But his heart ached on, so instead he made the fatal choice to look out of the window, and that was when he saw the raven on the sill, watching him.
It held an azure-coloured envelope in its beak.
Even in the darkness of the autumn night, Lio recognised that handwriting at once. The window was shoved open, the envelope clasped; the raven fluttered away.
And Lio tried to stop himself one final time, but he was a feeble moth and Opal was not some paltry lamp – she was the only true light to have ever kissed the earth. The young man did not question if this, too, was a forgery, or whether Acanthi had charmed the raven to peck at the window. He did not stop to imagine what outcome might arise from, again, opening a letter penned in the handwriting of a dead woman.
Lio ripped it open just has he had in Kölldin, hands shaking, feet gone cold from shock, overcome by an immediate, insatiable need to know if it was real.
But, this was not a letter. It was a packet spell.
And from the ripped envelope rose the scent of woodsmoke, gunpowder, incense and blackberry. He breathed it in and the room spun. He collapsed against the bed and fell into a terrible, nightmare-coloured sleep and when he woke the next morning to Rupert snoring beside him, he remembered none of it.
CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT
‘Awake,’called Theodora, and Dot startled, still in her clothes from the night before. She had returned to her room and fallen asleep on top of her covers. ‘It is almost three o’clock in the afternoon and I’ll not wait any longer. I need your brain down in the workshop. Take your tonic. Eat your breakfast.’
Dot’s eyes peeked open. Theodora was beside her in her extravagant blue coat. She flourished a hand and a plate of eggs, roast ham, cheese, bread and jam landed beside Dot. The witch poured a large glass of tonic and handed it to her.
‘Thank you,’ said Dot, groggy.
‘You can thank me,’ said Theodora, ‘when I pull us out of the mess I have created. We will save you, Dorothy, and we will save my tea shop.’
She bounded from the room, and Dot was left dazed and dizzy, as if she’d been struck by a shooting star.
Dot came down to the workshop in her own time, having eaten, bathed and brushed her teeth slowly. Lately, she had begun to notice scales growing up her left arm even when she wasn’t using magic; now, even the shortest of energetic days exhausted her profoundly. She passed Lio sitting on the stairs as she entered the basement workshop and took her seat beside Theodora and Rupert.
‘This is ridiculous,’ called Lio into the space. ‘Why can’t I come in?’
‘Because you’re a damned snoop and I know you cajoled this one—’ Theodora nodded at Rupert, who turned a deep shade of pink ‘—into stealing my books for you.’
‘Sorry,’ muttered the boy of not yet seventeen.
Dot gave Theodora a meaningful look.
‘Yes?’ asked the witch.
‘He won’t touch the wards,’ said Dot.
Theodora sighed, and then after a long moment, she raised one arm over the table and a gentle wind kicked up, and in tumbled the scent of magic and lilac. A flash of light followed.
‘The ward for this room is altered,Robert. You may enter.’
‘Stop calling me that,’ said Lio.
‘It is your name,’ said Theodora. ‘Would you prefer “Rob”?’
‘Should I start calling you byyourname?’
Theodora’s eyes flashed dark for a moment, but then she glanced at Dot and deflated. ‘For heaven’s sake, just hurry up and take a seat.’
Lio did not move. He raised his eyebrows at the witch.
‘Take a seat,Lio.’
At that, Lio stepped off of the staircase and into the room. As he sat down, his knee brushed against Dot’s leg, making her face turn hot. Lio paid her no mind; instead, he stared at the large rune carved into the workshop table.
‘We need to sort this Acanthi problem,’ announced Theodora, eyeing him. ‘We need to ward them permanently from the city. For months I’ve done all I can to hide us away, but we must act. The customers have been harmed. Dorothy’s affliction progresses, every day bringing her quickly to the end of her life. And, in addition to this, my tea shop, my businesses, and my magic are in a bit of a tight spot.’
