Page 84 of Star Witch
He spun round, abandoning her to return to his bike. Ivy wasn’t here. His next stop had to be Dead Man’s Hill. With his fear increasing, he ignored the woman who had altered her course of stuttering fear to one of rage.
‘You bastard! Coming into my house and threatening me! I’ll have the police on you! My son can do magic, you know. He’ll hurt you for what you’ve just done! He’ll turn your insides out!’
Winter revved the engine and took off without once glancing back.
***
He was still a long way from the cemetery and the hill behind it when he saw the lights. As far as he could tell, they were man-made and nothing to do with magic. All the same, he continued to gun the engine. What the hell was Ivy thinking? What was really going on? Winter pressed down on the accelerator. He’d ask questions later.
The moment he reached the entrance to the graveyard, he flung down the bike. Its wheels were still spinning when he took off in the direction of the lights. There were shouts and screams, each one sending a bloodcurdling chill down his spine. Then he saw Ivy, suspended in the air above a small group of people, her face contorted in an expression of pain and horror.
No.
Winter ran forward, his hands raised. In quick succession he threw out every single protection rune he could think of. Each one bounced uselessly off Ivy’s body. Her mouth opened as if in a scream and her body began to shake violently.
Winter sped past a kid, who was pulling himself up from the ground with a dazed expression, and headed directly to her. Her eyes moved to him and for the briefest moment she seemed to relax. Her lips formed three unmistakable words that made his heart stop. Then the life seemed to go out of her, like someone had flipped a switch.
He was less than a foot away when she dropped like a stone. Winter held out his arms and caught her just before she hit the ground. There was an odd, beatific smile on her face.
For one brief moment, her eyelids fluttered open and his hope flared. ‘Benjamin?’ she asked. Less than a second later, her body went limp and her eyes closed.
Doing his best to quash his panic, Winter laid her down gently. He couldn’t feel a pulse. He dipped his head closer to her mouth. No breath. Shit. With his mouth dry, Winter began compressions, pounding on her chest. ‘Call a fucking ambulance!’ He breathed into her mouth. Then he continued compressions again.
‘Let me help.’ A youngish man with a Scottish brogue knelt down next to him.
Winter didn’t stop what he was doing but raised his eyes for long enough to scan the man’s face. ‘Name?’ he barked.
‘G … G … Gareth.’
Winter gave Ivy another breath. Then he took half a beat to draw a rune and send the man flying backwards.
The kid let out a cry and ran towards him. ‘Gareth! What did that bastard do to you?’
Winter paid them no further attention.
‘Adeptus! I know first aid. We can work together.’ Barry, Ivy’s erstwhile producer, fell heavily to his knees and took over the compressions. All the while, Ivy’s skin turned paler and paler and she didn’t move once.
***
The smell of antiseptic clung to everything but it couldn’t conceal the underlying stench of sickness and despair. Winter paced up and down the corridor, his shoes squeaking. Every time a door opened, he held his breath. It was never for him. There was still no news about Ivy.
He lowered his head and stared at his feet. He still didn’t understand what had happened. Why had she gone out there alone?
‘Adeptus Exemptus Winter?’
He sprang to his feet, only belatedly realising that it was Amy, the runner fromEnchantment.
‘Hi.’ He slumped down again.
‘Have you heard anything?’
He didn’t trust his voice. He simply shook his head and sighed.
She thrust something in his direction. ‘She dropped this after she…’ Amy scratched her head awkwardly. ‘You know. She was reading it out when it all happened.’
Slowly, as if moving through sludge, Winter took the scroll. He stared at the words, then at the tiny insignia at the bottom. The Order. Ivy had got this from the Order. As he tried to make sense of it, another door opened. It wasn’t a doctor.
‘Has anyone told you how she is?’
