Liv sipped her red wine. “I don’t know about that. I mean, maybe they did, but what if he didn’t want one? What if he agreed so he wouldn’t lose her? Have we found anyone he was having an affair with?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea. I’ll have to ask Will to bring it up with Mr Sexist Agent.”
Imani’s brow furrowed. “What?”
“When we left their office before, Agent Tondato shook everyone’s hands except mine… because I was the woman.”
Liv pressed her lips together. “How do you know it was because of that? Maybe he knows you’re not an agent, and that’s why?”
“I s’pose you could be right, but either way, he doesn’t respect me.”
Imani slapped my back. “Don’t worry about it. We respect you. Will, Beren, Angelica, and your mum respect you. Even the squirrels respect you. We’re the only ones who matter.”
“Thanks. Now I’d better keep that respect. It’s time to find out how strong this witch is.” I wished we could find out right now if she’d taken Angelica. Not knowing where she was and how she was, killed me.
As we got to the doorway, the bartender called out. “Excuse me! You can’t take your drinks out there.”
“Keep going,” I whispered. “Pretend we didn’t hear.” I wasn’t stopping for anything.
“Hey!” I didn’t dare look behind, but he was probably on his way to drag us back inside.
I jogged down the hallway towards the reception desk. Thank God Mrs Dal Lago was still there. I hadn’t figured out how I was going to spill it—maybe pretend to trip?—but I needn’t have worried. Imani grabbed my arm, the one holding the cocktail. “Wait! We can’t leave the bar with these drinks, Lily.” She jerked me to a stop. It would’ve been enough to spill some but not all of my drink, so I let go of my glass, feigning surprise.
“Oh no! Look what you did!” I put my hands on my hips. “You’ll have to buy me another one. That was really good, and it was expensive.”
The bartender had caught up to us, and Mrs Dal Lago had come out from behind the reception desk. What if she made the bartender clean it up? I turned to him. “Sorry, but I needed to go to the toilet, and it’s not safe to leave a drink unattended. Do you think you could make me another? This lady will pay for it.” I pointed at Imani.
“Mio Dio.” Mrs Dal Lago said something else in Italian, her tone of voice… passionate. She waved one arm in the air and shook her head. Before she had time to ask him to clean it up, I took his hand and dragged him down the hallway.
“Come on. I really need another drink. Maybe you could make it while I’m in the loo, and when I get back, I promise I’ll stay in here to drink it.”
He tugged his arm out of my grip. “You are crazy, lady. I’ll make you a drink, but don’t grab me again.”
I put my hands up. “Sorry. I’m just really thirsty.”
Familiar magic tingled my scalp—I remembered it from the morning Mrs and Mr Dal Lago had fought. I turned. Mrs Dal Lago was casting a spell to clean up my mess. Her aura shone brightly as she did it, amplified by her magic use. But it wasn’t out-of-the-ordinary bright. Her power was average, and I doubted enough to cast a travel spell from a long way away. I wasn’t sure how much magic it took to turn someone into glass, but surely it was more than average?
I gave Imani a nod. She smiled at Mrs Dal Lago. “I’m so sorry about my friend. We can’t take her anywhere.” She rolled her eyes as if I were such a troublemaker.
Mrs Dal Lago looked at Imani but didn’t smile. “Just make sure you stay in there or in your room with the drinks, or we could lose our licence.”
Imani nodded. “Of course. Sorry. We’ll just go back in the bar and make sure we do that.” Imani and Liv sat on one of the couches in the corner furthest from the bar.
I went to the bathroom because the ruse needed to be believable. When I returned, I paid for my new drink and went and sat with Liv and Imani. I waved my cocktail at Imani. “You owe me ten euros for this.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You cheapskate. Are you kidding, love? You’re the one who dropped it.”
“You grabbed me.” I created a bubble of silence. “I’m just kidding. I wanted to make sure they bought the charade. And I was supposed to make a mess. Remember?”
Her eyes widened. “You had me, love. I thought you were serious.”
Liv had an “I’m impressed” expression. “You fooled me too. Nice acting.”
“Thanks. Maybe I should consider a career change.” I slid my phone from my pocket. “I’ll message Will and let him know… about Mrs D’s magic, not my potential career change.”
Imani chuckled and shook her head. “What did you find out?”
“Her magic feels normal and boring with a hint of flirtation. And don’t ask me how I know. It just is. Anyway, it’s of average powerfulness. Nothing special. She’s definitely a fair bit weaker than all of us. It’d be a struggle for her to cast a spell from far away, and even if she managed it, the vibration would have woken all of us. But she is a similar size and build to that person in my photo with the coat on.”
Since we’d rescued my mother, I’d been reading up on magic and the level of power needed for different spells. Part of it was to try and find a way to heal Mum, so she could use her magic again, and the other was to understand exactly how powerful I was. I’d managed to kill Piranha, even though she had a return to sender up. My spell had
