“The question is…how was he involved? I think you are right that he likely didn’t do it, yet…maybe he knows who killed her, or perhaps he witnessed it?”
The witch pursed his lips, tilting his head. “Then…why didn’t he say anything?”
“That is the question, isn’t it? My guess is either fear…or…he knew the person who did it…”
Ollie’s eyes widened. “Do you think it was his father?”
“Why else would an otherwise kind person stay quiet after watching someone they thought was a good person be murdered? Did you know his father?”
“I did…but Marlow Babs died about ten years back… While I would say he was more contained and closed off than Georgie, he didn’t seem like a murderer to me.”
Noble held back the urge to say that Ollie possibly wasn’t the best judge of character, even if it was true. He couldn’t exactly admit that Noble himself was one of the bad characters Ollie was misjudging.
Ollie followed Red deeper into the forest behind the library, flashlight in hand, with Noble beside him. It was a dark, cloudy night with very little moonlight, growing darker still as they moved further away from the illuminated area around the library. Dark or not, thankfully, it wasn’t a particularly cold night.
“Do we really need to go this far in?” Ollie asked.
While they were still on what was considered his property, they’d already gone so far that he really wasn’t looking forward to walking back afterwards.
“Yes,” Red grunted without any explanation.
As why explain anything to him? What was one more unanswered question in his life?Not like I’m not already living in a constant state of unknowing, he thought sarcastically.
He sighed and kept walking, just minutes later, huffing, “Finally,” when Red eventually came to a stop.
“This is just screaming to me that you need exercise in your life even more than I first thought,” his cat drawled.
“I exercise enough!”
“Hardly,” Red scoffed.
Ollie looked at Noble with a frown when the man hesitantly said, “Perhaps, less exercise and more…training?”
“Isn’t that what I’m doing right now?”
“I was thinking more physical self-defense over magical.”
His brow rose at that. “I mean, I have taken classes before.”
“Yes, but I have a feeling it’s been a while, and…you could possibly be rusty?”
Ollie winced. Well, the man had a point… He had taken them, but it had been a good ten years ago and he supposed he was possibly a bit out of practice. “I can…see your point.”
“Would you consider training with me, Ollie?” Noble asked.
“Me, with…you…” Ollie trailed off as he tried to imagine it, but then his brain brought forward visions of Noble on top of him, muscles bare and sweaty, causing him to blurt out, “Yes!”
Noble blinked before chuckling. “Okay, then. How about Sunday morning? We can use one of the larger rooms in the library, and spread out a mat?”
At the word mat, the vision in his mind swiftly shifted to him being in a lot of pain, and getting tossed around in the not so fun way by his boyfriend. “That sounds?—”
“Good, he’ll do it.”
Ollie glared at Red for cutting him off as he’d been about to say horrible, but he just sighed and said, “Sounds…good,” on noticing the pleased expression on Noble’s face.
He glared harder at the smug smile his cat sent his way.
His familiar’s smile only widened as the cat ignored him and instructed, “Turn your flashlight off.”
