Damn it. Mallory cursed inwardly but knew better than to argue. Besides, no matter what these witches told her, she wouldn’t get too excited until she saw a damned jug with her own eyes. ‘I deal in favours and secrets. There are any number of things I can offer you from Coldstream in return for an intact jug.’
‘We need nothing from that godforsaken hellhole,’ the woman snarled.
Suddenly Mallory was on surer ground. She’d been in Inverness for almost a week now and, while there were very few Preternaturals living there, the small renegade coven weren’t the only residents with magic powers. Mallory had found both a troll and a dryad who, in return for future favours, had given her a lot of information about the Inverness witches. Despite their bluster, there were several items they desperately needed to maintain their coven’s power – items that were only obtainable from Coldstream.
‘Well,’ she said, ‘I could procure the file that the Witches Council has compiled on your coven.’
Both witches stiffened – even though Mallory had no idea whether such a file existed. ‘We don’t care what they say about us!’ the man hissed. ‘We don’t care what they know. They can’t hurt us.’
She doubted that was true. ‘Or,’ she offered, ‘I could locate some spell books for you if there are any gaps in your knowledge.’
The answer was swift. ‘There are no gaps.’
Mallory shrugged before she pulled out the big guns. ‘Or I could give you this.’ She held up a small silver spoon. ‘It’s fully charged.’
The female witch made no attempt to disguise her shock. ‘That’s a spell stirrer!’
‘Yep. It’s from Mystical Forces and comes with a twenty-year guarantee.’ Mallory had arranged for special delivery for the spoon direct from Alison Cole and it had arrived this morning, thank goodness. It wasn’t a particularly expensive item but it was necessary to mix powerful spells.
Thanks to the dryad, Mallory knew that the coven’s own magicked stirring spoons were failing and their spells were being adversely affected as a result. From the witches’ expressions, the dryad hadn’t lied. The Inverness coven desperately needed a spoon like this, but for some reason they weren’t willing to visit Coldstream to get one.
She added an extra enticement. ‘Mystical Forces is prepared to deal with you in future. They can arrange shipping for most items as long as you are willing to pay.’ She smiled. ‘But such an arrangement will only be possible if you’re prepared to trade. Give me a bellarmine jug, and the spoon and trade agreement are both yours.’
They stared at her, then they stared at the spoon. ‘We will need to discuss this first,’ the male witch said stiffly.
Mallory inclined her head. ‘Take all the time you need.’
The two witches marched purposefully back to their waiting car. Mallory crossed her fingers, tightened her toes and held her breath. From the way they were acting, they had what she needed; if these two had a bellarmine jug and were willing tohand it over, the last four weeks would have been completely worth it.
‘Please,’ she whispered. ‘Oh god. Please.’
The witches didn’t get into the car; instead they went to the driver’s door. Mallory saw the window being lowered but she couldn’t make out who was sitting there and she couldn’t hear what they were saying. All she could do was wait.
Seconds ticked by, then minutes. Mallory shuffled her feet. The witches continued their discussion. Under any other circumstances, she’d have pressed the matter by starting to walk away but she couldn’t afford to. She needed the jar. Alexander needed the jar. And bloody Chester Longchamps needed it, too.
Eventually, the two witches straightened. Mallory watched them, trying to judge by their body language what was happening. Then, to her surprise, whoever was in the driver’s seat opened the door, got out and walked around the car to the boot. She swallowed hard as they pulled out a box. It was the right size for a bellarmine jug. Her skin was already tingling.
The driver passed the box to the short male witch and returned to the car. It seemed to take an age for the two witches to stroll back through the gate towards her and she wanted to yell at them to hurry up. She told herself to breathe normally; she couldn’t appear too excited, not when she was this close. She stayed firm and waited – but it took almost everything she had to stay where she was.
‘Alright,’ the woman said. ‘We’ll trade our only bellarmine jug for a deal with Mystical Forces and that stirring spoon. And we want that file from the Witches Council, too.’
Uh-oh. Mallory shook her head; to succeed now, she had to play hard ball. ‘Either the fileorthe spoon. That’s my final offer.’
The witches exchanged glances. ‘Then no deal,’ the male one told her.
Mallory managed to maintain her expression and nodded. ‘That’s a shame,’ she said. ‘Thank you for your time.’ She turned and started to walk away. Shit. Shit. Shit. She kept walking. What if this was it? What if she’d just blown it?
‘Wait!’
She stopped and looked over her shoulder. ‘What?’ she asked, hoping that her voice didn’t betray her emotions.
‘The spoon and the trade agreement,’ the woman called. ‘We’ll accept those terms.’
Mallory’s knees felt weak and she closed her eyes briefly with relief. She turned to face the witches yet again. ‘Alright,’ she said.Alright.
She closed the gap between them. With her right hand she held out the spoon and with her left she waited for the box. The woman sniffed then took the spoon as her companion passed the box to Mallory. Almost immediately, both witches strode away but Mallory barely noticed. She placed the box on the ground and opened it up, with her heart in her mouth.
Chapter
