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She dropped onto the sofa beside me and put her head in her hands. I sat quite still, not sure what to think about this unexpected development.
‘Thanks for the toilet,’ I said, hoping it would cheer her up.
To my astonishment she looked up at me and tears were rolling down her cheeks.
‘What’s happened?’ I asked, dread unfurling in the pit of my stomach. All I could think was something had happened to Sirius. Had he come looking for me? Had she tried to stop him? Had she killed him?
‘You must be brave,’ she said, taking my hand in hers. Her skin felt cold and clammy. Not pleasant at all. It took all my willpower not to wrench my hand free. The last thing I needed was for her to storm out of here without telling me what I should be brave about.
‘Who… Is someone hurt?’
She nodded, then shook her head, which was extremely confusing.
‘Not hurt, no. Oh my dear,’ she said sadly. ‘Zephyr Ambrose is dead.’
‘What?’ The world seemed to rock on its axis. Zephyr? How could he possibly be dead? He was the leader of the High Council of Witches, for goodness’ sake. What would we all do without him? And how come this mad old fae woman was sad about it? I’d have thought she’d have been glad. Perhaps she would be on my side after all if I just told her who I was? I grabbed hold of those crumbs of comfort and held onto them tightly.
‘How did it happen?’ I whispered, thinking I was sure he hadn’t been ill. We’d have noticed that, wouldn’t we? Maybe it was a heart attack?
‘Murdered,’ she said, squeezing my hand tighter. ‘By the Pendragons.’
I couldn’t prevent myself from wrenching my hand away from hers. ‘No!’
‘I’m so sorry. What a tragedy this is, not only for Zephyr but for his family, too. But even worse than that, can you imagine what effect this is going to have? The witches will be clamouring for revenge. They’ll declare war on the fae if we’re not careful. Of course, that’s just what the Pendragons want. Oh, what to do, what to do?’
‘I need to go home,’ I said tearfully. ‘I need to be with my family. There’s something I should tell you. I’m Trinity St Clair.’ The Linnet Pendragon bit could definitely wait. I wasn’t going to risk that until I knew how the land lay.
‘I know,’ she said sorrowfully. ‘I know who you are. What a terrible mess this is.’
‘You know?’ I asked, bewildered. ‘But if you knew… Look, I don’t understand what the hell is going on here, but you must let me go. You can’t keep me here forever.’
‘That was never my intention,’ she assured me, and my heart lifted. ‘It was just bad timing all round, and I can’t let you go just yet. Can I? Oh dear, this has all gone terribly wrong. I’ve made a dreadful mistake, and I never meant to, you know. I thought I was helping. I thought I was protecting her… Well, there’s only one thing I can do.’
‘Let me go?’ I asked hopefully.
She stared at me for a moment. ‘But what if you tell?’
‘I won’t tell anyone,’ I reassured her hastily. ‘I promise, I won’t say a word about you kidnapping me.’
‘Kidnapping you? I haven’t kidnapped you! I’m just keeping you safe until she returns.’
‘Until who returns?’ I asked, baffled.
‘Sister Agnes, of course.’
‘So you do know her?’ I said crossly. ‘Why all the cloak and dagger stuff then? What the heck’s going on here?’
‘I’ll get into awful trouble,’ she said, rocking backwards and forwards. ‘If they knew they’d be here right now. I might get thrown out, sent back. The shame of it. I couldn’t stand it. What should I do?’
I shook my head helplessly, not having the faintest idea what she was talking about so unable to offer any solutions.
Suddenly she stood up and nodded determinedly. ‘I must go to her right now. That’s the only answer,’ she said. ‘I’ll bring her here and she can decide what happens—to you and to me.’
I swallowed nervously. ‘What happens?’
‘It’s all I can do,’ she said sadly. ‘Our fate is in her hands.’
‘Whose hands?’ I asked desperately. ‘Who are you talking about?’
