Elodie swats at him with her tea-towel but has the grace to smile. “I have a life, beyond this war, and I’m ready to get back to it – that’s all I’m saying. Now, I’m glad we’re all awake and enjoying making fun of me, but we need to make a move, attack, finish this.”
They are all nodding; they are all sick of this.
“So, what do we do?”
Elodie sits at the table and gestures for them all to join her. “I don’t think we need to over complicate it. We use Ellis to find out where they are, we go there, with as many of us as we can. And we kill her.”
“Sounds easy.”
“Don’t be flippant.”
“Sorry, mum, but it sounds too easy. How do we kill her, Efa and all of their minions at the same time? What about the demons?”
“We managed the demons yesterday. They weren’t such a threat as I feared.”
Ember clears her throat. “I think we need to be ultra sneaky. Like she would be. Let’s find out where they are. Take back up, of course, but instead of going in all guns blazing, lets sneak in. Let’s quietly attack. We don’t need the entire world to know what we’re doing. Quiet. Effective. Quick.”
“That’s an excellent idea. Just kill anyone we see there?”
“Yes. We know she has henchmen. There might be demons, though I can’t imagine she’s keeping them too close.”
“She loves drama – and she’s probably expecting a big hoo-ha like Mumbles again.”
“I like it.”
“We leave in half an hour.”
They all rush off to get ready, nerves kicking in.
“I like this idea,” Ellis says to Fletcher as they go upstairs. “Yesterday, on the pier, it was so confusing. There’s bound to have been times in battles and wars where people killed the wrong people. You could easily hurt one of your own and not even realise.”
“Definitely. This will be good. Quick and easy.”
They exchange a glance that shows neither of them is wholly convinced.
Ellis places her hand on his chest. “Fletcher, if I die, will you tell my parents, and Isaac, that I love them so so much.”
He shakes his head. “Don’t.”
“No, please, Fletcher. We don’t know. Zeta will be furious that John betrayed her and furious that I got away. She’ll be furious that we murdered Peri and Layland, and furious that they have beaten her. And Efa.” Ellis shakes her head. “She is evil. Her face when she was kicking me, and when she broke my wrist – she’s crazy, Fletcher. Evil. She enjoyed hurting me; it wasn’t about survival for her, she wasn’t fighting back. I was under their control. She just wanted to hurt me. Just tell me you’ll do it. If something happens to me and I don’t make it home, please just tell them. I love them.”
“I’ll make sure you make it home.”
“You can’t. You can’t know how this will go. We can’t guarantee anything. My parents think I’m on a college trip.”
He takes her hands and kisses her. “I won’t need to, but if, if you don’t make it, if something happens to you, I’ll erase your memory from their minds. Then they won’t be able to mourn you, because they’ll forget they ever knew you. They won’t be heartbroken; they’ll be happy.”
“You can do that?”
He nods.
“Yes. If I die, do that. That’s so much kinder than telling them I’m dead. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. But I don’t plan on letting you die.”
“Fletcher, I don’t plan on dying, either, but look at this mess we’re in. People die.”
They hug for a long time, before leaving his room.
Back downstairs everyone is quiet and Elodie looks at them all. “There’ll be about thirty of us there. Most of us will hang back. Keep Ellis safe and if you see anybody, you kill them. We can’t afford to be sentimental. We can’t afford to hesitate. If they’re with Zeta, they’re dead.”
They all feel the weight of those words; but they all know if they hesitate, Zeta won’t. Kill or be killed.
“Right, Ellis. Are you ready?”
She nods, pale and frightened looking. “Fletcher will fly with you. Just take us to her.”
Outside the house Fletcher holds Ellis close, feeling her tremble. “It’s okay. I won’t leave your side today. You’ll be safe with me.”
She nods and wraps her arms around him.
They fly away, waiting for Ellis to give them a direction, waiting for her to tell them where to go. She closes her eyes and Fletcher can hear her muttering, Zeta, Zeta, Zeta, repeatedly.
Then she stiffens. “She’s in the cottage in Mumbles.”
“Are you sure?”
She nods, the wind taking her words.
Fletcher changes course, and the other witches follow suit.
They come to land, not directly outside her cottage, but around the corner.
Elodie asks the back-up witches to station themselves in circles around the cottage, watching and guarding, but not close enough to be seen.
“Ellis, do you feel anything, know anything, see anything?”
Ellis shakes her head, no, but then nods. “There are a lot of boxes here. I think she’s packing.”
Fletcher nods. “That makes sense. It’s stupid for her to stay here now.”
“It’s stupid for her to be here now,” Ember says, frowning.
“Do you think it’s a trap?”
“Maybe. Let me go ahead,” Ember offers. “Get a little closer.”
Elodie shakes her head, no. “If it’s a trap we should all go. If it’s not a trap, then we’re all there together.”
They nod. Fletcher reaches for Ellis’s hand. He is determined to stay beside her. Ember and Elodie nod at Jane and David, and the twins and Sally huddle at the back.
“Ready? We’re here to kill, remember?”
They all nod; none of them need reminding. Every single one of them feels sick with fear and adrenalin. But every single one of them is ready for this nightmare to be over.
Ellis
My hand is sweaty, but I don’t let go of Fletcher. He got me into this mess, he can put up
