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"What kind of job is that?"
"I suppose if it was a job, I'd be paid. Let's say it's more of a penance."
Mara side-eyed the man sitting beside her. "I heard you were some kind of cop that keeps an eye on the supernaturals in Melbourne."
"Cop is better than a vigilante."
"I don't imagine wearing a mask and tights is your kind of thing."
Augustus grinned. "Not recently anyway. I feel responsible for the magic in Melbourne, so I keep an eye on it. That's all. The magic of your shop is fascinating. Do you know that in the past month, it has followed me wherever I go?"
Mara knew the shop moved nearly every day. She was so used to it, she didn't find it unusual. That it was homing in on Augustus didn't make sense, and she said as much.
"Every time I step out of my house to go anywhere, no matter what part of the city I'm in, I see your red door at least once. I wanted to ask you about it, but as I said before, I seem to upset you every time I come and see you, so I thought to try and figure the magic out for myself. Then I ran into you, coming to me."
"You put a tracking spell on your scarf. It led me here," Mara said.
"There's no spell on my scarf, Mara." Augustus shook his head. "Melbourne's magic is playing up again."
"Does it do that often?"
"More and more since I met you. It's complicated."
"I'll say. I've lived in Melbourne for over eighty years, Augustus. I don't understand why it would be playing up now," Mara said.
"I don't know either, but I have a theory. It would be easier to show you than explain it, though."
Mara gave him a hurry-up gesture. "Show me then."
Augustus seemed to be struggling to make up his mind, his eyes reflecting the dark skies above them.
"I want to, but you are going to have to trust me. Only a little," he added.
"How much is a little?" Mara asked suspiciously.
"Enough to walk across the road and into my house. I've been to your teashop three times without anything bad happening."
"And that means you trust me?" Mara snorted.
"God, no. Not after what you did to me during my last visit. I want tolearnto trust you, though, and I can't unless it goes both ways. This problem with Melbourne's magic… I can't be certain yet, but I think you might be able to help me fix it."
"Why me?"
"Because it's going to take a miracle, and you are the only saint I know."
Ten minutes and a substantial amount of cajoling later, Mara reluctantly agreed to let Augustus show her the problem of Melbourne's magic. It was still raining, but as soon as they reached the conservatory doors, a large, black umbrella appeared in his hand, and he opened it out over her.
"Thank you," Mara said and tried to take shelter under it without getting too close to him to breathe in his masculine aftershave.
They crossed through the rest of Fitzroy Gardens, and it wasn't until she was walking through the gate to his terrace house that she hesitated.
Mara had been with a family of magic users long enough to know simple protection and warding. Augustus's house had so many she was surprised they weren't visible. They pushed against her, warning her off.
"Everything okay?" Augustus asked, pulling out his keys.
"You don't really like visitors, do you?"
"No. You are probably the fifth person in the last hundred years that I've invited in." He unlocked the door and threw a grin over his shoulder. "Don't stand out there being chicken, Mara. I don't bite."
