He froze as he caught sight of Amber. ‘Witch.’ His growl was low and threatening.
I expected Amber to fire back something sassy, but instead she ducked her head and examined her toes. ‘Reynard,’ she responded, looking at his wingtips.
‘Tell my name to all and sundry, why don’t you,’ he bit out.
She winced. ‘Sorry.’
He waved away her apology. ‘What more can I expect from a witch?’ Amber went back to examining her toes.
Man, I really wanted to read more about gargoyles. There was clearly a history that I needed to know about, but was it between Bob – Reynard – and Amber, or all gargoyles and witches? Reynard’s comments seemed to suggest the latter. Ignorance isn’t always bliss and in the Other realm it can get you killed – literally.
I slid a glance to Greg but he gave a one-shouldered shrug. He didn’t know the history any more than I did.
‘You’re here to scry then are you, my witchy bitch?’ Reynard asked.
‘Yes.’
‘Much good it will do us,’ he muttered. Sonia’s shoulders drooped as the hope leached out of her.
I glared at Reynard. ‘Why would you say that? What do you know?’
He ignored my question. ‘Get cracking then, my little pentagram pussy. Let’s get this exercise in futility out of the way.’
I waited for Amber to rip him a new one for calling her anything other than ‘ma’am’, but she said nothing. She pulled various jars from her tote bag, lined them up on the table, pulled on plastic disposable gloves and grabbed a number of paintbrushes.
Mrs Dawes returned, hair loose and her equilibrium restored. She carried another mug, a pitcher of water and a large porcelain fruit bowl. ‘Will this suffice, Ms DeLea?’ she asked respectfully.
‘That will be perfect, thank you, Mrs Dawes.’ The respect was a two-way street, it seemed, and I told myself I was not disgruntled by it at all.
Mrs Dawes stayed inside the room, ready to get anything else that we needed. I gave her a grateful smile. Reynard poured himself a mug of tea. He sat opposite Amber, legs spread, everything in his body language shouting belligerence. In contrast, Amber seemed almost subservient or apologetic, two things I’d never seen from her before. If I hadn’t been so stressed, it would have been fascinating.
She poured the water into the bowl, filling it to the brim. Next, she picked up Wolfy, opened two of the jars nearest to her and carefully dabbed in a paintbrush, before meticulously painting a rune onto the soft toy’s belly. She discarded the used paintbrush and selected a fresh one and repeated the process onto the toy’s limbs.
She closed the two jars, selected a third and painted three more. The soft toy was now covered in various shades of gloop; barely a hint of the silvery fur underneath was visible.
Amber muttered something under her breath before carefully lowering the painted toy into the water. As the toy was submerged, the liquid spilled over the lip of the bowl and onto the table. The runes lifted and swirled on the water’s surface.
Greg, Mrs Dawes and I stepped closer to see the result. Round and round the runes swirled, and Amber’s face darkened. I waited for Bobby’s youthful face to appear, but nothing happened; the runes just kept turning. ‘What?’ I asked finally. ‘What does it mean?’
Sonia had barely been holding it together, and now she started to cry helplessly. Mrs Dawes gathered her up.
‘It doesn’t mean he’s dead,’ Amber hastened to explain. ‘But he’s hidden, protected from scrying.’
‘So what does it mean?’ I repeated.
‘It means a witch is involved in his disappearance,’ Reynard spat out.
Amber nodded. Suddenly, she looked even more weary than before.
I moved the book on the table away from the spilled water and looked quizzically at Amber. ‘My earlier scry was also unsuccessful,’ she murmured for my ears alone.
There could be no doubt: the kidnappings were linked.
Chapter 10
AmbergaveSoniaatonic to help her calm down and get some rest. I told Sonia that I would let Steve Marley know the latest developments, and I would continue my investigations into Bobby’s disappearance. With that reassurance, she allowed herself to be escorted to a spare bedroom in the mansion by Greg and Mrs Dawes. Mrs Dawes said that she would make sure Sonia was settled before she came back.
When I gave Steve a quick ring to tell him that Bobby couldn’t be scried, I asked if any Other children had been kidnapped. He swerved the question and quickly found an excuse to hang up. Something was going on.