Page 66 of Familiar of the Witch

‘If you’d like to – and you don’t have to – but if you’d like to it would be okay with me if you wanted to call me Dad. Sometimes. Not all the time, of course – you’re oldernow. And only if you want to. I wish I’d said something when you were younger, but I didn’t want you to think I was trying to replace your father.’ He was rambling, anxious about my reaction.

My vision swam with tears and a rock took up residence in my throat. I gripped his hand more firmly and nodded. ‘I’d love to … Dad.’

He nodded back and suddenly both of us were fighting tears. The absurdity of it made me choke out a half-laugh. We were ridiculous; this wasn’t a hand-holding situation. I stepped closer for a hug. He took me in his arms and kissed me lightly on the forehead.

After several long minutes of silence he said, ‘Should we visit your mum?’

‘What’s the point?’ I asked, my voice hitching with despair. ‘She hasn’t known either of us in days. Her condition is worsening suddenly and I don’t know why.’

Oscar’s face tightened as he sighed and stepped back. He knew why. If I wanted the truth out of Mum, I needed to speak to her and the only way I could do that was to heal her fractured mind. I had tried so many potions but I’d been trying to achieve the wrong thing. I had focused on curing mental illnesses when what I needed was to heal the temporal rift in her mind. Nothing like a tall order.

Luckily, I had some ideas.

Oscar brushed some stray hairs out of my eyes. ‘The point is to go there and love her. Even if she doesn’t know you, she’ll know that she’s not alone and that’s worth a little heartache for us.’

He was absolutely right. ‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘For everything. But now I need some time alone. You visit Mum, if you want to. I’ll visit her soon, I promise. I want to – Ineedto. I know you’re right.’ Hewasright. It was always worth the heartache to see her; even if she didn’t know me, I knewher,and being with her buoyed me up even on the hard days.

Oscar kissed my cheek and went to the door. ‘I’ll stay outside until Bastion is back.’ I didn’t bother to argue.

Alone, I went into my bedroom and opened the cupboard to my safe. ‘What are you doing, Ellie?’ Frogmatch’s voice piped up, making me jump.

‘The impossible,’ I answered grimly.

Chapter 54

‘Stay quiet,’ I instructed Frogmatch. ‘Grimmy is a bit–’ bigoted? ‘–dated in his views.’

‘Not a fan of imps, huh?’

‘Nor any sort of creature,’ I admitted. ‘As I said … dated.’

I stroked a finger down Grimmy’s spine but nothing happened. With a reluctant grimace, I pricked my forefinger using the point of my athame until blood welled. When I stroked the spine with the fresh blood, the book came to life.

Grimmy floated upwards and glowed lightly. His pages fluttered, like he was stretching. ‘Why, Miss Amber! To what do I owe this pleasure?’

‘I need a potion to heal a temporal rift in someone’s mind. Do you know of such a thing?’

He fluttered, flustered. ‘Miss Amber, no such potion exists!’

‘As far as youknow,’ I countered.

‘If it existed, I’d know,’ he said firmly. ‘If you want that potion, you need to make it for yourself.’

I didn’t have time for that. The irony wasn’t lost on me. ‘A healing base, a pewter cauldron. Milk of thistle, fennel, damson leaf. What else?’

Grimmy was still agitated. ‘There is nothing to be done,’ he said reluctantly. ‘There is no ingredient for time, Miss Amber.’ And that was where he was wrong.

I called Tom Smith, Emory’s right-hand man. ‘Crone,’ he answered, his tone respectful. As usual, there was nothing wrong with the dragons’ information network. My new position had barely been announced in Edinburgh yet Tom was already in the know.

‘Tom, Jinx took Gato with her on honeymoon. Did she take Indy?’ It was a long shot and I held my breath as I waited for his answer. Indy and Gato are hellhounds and they can manipulate the realms – including the Third realm that controls time. If there was any ingredient to represent time, it would come from ahellhound.

‘No.’ I could hear the grimace in Tom’s voice. ‘Jinx felt like she was a little untrained to take on honeymoon. She was worried Indy would destroy the hotel rooms.’ From what I’d seen of the pup, that was a valid concern.

‘Can I speak to her?’

‘Jinx?’

‘Indy.’

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