Chapter 12

I ris had spent the afternoon laying out all her stock and getting it ready for the big opening the next day, although her heart wasn't in it.

She was excited for it but she couldn't stop thinking about the locket and the fact that Ashley had sensed something bad coming from inside. What if they had brought something awful to the village inside that locket, something that could threaten the safety of the villagers? She also kept on thinking about what her nan had said the night before when she'd found out that the locket was glued together. She'd said, ‘I need what's inside,' which Iris had thought was a weird turn of phrase, but she'd assumed her nan had meant the wedding photo of her and Pops. Now she wasn't so sure. Surely her nan hadn't been hiding something cursed and dangerous all this time and never told her? Iris had sworn to Lynx, Wolf and Star that the locket wasn't magical, that it held no powers, but what if that was a lie?

She heard footsteps on the stairs and Erin came in with a big grin on her face. ‘I hear you and Lynx were seen coming out of the woods this morning looking very loved-up and holding hands.'

‘Is nothing secret in this place?' Iris laughed, putting away her fears over the locket until she could do something about them. ‘I wouldn't go so far as to say loved-up, but yes, we were holding hands.'

Erin gave a little squeal of excitement. ‘What happened? I thought you were holding back for revenge purposes.'

‘Well, you know there's a mutual attraction. We've decided to date and see how things go.'

Iris really didn't want to mention that if it went well there'd be marriage and babies within a few years. She trusted Erin to a certain extent but she didn't want the whole village to know about her future before it had happened, although Zofia might tell everyone anyway.

‘Now that is exciting. Although I am a bit sad I don't get to see you exact your revenge on Lynx.'

Iris laughed. ‘He's too nice for me to hold a grudge.'

‘Yeah he is, which is very annoying. How's it going in here?'

‘Really well. I've never had my own shop before and I'm really enjoying getting it ready. Fear of rejection and judgement, of not fitting in, has had such an impact on my life and how I lived it. I would never have been brave enough to do something like this out there in the real world.'

‘Yeah, I didn't fully appreciate how wonderful it is to never have to worry about someone seeing your magic until I came here. I own the seafood restaurant at the end of Stardust Street, the one shaped like a pirate galleon, and everything is so much easier to do when you can use magic freely. I used to own a café out there in the real world, as you call it. The Black Cat Café. It was a novelty café, all decked out with cauldrons and witchy paraphernalia. When I did magic like floating their meals out of the kitchen onto the tables people loved it, thought it was all some really cool special effects.'

Erin pushed her hair back from her face. ‘I got carried away, I thought I could do any magic and people would be fine with it, because it was part of the gimmick of the café. But people started to get a bit uneasy about it all. When the tables would clear themselves, plates stacking themselves and floating back off to the kitchen, it was too much for their mundane brains to take in. People stopped coming. And then there was the fear, the hatred, the comments. Maybe if I'd been in a big city I would have got away with it, but living in a little seaside town, they definitely weren't open to it. Now, here, everything is done with magic. I can even mow my lawn with a wave of a hand without having to worry what the neighbours think. There really is a lot to be said for being your true self.'

‘You're right,' Iris said. ‘And I think that's important in a relationship too. I've never been with a man I could be a hundred percent myself with either.'

Erin nodded and then her face lit up. ‘Wait, have you never been with a witch before?'

‘No, generally I had very little to do with witches. I always found they were suspicious of us, as they knew we weren't proper witches. And my nan was always suspicious of them as historically the witches have not been kind to the kelpies.'

‘Oh wow, you're in for a treat,' Erin said.

‘What does that mean?'

‘When two witches have sex they connect on a magical level. His magic and yours, they become one. It's very intimate because you're sharing a part of yourself that no one else gets to touch and it really is quite beautiful.'

Iris stared at her. ‘Are you joking?'

Erin grinned. ‘Once you've had witch sex, you never go back.'

Just then Lynx walked into the shop. He stopped when he saw her.

He turned to Erin. ‘Why does she look like a rabbit in the headlights?'

‘I was just trying to explain about witch sex,' Erin said, innocently.

‘Ah yes, I was just thinking about that.'

‘You were thinking about witch sex?' Iris asked.

‘I think this might be my cue to leave,' Erin laughed. She gave them a wave and hurried out.

Lynx walked over to Iris and put his hands on her shoulders. ‘Since you mentioned that our first time will be in the pool, I've been having trouble focusing on anything else. Not witch sex, just me and you, together. And there's no rush for that, but I can't deny I've been thinking about what it will be like to touch you, to feel your body against mine. And while I was working in my shop just now, letting my mind wander, I did think about what it will be like to connect with you on that magical level. And then I remembered you'd said you'd never dated a witch before, so I thought I should come up here and talk to you about it.'

‘You want to talk to me about sex? This isn't my first rodeo, I don't need a diagram about which bit goes where.'

Lynx laughed. ‘The mechanics of it are all the same but there is a point when our magic will connect too and it can be quite a shock if you're not expecting it. Can I show you?'

‘Now?' Iris looked around in alarm.

‘Not sex, just a little bit of what it feels like when our magic connects.'

She frowned and then nodded. ‘OK.'

He took her hands in his. ‘OK, close your eyes.'

She flashed him a look. ‘No funny business.'

He laughed and she closed her eyes.

‘So I'm going to touch your magic with mine,' Lynx said.

She knew the second he had done it as she could feel him everywhere, inside her, surrounding her, almost as if he was a part of her. She opened her eyes to look at him. It was so intense, so intimate, almost as if she was standing naked in front of him. She felt like he could see every single part of her. She could feel his magic, this bright burning fire spreading through her. He was strong and powerful. She felt like he was consuming her and she was surprised how much she wanted that.

He released his hold over her and she let out a breath. He seemed breathless too.

‘That was incredible,' she said.

‘Yeah, for me too. And when we make love it will be so much more. It's a lot more powerful than that.'

She reached up to kiss him, cupping his face, and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. She pulled away fractionally, feeling his heavy breath on her lips. ‘I can't wait.'

He grinned and kissed her and she loved the way his fingers played up her back as he held her.

She pulled back and rested her hands on his chest.

Downstairs, she heard Lynx's shop door open.

‘Hellooo!' came a woman's voice from the bottom of the stairs.

‘Oh crap,' Lynx said. ‘That's my grandmother, Zofia. I thought she'd be content with waiting until the poker game tonight to meet you but clearly not.'

Iris laughed.

They heard footsteps on the stairs.

‘Can I hide you somewhere?' Lynx asked.

‘She can't be that bad.'

‘Trust me on this, she'll be asking if we've slept together yet, how many orgasms I gave you, whether I'm the best sex you've ever had. And then it will quickly turn into when do you want to get married and how many children do you want. Come on, hide out the back.'

‘How about in plain sight?' Iris quickly changed so she looked exactly like Storm Quinn, towering over Lynx.

Lynx let out a bark of laughter.

‘Wait, where does he come from?' Iris said, in a man's voice. She could do a generic man's voice pretty well but she wasn't great at accents.

‘I think he comes from Spain originally but—'

Suddenly Zofia arrived in the room with them, her eyes lighting up at the potential of meeting Iris. Zofia looked around and Iris watched her shoulders slump when she couldn't see her.

‘Where is she?'

‘Hi Zofia,' Lynx said, wearily. ‘Iris is on a break. She popped out to the coffee shop, I think.'

‘I thought I'd come and show my support to the new shop,' Zofia said.

‘I'm sure that's why you're here,' Lynx said.

Zofia eyed Iris. ‘Hello Storm, how are you settling in, dear?'

Iris cleared her throat in preparation for trying her best Spanish accent. ‘Hello Zofia. Fine thanks.'

Lynx's eyes widened and Iris knew it had been bad. Even Zofia's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

‘Umm, Storm was just telling me he's had a throat infection for the last few days,' Lynx said.

‘And I was just leaving,' Iris said; even she could tell how bad her accent was.

‘I'll walk you out, dear. I'm glad I bumped into you. I wanted to talk to you too.'

‘Oh, I'm in a bit of a rush,' Iris said.

‘It won't take long.'

Iris gestured for Zofia to go ahead of her. She flashed Lynx a look of desperation and he shrugged helplessly before she clomped after Zofia down the stairs and out on to the street.

Zofia threaded her arm through Iris's. ‘Have you had much chance to meet some of the other villagers?'

Iris remembered that Erin had said that Storm was grumpy and rude to everyone so she figured she could get away with short answers.

‘No,' Iris said.

‘Erin's a lovely girl, have you had a chance to talk to her?'

‘No,' Iris said again. Although it was curious that Zofia would try to matchmake Erin and Storm. Iris wondered if she knew about the dreams Erin had been having.

And if fate was watching all this unfold, it suddenly decided to make an awkward situation ten times worse, as Storm stepped out of one of the shops in front of them and came face to face with… himself.

‘What the hell?' Storm said, clearly angry.

Iris burst out laughing and quickly changed back into herself. ‘I'm so sorry.'

He stepped back, eyes wide, and Zofia looked stunned too.

Iris took a step back, keen to avoid Storm's wrath. ‘I should go, but you two should talk.'

With that she hotfooted it back to her shop, giggling at their faces.

‘That little minx,' Zofia said.

Iris burst back into the shop and Lynx looked up from where he was working.

‘Abort, abort,' Iris said.

‘What happened?'

‘We ran into Storm.'

Lynx laughed loudly.

‘Are they going to be mad at me?'

‘Zofia won't. She'll definitely see the funny side. Storm, not so much. I haven't seen him crack a smile yet.'

The shop door opened and Storm barrelled in towards her.

‘Oh crap,' Iris said.

Inexplicably Lynx moved in front of her. Lynx was a big man but Storm was a giant – if this actually ended in a fight, it would be over very quickly and probably not in Lynx's favour. Although Lynx was a powerful strong witch, and could probably defend himself if need be, Iris felt her magic rise in her. She would wipe Storm out with a torrent of water to protect Lynx.

‘Now there's no need to be angry,' Lynx said. ‘It was just a joke at Zofia's expense. We didn't mean any harm to you.'

‘I'm really sorry,' Iris said.

‘I don't care about that,' Storm said, urgently, his eyes only on hers. ‘Are you a kelpie?'

Dear Gods, was this about to become her first time encountering kelpie hatred in the village? She knew the horrible reputation that preceded them, and that some witches were wary of them because of it, but everyone had been so lovely about her heritage so far. Should she lie, deny all knowledge?

‘Because the only person I've ever known who could change shape like that, completely melt into another person, was a kelpie. So are you?' Storm asked.

‘Wait, you… you've met a kelpie before?' Iris asked, hoping his experience had been a positive one.

‘Yes,' Storm cleared his throat. ‘My wife. She passed away a year ago.'

‘I'm so sorry.'

‘She used to…' he smiled slightly. ‘She used to do me. When I was in a bad mood, she'd change into me and stomp around like a belligerent teenager. She'd say, "I'm Storm, I'm a big grumpy man." And it always used to make me laugh.'

Iris stepped around Lynx, letting go of her magic. ‘I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you with memories of her.'

‘It's OK. They're good memories. So, are you?'

Iris nodded. ‘Yeah. I've never met another kelpie before, outside of my family, I had no idea there were others out there. But Erin said her childhood best friend was one and now I find out you were married to one. There are obviously more of us out there than I realised.'

‘I've never met another either,' Storm said. He held out his hand. ‘Storm Quinn.'

‘Iris McKenzie.' She took his hand and shook it and suddenly had a flash of his future. Surprisingly it was linked with Erin. Maybe Zofia had seen more than she'd let on when she'd thought she was talking to Storm a few minutes before.

‘I take it you can see my future too. Amelia could do that as well.'

‘Yes, just flashes.'

‘I don't want to know,' Storm said, quickly.

‘I don't blame you, I was freaked out enough when I came here and saw my future was tied to Lynx.'

Storm glanced at Lynx and smirked. ‘The first time I met Amelia she told me we were going to get married. Surprisingly it didn't scare me off. It just sort of… made sense. I had never before believed that love at first sight was possible until I met her.'

‘I know what you mean,' Lynx said. ‘Iris and I had an immediate connection too, and when I found out we were fated to be together forever, our connection made so much more sense.'

Storm nodded and turned his attention back to Iris. ‘You don't know how happy it makes me to meet another kelpie. I've been living under a dark cloud for the last year and meeting you has felt like the cloud has lifted slightly. Would it be OK, with you both, if I came back here to talk to you again?'

‘Of course,' Iris said. ‘I've just moved here and I don't know many people. I'm always happy to make new friends.'

Storm turned to Lynx. ‘Is it OK, this isn't anything romantic or—'

‘Absolutely, I'm totally fine with it.'

Storm nodded. ‘Thank you.'

With that he walked out.

Iris wrapped her arms around Lynx. ‘Big sexy man wants to be my friend and you're OK with it?'

Lynx shrugged. ‘Why wouldn't I be? If you wanted to be with him, you'd be with him. But I trust in that future you've seen. If we love each other enough to get married and bring children into the world then no one else will ever come close. And if it doesn't get that far because you've found someone else, then I'd want that for you because he obviously makes you happy.'

She slid her arms round his neck and kissed him. ‘That's very confident.'

He kissed her. ‘I know I can make you very happy.'

She laughed at the dark look in his eyes. ‘I'm looking forward to it.'

The door to Lynx's shop was pushed open and a customer came in.

‘I must go and finish getting ready for the opening tomorrow, see if I can win this competition,' Iris said.

‘Well don't try too hard.'

Iris laughed and ran up the stairs.

‘How are we going to play this poker game?' Lynx asked as they walked back to their road.

‘Badly, going by my previous experience of playing poker,' Iris said. ‘I know how to play and understand the rules, I've played quite a bit with Ness over the years, but I never win.'

‘No, I mean, with our interfering grandparents. Should we just tell them we're dating so we get them off our backs?'

‘No, I think we make them work at it. We go in there and be nothing but polite to each other, no affection at all. Really make them think they have their work cut out.'

He grinned. ‘I like it. Also Zofia has chosen poker for one reason: she's really good at it. I suspect she wants to win so we have to kiss each other or something absurd as a forfeit. So if that's the case we'll just give each a really chaste kiss.'

‘A peck on the cheek.'

Lynx laughed. ‘That will infuriate her.'

‘Perfect.'

‘But I've lost a lot of money to her over the years at poker, so I've been brushing up on my skills every opportunity I've had. It's been a while since we played so she won't be expecting it. If she's going to win tonight, she'll have to work hard.'

‘Or cheat.'

‘Now I wouldn't put it past her. Nor would I put it past her to have cheated in the past. But fortunately, on my travels, I came across an anti-cheating spell so that should put a stop to any little tricks she has up her sleeve.'

Iris laughed. ‘OK, I look forward to it. I'll see you shortly. I need to talk to my nan about the locket.'

He nodded and waved goodbye before heading over to his house.

She took a deep breath and walked up the path of her house. She had a feeling this conversation was going to end up in confrontation and she wasn't looking forward it.

She walked into the lounge to find a poker table she didn't know they owned or had brought with them, with some casino- style chips in the middle. There were also snacks on little side tables; her nan was obviously taking this thing very seriously. Or Zofia was.

Her nan was sitting doing her crossword.

‘Hello, how's the shop looking?' Ness asked, peering over her glasses.

‘It's looking really good, I'll be ready to open tomorrow.' Iris sat down next to her. ‘Nan, I need to talk to you about the locket.'

‘What about it, has something happened to it?'

‘What's inside the locket?'

Her nan looked alarmed and Iris immediately knew she hadn't been truthful with her. ‘I don't know what you mean. Nothing is inside the locket, just an old wedding photo, nothing else.'

‘Nan, don't lie to me.'

‘I'm not.'

‘You are, I can tell.'

‘Why do you think there's something inside the locket?'

‘Because Ashley said she can feel something dark from it.'

‘That's rubbish, there's nothing bad inside that locket.'

‘Nan, if there's something dark about that locket, you need to tell me, we can't let Ashley or anyone else open it if someone is going to get hurt. This village is a safe place, we can't ruin that. Last night when I told you the locket was glued shut, you said you needed what was inside. What did you mean by that?'

‘Just… that I wanted to be able to see my wedding photo again.'

‘Nan! This is serious, these people have trusted us, they've looked after us, protected us. We can't bring something bad into their home.'

‘Why won't you believe me?'

‘Because I know you and you're a terrible liar. You're hiding something about that locket and I don't know why you won't tell me the truth.'

‘Because I don't want you to think less of me,' Ness blurted out.

This silenced Iris. ‘There is nothing in this world that would make me think less of you. Unless that locket is made from the bones of dead puppies, I love you and I could never ever think less of you.'

Ness sighed. ‘It's not dead puppies.'

‘Dead kittens?' Iris teased.

‘Stop it,' Ness grumbled.

‘Just tell me.'

‘Iris, I'm eighty-six years old.'

‘I'm very aware of how old you are.'

‘And my mind isn't what it was. I forget things. I'll go into the kitchen to get my book or a drink and I'll forget what I went in there for.'

‘I do that all the time.'

‘I forgot to charm the locket so Christopher wouldn't see it.'

‘That's an easy mistake to make and we both thought we could trust him.'

‘I forgot to bring the evidence we needed to prove the locket was ours.'

‘Well I was rushing you to leave the house, that wasn't your fault.'

‘And I've forgotten what your mum looks like.'

Iris swallowed a lump in her throat.

Ness shook her head. ‘My only daughter and when I think about her I can't picture her face anymore. I can't remember her smile or the way she laughed. I can't remember what she smelled like, I can't remember how her eyes changed colour when she was happy. I know they did, but I can't remember what colours. There are other memories too, my wedding day, the way your grandfather looked when I told him I was pregnant. You being born.' She cleared her throat as it was clear she was struggling to talk. ‘Everything that is important to me is fading away. Sometimes it comes back to me, as clear as day, and then it's gone again the next second, slipping through my hands like water. So over the years, I've stored them in my locket. All the important memories I still had but didn't want to lose, or whenever a memory would come back to me fleetingly, I stored each one inside a tiny crystal and added it to the rim of the locket. Every day, I'd sit slowly running my fingers over each crystal so I could see the way your mum laughed again, so I could see your grandad crying with happiness when I walked up the aisle. Those are things I never want to lose.'

Iris took her hand. ‘Oh Nan, why didn't you tell me?'

‘I didn't want you to think I'm weak.'

‘I would never think that. You're one of the greatest women I know. You're strong, badass, you can take on the world.'

‘So why have you not told me about the police looking for you and that every news programme is carrying this story?'

Iris sighed. ‘Because I didn't want to worry you.'

‘There was a time we told each other everything,' Ness said. ‘Good and bad and we dealt with it together.'

Iris nodded. ‘How about we make a promise that from now on we'll be completely truthful with each other?'

Ness held out a hand and Iris shook it. ‘I promise.'

‘I promise too. And in the spirit of that promise, want to tell me what's going on at this poker game tonight?'

Ness sighed. ‘I knew it was a bad idea. Zofia is desperate to get you and Lynx together and she coerced me into helping. When she wins, she's going to give you a forfeit that you have to go out on a date tonight.'

Iris laughed and shook her head. ‘As we're being completely honest, I already have a date with Lynx tonight. We've kissed a few times too and I've told him about his daughter, our daughter. But we're not going to tell Zofia any of that. We're going to make her work hard to get that date.'

Ness laughed. ‘I'm happy for you and I'm more than willing to help.'

‘Although we're not going to drag it out too long, I want time for our date too.'

‘Got it. So back to the locket. There's no way Ashley is sensing my memories and could possibly think they were something bad.'

‘I agree, but I'll have to tell her about the memories just in case. Maybe she's sensing the magic involved in making those memory crystals and jumping to the wrong conclusion.'

‘Either she's got it wrong or Christopher has done something to the locket.'

‘I don't think she's wrong.'

‘Then what the hell did he do? I swear, if he's done something to my memories I will hunt him down and chop off his balls.'

Iris smiled. ‘That's the Ness I know. I think we'll just have to wait and see. Ashley is doing a spell on it tomorrow night and we'll be able to open it at lunchtime the day after that.'

There was a knock on the door.

‘For now we have some poker to win.'