLea,’ I announced.

As usual, he dispensed with pleasantries. ‘We have a problem.’

Didn’t we always? ‘What?’ I asked brusquely.

‘The auction is taking place in Edinburgh.’ He paused. ‘In two hours.’

I was close to letting an expletive slip out. That was all-but asking the impossible, unless the vampyrs wanted to help get us there by phasing us through the shadows, and frankly I’d rather have stroked a lizard than trust Voltaire to transport us. ‘Where?’ I asked.

‘Chimera Auction House, Frampton Place.’

‘We’ll be there.’ Probably. I hung up. ‘Griffin Air?’ I asked Bastion.

‘We’ve no choice,’ he agreed grimly. ‘We can’t wait for a helicopter, there’s no time. Even with my best efforts, two hours is going to be an ask.’

‘I believe in you.’ I smiled because I did. ‘Let’s go.’

Oscar huffed. ‘He won’t be able to carry us both.’

‘No,’ Bastion agreed as he disappeared into the bedroom to fetch his harness from his bag. It belatedly occurred to me that I should give him a drawer or something so he wasn’t living out of his duffel bag, but the thought scared the life out of me. I wasn’t seriously thinking of asking him to move in formally, right? Was a drawer moving in? He was bonded forever to me as my familiar, but for some reason clearing out a drawer for him felt like a big deal.

Too soon. I tabled the drawer issue; I had no time to think about that now.

Bastion came back in carrying his black backpack and the harness. ‘We have to go. You’ll have to keep an eye on things here,’ he directed Oscar.

‘Where are you going?’ A voice popped up. ‘I’ll come.’

‘Frogmatch!’ I clutched my hand to my heart. ‘You scared the heck out of me.’

‘Sorry, Ellie.’The imp grinned widely, not repentant in the slightest.

I gave him a side-eyed glance. Surely Bastion would have been aware of the imp’s presence if he’d been there during our make-out session… ‘We’re going to Scotland, to a black-magic auction.’

‘Cool! I’ll come.’

I pressed my lips together, reluctant to endanger him. He read my face and his jocular expression faded. ‘They cut off my tail, Ellie. I deserve to be part of this as much as you do. Don’t think that because I’m small, I don’t get rights.’

‘Of course you do!’ I said instantly.

‘Good, then I’m coming.’ He scurried up the table leg onto the table and then clambered up me like I was a climbing frame before settling on my shoulder. I wanted to quiz Frogmatch about what he’d learned whilst he was spying on the Coven, but we didn’t have time to get into an in-depth conversation. We were fighting against the clock. Surely if he’d found out anything important, he’d have mentioned it.

I focused on the immediate task: getting us to Scotland. ‘Do you have both cloaks in the backpack?’ I askedBastion. We’d be in real trouble if we went all that way and then couldn’t obscure our identities.

‘I do,’ he assured me.

I hastily packed a few potions in my tote, then we strode up to the Coven tower roof. Bastion shimmered into griffin form. I laid the harness down for him to step into and secured it around him. His backpack had vanished with his shift but, like his clothing, it would return when he changed back to human. I wondered where the heck it went – but magic has very little to do with logic.

As I climbed on top of Bastion I frowned at Frogmatch, who was still resting on my shoulder. He couldn’t stay there at the speed we’d be flying at. ‘Don’t make this weird,’ I instructed him, ‘but you’d better climb into my blouse. We can’t have you falling from these heights.’

Face solemn, he didn’t make any titty jokes just held up his hands. I deposited him in the V of my bra, facing him outwards so he could peek over the lace. I secured goggles over my eyes, laced my fingers through the leather strap and squeezed Bastion with my legs to signal that I was ready.

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