“Ah.” Kit grins as he pushes the door open, and the scent seems to double in strength, leaving my eyes streaming. “It appears sporadically, or whenever you really, really need a dose of caffeine. Sometimes it just appears when the owner likes you.”
I don’t need to ask which one’s the case for Kit, as there’s a little gasp from the counter.
“Kitty cat!”
“Hi Hilde.”
There’s a woman standing behind the counter, one whose appearance seems to shimmer as though she’s a reflection in water. I blink and she morphs into an older woman with a kindly smile. Another blink and she looks younger than I am, blinking at us with enormous eyelashes that touch the middle of her cheeks every time she flutters them.
I snort, and Kit gives me a stern look, elbowing me in the ribs. “Ouch, Kitty cat. Keep those pointy elbows to yourself.”
“How lovely it is to see you!” she exclaims. “A tea, nice and strong, and a coffee laced with syrup, I think.”
As we step up to the counter, she shimmers again. It’s as though she ages in an instant, her face perfectly made up with bright pink lipstick. I suck in a sharp breath and almost gas myself on the smell of gingerbread, swiping at my streaming eyes.
“Or have you come to order my special lunchtime banquet for your employees at the shop?”
“Ah, no,” Kit says, causing her shoulders to droop with disappointment. “It’s just me at the shop, as you know, so no need for a banquet. I actually wanted to ask you if you’d sensed anything odd around Port Yarrow recently.” He then breaks into the same spiel as he gave the busybody squad while I peer around the rest of the café.
“Oh, I had really hoped you might want my banquet. Business isn’t exactly booming, as you can see.”
The tables behind us are mostly empty, apart from a pair of bickering vampires sitting by the window. But I can’t imagine that having a cafe that only appears when you feel like it isn’t the best business model.
Kit replies smoothly, “Just the tea and coffee and a couple of cinnamon buns, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“Of course, of course.” Hilde beams at him before immediately getting to work, pouring tea and coffee before sliding them across the counter to us.
“You know, the last person I offered the banquet to Mr Godolphin a few weeks back,” she chatters away as she fills up a brown paper bag with buns.
Hilde hums as she continues, “I thought he might need a substantial lunch for all that walking he must do, but he wasn’t interested either. He was complaining he’d seen lights over at the old coven house,” she continues. “Thought it was odd since that lot moved on months ago, but I told him it was probably just young’uns messing about, or that perhaps they’d started up the old orgies again. Of course, the council would have a field day if they had. If you ask me, he was upset that his invitation had gone missing in the post.” Her face breaks into a smile before shifting into an even older version.
“He said he might just take a trip up there, check if the place hadn’t been taken over by hoodlums. I remember he said that because I couldn’t stop myself chuckling at him calling anyone a ‘hoodlum’.” She shakes her head. “I told him to report it to the council, leave it to them to investigate, but he kept saying about how long they take to do anything, not when they can’t even get Mrs Higgs’ bins right.” She shakes her head.
My eyes widen of their own accord. What is with the people in this town and their obsession with dustbins?
“So did he put in a complaint to the, uh, council?” I ask.
“I don’t know.” Her face shifts back into the younger version again, the one with the caterpillar eyelashes. “But Gus would know over at the firehouse. He has a running log, you know, of all the complaints that are placed and all the ones that get resolved. He usually comes in around eleven for his coffee, so I’ll let him know you’re wanting to speak to him.”
Hilde’s frown deepens until it looks etched into her face. “It’s funny, you know. It just occurred to me that I haven't seen Mr Godolphin since. He never came in for his usual Wednesday treat last week... or the week before.”
Kit and I share a long look as he gulps down his tea and hands over a handful of coins. Aster said that the sorcerers had moved to a new location a few weeks ago, around the same time the old coven house was abandoned and this Godolphin guy reported seeing lights on in the deserted house.
Seems we know where our next stop should be.
Chapter 7
Kit
It might not be anyone’s idea of a good first date, but I can’t say there’s anywhere else I’d rather be than checking out the old coven house with Reva.
She didn’t even question our coming here, not for a moment. As soon as we stepped out of the café, having downed our drinks in record time, she looked at me with a wry grin that had my insides rioting.
“So, we’re heading to the old orgy house then?” At my nod, she held up the bag of cinnamon rolls between us. “We need to head home first, to let the others know where we’re going and pick you up some shoes.”
We head home and find Aster fast asleep on the sofa. Reva checks in with Frannie while I dress myself properly. Thankfully, Frannie is more than happy to stick around while we head off. I also left a note in the shop window, letting everyone know we’re closed for the day.
Fifteen years in this place and I’ve never once opened late, so they’ll forgive me for taking the day off.
