“A creepy metal witch appearing from thin air in the middle of the greene? No, I completely missed it.” Clara shoved his arm away. “You have moxie, I’ll give you that, boy. It’s been all anyone in the village can talk about.”
“Thatwasthe idea.”
Clara lowered her voice. “Turning belief into magic – it’s clever. I wouldn’t have thought of that.”
“Oh, don’t be modest now.” Flynn teased her. “A clever broad like you – the idea would have come to you eventually. Luckily, I thought of it first. It goes without saying that an Irishman knows his magical conduits.”
“Indeed. It’s becoming quite heavy with magic, if you don’t mind my saying so.” Clara’s tone suggested she thought it might betooheavy. “I do hope you’ve thought through this plan of yours thoroughly.”
“Not in the slightest,” Flynn grinned happily. “Do you think it will be enough to hold back the Slaugh?”
“I don’t rightly know, son. I guess we’ll find out in seven days.”
We helped Clara sweep up the glass. Flynn offered to go to the garden centre and pick up some MDF to fit over the window to keep more of the rain out, but Clara shook her head. “Gregory Stone owns the ironmongers and he’s head of the church choir. They won’t sell to any of us. You’d have to go all the way to the DIY store in Crooks Worthy, but I’ve already called my son and he’s sending his driver over to fix it up. Luckily, my insurance company isn’t local or superstitious.”
“So you’ll stay with your son?” I demanded.
“I will. And don’t you boys worry. He knows how to keep an old woman safe.” A shiny black car pulled up and a man wearing a black suit waved at Clara through the window. She climbed in. “Any time you need me, holler over the fence. Ryan and I want to help any way we can.”
“I’ll marmalise the bastards who did this,” Flynn growled.
“Don’t you dare.” Clara wagged a finger at him. “I won’t have violence in the village on my behalf. You boys be good and get back to the castle before you cause more trouble.”
I touched my hand to hers, flicking a piece of my spirit magic under her skin, hoping it would calm her nerves. “If you can find out anything about using belief as magic, we’d be interested.”She nodded. A shiver ran up my arm as she sent me a flicker back.
I ran a hand through my hair as the dark car drove away, disappearing around the side of the bank. Why had she done that? Did I look like I needed calming down? I wasn’t the one who’d just had my business vandalised. “What do we do now?”
“Pub.” Flynn marched off. I raced after him. Flynn’s voice had this dark edge I’d never heard before.
“You sure that’s a good idea, mate?”
But Flynn was on a tear. He stormed into the pub, marching past a table of locals and slamming the barstool on the flagstones as he pulled it out. “Hey Nell,” he hollered at the comely girl behind the counter. “A pint each for me and my mate here. We’ve had a shitty morning and I’m hoping you’ll cut us a little slack.”
She waved at him to keep his voice down. “Aye, I’ll serve ye,” she whispered. “But only because the boss ain’t here today. Just you sit right here where I can see you and stay out of trouble, Flynn O’Hagan. If you chance it with any o’ my regulars, I be skelping ye and don’t ye forget it.”
“There’s that warm Scottish hospitality I’ve come to love,” Flynn grinned. “You’d better give us some scran as well. I’m right foddered. I’ll have the bangers and mash, and Blake’ll have the curry of the day.”
I jabbed him in the ribs. “Do you order for me now like we’re an old married couple?”
“Mate, we practically are an old married couple.”
I leaned over and planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek, which he wiped away in disgust. Nell’s laugh followed her into the kitchen.
Murmurs rose up from the nearby tables. My back itched from eyes boring into my skin. Flynn sipped his pint in silence,his gaze fixed on the wall. He sensed them, too. His whole body radiated rage.
What’s going on with him? Why are we evenhere?
Nell came back a few minutes later with our food. We ate in silence. My curry tasted like dirt. Flynn kept his back to the door, but I snuck a look over my shoulder as two of the guys from the greene came in, orange vests glowing under the low pub lighting. Their faces set hard as they recognised Flynn. They stomped over to the bar, talking loudly about the statue. “The bastard thing won’t come out. It’s as if it’s made out of kevlar or some shite.”
“Graphene?” The younger one piped up. “That’s the hardest substance in the world. A sheet one atom thick is two-hundred times stronger than steel.”
“Yeah, well it ain’t made out of no bloody kevlar.” The old guy slapped him on the back of the head. “Ole’ Mayer Scottson was out there in the wee hours with his concrete drill, but buggered if he didn’t even get a chip out of the base. I’m telling you, that thing’s enchanted.”
“Why don’t you try cracking your head against it?” Flynn piped up from the end of the bar. I punched him in the arm, but that didn’t stop him from adding. “There’s a pile of lead between your ears, so it might make a dent.”
The entire pub fell silent. The guy’s face turned red as a tomato.
“I’ll make a dent in your face,witch.” The guy slammed his fist down on the bar. At the back of the room, a woman whimpered.
