I trip over the top step as I hurry after her. “Curses, sure,” I reply before wrapping an arm around her so she can’t go any further. “But if there are defensive spells or wards, I can’t see them without help.”
It’s dim inside the house, the weak winter sunlight struggling to fight against the layers of grime and what look like greasy fingermarks all over the glass.
“Hello?” Reva calls. Her voice echoes through the entranceway, bouncing off the wooden floors and bare walls.
But there’s no reply.
I pull out the special pair of spectacles I thankfully thought to put in my pocket. Slipping them onto Reva’s nose, her face breaks into a slow smile.
“Very fetching,” I tell her. “Now, can you see any strange lights anywhere? They should detect any wards.”
She doesn’t seem to mind when I keep my arm around her. Rather than stepping away, she twists on the spot, peering around from floor to ceiling.
“No lights,” she says before tapping the metal frames of the spectacles. “These are handy. Where did you get them from?”
“One of Finch’s crewmates gave me them,” I reply. “Not sure where he acquired them, but they’ve gotten me out of more than one bind in the past.”
“Well, it doesn’t seem like the place is magically booby-trapped,” Reva says, stepping away and reaching out to grab my hand. “Let’s explore, shall we?”
We’re inside a kind of entrance hall, one devoid of any furniture with a curved staircase covered in faded red carpet. Reva tugs me along toward a closed door, which she flings open and then makes a show of peering around with the spectacles before grinning at me.
“No lights in here either.” Her nose wrinkles. “Although it stinks.”
She’s right. There’s a kind of musty scent in the air, like it’s been shut up for too long. But beneath that, there’s something faintly metallic.
“It smells like sex in here.”
“Sounds about right,” I murmur, as we make our way around the room. There’s not much to look at here, either. Right in the middle of the room sits an old table that’s seen better days, while an empty dresser rests against the wall.
“Did you ever come along to the orgies?”
I snort, shaking my head. “Not my thing, sweetheart. I’m not a fan of strangers watching. Plus, townspeople weren’t invited. Didn’t I mention that?”
Her cheeks go pink at my words, and my own cheeks heat at the thought of what might have gone on here.
I wouldn’t want to see the results of a revealing spell in this room, or the rest of this house.
“Let’s avoid touching anything if we can help it.”
“What do you mean the town wasn’t invited? I thought people complained to the council about the witches having orgies up here.”
I smirk at her. “What they complained about was that they weren’t invited.”
She stops and barks out a laugh at that, and I have to stop for a moment and savour it, wishing I could bottle up the sound and carry it around with me for dull days.
“So, what are we looking for here? Signs of Hilde’s missing customer, or I guess... bad magic? Skulls and whatever else sorcerers use in their nasty potions.”
I nod. “And anywhere that Aster might have been held.”
That drains the levity from the air. Nice work, Kit.
We head through to a sitting room, which has cushion-covered sofas that have seen better days. In the corner, there is a pile of blankets and yet more cushions left abandoned, and Reva wrinkles her nose.
“It stinks even worse in here.”
Her sense of smell is stronger than mine, so I’ll take her word for it. To me, it just smells musty and like it could do with a good airing.
“They didn’t exactly take care of the place.”
