She’d had a panic attack in this very room a few weeks ago, and yet now, while in imminent danger, her hands were steady. Panic, it seemed, hit her in the terrible waiting period between crises. She was good under pressure.
He’d thought he was, too, back in Washington. He was learning all sorts of unfortunate truths about himself these days. He pulled out a leaf to cast the tincture’s first spell and almost botched it.
Fearful, disjointed thoughts kept intruding. He could almost see Wizard Morse in the doorway, staring at them through his dark glasses. Or Garrett. Would that be better or worse?
Peter finished three brews with Beatrix’s help, hypersensitive about not touching her, not talking to her unless necessary, not doing anything to create the impression that he was or aspired to be anything but her employer. They ate lunch in the kitchen, silent as death. Afterward, they made four more brews, his spellcasting barely adequate.
Through it all, he kept waiting for something to happen. More spells heating up his lockets. The whisper-quiet sound of a wizard’s coat brushing against the wall. An exhalation from another man’s lungs.
But perhaps there was no other wizard here to do those things. Someone might have recast the phone-tap spell on the exterior of the house and teleported away.
He doubted it. Phone-tap spells were of a class that easily lasted years, so long as they were cast competently. Besides, the wizard castthreespells. Three was just the right number to dismantle the protection around the house, teleport in and reset the magical shields, the better to avoid detection.
His nerves were so taut that a knock on the door made him lose his grip on the bottle of cough suppressant he was taking to the shelf of finished products. He caught it right before it would have smashed on the floor.
“That should be all for today,” he said, steadying himself. “Would you start cleaning up while I get the door?”
It was probably Miss Knight. She’d been coming every day now, and this was past her normal time. He would have to apprise her of the situation as quickly and quietly as possible and ask her to walk Beatrix home.
But it was Miss Sederey on the porch, not Miss Knight, when he opened the door. Oh, comeon.
“Yes?” he said, only barely managing not to snap.
“Hello, Omnimancer.” She dimpled at him. “I’ve come to invite you to the church tea the Saturday after next. Mrs. Hattington—the pastor’s wife, you know—asked me to pass on the invitation personally. Everyone comes. Do say yes, Omnimancer!”
He almost did, just to get her to go away—if everyone went, what did it matter—but then considered that she would see it as saying yes to her.
“I’m—I’m afraid I’ll be out of town that day,” he said, unable to think up a better excuse. Well, he could alwaysgoout of town. Or put his car under an invisibility spell.
“Oh,” she said, so disappointed that he felt sorry for her. But not sorry enough to change his mind.
“Thank you for the invitation, Miss Sederey,” he said. “Now I’d best get back to work.”
“Yes.” She managed a smile. “Well—good-bye, Omnimancer.”
He rushed back to the brewing room. Beatrix was fine. The wizard, presumably, was still here—what was the man’s end game? Peter scrubbed the table, picturing Garrett just waiting to get him alone.
Knock, knock, knock.
“I’ll get it,” he told Beatrix, stomping out.
Miss Hennessey.
This time he did snap.“Yes?”
She took a step back but quickly reset her smile. “Omnimancer, have you heard about the church tea a week from Saturday?”
“I have, and I’m afraid I will be out of town.”
“Ah. What a shame! Mrs. Hattington will be so disappointed. She asked me to ask you, you know.” She cocked her head and batted—actually batted—her lashes at him. “Couldn’t we persuade you to rearrange your calendar?”
“No, Miss Hennessey.”
Her lips thinned before smoothing back into a smile. “We’ll miss you.”
He managed a civil, “Thank you for the invitation,” and shut the door. It was the least of their troubles, but he hoped Beatrix was too busy in the brewing room to catch on to what the girls had actually wanted.
He turned to find Beatrix coming into the hallway. “I know we just cleaned up, Omnimancer, but it occurred to me—I ought to take care of those requests that came in yesterday.”
