She couldn’t do this, couldn’t stay here and watch them, whatever was going on. And if Rav truly wanted to forget the faerie kingdom, then he’d be better off with Mallory and not her. Faye had tried so hard to iron down, reduce and minimise her faerie half for his benefit, but none of it had worked. She’d always feel out of place with his friends, no matter how nice they might try to be. That part of her, the velvety shadow that knew the faerie realms still wanted her; they were as much her home as the human world. Like a mermaid, to restrict herself to this world would be like cutting out her tongue and walking on knives. She couldn’t go on with someone who didn’t want all of her.
Without thinking, she picked up a white napkin from the table and wrote a note to Rav.
I’m going to stay at Annie’s for a while. I don’t know if anything’s going on with you and Mallory, but if it is, maybe it’s better for you than this. I can’t be what you want me to be. I need some space.
Faye
Blundering out of the door, she wiped tears from her eyes.
She needed to think clearly and sat down on the empty bench under a nearby bus stop. Thinking of the faerie reel had made her think of Aisha again.
She got out her phone and composed a message to Gabriel.
Hey. I need your help, are you around?
She pressedsendand watched the screen as the message was delivered and then read. Almost immediately, Gabriel replied:Of course, silly question. Always available. What, where and when?
I’ll text a list of stuff. Can you bring it and meet me? I’ll meet you outside the Greenwich foot tunnel. Island Gardens side.Need you for impromptu ritual. I know what I have to do.
A car’s headlights washed over her as it drove up the empty street. Faye pulled her coat around her. She still wasn’t that used to the city, and being out alone at night in this strangely quiet part of it was unnerving. She took a deep breath, made sure she kept her phone in her hand in her pocket if she needed it and started walking to the meeting place. She’d get there first, but there was a tube station nearby, and at least that was a better place for her to wait for Gabriel.
Okay. Be with you in half an hour, he replied.
Faye fired off a list in a separate text as she walked: lamps or candles – it would be dark out at the riverside at night, especially somewhere quiet, which was what she needed – incense in some kind of portable censer, a cup. The rest, they could make do with what there was when they got there.
She didn’t know for sure if something was going on between Rav and Mallory, but the fact that there was enough of a rumour going around that the girls in the toilets were discussing it openly made Faye’s stomach tense with anxious sadness. She was angry, too – she hadn’t liked seeing Rav dance with Mallory, no matter how innocent it may have been. If he’d kissed Mallory, could she forgive him?
She paced up and down, waiting for Gabriel. When he arrived twenty minutes later, wearing a black trench coat and fedora and carrying a Fortune’s tote bag, she gave him a fierce hug. He hugged her back, surprised.
‘What’s this all about, Faye? Are you okay?’ Gabriel untangled himself from the hug and peered concernedly into her eyes. ‘You’ve been crying.’
She felt the tears well up in her eyes again but wiped them away. A car’s headlights swept the street outside and disappeared again, leaving the orange-tinted streetlights to punctuate the dark.
‘I’m okay. Thanks for coming.’
‘I told you I’d help if you needed it. I’m your friend.’ Gabriel tipped his hat to Faye and handed her the tote bag. ‘All as requested. The lamps are battery-powered, small but surprisingly bright. Don’t worry, I put a lighter and some real candles in there as well.’
‘Thanks, Gabriel. I appreciate it,’ Faye replied quietly. ‘Come on. Let’s walk along a bit. There’s a sheltered part of the beach just around the corner. The wall means if anyone comes along, which I doubt, we won’t be seen.’
‘Right you are.’ He linked his arm in hers. In the night, Faye thought she heard a refrain that sounded like Dal Riada, Finn Beatha’s band. She shivered at the eerie noise: a flute playing a soft, sad song on the evening breeze. She gathered her coat closer across her chest, feeling a sense of foreboding. They crossed the road into the shadows.
28
Excerpt from Grainne Morgan’s diary
Spring equinox, 22 March 1589
There are troubling murmurs in the village about the work of the witchfinders making its way towards Abercolme. Thus far, we have kept those lunatics at bay with Gwyn Beatha’s help. As long as we keep the balance, the fae protect witches.
I can only assume that the witchfinders coming here means that we are out of balance with the fae kingdoms. Is this connected to Gwyn and my love?
I find that I can hardly face the day without knowing that he is near. I miss him terribly when I do not see him. I am spending more and more time in Murias, and I am feeling the effects of it, but I cannot stop. My daughterhas begun asking why I am away so often, and Mother tuts, knowing where I am. She has berated me more than once, but it seems I will not listen.
Gwyn has promised me that the balance will be restored and that my soul will be saved, as we have been promised as witches. The Morgan women have ever gone to the arms of the fae when we die as a reward for our work in this life. I fear that Gwyn sees a dark future ahead, but he reassures me that all will be well.
‘So, you not up to anything else tonight?’ Faye fell into step with Gabriel as they walked along the deserted river. In the distance, London droned its industrial hum.
‘Just hanging with my harem of sexy vampires, but when I got your text, I sent them back to their crypt.’
