“Go on,” I urged him. “If you don’t mind, you could show Trace around. I’ll give you the key for the other carriage.” I crossed to a small cabinet and handed him a key fob. “The lock might stick, but it will turn. I’ll look out the WD40 later.” As his fingers curled around the fob, I gave into the temptation to squeeze his hand.
He glanced up at me through his lashes. “What?”
What could I say?Be careful out there? Don’t run off with the witch?Trace Dempsey was one of the Council’s most trusted members. There was no reason for my brain to go running a thousand miles an hour along uncharted back roads when allJames was doing was taking a walk outsidein his own damned garden.In the daylight.
In a hundred years of my immortal existence, this was the very first time I’d felt truly angry towards the sun. Mentally shaking my head, I watched as he slipped on his trainers and followed Trace outside.
8
TRACE
I whistled softly,and Terrance came flying over some tall bushes to land on my shoulder. I saw James’ eyes widen.
“He’s bigger than a regular crow,” he said, his brow creasing.
“Yep,” I agreed cheerfully, making no attempt to explain. “Terrance, this is James. He lives here with Edwin. James, this is Terrance.”
Terrance gave James a once-over. “Delighted,” he croaked.
James’ eyes bulged. “You talk?”
“No, you hallucinate.” Terrance leaned forwards. Having been on the receiving end of his penetrative gaze, I was impressed that James didn’t step back. He did swallow audibly, which was fair enough. I’d seen bigger men than him lose their cool around a familiar.
“Don’t be sarky,” I chided my feathered friend. “James, show us the way?”
He asked me to repeat what I’d said, so I did, keen to get going. The sooner I found out if this could work, the sooner I could make plans to begin moving my things.
James didn’t move. Irritated, I looked around at him. He pointed at his eyes with two fingers and said carefully in thatslightly flat tone I’d noticed when he’d spoken before, “Please look at me when you speak.”
“Huh?” I must have blinked at him. He huffed. “I have hearing loss. If you look at me, I will hear better. And I can lip read a bit.”
“That’s rough,” I said automatically. James narrowed his eyes. I hastily recalculated my initial assessment of him as a cute but bland twink. This young man looked like he’d blow over in a stiff breeze, and had apparently chosen the life of a shadow, but he was evidently no pushover if his pissed-off expression was anything to go by. “I meant, I should have been quicker to accommodate your needs.”
He gave a sharp jerk of his chin as if to say he accepted my bumbling explanation, then led the way behind the house and along a neat path. Edwin’s home was neatly sheltered by a high, dense yew hedge, presumably planted to keep the worst of the sun off the rooms. Edwin, or someone he paid, kept the place very tidy.
An arch-shaped gap in the hedge gave way to a massive expanse of lawn I frankly had not expected to see. When Dalziel had got in touch to say he thought Edwin’s place might be suitable, I’d been sceptical. But considering time was running out and my options were limited, it had been worth a shot. Now I was glad I’d made the effort to drive all this way.
I paced around the entire garden, mentally positioning my rarest and most prized plants in different spots, double-checking where the sun was in the sky and which way it would circle. The height of the hedge surrounding the plot might be problematic, but if Edwin had no objection to my lowering it by a couple of feet, especially if I could reposition the carriage, it would still offer a substantial degree of privacy but allow for more light.
I made sure I caught James’ attention before I asked, “Will Edwin object to losing the lawn?”
He shrugged, a very elfin gesture which suited his slight frame. “I doubt it. It’s not as if you can grow plants without digging most of it up, is it?”
I laughed. “Guess not. Is there anything else to see, or can I check out the housing sitch?”
“There is, actually.” He pointed to the right-hand corner from where we’d entered the garden. “There’s a part of the hedge that is thinner over here. It looks as though there used to be another archway. I checked the plans and it definitely belongs to Edwin. The other side has a paved area and a small garage. I think it might be possible to remake the archway and add some gates at the boundary to make it a separate entrance. I doubt you would get your car in the garage but it looks sound, so you could probably use it for storage.” His sentence rose at the end, not quite a question, but enough suggestion in it to make me think he’d given this some thought.
“That would be very useful. Can we break through the hedge or...?” I was trying to speak clearly without making it too obvious. I couldn’t understand why Edwin hadn’t cured his hearing problem. I thought being a shadow came with a side helping of health benefits. But I’d only just met this cutie and already been the recipient of his impressive stink-eye, so I didn’t want to get any further on his bad side while he was being so helpful.
James shook his head. “Better to walk around. You should ask Edwin if you want to chop holes in the hedge.”
“Fair enough. Let’s look inside the carriage first, if that’s okay, before we head round to check it out.”
The carriage was, thankfully, watertight, but it would take alotof work to turn this into a home. There was no running water, or even any bathroom fittings, although someone, Edwin I presumed, had taken apart the original sections and repartitioned them into a lounge, kitchen, bathroom andbedroom. All had proper walls and doors, but with open holes for electric sockets to be wired in and markings on the floor in the bathroom for the sanitary ware. My heart sank at what it would cost me, but presumably Edwin would be flexible about the rent he expected while I lived in a literal building site.
The garage was in excellent condition, totally empty apart from a wall of shelving and half a dozen tools suspended on hooks that I presumed Edwin used to keep the front garden tidy, as well as a lawnmower. Everything was in good nick and would be incredibly useful. The driveway was gravelled and mostly free of weeds, another point in its favour above the fact it would act as a signal if anyone were to approach the garden. Two wooden stubs indicated gates had once separated the driveway from the pavement. They would be simple to replace. My car would just fit on the driveway, another positive.
Back inside, James sat pointedly close to Edwin while I ran through the stuff I would change if it was possible. He was sang-froid about all of my suggestions, with the exception of my wish to move the carriage.
