So You Think You're a Sleuth?, page 8
part #2 of The Time Witch Series
‘Why Etain?’ I questioned. ‘She’s not a Trent, and this isn’t something the Pendulays do, or else my uncle would know about it.’
‘Well, I taught her the spell,’ he told me. ‘And I helped her make a pin and adapt her watch into a Time Turner.’
‘Why? Why would she want a Last Moments spell? Did she have some suspicion that her husband was going to murder her, do you think? She left it for Dev junior so he could seek vengeance on her behalf, did she?’
‘I told you, I have no idea why Devlin has it, if it is hers. And if she suspected I was going to kill her, she would have been very wrong. The reason we started talking about the Last Moments spell was because she wished she could have heard some last words from her parents. She was unsettled by their death, so the spell kind of appealed to her, I guess. What colour was the pin?’
His last question seemed to come out of nowhere. Frowning, I said, ‘The same gold as her watch. Why?’
‘Because if it’s the same colour as her watch, then it means no one has activated it yet. It might have been in Devlin’s room, but he didn’t view it.’
‘I can’t imagine him letting an opportunity like that go to waste,’ I said.
‘Neither can I. Which means the message wasn’t left for him. The message can only be viewed by the person it was meant for, and it can only be viewed once.’
‘So … if he didn’t view it, it was because he couldn’t.’
‘Exactly. You can record the message itself if you set up a camera, but there’s no way to record any time jumps that might be included. And once you’re done, the pin turns white hot, and it stays that colour. The spell involves creating, like … a psychic connection between the pin and its owner. If you’re alive, you keep the pin in your watch, keeping the watch with you at all times. And then, at the moment you know you’re going to die, you just communicate what you want the pin to remember, to record.’
‘And the Time Turner? You said you can visit moments that were important to the person? How?’
‘You just turn the pin until it clicks. Usually it’ll show you the last words first, and then take you back to however many moments the deceased person wants you to view. It’s preferable to use an invisibility spell – you would want to watch the action without being seen, obviously, if you do go back in time.’
‘Obviously,’ I said with a slight snort. Nothing about this was obvious to me.
‘But like I said,’ he went on, ‘only the person Etain meant this for can use it. One person, and it can’t be Devlin because he would have used it already. It can’t be her parents because they were already dead when she made it. It can’t be any of your family because she’d forgotten you existed. So it must be …’ He shook his head.
‘You,’ I said. ‘You’re trying to tell me it must be meant for you.’ My fidgeting resumed. I believed him. Stupidly, perhaps, but I believed him. But I’d learned to my detriment that he was a liar, through and through, so I did everything I could to hide it. In a voice dripping with sarcasm, I said, ‘Oh, that’s convenient, isn’t it?’
‘Convenient?’ His voice sounded hollow, broken. ‘I can see why you’d think that. And I know the Wayfarers are never going to let me use it, because of what they think I’ve done. I know I’ll never see that message, not first-hand, anyway, but if it is for me, then … then Essie, I have reason to believe you can view the message on my behalf.’
‘Me? Why?’
For too long a moment, he fixated on my wedding ring. When I covered it up, he met my eyes. ‘I told you before that there was like … an old wives’ tale, or what I thought was an old wives’ tale, about Time Witches whose wedding rings won’t come off, and what it means. I was afraid to say it, you were freaking out so much, and I didn’t know it would happen. My father always said it wasn’t actually a real thing. But I think … I think he was wrong. I think we’re bonded, Essie. Connected. That’s why our rings won’t come off. And it’s also why I think you might be able to use that pin, even if Etain’s spell isn’t meant for you. Bonded Time Witches, they can share magic whenever they want to. You’ll be able to use my magic, even when we’re miles apart. The pin will recognise you, and treat you as though you’re me.’
‘We’re not … we’re not bonded,’ I said, my voice betraying my uncertainty. ‘I mean, that was the whole idea of the creepy ceremony in the cavern. But we didn’t get to finish it, thank goodness. So we’re … we can’t be bonded.’
‘There’s a very big difference between a bond that’s forced and a bond that’s created through love,’ he said. ‘Dev didn’t believe in love bonds – True Bonds, they’re called – just like my dad didn’t. He thought that stupid ceremony was the only way. A one-way bond, where I would be able to take your power, but you couldn’t share mine. That’s the only kind of bond my family are interested in, but I never would have asked you to do that.’
‘Well, you didn’t stop it, did you?’ I accused.
‘No.’ His tone was more broken than ever. ‘No, I didn’t. I told you that I was in shock, and I meant it. It’s a pathetic reason, but it’s true. Our bond is true, too, and that means that Dev’s ceremony wouldn’t have worked. Nothing can usurp a True Bond, Essie, nothing is more powerful. I know we have this bond because I’ve felt it, and I’m guessing you’ve felt it, too. Do you dream about me, dreams that make you feel as if you’re here, with me? Because I dream I’m with you, Essie. Lying beside you every night. Sometimes I hear you when you cry. I can hear the thoughts in your head. You have those dreams too, don’t you? And I’ll bet you hear my voice sometimes, too. When I reach out, when I want to talk to you really badly, you can feel it, I know you can.’
‘I … I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ I lied, averting my gaze. I didn’t know why I was lying, other than the fact that I didn’t want to be bonded to someone who had hurt me so much. ‘Look, Julian, if you’ve only just heard about this pin being found, then what have you been telling the Wayfarers? What is it you think they don’t believe?’
He sat up very, very straight. ‘You don’t know? Captain Wood hasn’t told you?’
‘No.’ I glanced at the captain. Her expression was unreadable.
‘I really wish she would have told you this already,’ Julian mumbled.
‘Why? What does it have to do with me?’
‘I think – I think it could put you in danger, Essie. And I would say that you should have guards on you at all times, but we both know it wouldn’t make a difference. Not while they’re still out there.’
‘Who?’
‘My brothers. Three of them. The Wayfarers are convinced they’ve arrested every one of us Trent kids, but they haven’t. They think there are only ten of us, but they’re wrong. There are thirteen.’
There were so many things running through my mind right then, but all I managed to say was, ‘Thirteen boys. Wow. Your poor mother.’
He let out a hollow chuckle, and then said, ‘I don’t really know how she felt about giving birth to so many sons, seeing as she died giving birth to me.’
‘Oh.’
‘Yup, I was unlucky number thirteen. Four sets of triplets, and then me, on my own. And from photos I’ve seen, and from what I knew of my dad, then yeah, I’d have to say that she had a hard life. She was one of those rare human-borns who have power – maybe there was a Time Witch way back in her family, I don’t know. But she was shunned by her parents because of it, and she had no one up until she met my dad. I don’t think she really knew what she was letting herself in for. He was – he could be charming, you know.’
‘Yeah, I know all about charming guys,’ I drawled.
‘No. You don’t. You think – you think I charmed you? Reeled you in? Essie, I fell for you, and I wanted you, but I didn’t trick you or whatever it is you think I did. I tried to tell you everything that night we had dinner in Las Vegas. I tried to tell you again the next morning. And when I realised it must be one of my brothers behind all of this, I had every intention of going to Gretel Wood and telling her so, the second I got back from work – Seb called me in on your first morning at Pendulay, remember?’
‘I remember,’ I conceded with some reluctance. Everything about our time at Pendulay had seared itself to my mind.
‘Even though I was terrified of what it would mean for me, even though it meant I would have to reveal what I really was, I would have done that,’ he went on. ‘I would have told the Wayfarers absolutely everything, in the hope that they could help keep you safe. And I still want to keep you safe. That’s why I need you to take this seriously. The Wayfarers might not believe me, but you need to. Birth records for my family, they don’t exist. We were never part of the supernatural world, and we weren’t registered in the human world, either. When you live in Granvar Bay, the authorities tend to forget about you, you know? It’s one of those weird, indefinable places where the rules just don’t apply, which is precisely why so many witches who don’t want to live with other witches live there instead.’
‘So why would the Wayfarers be so sure, then? That there are ten of you instead of thirteen?’
‘I’m guessing because one of my brothers told them so, and they believed it. It’s … it’s the kind of thing they do, the Trent Coven. The ones that were arrested probably decided among themselves to protect the other three. Lying is second nature to them.’ He stared at me. ‘Do you believe me, Essie? Please say you believe me.’
‘I don’t,’ I insisted, even as his story grew more and more convincing in my mind. ‘How can I? I mean, you had a chance to tell me you weren’t the coven leader when we were down in that tunnel, didn’t you? You had a chance to tell me you were nothing to do with Chronos, then. But you did nothing.’
‘Look, I get why you keep coming back to this, and I can’t blame you. If you think you’re disappointed by how pathetic I was down there, believe me, I’m far more disappointed than you could ever be. I’m ashamed of how I fell apart, how I let the shock get to me. But I did try to tell you that they were lying – Dev and Mrs Danby.’
‘Why would Mrs Danby lie?’
‘I don’t know for sure. But she – she’d changed, Essie. When I first met that woman, she was warm and kind and wonderful. But over the last couple of years of Etain’s life, she became a completely different person. Always creeping around the house, coming and going at odd hours. And I’d sometimes catch her telling Etain I said something bad about her, when I’d done no such thing. It was like she was playing mind games. I think she was going to start the same with you, too. Remember our breakfast at Pendulay, when she acted like I’d told her to give you nothing but grapefruit? Does that really sound like something I’d say?’
‘I …’ I wasn’t sure how to respond, my mind was so busy with it all. Could he be telling the truth? I recalled how Mrs Danby had convinced me that Julian controlled Etain’s food, and he would do the same to mine. At the time it had seemed so at odds with the Julian I was getting to know, the Julian I’d enjoyed meals with, the Julian who had acted as though I was perfect, exactly as I was. And yet … why would she lie?
‘Look, this is a very good yarn you’re spinning, Julian,’ I said. ‘But why on earth would a housekeeper, a woman who had been Etain’s nanny, for goodness’ sake, decide to frame you as some sort of controlling manipulator? Given everything else that happened, it seems way more likely that she was telling the truth, and you’re lying now.’
‘Does it? Really? See, I don’t think you believe that, Essie. I think that even though we haven’t known each other long, we know each other. She lied through her teeth about me telling her to serve you grapefruit, and she lied through her teeth down in those tunnels when she said she saw me kill Etain down there. If I’d known those tunnels existed, I would have made bloody sure that my protective wards extended down that far, wouldn’t I?
‘I get why you don’t trust me,’ he continued. ‘I can see that everything she and Dev told you is still weighing on your mind. They manipulated you, and they did a very good job of it. I think … I know it sounds nuts, but I think they were working together, he and Mrs Danby. It occurred to me when I found you all down there, and finally … finally things made sense. Things that I’d never fully understood, about Etain. I started to figure out what might have really happened to her. And I just … it’s like … the realisation, it just broke me. And when I saw that you wouldn’t believe me, that you believed everything Dev was telling you, I broke even more.’
His eyes filled with determination as he continued. ‘But you don’t need a broken man, Essie. When Gretel asked me to take you to Pendulay, I promised I would do everything I could to keep you safe. I wasn’t making that promise to her, but to you, and … I broke that promise, when I let you down, when I didn’t understand it all soon enough. But I understand now, and I need you to understand. Grady, Nicholas and Jeremy, they’re my brothers. They’re still out there, and they will be on the hunt. They–’
Suddenly a bell began to clang, and the guards marched into position, grabbing Julian and pulling him to his feet. He kept trying to talk to me, to tell me more, but I couldn’t hear another word.
Chapter 11
An Uncertain Fate
‘Why didn’t you let him finish?’ I asked Gretel as she led me to the corridor outside. ‘I didn’t think there’d be a bell, like it was some average visiting hour. Was it even a whole hour? It didn’t feel like one.’
Her expression was grim. ‘No, it wasn’t an hour. Myself, the warden, and our mind-reader decided that half an hour was more than enough. I didn’t even want it to go on that long, because I could see how much he was affecting you. And, well … he’d gotten to the point where he was simply repeating what he’d already told us.’
‘So what he said, those were the “wild stories” you told me and Rick about this morning? You didn’t believe him when he said there are three more Trents out there?’
‘We couldn’t be sure.’
‘And now? What did the mind-reader say? Was Julian telling the truth?’
She sighed. ‘It’s inconclusive. Although the mind-reader did tell me that you’re equally hard to read, so at least we can be certain it’s a Time Witch trait.’
‘Well, that’s helpful. I’m so glad I came.’ I let out a long, weary groan. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound sarcastic. It just … it didn’t go how I thought it would. Gretel, what happened between his brothers and him? Why did they beat him up?’
She looked troubled. ‘I’m not really sure, to be honest. I only just heard about it – I’ve been too busy to get to my messages this morning. The Trents were left in a special shower block, the walls surrounded by the Temporal Stability Devices. Guards were on the door. Devlin told the guards that some other prisoners got in, somehow, and attacked Julian. The other brothers said the same. Julian didn’t say anything either way. He’s been seen to by the prison healer. It looks bad right now, but there’s no lasting damage.’
‘How could anyone have sneaked in when there were guards on the door?’
‘It’s unlikely but not impossible. When you take magic away from prisoners, they become all the more wily. And as owner and CEO of Chronos, Julian has a lot of enemies.’
I rubbed at the skin around my eye. I could feel it throbbing, as though Julian’s black eye was somehow affecting me. ‘I just … I have a feeling it was his brothers. And if he’s telling the truth, then it would make sense, wouldn’t it?’
She tilted her head to the side, regarding me. ‘Do you think he’s telling the truth?’
‘I don’t know. I just …’ I couldn’t finish speaking.
I rested against the wall, feeling tired to my bones. The truth was, I didn’t know what to think about any of it. Julian had seemed so convincing. And his version of events made a strange sort of sense. He really had seemed shocked when he arrived in the cavern that day. And when I was injured, he looked devastated. He’d pushed and pushed at the magical circle he was confined within. He’d tried his best to get to me, despite the pain it must have caused him. I’d seen his skin blister, and yet he’d carried on pushing. I hadn’t wanted to think about that part – about any part of that day, really – but now … now it was replaying on my mind, making me wonder.
And the dreams I’d been having, those made me wonder even more. Especially after Julian mentioned them. Was there really such a thing as a True Bond? And what would it mean for me, for us?
‘I feel like a great big eejit,’ I told her. ‘Because I – I did believe him. I couldn’t admit it to him, because I know it might be the stupidest thing in the world, but a lot of what he said made sense to me. More sense than anything has made for a very long time. I know some stuff didn’t fully add up, like why would Mrs Danby of all people set out to frame him? But I just … I felt like maybe his version was worth considering, at least. Because I still …’
Gretel settled back next to me, and gave me a small but sweet smile. ‘We’re all eejits for love at least once in our lives, Essie. And we’ll consider everything that Julian said, to see if there is any truth to it. I won’t ask you to come and see him ever again, unless you want to. But I do want you to know how brave I think you are.’
‘Uh-huh. Sure you do.’
‘I do, actually. You have a real problem with accepting compliments, don’t you? Look, there’s a lot to figure out right now. Yes, it’s possible that he was lying through his teeth. Warlocks are extremely practised manipulators. But there are some things he said which, well … which are verifiable.’ Her eyes went to my ring. ‘I asked my friend Adeline to get in touch with you. Has she?’
