“Can you take us to her?” Elodie asks, trying her hardest to mask her fear. She feels better that Ellis has seen that Ember is alive and talking to somebody and smiling, but there’s still no way of knowing where she is and if she’s okay – especially as she’s not answering her phone – without seeing her face to face. “I really thought she’d ring once she got my message.”
“Maybe her phone went flat?” Ellis suggests.
“She can magic it back if it does,” Fletcher says, and Ellis understands a little more of why Elodie feels so nervous. With all that’s going on, it’s not a great sign that Ember hasn’t been in touch. Especially after Elodie left a message telling her that their mission to see Sadie was so successful.
“Give me two minutes,” Elodie leaves them alone and Fletcher takes Ellis in his arms.
“I am so glad you’re here with me and that you’re safe.”
Ellis laughs. “So far. Though I have no idea how. Far too many close shaves for me. I need a quiet night, Fletcher, just to watch TV, eat ice cream, maybe have a lay in, in the morning!”
He laughs. “One day!”
She shakes her head. “I honestly don’t think we’ll ever get there. I feel like life is upside down and I can’t ever imagine being normal again. But I also can’t wait either.”
“I know what you mean. This is all new for me too, you know. Okay, so that witches roam the earth isn’t new to me, or vampires, shifters, fairies, demons, but the rest of it? Very new. We’ve never had trouble like this before. I’ve never had to fight or battle or question anything. Life was simple before all this. The only worry I’ve had was becoming head witch and hoping that I’d do a good enough job of it. I worried that I’m too young, that nobody would respect me or listen to me. I worried about my mum worrying about me. She’s a different person since my dad died, always worrying and fretting, and she’ll never get over this. When she has time to stop and think, she will never get over the lies my dad told her, the things he kept from her, however good a reason he had for doing it. And you, I never thought I’d meet someone like you. I feel like I’ve known you all my life, that we were meant to be together, maybe even that you were meant to be head witch before me.” He shakes his head, embarrassed at being so open. “I don’t know... however horrible things are, and however many people have died, which is worse than crap, I’ve got you by my side, which makes it all a little more bearable. I think we can do this. Find Ember, undo the original magic, free the other creatures from our rule, and get on with life. I have this hope that everything will be okay. Do you think I’m being stupid?”
Ellis shakes her head, no, then takes his face in her hands and kisses him, so gently at first, and then with more heat. “I don’t think you’re stupid at all. I think you’re wonderful. And I wouldn’t want to be going through this palaver with anybody else.”
He smiles at her. “Really?”
“Do you even have to ask?”
“Not really. It’s just amazing that there’s something so good in the middle of this awful stuff.”
“It is amazing.”
They stand, hugging, enjoying the feel of being in each other’s arms, and enjoying the calm and the warmth and the peace, knowing it won’t last.
Elodie comes into the kitchen. “I’ve tried her phone again, and she’s not answering. Sometimes it rings and rings and rings and then other times it goes straight to the answering machine as though she’s on the phone. I’ve left more messages and I’ve text her. I’m panicking a bit.”
“She’s okay,” Ellis says, wanting to cheer her up. “I definitely feel that she’s okay.”
Elodie lays a hand on Ellis’s arm. “Thank you, that makes me feel better. I know you’d feel it if she was in any danger.” She sighs. “Okay, let’s go.”
Outside Fletcher holds Ellis in his arms, ready to fly, always happy for a reason to put his arms around her and hold her close. Ellis frowns. “I don’t know where she is yet.”
Fletcher holds a hand up for his mother, to stop her from taking off.
Concern etched on her face as she joins the two of them. “What’s wrong?”
“Ellis can’t see Ember yet.”
Elodie turns to Ellis, concern changed to fear. “Is she alive?”
Ellis nods slowly. “I’m sure she is, but I can’t see where she is. I’m not getting that voice telling me where to go, that instinct.”
“Does that mean there’s something wrong with Ellis or Ember?” Fletcher asks, worry about his girlfriend and his aunt making his voice sharper than he intended.
Elodie shrugs. “I don’t know. Try again, Ellis.”
Ellis nods and closes her eyes, and then shakes her head, opens her eyes, looking beseechingly to Fletcher and then apologetically towards his mother. “I don’t know what’s wrong. When I wanted to find Zeta or the portal, I just closed my eyes and knew. I don’t know.” She looks so miserable that Fletcher hugs her, and Elodie pats her arm, and then Ellis grins. “If magic isn’t helping, what about plain old technology? Do you have a tracker app on her phone?”
Elodie laughs. “Yes! Fletcher set it up. She can find me, and I can find her. Well, mainly she can find my phone when I lose it. I can never remember where I put it down. Fletcher?”
Fletcher is already scrolling through her phone and looking through the find my phone app. “Got her.” He shows his mum the map. “It’s Killay.”
“Killay? We don’t know anyone who lives in Killay.”
“Maybe it’s the team headquarters. Where they all met to make plans to find the rebels.?”
“That makes sense, why I don’t recognise it. Let’s go.”
In Fletcher’s
