Page 73 of Spirit Witch
‘I did.’ He paused. ‘Did it work?’
‘Nope.’ I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. ‘But I do love you for it.’
Chapter Twenty
About three seconds after we entered, a security guard strode up to us. ‘Adeptus Exemptus Winter, Ipsissimus Collings told us that if you appeared we were to inform him immediately and ask you to wait to be shown up to his office.’ His tone was warm and respectful. It certainly made a change. ‘Unfortunately, he’s not here at the moment but we can try to locate him for you. Why don’t you come with me and I’ll show you to a waiting area?’
‘We need to speak to him as soon as possible,’ Winter said, frowning.
‘We’ll do our best to find him quickly.’ The guard led us up the first flight of stairs and pointed towards a narrow bench before twisting round to hopefully do as he’d promised. The bench was situated directly in front of Grenville’s portrait. Well, well, well; Ipsissimus Collings was either having a joke or being incredibly respectful. I was hard placed to say which.
Rather than sit down, I tapped my foot. ‘We should just barge our way up to his office and find him.’
‘Yes,’ Winter agreed. ‘Except you’re not in the Order and my privileges have been revoked. We can’t ascend any further than this floor. The wards will stop us.’
I tilted my head and a tiny smile crossed my face. He should have learnt my ways by now. ‘I’ve got a few spells up my sleeve. I reckon I can break the wards long enough for us to get inside.’
For a moment Winter didn’t speak then he ran a hand through his hair and exhaled loudly. ‘You’re not even exaggerating, are you?’
I shrugged. ‘Given the lifestyle I lead now that you’re always around, it seemed prudent to brush up on my skills.’
‘Your skills of breaking into the most highly secured magical rooms in the country?’
‘Yep.’
Winter shook his head. ‘Sometimes I’m really glad we’re on the same side, Ivy. Let’s keep that as a last resort, shall we? The Ipsissimus might be round the corner and the last thing we want is for you to knock yourself out by performing a few difficult spells.’
Grenville’s face poked out from his portrait. The effect was decidedly weird, like a strange 3D picture where the creepy eyes followed you wherever you went. ‘He’s not round the corner,’ he chirped. ‘Collings, I mean. He’s really upstairs in his study.’ His eyes lost focus for a moment. ‘It used to be my study, you know.’
I frowned. ‘Eh?’
‘Pardon.’
‘You’re excused.’
Grenville tutted. ‘No.Youshould say pardon. Noteh. Eh is not even a word.’
Yeah, yeah. I brushed away Grenville’s censure and focused on what he was saying. ‘What do you mean?’ I asked. ‘The Ipsissimus is really in his study? The one upstairs? You mean he’s hiding from us?’
Winter’s head turned sharply towards me and he glowered.
Grenville pretended to look innocent but it didn’t work. ‘All I’m telling you is the truth. I wouldn’t lie and damage my chance of crossing over to the other side, would I? I need you on my side.’
‘You would happily lie if you were still annoyed at me for breaking protocol,’ I said. ‘Are the other ghosties talking to you again?’
His lip curled. ‘They’re coming around. Anyway, don’t concern yourself with me. Go and see Collings.’
My shoulder blades twitched. Since when had Grenville cared about the living? ‘What’s going on?’ I asked suspiciously.
He threw his hands up in exasperation. ‘I want you to stop faffing around with this killer fellow and start doing what you promised. Honestly, I never would have started you down this track if I thought you’d spend this much time over it. He’s only one man.’
‘Who’s only killed seven witches and is trying to kill several more.’
Grenville looked away. ‘Just sort it out,’ he mumbled. ‘If you want to pass through the wards on the upper floors, the skeleton password isprimogenitus ducis. Just don’t tell anyone that I told you.’
My eyebrows flew up. ‘Skeleton password?’
‘It’s not a corpse,’ he said. ‘There’s no empty eye-socketed skull. It’s like a skeleton key that—’
