Chapter 10

L ynx sat down on the sofa, head buzzing and heart racing. He'd never experienced a kiss like that. But he'd pushed Iris too far. If they were going to date then she had to be ready for it.

There was a sudden banging on his door. He got up to answer it, wondering if Iris had changed her mind and come back to properly finish that kiss.

He opened it and sighed to find his grandmother, Zofia, on the other side.

‘I thought you were on holiday,' Lynx said, standing back to let her in, because there was nothing worse than discussing his love life on the doorstep for all the neighbours to hear and that was likely to be the only reason she was here.

‘I was, but I cut my trip short when I saw. Well, where is she?'

She looked around the lounge as if he was hiding Iris behind a plant pot perhaps. He knew exactly who Zofia meant and that she had likely seen the explosive kiss. Although if Iris had been there he probably would be hiding her, just so he wouldn't have to double down on the crazy by her meeting his grandmother.

‘I'm not sure who you mean.'

‘Don't play dumb with me. Iris McKenzie of course. I've been so desperate to meet her and I've waited so long. I was almost tempted to get you to go to Scotland and find her but I knew I had to wait for you two to meet naturally, for fate to bring the two of you together. And now she's here and I'm so excited.'

Lynx let out a deep breath, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Whereas Star and Iris seemingly only had flashes of the future, his grandmother was like an omniscient being and claimed to know everything. Clearly she'd seen Iris and if Zofia had cut her holiday short because of her, she must have seen something significant. But he really didn't want to talk about this with her.

‘I don't think you're going to help matters by interfering.'

‘I'm not interfering.'

‘Yet you cut your holiday short to come back and see her.'

Zofia dismissed that with a wave of her hand. ‘You two have kissed, right?'

‘Yes.'

‘And you've slept together?'

‘Zofia, I'm not discussing that with you.'

‘I'll take that as a yes.'

‘It's a no actually. I've only known her a few days.'

Zofia scowled. ‘What have you done to upset her? Don't you mess this up, do you hear me?'

‘I haven't done anything.'

‘But she's seen your future, she's seen…' Zofia trailed off.

‘I have no idea what she's seen, she won't tell me and I don't want you to either.'

He wasn't going to mention Iris had told him he had a child. Although now Zofia was here making such a big deal out of it, he wondered if she'd seen his child too and whether Iris was connected to that in more ways than she was saying. The thought made his mouth go dry. He'd thought that the baby might be theirs as soon as she told him he had a child but had eventually dismissed that idea. Now he wasn't so sure. Was that really what she was running away from?

‘But she likes you?' his grandmother asked.

‘Yes, very much so.'

‘Well that's something. You need to pull out all the stops to make sure she falls in love with you. Take her to dinner, buy her flowers, buy her books, whatever it takes. You need to fight for her.'

‘We have nothing to fight for right now. And no, I'm not badgering her into this. What I need to do is wait for her to be ready. She's been burned badly with past relationships. She needs to choose if she wants to be with me. And if she decides she just wants one night with me, that's OK too. All of this needs to be her choice.'

Zofia stared at him. ‘Oh actually, that's good. Giving her space and patience, I bet she'll find that very attractive. Great idea.'

‘It's not a ploy. It's the right thing to do. She should have the final say over it, not just go ahead with it because you've seen she has a part to play in my future. Besides, if you're so sure in what you've seen, why not just sit back and let it happen?'

‘Because you're not known for successful, long-term relationships and I worry you're going to screw this up. She makes you happy and I want that for you.'

Lynx smiled. ‘Maybe I haven't been successful in long-term relationships because I've never found the right woman before and it had nothing to do with my ability to screw it up. We have to find our own way with this, just like we do with all aspects of life. And we may make mistakes but hopefully we'll grow because of it.'

‘Oh when did you get to be so wise,' Zofia said. ‘Normally that's my job.'

‘I don't know if cutting your holiday short to interfere with my love life is the wisest choice, neither was the advice you gave Star when she first arrived here, which nearly finished her and Wolf forever.'

She flushed. ‘Yes, well that was a mistake.'

‘And I don't want you to make any similar mistakes which could drive a wedge even further between me and Iris. Go back to your holiday and leave us to cock this up on our own.'

His grandmother muttered something that sounded like, ‘We'll see about that,' and flounced out.

Lynx sighed. He could try to protect Iris from any judgemental opinions about her kelpie heritage and he would fight to the death to protect her against Christopher, if their paths should ever cross again. But he couldn't protect her against the force of his grandmother when she decided to interfere in his love life.

Iris had just had a shower and got dressed when she heard her nan and Morag return, happily chatting to each other.

She ran downstairs.

‘Hey, where have you two been?'

‘We spent the day exploring our new home,' Morag said.

‘And the shops,' Ness said. ‘They are wonderful. I still can't believe all these people practising magic so openly.'

‘If you were round the shops, you should have popped in and said hello,' Iris said.

‘Oh, we didn't want to interrupt anything,' Ness said, her eyebrows waggling mischievously.

‘There was nothing to interrupt. I was upstairs and Lynx was downstairs for most of the day.'

‘So there's nothing going on between you?' Morag said.

Iris flushed as she remembered their hot second kiss. ‘I didn't say that, just that nothing was happening in the shop. Did you do anything else today?'

‘We traced the stream that runs through the garden all the way to the very back of the village, near the woods, and there's a gorgeous little waterfall there,' Ness said, dreamily. ‘The water was deep enough to swim in too, so we both had a little paddle. Scared some old bloke half to death who had gone up there to do some fishing and found me naked in the pool. He grumbled that I'd probably scared the fish away, but I certainly didn't see any in there.'

Iris snorted with laughter. Her nan would always swim naked in the lochs and rivers. Iris tended to have a bit more caution when it came to showing her bits. She loved a naked swim, but she had to choose her locations carefully.

‘Listen, I have some good news and bad news,' Iris said, going to the table and picking up the box with the locket in. She'd already decided not to tell her nan about the police interest in the jewellery heist, she didn't want to worry her. ‘I spoke with Wolf today about the locket and he gave it back to me after I explained it was yours and the history of it.'

Her nan's face lit up. ‘You've got it back.'

‘Yes, but there's a problem.'

Her face fell. ‘What's the problem?'

‘Christopher has glued it together, probably with superglue or something else impossible to shift.'

‘But I need what's inside. That's more important than anything else.'

Iris frowned in confusion. ‘You mean the wedding photo of you and Pops?'

Ness nodded vaguely.

‘We'll sort it out, I promise.' Iris showed Ness the locket and she took it out of the box, her hands trembling. Her nan tried to open it and tears filled her eyes.

‘It's ruined.'

‘No it's not. There are lots of things we can try, like nail varnish remover or vinegar, but Lynx thinks we can magically open it. There's a lady in the village called Ashley who apparently knows every kind of spell, potion and charm there is. Lynx thinks she will be able to come up with a solution that won't harm the locket. I'm going to go and see her now and ask her to take a look at it.'

Ness handed the locket back. ‘Can she be trusted? I don't want to lose it again.'

‘Lynx wouldn't have recommended her if she wasn't trustworthy. And did you know, he never locks his front door, he says he knows they'll never be a break-in here. So I guess he trusts everyone in the village.'

Ness grunted and Iris knew that in her eyes trust had to be earned, not presumed.

‘I promise, we'll find some way to fix this.'

Ness nodded, sadly. ‘Thank you,' she said, quietly, before heading outside to the garden and Iris knew she was going to stand in the stream again.

Iris sighed and turned back to Morag.

‘You need to be careful with this Lynx,' Morag said. ‘The last man you brought into our lives was a jobby-flavoured fart lozenge.'

Iris snorted. ‘He was.'

‘A complete bawbag.'

‘Yes.'

‘And because you trusted him, fell in love with him, we had to leave our home.'

‘Thanks for the guilt trip, I'm aware all this is my fault.'

‘I didn't mean it like that, I don't want to see you get hurt again is all. And you're not the only one at risk,' Morag nodded in the direction of Ness.

‘I know I've not been the best judge of character in the past, but there's something about Lynx that makes me feel safe. And I think if you met him, you'd like him too.'

Morag scowled. ‘I'll be the judge of that.'

She slunk off into the garden and Iris sighed.

She put the locket back in its box and slipped it into her bag, then headed off for Ashley's house. It was a gloriously sunny evening and the streets were still alive with people moving around and chatting. The village was so charming, each house different to its neighbours, painted in a different bright colour so the overall effect was like something from a picture postcard. She found Ashley's house easily enough with its purple front door, flowers growing up the walls and its rustic-style brass lanterns, and knocked on the door.

A blonde woman answered, giving her a huge smile. ‘Iris McKenzie,' she said. It was clear from her accent that she was American. ‘I've been looking forward to meeting you. I'm Ashley Dougan. Come in.'

She stepped back to let Iris in. The room had a large horseshoe-shape sofa with brightly coloured satin cushions. There was a large shelf filled with multicoloured potion bottles of all shapes and sizes and candles flickering everywhere, lending a golden glow to the room.

Ashley studied her for a moment. ‘You have the most unique magical energy. I've never felt or seen anything like it before. You're a witch, I can feel that, but there's something else there.'

‘I… umm… I'm part kelpie.'

Ashley's eyes widened. ‘I've never met a kelpie before. Of course we've heard of them, and the stories, but this is quite exciting.'

‘The stories aren't true.'

‘They never are.'

‘You know, every witch I've ever met, before I came here, has always been suspicious of us. But since I've come here, everyone has been so kind and welcoming.'

‘I have no doubt that some people will be a little concerned when they find out your heritage, but most of us here have open minds and big hearts.'

Iris liked that.

‘I wonder if I could ask for a bit of magical advice actually.' Iris took the locket out of her bag. ‘This is my nan's, and my asshole ex-boyfriend stole it from her and glued it together. Is there anything you could do, magically, to remove the glue without damaging the locket? It's very precious to my nan.'

Ashley took the locket and studied it. ‘Yes, I'm sure there is. I did a potion once to remove a stain from my favourite sweater, and it came up better than new, so I'm sure I can come up with something similar to remove the glue. Maybe dandelion and sage, picked under a full moon. That could work. Or stardust and honeysuckle. If you're happy to leave it with me for a few days, I promise I'll take very good care of it.'

Iris hesitated for a few moments. She was desperate to get the locket fixed for her nan but trusting strangers didn't come easily. But Lynx trusted Ashley and that was good enough for her. ‘Yes, thank you, that would be great.'

Ashley carefully put the locket back in its box and then moved over to a small cupboard that was secured with five completely different locks. She waved her hands and the different locks started turning and whirring by themselves and finally the door opened.

‘I keep all the dangerous potion ingredients in here. I don't use them very often but I'd never want them to fall into the wrong or uneducated hands, so I keep them under lock and key. Your locket will be very safe in there.'

Iris watched Ashley place the box next to a bottle of red, glowing liquid that looked like sparkly blood before the door was closed and the locks magically secured the cupboard door once more.

‘Thank you,' Iris said.

‘Well, if you don't have to rush off, would you like a cup of camomile tea and perhaps we could talk a bit more about kelpie magic?'

Iris smiled. ‘I'd like that.'

Ness was just settling down to watch her favourite programme on TV when there was a knock on the door. Morag lifted her head suspiciously and Ness got up to answer it. Outside was an elderly woman about the same age as Ness, perhaps a little older.

‘You must be Ness,' the woman said.

‘I am and you are?'

‘I'm Zofia, Lynx's grandmother.'

‘Ah, you best come in then.' Ness shuffled back to let her in. ‘Can I get you a drink? Tea, coffee?'

‘Whisky if you have it?'

Ness smiled. ‘Only the best kind, from Scotland.'

‘That's the only kind that counts in my opinion.'

Ness grabbed a bottle and two glasses from the side. She looked at Morag. ‘Do you want one?'

Morag shook her head. ‘I'm off out now anyway. I have things I need to do.'

She slunk out of the open door and Ness waved a hand to close it behind her. She poured out the glasses and handed Zofia one. She gestured for Zofia to sit down. ‘What is it you want to talk about?'

‘I know you have the gift of foresight, just like I do.'

‘That's right.'

‘So you've seen Iris and Lynx, their future, their children.'

‘I have.' Ness took a sip of her whisky, wondering where Zofia was going with this.

‘And Iris, she's seen it too?'

‘Her gift is not as clear as mine. And even I can't see everything. If I could, I'd have seen that little bawbag steal my locket and I would have stopped him. But Iris never sees her future, only other people's, and it comes in flashes and sometimes doesn't come at all. So seeing her future was a shock for her. I know she's seen something because she came back here and said we may be staying here and she wasn't happy about it.'

‘Why wasn't she happy about it? From what I've seen of their future they have amazing chemistry together.'

‘Iris is finding this whole future-set-in-stone thing a bit overwhelming. She feels like she wants control over her life, not to have it all laid out in front of her. She says she wants a choice.'

‘That's silly. Fate isn't forcing them to be together, no spell, charm or potion or any kind of magic can make two people love each other. What Iris is seeing is just what will happen. And if she hadn't seen it, it would still happen.'

‘I know that, but she sees her and Lynx's future, marriage, babies, and she doesn't even know the man.'

‘Well that's what I want to talk to you about. With Iris actively trying to avoid that future and Lynx being a gentleman and patiently waiting for her to be ready, I'll be dead by the time they walk down the aisle – if they ever do. I think they need a little nudge.'

Ness took another sip of whisky as she thought.

‘You can see how happy they make each other,' Zofia said.

‘I can.'

‘Then it wouldn't hurt to give them a little help.'

‘OK, what are you thinking?'

‘Poker.'

‘Poker?'

‘Let me explain…'

Morag was sitting outside her house, enjoying the cool of the evening as the sun disappeared behind the hills, when she saw a black shadow skulking down the road towards her.

‘Good evening Vik ta. '

‘Moorag.'

She suppressed a smirk.

‘Still here, I see,' Viktor said, sitting down next to her.

‘Where else would I be?'

‘I was hoping Scotland.'

‘Wherever Iris is, I'll be too.'

‘Well, I thought that she and Lynx would have had their little fling by now, he'd have broken her heart and she'd have gone back to Scotland, taking you with her.'

‘We can't go back to Scotland, not yet anyway. The last man she dated turned out to be dangerous, so we have to stay here until it all blows over. And why do you think Lynx will break her heart?'

‘He's not known for his longevity. He's had more girlfriends than I've had hot dinners. And as someone who remembers every one of my many past lives, that's a lot of hot dinners.'

Morag examined one of her claws as if bored by this conversation but now a seed of doubt had wiggled its way into her mind. Was Lynx the right man for Iris? She didn't want to see Iris get hurt again.

‘Look, you don't want to be here and I certainly don't want you here. If we were to make sure Lynx and Iris don't get together, we'd both get our wish. You'd go back to Scotland.'

Morag had heard enough. She pounced on Viktor, pinning him to the ground, and his eyes widened in shock.

‘How dare you manhandle me like this. Unhand me at once.'

‘If you do anything to interfere with Iris's happiness, I'll have you assassinated.'

‘Assassinated? Just how do you plan to do that?' Viktor said, scathingly, clearly believing she didn't have it in her.

‘Perhaps a draught of poison in your lavender tea.'

‘How do you know I drink lavender tea?'

‘I listen, I hear things. I also know you like cake, I could easily put poison in one of those.'

‘This feels like a little bit of an overreaction on your part.'

‘Or maybe I could smother you with a pillow or push a gargoyle on your head.'

‘This is all sounding rather macabre,' Viktor said, sounding bored. ‘I merely suggested we throw a few spanners into their relationship. I don't think that warrants a death sentence on my part.'

‘There'll be no spanners, no plotting to break them up or keep them apart. Iris deserves to find happiness for once in her life and, according to what she's seen, Lynx is the one who gives her that. So if I hear you've interfered in any way…' Morag dragged her claw across her throat threateningly. ‘If you dislike me that much, we can draw a line down the middle of the village and never the twain shall meet. Failing that, you'll just have to man up and try to like me.'

‘After this, never.'

Morag sighed and climbed off him. ‘I mean it, stay away from them.'

Viktor scrambled up and started cleaning himself as if that whole thing hadn't happened. He was the most infuriating cat Morag had ever met. Maybe killing him would be easier than putting up with this crap.

She crossed over the road. Maybe it was time to meet the man himself, see if a relationship between Iris and Lynx was really worth fighting for.

Lynx was reading a spy story when there was a knock on the door. He got up to answer it but when he opened the door there was no one there. Confused, he was just about to close it again when he heard someone politely coughing to get his attention. He looked down and a fox stared back up at him.

‘Hello.'

‘Good evening,' the fox said.

He blinked in surprise. ‘You must be Morag, Iris's…'

The fox glared at him as if daring him to say pet.

‘Friend,' Lynx said and she seemed appeased by that.

‘I am and I've come to see what kind of man you are and whether you're good enough for Iris.'

‘Well in that case you better come in.'

He stepped back and Morag gracefully trotted into his house.

‘Please take a seat,' Lynx said and watched her jump up onto the sofa easily, looking like a pet dog as she made herself comfortable. ‘Would you like a drink?'

‘A tea will be fine, chamomile if you have it.'

‘Sure.' He bit his lip. ‘In a mug or…?'

‘Do I look like I have opposable thumbs? A bowl will be fine.'

‘Of course.' He waved his hand and heard the drink being made in the kitchen. He sat down opposite her. ‘How can I help you?'

‘It seems that Iris's future happiness is tied to you, at least her immediate future.'

‘That's what I hear too. My grandmother who, from what I can gather has more precognitive abilities than Iris does, has also seen something. Although I don't know what she's seen as Iris hasn't told me and I refuse to hear it from my grandmother when Iris hasn't told me herself.'

He really needed to talk to Iris about this. Just what had she seen? He was happy to wait for Iris to be ready but he really needed to know what he was waiting for.

‘How do you feel about it?' Morag asked. ‘It could be marriage, babies. That's a lifelong commitment. Most men in your shoes would be running a million miles in the opposite direction if a woman they'd just met had suggested marriage.'

‘Well she hasn't suggested it. She's the one trying to run away from it right now.'

‘That doesn't really answer my question.'

Lynx suppressed a smile just as the bowl of chamomile came floating out of the kitchen and landed in front of Morag. He watched her delicately drink the whole thing, then she lifted her head, looking at him expectantly, clearly wanting an answer.

‘I really like Iris and we share a connection I've never felt before. And if something develops between us and that turns to love, I'd be very happy to marry her. According to my grandmother, she makes me very happy so why would I want to run away from that?'

‘But do you make her happy?'

‘I could only be happy if she was happy.'

‘Good answer. Ever been unfaithful?'

‘Never.'

‘Ever broken a woman's heart?'

Lynx frowned. ‘It's unlikely. I've never had a serious relationship before.'

‘Ah, why is that?'

‘Never found the right woman.'

‘Not because you like playing the field?'

‘I've dated a few women in my life, but they never lasted because they weren't looking for something serious or because I was looking for something special.'

She nodded. ‘Ever stolen from someone?'

‘No.'

‘Ever been intimidated by another person's magic?'

‘No, why would I be? I can do things other people can't. Other people can do things that I can't. That's how magic works. I've never been jealous about other people's abilities.'

‘Ever hit a woman?'

‘Dear Gods, no.'

‘How would you protect Iris if someone meant her harm?'

Lynx held his hand out and a large flame appeared in his palm. ‘That normally does the trick.'

Morag narrowed her eyes at him as if trying to think of other questions to ask.

‘Favourite colour?'

‘Blue.'

‘Favourite food?'

He chewed his lip. ‘Fox stew.'

Morag actually smiled at this. ‘Very good. Funny and handsome.' She hopped down from the sofa. He followed her to the door and let her out. She turned back. ‘I'm keeping an eye on you, Lynx Oakwood. If you hurt her, you'll have me to answer to.'

He nodded. ‘And I take that very seriously.'

He watched her cross the road and vanish from view.

The Spanish Inquisition from a fox was the last thing he'd been expecting from this evening. He smiled, shook his head and went back inside.

Iris let herself back into her house to find Ness and Morag sitting quietly watching the TV.

Ness paused the programme. ‘Did Ashley think she can fix the locket?'

‘She does, she thinks dandelion and sage picked under a full moon might do it, or stardust and something. Anyway, she's going to look at it over the next few days and come up with something that doesn't damage the locket.'

Ness sighed heavily. ‘I was hoping it was something she could do straightaway. I really need that locket.'

‘I know, it'll just be a few days.'

Ness nodded. ‘I had a visit tonight from Lynx's grandmother.'

‘Zofia? What did she want?'

‘Just… to welcome me to the village.'

‘Ah, that was nice.'

‘She wants to come round tomorrow to play poker.'

‘Oh lovely, that will be nice for you to make some friends here.'

‘Will you come?'

‘Oh, I'm not particularly good at poker.'

‘I just want you there for moral support. You know what I'm like with making friends, you can stop me making a tit of myself.'

Iris smiled. ‘I'm sure you won't but I'm happy to come and play badly.'

‘Excellent. Five o'clock.'

‘I'll be here. I'm going to read for a while before I go to bed. Goodnight.'

She leaned over and kissed her nan on the cheek, waved goodnight to Morag and went upstairs.