‘He is caught up in it, because of me,’ I told her, slipping one of the larger pieces of quartz and smaller chunks of malachite into the tote bag I’d brought along for that purpose. Crystals used against a witch could be incredibly useful if she survived them.
‘And what if he’s caught up in it some other way?’
I lifted my head and watched the black waves push and pull each other away from the shore. My mood was so dark, they didn’t try to play with me.
‘Such as?’
‘He is a Were, you are a witch, can I make it any more obvious?’ She crouched down beside me, pyjama pants blowing in the night breeze. ‘It all seems a little suspect is all.’
‘I get it,’ I replied, swiping hair out of my face. ‘You’ve been talking to Jackson.’
‘More like he was talking at me but I picked up some of what he was putting down, against my will.’
‘He isn’t exactly an objective observer, you know.’
‘Oh, I know.’ Ashley gagged, two fingers in her mouth. ‘You don’t need witchy powers to see what that boy is thinking when it comes to you. I was there when he came to pick you up for the dance, remember? The thing is, just because he’s biased doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be suspicious.’
‘No, the fact he’s wrong is why he shouldn’t be suspicious,’ I snapped back. ‘I can’t believe you’re saying this.’
A wave of something ugly passed through me. The henbane still hanging in the air.
‘We should get out of here,’ I said, holding my arm over my nose and mouth, breathing through the thick fabric of Wyn’s plaid shirt. ‘This place is still all wrong. I can’t think straight.’
‘That’s the problem though,’ Ashley said as kindly as she knew how. ‘When it comes to Wyn, I’m not sure you can think straight. Even if he or his pack aren’t involved with this lone-wolf Were whatever, do you really want a life this complicated?’
‘I want him,’ I said, a plaintive statement. ‘I’m a Bell witch, aren’t I? Born complicated. This is part of the deal.’
‘This isn’t part of the deal, this is part of being with Wyn. And sometimes I worry you’re signing up for more heartache than you’ll be able to stand.’
A lighthouse blinked on and off in the distance and I remembered another time at another beach, what seemed like a lifetime ago.
‘How come you can’t feel him?’ Ashley pressed. ‘You said yourself the only other time this happened was during his phase, and there’s already a Were out there wolfing it up off schedule. You ever hear the saying if you hear hooves in Central Park, don’t turn around expecting to see a zebra?’
‘Did you ever hear the saying fuck off?’
It took a lot to earn a look of surprise from Ashley but that did it.
‘I do believe that is the first time you’ve ever said that to me. What a date for the diary.’
‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’ I scampered across the beach after her when she turned on her heel and marched away, kicking up sand in her wake. ‘I didn’t mean it. it’s this place and everything that’s happening and I’m so tired and—’
‘And you don’t want it to be true,’ Ashley said, a fierce light in her eyes. ‘Trust me, honey, I know a thing or two about a thing or two when it comes to convincing yourself of pretty stories. How do you think I managed to keep myself together all these years with Catherine?’
‘I am sorry but I do trust him. And I need you to trust me.’
‘You stand there talking like you’re asking something easy.’
‘I know it isn’t,’ I replied when her eyes filled with phantoms of her past. ‘You’re all I have, Ash, I need you on my side.’
‘Pssh!’ She swiped the back of her hand at her face, looking away so I wouldn’t see the tears she brushed away. ‘You’ve got Wyn, you’ve got Lydia, you’ve definitely got Jackson, whether you want him or not.’
‘But you’re my only family.’
‘Good job I’m the best one,’ she said. ‘Come on, your boy ain’t here.’ She put her hand on the small of my back and pushed me towards the Stovells’ yard. ‘You want to go look someplace else or head home? You look like someone set fire to your hair and tried to put it out with a brick.’
‘We could drive around some, check the magic store?’
‘When a man doesn’t want to be found, you won’t find him. Magic or no magic,’ she said, practically jumping off the sand and back on to the boardwalk. ‘Whatever made him run off like that, I’m sure you’re right. He must have his reasons.’
