Page 25 of Destiny of the Witch

His expression was open and delighted. ‘I am! I’m fine, Am Bam. Mr Grimmy saved my life. I am very grateful to him.’

‘As am I,’ I admitted.

David was gaping. ‘So now there’s two of you in there?’

‘I’ve always liked the idea of a roommate,’ Benji said shyly. ‘I have very much enjoyed living with Oscar.’

Oscar stepped forward and clapped the golem into a hug. ‘As I have with you, Benji. I am so relieved to see you’re okay.’

Benji hugged Oscar back and that made my eyes well up. I hadn’t seen Oscar hug anyone ever besides me or Mum.

Bastion’s arms wrapped around me and I let the scent of him settle me. We’d been through hell and back, and it wasn’t even 9am. I dreaded to think what the rest of the day would bring.

Chapter 18

‘It has occurred to me that Grimmy is not a very dignified name,’ Grimmy complained. ‘Now that I have a proper body, I believe that I should have a proper name.’

‘What do you propose?’ I asked the grimoire with interest. Of all the names in the world to choose from, what would he pick? My money was on something posh and pretentious – Archibald maybe, or Percival.

He thought for a moment. ‘I expect we will want to keep my residence within Benji’s body somewhat secret. Discretion is advised. As such, I propose that I am referred to as Benjamin, whilst my compatriot here is named Benji, thus differentiating between us without ever drawing attention to our new situation.’

I blinked. That was actually a very good idea.

‘Brilliant idea!’ Benji enthused. ‘Do you like rock music?’

‘I mustconfess, I have no idea,’ the newly named Benjamin responded. ‘I have been exposed to very little of the arts, musical or otherwise.’

‘We’ll change that,’ Benji promised. ‘There are some beautiful things to see in this world. I’ll share them with you.’

There was a pause, and when Benjamin spoke his voice was thick with emotion. ‘I would truly appreciate that, my young friend.’

And now I felt like a witch with a B for being so mean to … Benjamin. I cleared my throat. ‘I’m sorry to interrupt the moment, I really am, but there are some important things we need to discuss. The most pressing of which is, do you know who attacked you?’

Benji grimaced. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened. I was drinking with our Coven—’ the ‘our’ made me smile— ‘and then in the night I heard Oscar cry out. Sometimes his nightmares bother him and I went to offer comfort, as friends should. As I stood up, I felt funny. Suddenly I couldn’t move and then everything just – stopped.’ He shrugged. ‘I don’t know what happened. I’ve never heard of a golem being poisoned before.’

‘Just because it hasn’t happened before doesn’t mean it isn’t possible,’ I murmured, my brain whirring.

I glanced at my watch; itwas just gone 9am. I’d lost my chance to confront Hannah in the privacy of her own rooms, but it couldn’t be helped. We had Benji back, and that was everything. ‘We need to go the potions lab and confront Hannah,’ I said.

‘Why Hannah?’ Benji asked curiously.

‘She is the only other witch I have told about the circus where Meredith and Ria were attacked. Shehasto be the one who painted the cancelling runes there. It stands to reason that she is also to blame for the attacks on you and Oscar.’ I couldn’t cope if I had evenmoreevil witches amongst us.

‘Or she told someone else about it,’ Bastion said, playing devil’s advocate.

‘No,’ I disagreed. ‘Hannah swore an oath. If she told anyone about it, the geas would kick in and kill her. She knew the severity of the oath that I had extracted from her and she wouldn’t risk an oath death. She wouldn’t gossip about it over a glass of wine.’

‘You could have been followed to the circus one time,’ Benji suggested.

Oscar shook his head. ‘I have been trained to spot a tail. We’ve had them a number of times but I’ve always lost them before wereached our destination. It’s possible, I suppose, but not probable.’

‘Well, let’s see what she says,’ Benji said. He looked unhappy. ‘I’ve always liked Hannah.’

‘Me too.’ I sighed softly. ‘Me too.’

We climbed the stairs to the third floor. The potions lab was dark and when I flicked on the lights no one was there; a few cauldrons were covered and runed into stasis, but other than that, the place was empty.

Hannah’s workstation was completely clear. I frowned. Hannah was organised; she always came down the night before to prep her ingredients and her workstation to maximise her brewing time the next day. She was a creature of habit and eager to please; I hated the thought that perhaps she had been eager to please the wrong person. If she hadn’t prepped her workspace, maybe it was because she knew the jig was up. After all, it wouldn’t take a genius to realise I’d be taking a hard look at her after the circus was attacked, and she’d had no alibi through work, though I supposed she might offer another excuse for her absence.

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