At nothing but smooth brown skin.
60
BAZ
It takes forever to get to my aunt’s flat, even casting spells on traffic.
I run from the taxi, up the stairs, and open the front door with my wand instead of my key. Fiona’s in the living room. She jumps up from the sofa when I burst in.
“Fucking hell, Basil!”
There’s a man still sitting on the sofa—Nicodemus, the vampire. I run past them into Fiona’s room.
“What are you doing!” she shouts after me.
Her room is a disaster. The whole flat looked like this when I moved in . . . Clothes up to your knees. Unopened mail in stacks. Teacups full of cigarette butts and ashed-out incense. I go for the closet.
“Baz, seriously, get out of my room!”
“Where is it, Fiona!” I’m throwing shit out of her closet. Shoeboxes. Tights. Cut flowers that have never wilted.
“It’s still at Watford! I couldn’t find it!”
“At Watford?” I look over my shoulder. Fiona has followed me into the room. “The tape recorder?”
She looks pissed off and confused. “The tape recorder? No—what tape recorder?”
I go back to her closet. Vials of oil. Boxes of herbs. Bras. A wand I’ve never seen before. A bong made out of a lamp. A lamp made out of a bong. She’s pulling at the back of my shirt. I ignore her.
“What are you looking for, Baz!”
I wheel on her, pushing her off. “The tape recorder you gave me in fifth year!”
“Why would I give you a tape recorder? That’s a shit gift.”
Of course she doesn’t remember.Of courseshe doesn’t. “The one you gave me to steal Simon’s voice!” I yell.
Fiona puts her hand on her forehead. “Ohhhhhhhhh, thetape recorder.Fuck, that took a lot of magic—and it didn’t even work.”
“It worked.”
“Mmm.” She clicks her tongue. “Don’t think so. Your man was just here, and I heard him talk.”
“It stolea girl’svoice, remember? Philippa Stainton’s.”
“Philippa Stainton . . . She’s not one of ours, is she?”
“FUCK!” I shout, kicking Fiona’s bong. It shatters. “Just—where is it!”
She laughs. “Where’s a tape recorder I gave you ten years ago?”
“It was five years ago.”
“Well, I don’t know, what did you do with it, Baz?”
“I gave it back to you, Fiona!”
She shrugs. “What was I supposed to do with some girl’s voice?”
