Page 73 of Fiendish Delights
Hugo unlocked the door and jumped in, immediately followed by Hester and Otis who shoved each other to try and get the prime spot on top of the dashboard. As I reached for the passenger door handle, I felt a faint prickle on the back of my neck. I glanced down the street towards the unimpressive building where the ODA office was situated. Gladys was still buzzing loudly by my side.
Hugo opened the window and leaned across. ‘Come on, Daisy. If we leave now, we’ll get to the first location before sunset.’
‘Wait,’ I said. ‘Just wait a minute.’
His brow furrowed. ‘What is it?’
I didn’t answer; I was already striding towards the building.
Nobody was outside and there was no sign of the two witches who’d drawn the ward outside the building, though that was hardly surprising. I peered at the windows, unable to spot any movement inside. Then I looked down at the salt ward and my heart missed a beat.
‘Is something wrong?’ Hugo asked, appearing at my shoulder.
I pointed. His gaze tracked my finger until he also noticed the barely visible break in the line of salt. He sucked in a sharp breath. ‘It doesn’t mean anything bad has happened. The council witches might have broken their own ward after we left. People must come in and out of this building all the time. I imagine the ward became too obstructive for normal business.’
It was the most likely explanation, but the back of my neck was still prickling and Gladys was still humming. ‘True,’ I said. ‘Plus, council witches don’t tend to be particularly powerful so it wouldn’t have taken a huge burst of magic to break that ward.’
‘Lots of people could have done it,’ Hugo agreed. ‘Another witch. A sorcerer irritated by bureaucracy. An elf.’
I licked my lips. ‘A fiend.’
We exchanged glances. Neither of us needed to say anything else.
I plucked two pristine white spider’s silk pills from my pocket and swallowed them, then slid Gladys out of her sheath. Her hilt was shockingly warm to touch.
Hugo and I stepped across the now-useless salt ward and entered the building. At first nothing seemed wrong. Admittedly, no staff were visible but we hadn’t seen many people when we’d been there earlier. Everyone was probably at their desks hard at work. Probably.
Hugo motioned towards a closed door on our right. I swallowed, nodded and edged over until I could touch the doorknobwith my left hand. I gripped Gladys more tightly in my right hand and rotated the knob. The hinges creaked as the door swung open and I glanced inside.
Three faces looked up. One was in mid-chew, a sandwich raised to his mouth, and another was lying on a small sofa, feet in the air. The third, standing by a shiny tea urn, frowned. ‘It’s lunch time,’ she said. ‘If you want an appointment, you’ll need to return in an hour.’ Then her gaze dipped to my hand. I hastily thrust Gladys behind my back before she got the wrong idea.
‘Okay!’ I said quickly. ‘Sorry!’
‘Our apologies,’ Hugo added, relief audible in his voice. ‘We didn’t mean to disturb you.’
I closed the door and turned to him. ‘We’re too twitchy,’ I said. I smiled. ‘That’s all.’
He smiled back at me, his eyes meeting mine. ‘There’s nothing wrong with being cautious. We have good reason to be careful.’
Gladys hummed a higher-pitched note. I hushed her and returned her to her sheath.
Another door further down the corridor opened. ‘Hey! How did you get past my ward?’
I turned and recognised one of the council witches from earlier. ‘It was broken. We only came in to check that everything was alright and?—’
‘Bullshit! I double-checked it ten minutes ago and it was fine!’ The witch curled his hands into fists and strode furiously towards us. ‘The two of you need to leave. Immediately!’
We didn’t move. ‘It was intact ten minutes ago?’ Hugo asked. ‘You’re sure?’
‘Of course I’m bloody sure!’ the witch yelled, his cheeks turning a mottled shade of purple.
‘We need to check on Enger,’ I whispered. ‘Now.’ I started to run.
The witch did his best, moving into the centre of the hallway to block our path. He raised his hand as if he were about to strike me. ‘Touch her and you’ll regret it,’ Hugo snarled.
The witch did the smart thing and backed off.
‘Evacuate the building,’ I told him. ‘Now.’
