Chapter 15

I ris hopped around putting her shoes on. She'd come home to have a shower and get changed, while Lynx was going to cook her dinner before potions club.

She heard the door open downstairs and leaned over the banister. ‘Hello?'

‘Hello dear,' Ness called up.

Iris frowned slightly. Her nan sounded really happy.

Iris put on some lipstick and ran downstairs to find Ness sitting on the sofa with a big smile on her face.

‘What's made you so happy?'

‘I've just had the most amazing sex.'

Iris sat down on the chair with a thump. ‘What?'

‘I know. I'm as surprised as you are. I was swimming in the waterfall again and that man turned up, Charles, complaining that I was naked again. I told him to come and join me and he did. Just stripped straight off and walked in. I felt like a silly teenager again watching him and he walked straight up to me and asked if I liked what I saw and I told him I did. And then he kissed me. I haven't been kissed by someone since your grandad passed away over twenty years ago and I thought I might have forgotten how to do it but he obviously enjoyed himself. The next thing, we were having sex, underneath the waterfall, and it was wonderful.'

‘Oh wow, Nan, I, erm… I'm happy for you. So you like this man?'

‘It was just sex darling, it didn't mean anything. But if he wants to do it again, I wouldn't be opposed to it.'

‘Well, that's … lovely.'

‘And you and Lynx, I hear you've finally done the fandango too.'

‘Where did you hear that?'

‘The ether,' Ness gestured to the air around her as if it had been whispering Iris's secrets to her. Iris wouldn't be surprised if it had, her nan seemed to know everything. ‘Was it good?'

‘It was incredible,' Iris said, softly.

Her nan grinned. ‘Are we staying here?'

‘Yeah, I think we might be.'

Ness nodded. ‘I thought we might be.'

‘Are you OK with that?'

‘Surprisingly I am. And you and he will be very happy together, I can see that. Just don't waste too much time dilly-dallying, I'd like to meet my great-grandchildren before I go.'

‘Nan! You're not going anywhere. You'll still be here when they get married.'

‘Now wouldn't that be nice, but I'll settle for seeing you happily married. That would fill my heart right up.'

Iris smiled.

‘We'll have to go back and get the rest of our things,' Ness said.

‘We will, I promise, we just need to let things settle down for a few weeks first.'

Her nan nodded.

‘I'm going to Lynx's house for dinner and then I have potions club tonight. I'll leave you to tell Morag the good news.'

‘What good news?' Morag said, coming in from the kitchen.

‘Ness has a fancy man,' Iris said.

Morag stared at her in horror. ‘What?'

Ness dismissed it. ‘It was just sex, nothing to get worked up about.'

‘I told Iris to be careful with this man she's just met and now you're having some fling with some man you barely know.'

‘I know, isn't it exciting,' Ness said. ‘Me, having a fling. I've never been flung before, I rather liked it.'

‘So you two are very happy here?' Morag said.

Iris bit her lip, feeling awful. ‘Are you not?'

‘It's nice enough, I suppose, it's just not Scotland. This place is too… full, there was a lot more empty space back home. It was peaceful, whereas this village is busy. And there's one cat too many in my opinion. And people see me walking round the streets and want to pet me like I'm a dog. I'm not a dog.'

‘I could get you a collar that says, "Do not stroke, may bite",' Iris offered.

‘I am not wearing a collar.'

‘A little jumper then?'

‘No.'

Iris sighed. ‘I don't want to make you unhappy but I think my future is here. I know I've made mistakes in the past with the men I've been with but Lynx is different, he makes me feel different.'

Morag nodded. ‘I like him and I want you to be happy, you deserve it. And I can grow to like it here. If need be.'

Iris smiled at the small concession. ‘Thank you, I'll make it up to you somehow.'

‘I'll think of something.'

‘And we'll probably be visiting Scotland fairly often. Lynx has these things called key stones and they can get us there in seconds. The journey is a bit rough and you feel like you've been on a rollercoaster for a minute or so after you get there, but it means we can go as often as we want. Not to our farmhouse, not yet, but the surrounding hills, woods and lochs. If we go, I'll take you with us so you can have some peace for a while.'

‘That would be nice.'

‘I better go. I'll leave Ness to share all the sordid details of her fling.'

Iris waved and hurried out.

She knocked on Lynx's door and after a few moments he answered, immediately leaning down to give her a kiss.

‘Hey,' he said.

She smiled and kissed him back.

He took her hand and led her inside the house. ‘I'm making vegetarian lasagne, hope that's OK?'

‘Yes, I love lasagne. It smells delicious.'

‘It's nearly ready, can I get you a drink?'

‘Just a water please.'

Lynx waved his hand and a glass floated out of one of the cupboards.

‘Do you know a man called Charles?' Iris asked.

‘Yes, grumpy old man, complains about everything. Why, has he been giving you hassle?' He sipped his own drink as the glass of water floated into Iris's hands.

‘No, nothing like that. Apparently he and my nan had sex this afternoon in the waterfall at the back of the village.'

Lynx choked on his drink. ‘I wasn't expecting that.'

‘Neither was I.'

‘I'd like to say the man's a teddy bear underneath, but I've never seen evidence of that. Eighteen months ago he cursed one of the women in the village after she threatened his dog. Every time she said something nasty the mole on her neck grew. The woman was vile so it didn't take long for the mole to be as big as a watermelon. I thought it was going to kill her and I think Charles was secretly hoping for that too, until Star persuaded him to explain how to stop the curse. The woman just had to be nice, which was no mean feat, let me tell you.'

‘Oh no, I'm not sure I want my nan involved with someone like that.'

‘He's dated quite a few of women in the village over the years. It never seems to last but he hasn't cursed any of the women when it came to an end, so I guess he can't be all bad. Just as long as your nan doesn't try to hurt his precious dog, I think she'll be fine.'

Iris took a swig of her water. ‘I obviously want her to be happy here, and if Charles can give her that, then I'm all for it. It's just a little weird though, because she hasn't been with anyone since my grandad died. She always said there could never be anyone else for her but five seconds in a witch village and she's completely changed her tune. She doesn't even like witches.'

‘Maybe it was the pleasure of witch sex, that can change anyone's mind.' Lynx looked at her meaningfully.

‘Ah, you had me way before that.'

‘And I plan to have you again tonight when you get back from potions club.'

She laughed, but although the thought of making love to him again was very very tempting, she was bone tired from working in the shop all day. She had barely stopped with the steady stream of curious customers. Witch sex had exhausted her too.

He dipped his head to look into her eyes and smiled. ‘Or we can just sleep together.'

She felt a rush of gratitude that he understood her so well. ‘As much as I loved my prize this afternoon, just sleeping with you is infinitely more appealing right now.'

He laughed. ‘That's totally fine.'

She watched his face. ‘You really don't mind?'

He cupped her face and kissed her. ‘You're underestimating how much I really enjoyed just holding you in my arms last night. Why would I mind about doing that again?' He studied her face. ‘What assholes have you dated that objected to you saying no to sex?'

She pulled a face. ‘Christopher always used to sulk about it if I was too tired. I always stood my ground but he did make me feel guilty about it.'

‘Dear Gods, Iris, that's a red flag if ever I heard one. Never ever settle for a man that ranks his pleasure over your happiness.'

She smiled and slid her arms round his neck. ‘Fortunately, I don't think I'll have to.'

He smiled and kissed her and she felt her heart fill a little bit more for him.

Lynx smiled as Iris tried to contain a yawn as she sat opposite him. They had talked a lot over dinner and the more time he spent with her, the more he knew he was falling for her. She was going to have to go soon for potions club so he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible, so he was a bit frustrated when there was a knock on the door.

‘Let me see who this is and try to get rid of them,' Lynx said.

Iris laughed.

He went to the door and found Wolf there. He loved his brother but there was no way he was asking him in to interrupt his limited time with Iris.

‘Hey, what's up?' Lynx asked, casually putting his arm up on the doorframe.

‘Sorry, I won't keep you but we're going to need you there tomorrow when we open the locket. You're probably the strongest fire witch in the village and we need all four elements there to create a strong protective spell.'

‘I was planning on coming anyway, to support Iris. Does Ashley still think it's something dark inside?'

‘It's confounded her, which is worrying. There's something moving around inside so we know something is in there. She says either there is something dark in there or the person that put the thing in there is dark and dangerous. We already know that Christopher is dangerous, he brought a gun with him to the exhibition to stop Iris from stealing the locket back. So it could be his darkness she's sensing, you know how sensitive she is to people's energy, good and bad. But she says the locket is definitely giving off a weird energy too. I think we just have to take all precautions until we know what we're dealing with.'

Iris appeared behind Lynx and he looped an arm around her to bring her into the conversation.

‘Ah sorry, I didn't realise Iris was here.'

‘Wolf, I'm so sorry this locket is causing you so much trouble.'

‘We brought it here, you have nothing to apologise for,' Wolf said.

‘But I feel kind of responsible for it.'

‘None of this is your fault,' Lynx said. ‘This is all Christopher.'

‘I just can't think what he could have possibly put inside that locket that would be dark or dangerous. He doesn't know about magic. I can't see how it could possibly be cursed.'

‘Even Zofia has said that if we open it, something bad would happen,' Wolf said.

‘And she can't give us any more information than that?' Lynx asked.

‘She says it's fractured, she says she sees fire and water and darkness.'

‘Helpful,' Lynx said dryly.

‘Then let's not open it,' Iris said. ‘I know my nan will be upset but at least she'll have the locket back.'

‘If it is a curse, we can't leave it in there. And in good conscience I can't give it back to your nan either,' Wolf said.

‘Then let's get it out of the village before it does any damage,' Iris said. Her nan would be devastated but not putting anyone in danger was more important.

‘We can't do that either, we can't put mundanes in danger. The curse will come out at some point and we have no idea how many people it could hurt or what it will do when it does.'

‘Can we destroy it?'

‘If we do that the curse will come out anyway. It's better we do it this way, in a controlled environment where we can prevent it doing any harm. Ashley will know exactly what kind of magic it is as soon as she sees it and then we can deal with it then.'

‘OK,' Iris said, quietly.

Wolf turned back to his brother. ‘Ashley has suggested we use Storm for the earth element, do you think he'll be up for that?'

‘He will,' Iris said. ‘We've become friends and he's a good man.'

Lynx nodded. ‘He seems a lot nicer than we originally thought. But actually I think Erin is probably our strongest earth witch.'

‘I'll ask them both.' Wolf turned back to Iris. ‘Try not to worry. I'll leave you to your night,' he said. ‘Twelve noon at Ashley's house.'

Lynx nodded and Wolf left.

They went back inside and Lynx could tell Iris was sad.

‘This isn't your fault,' he repeated. ‘If I had stolen the locket before I'd even met you, we'd still be dealing with this without you. Christopher did this when he stole the locket and then did whatever the hell he did to it. You can't take the blame on your shoulders for this.'

Iris shook her head. ‘I trusted him, I brought him into my life. Now I've had to uproot mine, my nan's and Morag's lives because of it, and I've brought danger to a village who have been nothing but welcoming. Midnight Village is a safe haven and I feel like I've ruined that.'

‘You haven't ruined anything. We have no idea what we are dealing with here, it could be nothing.'

‘A nothing that brings fire, water and darkness to the village?'

‘Zofia always did like a touch of the dramatic with her predictions. Fire and water is us, our magic, it would make sense that whatever happens involves us. And darkness could mean anything, it doesn't mean literally. And whatever it is, we will handle it. Wolf has great power and I'm not short of a trick or two. I promise, we will deal with it before anyone gets hurt.'

Iris sighed.

He took her in his arms and kissed her forehead. ‘It will be OK.'

She looked up at him and nodded. ‘I trust you.' She looked at her watch. ‘I better go.'

‘You'll come back here after?'

‘Yes, but I don't know what time it will be. Erin said it might be a late one.'

‘That's OK. The door will be open, you can come and join me in bed.'

She smiled. ‘OK.'

Lynx bent his head and kissed her and she pressed herself against him. He relished in the feel of her warm body against his, making his heart swell with love for her. This woman was everything and as she pulled away and gave him a little wave before leaving, he swore to himself that whatever was inside that locket he would fight to the death to protect her.

Iris knocked on Ashley's door and after a few moments she opened it.

‘Come in, I'm glad you're here,' Ashley said. ‘I wanted to talk to you before the others arrive. I'm so sorry about all this locket stuff.'

‘You have nothing to apologise for.'

‘I know, but I feel really bad. You trusted me with the locket and now I've made it into something much bigger and Wolf is talking about protection spells. I bet you're wishing you never came to me with it in the first place.'

‘This isn't your fault. If you feel there is something bad in the locket then you did the right thing in telling Wolf. The last thing I want is for anyone to get hurt because of it. If we have to do protection spells or create a magical forcefield around it, then I'm all for it.'

‘I don't even know what it is, which is the annoying thing.'

‘I'm not sure if Lynx has told you, but my nan has been creating tiny memory crystals and attaching them to the inside of the locket on the rim. Her wedding day, her daughter's birth, things like that. Her memory isn't as good as it was and this is her way of keeping those memories close to her. Is there any chance it could be that that you're feeling?'

Ashley smiled. ‘When I examined the locket, I could feel love more than anything else. It's so strong it's almost overpowering. And what you've described explains that, but no, there's something else there and I don't even know if it's magical. With spells or potions I can feel what kind of spell it is, I can see it. If you were to cast a spell and capture it somehow in a bottle, I could tell exactly what spell you were casting. Right now, I can't pick that up which makes me think it's not magical at all. But it's possible the huge amount of love that's been added in your nan's memories is blocking me from being able to see whatever else is in there. Or the locket has some kind of insulating properties. Do you know what metal the locket is made from?'

‘I would presume gold. We've never had it valued or authenticated but Christopher apparently has and he says it's twenty-four carat gold.'

Ashley shook her head. ‘It's not gold. I would guess copper, maybe mixed in with silver or steel. I'm not an expert but it's definitely not gold of any carat. We use gold dust or flakes in some of our potions and the locket has a very different quality to gold. But hundreds or thousands of years ago, people used to wear copper amulets as a form of protection, some believed that it would protect them from bad magic. We now know that copper is an electrical conductor so there may have been some truth in that. But that's probably why I can't get a sense of what it is – because the copper is insulating it and stopping the energy in there from coming out. But whatever it is I just get this bad feeling from it.'

‘So we take all the precautions we need to,' Iris said. ‘And if it's nothing and we've completely overreacted I'll feel only relief, not anger, that you got it wrong.'

Ashley nodded. ‘Well, I should be able to start the spell to open it tonight at midnight and with any luck it should be ready to open at lunchtime tomorrow.'

There was a knock on the door and the sound of laughter outside.

‘Time to meet everyone else. We're a bit light on the ground today as Darianna and Nithya are visiting family for the summer solstice, so there'll just be the six of us tonight.'

Ashley went to answer the door and soon the room was filled with laughing, chatting women, Star and Erin amongst them. It was clear they were all very good friends and Iris couldn't help feeling a bit jealous about that; she'd never really had friends.

Erin gave her a big hug as soon as she saw her, as did Star, which made Iris smile.

‘I'm so glad you came,' Star said.

‘I am too.'

Star turned and took one of the other women's hands, pulling her over to meet Iris too. ‘This is Kianga, this is Iris.'

‘Lovely to meet you,' Kianga gave her a hug.

‘And this is Maxine,' Star indicated the other woman who was so busy chatting at a hundred miles an hour with Ashley that she hadn't noticed there was someone new in their midst.

‘Sorry, hello,' Maxine said, rushing over to give Iris a hug.

A few of them placed snacks on the food table and Iris felt a bit bad that she hadn't brought anything.

‘Ladies, please take your seats,' Ashley said.

Everyone quickly sat down and Erin pulled Iris down to sit between her and Star.

‘I was sorting through some of my old potion recipes the other day and I found this vintage one, which dates back to the seventeenth century. Our understanding of magic has moved on quite a bit since then, but I thought it might be fun to try. Especially as this one contains rum.'

‘I'm definitely up for that,' Maxine said.

‘Can we substitute rum for wine?' Erin said, gesturing to the wine bottles in the middle of the room. ‘I hate rum, it always makes me sick.'

‘Sadly not, it's the sugarcane in the rum that's the important part in this recipe. But you only need to add a few drops. The wine is for our second potion. But this potion allows you to see your true heart's desire, the thing you want most in the world. And when you drink the potion technically it should help you get it. But of course, as with all things, magic has its limitations – it can't bring back the dead, it can't make someone fall in love with you, it can't give you mountains of gold, so don't be disappointed if you're not suddenly a billionaire overnight.'

The women eyed each other, clearly excited at the possibilities.

‘You have a list of ingredients next to your cauldrons, so go over to the middle table and start selecting what you need,' Ashley instructed.

Iris looked at her list, which contained things like frankincense, myrrh, nutmeg, lupins, marigold, nettle, rose and lavender, amongst many others. She moved over to the table and very carefully started selecting the ingredients, a pinch of this, a handful of that. It didn't seem that accurate in terms of measuring. But the smells were amazing and she loved touching each of them, some soft leaves or petals, some hard crystals. She carried her list of ingredients back to where she'd been sitting.

‘It's important to clear your mind for this one,' Ashley said, when they were all sitting back down. ‘The potion will supposedly show you what you want most in the world, without you willing it one way or another. So I want you to concentrate on the smell of the sage that is burning in the room, that will help to cleanse your mind. I want you to concentrate on your breathing, deep breaths in, deep breaths out, as you add the ingredients to the cauldron one by one.'

Flames under the cauldrons burst to life and a jug floated between the cauldrons, adding water to each one.

Iris did as she was told, as did the others, very quietly adding the ingredients, breathing in the scent of the sage, focussing all of her attention on what she was doing.

‘OK, the rum is the last ingredient. Once you add that, stir it three times clockwise. When the liquid settles, look inside the cauldron and you will see the one thing you want most in the world.'

Iris added a few drops but, judging from the giggles around the room, some of the women were adding a bit more than that.

She stirred it and saw Erin and Star doing the same thing, then peered into the liquid, waiting for the potion to settle and show her what her heart desired.

She smiled when she realised that staring back up at her from the depths of the cauldron, was Lynx carrying their daughter.

She quickly stirred it away before anyone else saw, but Erin letting out a bark of laughter next to her was a sure sign she'd spotted it.

‘Someone's got it bad if he's the thing you want most in the world.'

Iris flushed, but she knew she was falling for him and there was a big part of her that wanted that future.

‘What did you see in yours?' Iris asked, gesturing to Erin's cauldron which she had quickly swiped away too.

‘A puppy,' Erin said, blatantly lying.

Star laughed as she looked inside her own cauldron. ‘Mine is a bed. I've been so tired lately because Blaze exists on two hours' sleep. The thing I clearly want more than anything is some sleep.'

‘I can beat that, mine is a pizza,' Maxine said. ‘I really wanted a pizza tonight but my husband wanted to cook something healthy and not remotely filling. So I'm starving and now even my cauldron is showing me a nice cheesy pizza.'

Everyone laughed.

‘Well everyone, drink your potions. The magic is supposed to help you realise your heart's desire,' Ashley said. ‘You should see in your mind a clear path to get what you want, although it may take an hour or two for that path to become clear. But you need to drink the whole thing.'

Iris tipped out the potion into a glass and took a sip. It tasted surprisingly good so she drank the rest.

Kianga and Maxine both downed theirs and were giggling about getting what they really wanted.

‘I can't drink mine,' Star said, quietly, and Ashley's eyes widened slightly with understanding.

‘Well, as with all potions, they need to be drunk by the potion-maker or given to someone else who will drink it. Once you've created magic it has to be used,' Ashley said.

Star passed Iris her potion.

‘But is this going to help me get what I want or what Star wants?' Iris said. Although she wasn't opposed to the idea of getting a decent night's sleep, it had been a busy day.

‘Generally with potions you have a clear purpose or the person you're making the potion for in your mind when you make it. If you make a happiness potion and give it to someone else, you're making them happy, even if you thought about what would make you happy when you were making it. This one was different because you had to focus on clearing your mind. But I would guess it would be the same, it will help you to find the path to your heart's desire.'

‘You guess?' Iris laughed.

‘A lot of potion work and magic is trial and error. And some of it doesn't work at all, especially some of the older recipes. But a potion like this can't do you any harm. It can't make you go after something you don't really want.'

Iris took the potion and drank it in one. Even if it did make her want a good night's sleep, there was no harm in that.

‘You can drink mine too,' Erin passed her an overflowing glass. ‘Rum makes me sick.'

‘What did the cauldron show you?' Iris said.

‘Trust me, it will help you with yours too,' Erin said.

Iris sighed and downed it in one. And the smile Erin gave her after was one of pure mischief.

Ashley turned her attention to getting ready for the next potion and Star wandered over to talk to her.

‘What was it you saw in your cauldron?' Iris asked Erin, who laughed and leaned in closer, although Maxine and Kianga were too busy chatting to hear.

‘The thing I apparently want most in the world is really great sex.'

Iris felt her mouth fall open in shock. ‘What? You made me drink a potion that makes me want great sex?'

‘Surely everyone wants great sex, don't they? No one wants disappointing boring sex.'

Iris thought she probably had a point there. ‘But what if it turns me into a horny sex maniac?'

‘Again, probably not a bad thing.'

Iris rolled her eyes. ‘So what exactly did you see?'

Erin sighed. ‘Storm Quinn, or rather great sex with Storm Quinn. Remember I told you I keep having sex dreams about him? I can't help it, I go to sleep trying to think about nice beaches, or my holiday in Australia, and as soon as I fall asleep, it's like he's there waiting for me. And we don't talk, we just have the most amazing sex and then I wake up. Every single night. And the thing is I don't even like the man. Every time we've spoken he's been angry and rude. But the first time I saw him, I thought, I bet he's good in bed. It was a nothing thought, just a fleeting thing like when you see an amazing pair of heels in the shop window and think, oh I'd love them. And then you remember you can't wear heels and you definitely can't walk in them, and you move on. But my brain hasn't forgotten that initial thought. And the problem is, I haven't had great sex in a very, very long time so my mind keeps focussing on that.'

‘Lynx said you were dating a witch from outside the village. Greg, was it?'

‘Oh I was, he was nice, a bit dull, but a nice man. But the sex was unbearably boring and awful actually. It was kind of what I imagine sleeping with a squid would be like, all flailing limbs and rubbery and very wet with no idea what he was doing. Even when we connected on that witchy level, it was more of a damp firework than a big explosion. I figured that sex wasn't the be-all and end-all in a relationship and we got on well so I just endured it. But once I started having dreams about Storm I knew I had to end it. It wasn't fair, especially when I was lying in bed with Greg and wishing he was Storm instead.'

‘Well no, I guess not. But what happens if I start having sex dreams about Storm now I've drunk that potion?'

‘I don't think it works like that. You're not just going to want someone you never wanted before. But if all three of our potions work for you, you'll leave here wanting really great sex with Lynx in a bed so you can have a good night's sleep after.'

Iris laughed. ‘I'm more likely to leave here very drunk. How much rum was in your potion?'

Erin showed her with her hands the equivalent of a large glass of wine.

Iris groaned. What had she done?