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His hands grip my hips, ready to move me, but I widen my stance while staring intently at the figure. My eyes are getting used to the darkness and details slowly become clear. It’s a man—small and slight with close-cropped hair wearing breeches and a shirt and waistcoat. He has a nasty-looking scar on his face.
He cocks his head like a nosy blackbird and says, “Seen enough, or should I send you a picture?”
There’s a tug on my brain that’s telling me I’ve seen him before, but I don’t know where. “Who the fuck are you?” I say coldly.
His eyes are bright and he adjusts his stance, his movements sharp and full of energy.
“What is it?” Levi asks.
The little man sighs and snaps his fingers.
Levi goes stiff behind me. “Jowan?” he says incredulously.
It finally clicks in my brain. Don’t judge me. It’s been a long week. It’s the manservant. Branok’s man.
“How is it that I can see him again?” Levi asks.
“He’s letting you. It’ll drain his energy quickly, though. What is it?” I ask Jowan. “Have you got a message?”
“What am I? The mail coach?” Jowan gives me a crooked grin. “Saw you out of the window, didn’t I. Wondered what the little psychic and me old mate Levi were doing out here in the middle of the night.”
“Not your business,” I say but unfortunately, Levi says at the same time, “We’re looking for the vicar’s book.”
“Fucking hell, Levi,” I hiss. “What is the matter with you?”
“What?” he says, aggrieved. “We know he’s trustworthy. He’s Branok’s man.”
The little man draws himself up proudly. “Aye, I am that. In life and death, I’m his man.”
“So, you’re here to help?”
“Didn’t I just say that?”
“No,” I snap. “You didn’t.”
Instead of answering me, he looks around and gives a light shudder. “This is a bad place,” he says almost absently. “I can’t stay much longer. I’m too near to the salt lines and it’s draining me.”
“The salt lines aren’t around the whole garden?” Levi asks. Jowan shakes his head and Levi says thoughtfully, “That’s interesting. Where are they in the garden?”
Jowan points, his fingers making a shape in the air. “The thickest lines of salt create a grid.”
The angel statue is right in the centre of the grid. “Looks like you were right,” I say softly to Levi.
“Seems like it,” he replies.
Jowan gives us a keen look. “Milord sent me out here to help you.”
“We’re looking for the vicar’s book,” I say. “It’s a big leather thing.”
“Aye, I know it. Many’s the time I seen him writing away in it.”
Excitement stirs. “We think it’s here.”
He looks around uneasily. “Mayhap you’re right. This place is odd.”
“How?” I ask.
“I don’t rightly know. It draws me, but at the same time, it makes me fearful.”
