Chapter 17

I ris woke with a start the next day as she realised where she was, wrapped tightly in Lynx's arms.

She looked up at him and he smiled at her.

‘We haven't had sex, nothing inappropriate happened and you didn't make a fool of yourself,' Lynx said.

She smiled, feeling herself relax. He made her feel so calm and right now she felt too happy to move out of his arms. ‘I remember some of it. I don't remember coming here but I remember you made my t-shirt really big, did I imagine that?'

He laughed and she looked under the covers to see her cropped t-shirt was down to her knees. ‘There are some things in this magical world I'm never going to get used to.'

She looked back up at Lynx and he stroked her hair. He was so lovely.

‘Did you sleep OK?'

‘Yes, blissfully so.'

‘And do you remember anything else from last night?'

Iris tried to remember the night before. She remembered leaving Ashley's house with Erin, seeing Storm… and then like a flood it all came back. It was very kind of Lynx to say she hadn't made a fool of herself but the fact that she'd turned up at his house in the middle of the night, drunk, was enough to make her cringe. But telling him she was in love with him was probably a step too far. Even if it was true. He hadn't said it back and she couldn't expect him to, it had only been a few days. She was surprised he was still here after that declaration.

‘No, I don't remember,' she lied, embarrassed. Hopefully, he'd just think it was the rum talking.

He stroked her face and kissed her. ‘That's a shame, I was looking forward to talking to you about that.'

She frowned in confusion.

‘Come on, I'll make us some breakfast before we go to work,' Lynx said.

‘No, let's stay here and not face the world.'

‘Are you worried about today?' he asked.

‘A little. It's the not knowing what's in the locket that's the worst, but I trust that Ashley will do everything she can to protect the village.'

‘She will. She's very knowledgeable and we'll all be there to help too.'

Iris nodded.

He kissed her on the head and then climbed out of bed and left the room. Maybe, once this was all over, she could be brave enough to have a conversation with him about their future.

Iris had barely been able to concentrate all morning in the shop. There had been a lot of customers who had come in and bought things, or just popped in to chat to her, and she'd had to force a smile on her face and be polite, even though inside she was worried to death that she'd brought some great plague to the village.

Just before twelve, she went downstairs where Lynx was waiting for her. He didn't say anything, just took her in his arms and gave her a kiss on the head before they left the shop. He took her hand as they walked the short distance to Ashley's house. The door was open when they arrived and Wolf was already in there. The locket was on a table in the middle of the room, candles flickering from every surface.

Ashley looked up from lighting the last of the candles and smiled at Iris.

‘I hope your head wasn't too sore this morning.'

‘Thankfully Lynx made me an anti-hangover potion, so I felt fine.'

‘That's good.' Ashley nodded towards the locket. ‘Hopefully we can laugh about all this in a few minutes. I've probably gone completely over the top for nothing.'

‘I hope so too.'

Just then Erin arrived and a few seconds later Storm came through the door. They scowled at each other; clearly the argument from the night before was still ongoing.

‘Thank you both for coming,' Ashley said. ‘So, there are a few protective spells around the locket at the moment to try to contain whatever it is, but the main one will come from us using the four elements. Lynx is a fire witch, Wolf is air, Iris is water and you two are earth. For this spell earth is the one that needs to be the strongest, which is why it's good you're both here. So if we all stand in a square around the locket I can put that protective spell in place too.'

They all positioned themselves around the locket, with Erin and Storm reluctantly standing together on one side of the square.

‘Erin, can you and Storm hold hands to link your power together?'

They scowled at each other as if they couldn't think of anything worse but they did it anyway.

Ashley muttered a few words under her breath and waved her hand in the air. A beam of light suddenly came from each of them and joined above the locket, briefly creating a pyramid-shaped cage around it before fading away.

‘Are we ready?' Ashley asked.

Everyone nodded.

Iris bit her lip as she watched.

Standing a few metres away, Ashley magically lifted the clasp and slowly opened the locket and… nothing happened. There was no black smoke or fire, nothing came out, no demons or evil entities swirled around the room.

They were all standing well back from the locket but, after a few moments of nothing, they shuffled forward to look.

There was something small and black, about the size of a five-pence piece, sitting inside. But other than that, there was nothing of interest in there whatsoever.

‘What is it?' Iris whispered, wondering if the release of the darkness was delayed.

Lynx peered closer and after a moment he picked it up. ‘Oh crap.'

‘What is it?' Ashley asked.

‘It's a tracking device. It works by picking up the signal from mobile phone towers and uses other people's phones to get an exact location.'

‘Oh no,' said Ashley. ‘That's what I was feeling, I could feel it giving off this weird signal and it wasn't something I've felt before so I didn't know what it was. But now it's open I can feel the darkness I felt was from him. He's not a good person.'

Iris felt so much relief that the whole village wouldn't be cursed but then a new realisation hit her. ‘The police will be tracking that, they'll know the locket is here.'

‘Not for long,' Wolf said.

He took the tracker off Lynx, walked out the door and took off into the air.

‘Whoa! I didn't know he could fly,' Iris said.

‘He'll take it far away from here,' Lynx said.

‘It may be already too late for that,' Storm said. ‘That locket has been here for several days. Which begs the question, why haven't the police turned up already?'

‘Maybe the copper of the locket blocked the signal, maybe the magical energy protected it too,' Ashley said.

‘But not now we've opened it,' Iris said.

‘It was only here for a few seconds, we might have got rid of it before they got a lock on it,' Lynx said.

What would happen if the police came here? All the magic that was constantly happening around the village, in people's gardens, their homes, the shops, the police would think they'd walked into some creepy paranormal dimension. Sure, Wolf could get everyone to not do any magic for a day. But what about the kids, children like Blaze who magic just sort of happened around – there was no controlling that. What if the police went into everyone's homes, looking for her and the locket? Iris couldn't let that happen. She'd worried about a curse and the damage it could cause but this suddenly felt so much worse.

She looked at the picture inside the locket, which was magically infused with the metal. It really wasn't very clear who the people were. The photo had that grainy quality that all old non-digital photos had. It could be anyone. Her nan would surely have the original wedding photo somewhere. If so, then coupled with the pressed flower book and the list of possessions from her dead ancestor, maybe she could go to the police and prove the locket was hers and that she had simply been stealing it back. But would it be enough?

‘I wish I'd known what it was,' Ashley said. ‘We could have done something about it.'

‘It's not your fault,' Lynx said. ‘At least you alerted us to it, and we've dealt with it as soon as we could, rather than having it here open for several hours or days. And it wasn't a curse, this is a good thing.'

‘And at least you can give the locket back to Ness now,' Ashley said, handing Iris the locket.

But Iris couldn't even feel happy about that right now. She shoved it in her pocket.

Lynx glanced at her. ‘What are you thinking?'

‘We need to be prepared for the police to come here and I need to go back home and see if I can get together some proof that the locket is ours.'

‘You can't go back there,' Lynx said. ‘Christopher could be waiting for you.'

‘Can't you do the finger clicking summoning spell?'

‘No, I'd have to know what the documents or books look like, I'd need to be able to picture clearly where they were too, I've never been to your farmhouse so that wouldn't work.'

She sighed. ‘This isn't going to go away and I don't want to bring trouble to the village.'

‘The tracking device might not have got a signal here. The police might not have any idea about our existence. And even if they do show up, they won't be able to get in, the armed guards will make sure of that.'

‘And they'll come back with guns of their own. They're not going to let this lie, this is one of the biggest jewellery heists they've ever seen, at least in terms of value.'

‘Let's just wait and see, there's no need to rush into anything,' Lynx said.

‘Lynx is right,' Erin said. ‘It's not safe for you to go back home yet.'

Just then Wolf landed back outside the cottage and walked back in. ‘I flew it down the coast so hopefully it would have pinged off a few other mobile phone towers, then flew it out to sea and destroyed it.'

‘What if the police come here?' Iris asked.

Wolf shrugged, unperturbed. ‘They won't get in.'

‘And they won't give up either.'

‘They'd need more evidence than just a few seconds of location data to justify searching four hundred homes. Of course we'll deny that you and Ness are here but, if they do come in, you can disguise yourselves in plain sight. We'll do whatever it takes to protect you.'

Iris felt touched by that but she knew she had to protect them too.

It was probably only an hour later that Lynx got a call from Wolf to say the police had passed the outer gateposts and were on their way down the drive to the main gate.

Lynx called up to Iris, wanting to be honest with her and not hide anything from her.

She appeared at the top of the shop stairs looking worried and he wished he could take that worry away from her.

‘The police are here.'

She let out a little gasp and then nodded as she came down the stairs. ‘I want to hear what they have to say.'

‘OK, but you're not coming as you. And promise me, no matter what they say, you don't say anything to them. Let Wolf handle this.'

Iris nodded and changed to an exact copy of Storm again.

They walked out of the shop and started making their way to the main gate.

How had they got a lock on that tracking device so quickly? It could only have been from opening it today or they'd have been here way before this.

They met Wolf just as a police van arrived outside. Wolf eyed Iris with confusion and then realisation dawned on his face and he nodded. The gate opened fractionally, just enough to let them through, and then closed behind them.

A couple of policemen and a woman in a suit got out.

‘Hello,' said the woman. ‘I'm DI Kim Gibbs.'

‘Hello, I'm Wolf Oakwood, the mayor of the village. How can I help you?' Wolf said, calmly.

‘We're investigating the theft of a priceless locket, the Ocean Flower. I'm sure you must have seen it on the news.'

Wolf looked confused. ‘Of course, but that was in London. I'm not sure how we can help you with that.'

‘We're looking for a woman called Iris McKenzie.'

Lynx felt Iris stiffen fractionally next to him.

Wolf looked blank. ‘There's no one here by that name.'

‘What about Ness McKenzie?' DI Gibbs asked.

Wolf shook his head. ‘No, no McKenzies here at all.'

‘I don't understand why you're here. Are you going door-to-door at every house in the country?' Lynx said.

DI Gibbs shook her head. ‘The owner of the locket had the foresight to put a tracking device inside the locket. An hour ago it switched back on and gave us a location which led us to here.'

‘Here?' Wolf said in surprise. ‘There must be some mistake.'

‘No mistake.'

‘And you're still getting a reading from in there now?' Wolf asked.

‘No, it, umm…' DI Gibbs paused. ‘It moved from here very quickly and went further down the coast. But the fact that its first location was here makes this village a place of interest.'

‘But why aren't you checking where the locket is now?'

‘We believe the locket and the tracking device have become separated after the locket was opened and that the tracking device was removed from here with the help of a drone as it was moving so quickly. If it became separated here, the locket is very likely still here.'

‘That's a lot of assumptions,' Wolf said.

‘It's fair to assume the locket was here or near here at some point,' she replied.

‘You only know that the tracking device was briefly located near here,' Lynx said. ‘That tracking device could have become separated from the locket at any point since the robbery.'

‘We'd like to come into the village and have a look around, talk to the residents,' DI Gibbs said.

‘I'm afraid that won't be possible. This is a privately owned village and the residents demand their privacy. And what you are telling me here is not enough evidence for me to disrupt hundreds of lives on what seems like a wild goose chase. The woman in question does not live here, and you say the tracking device was only here briefly, if at all, so maybe it was simply flying overhead in this drone you talked about. There is nothing to suggest the locket is here. If you come back with more evidence then I will consider your request,' Wolf said, and Lynx had to suppress a smirk at how calm and matter-of-fact his brother was.

‘We'll come back with a warrant,' DI Gibbs said.

‘Yes, please do. If you think the magistrate will issue a warrant to search three hundred and eighty-seven houses based on this evidence, please do come back. I'd love to see it.'

She narrowed her eyes at him and signalled for the other police officers to return to the van. ‘We'll be back.'

Wolf nodded. ‘I'll put the kettle on when you do. You'll need it if you're going to search three hundred and eighty-seven houses. Have a safe journey back.'

The policewoman got back in the van and Wolf, Lynx and Iris waited for it to turn around and drive back down the road before they went back inside.

As soon as the gate closed behind them, Iris walked off at quite the pace.

‘Nicely done,' Lynx said to Wolf.

‘There's no way they'll get a warrant for that,' Wolf said.

‘And if they do?'

‘They won't. I've already spoken to a former member of this village who is an ex-police detective. I wanted to know my rights if the police did come here. He said they couldn't even get a warrant for a block of six flats when they knew the suspect was in one of them. They'd never get a warrant for nearly four hundred houses.'

‘So we're good?'

‘It won't stop them coming back but their evidence is flimsy at best. They'll give up eventually.'

Lynx made his way back to the shop, wondering how Iris was going to react about the police coming here. Even though Wolf wouldn't have told anyone yet and Lynx knew Iris wouldn't have mentioned it, somehow the whole village already knew. Three people stopped him on the way to Stardust Street, worrying over the police coming here. The police had never had any reason to come to the village in all the years he'd lived here, or at any point in the past, so he understood why they were worried. He was too. It was important that their way of life was protected, they couldn't risk the police finding out Midnight was magical. And despite Wolf's bravado, Lynx was fairly sure the police would be back. The theft of the Ocean Flower was a huge news story and this was their only lead, despite the flimsiness of the evidence.

He finally reached their shop to find that it was still locked up.

He let himself in and checked inside and upstairs just in case Iris was there, but the place was completely empty. He quickly hurried back to his house but she wasn't there either. He crossed over the road and knocked on her door.

The door opened slowly and then Morag peered round it.

‘She's in the garden,' Morag said.

‘Is she OK?'

‘Not really. She's talking about handing herself in.'

‘That isn't going to happen,' Lynx said, grimly.

‘It better not. You said you were going to protect her.'

‘Morag, I will fight to the death for her if need be.'

‘That's a bit overdramatic, but you have a good heart. Go and see her,' Morag pointed a paw in the direction of the back garden.

Lynx walked outside. The garden was quite long and dipped down at the end. There were lots of trees and bushes near the back but no sign of Iris. He walked a bit further and eventually saw her standing barefoot in the little stream that ran through her garden. Her eyes were closed, as if she was meditating.

He slipped off his shoes and socks and carefully stepped into the stream with her. She smiled slightly although she didn't open her eyes, she just stepped up and wrapped her arms around him, leaning her head against his chest. They stood like that for the longest time, Lynx holding her tight, but she didn't seem willing to move so he didn't either.

Eventually she looked up and kissed him, briefly on the lips.

‘Thank you.'

‘Of course, I'm always here for you. But we need to talk.'

She placed a finger on his lips. ‘Can we not talk about it here, not yet. I need some time to think.'

‘OK, whatever you need.'

‘Come lie with me for a bit.'

He nodded and she took his hand. She stepped up onto the grass then lay down and he lay down next to her, wrapping his arms around her again as he held her against his chest.

‘You're not alone Iris, we'll face this together.'

She didn't reply but he was determined to find a solution to this.

Iris felt so peaceful right now, wrapped in Lynx's arms as she tried not to think about what she had to do. The sun was setting above them, leaving scarlet and orange clouds across the sky, the moon was shining brightly and even a few stars were twinkling in the darkening sky. They were completely secluded here, the overhanging trees blocking them from the view of any other houses. Right now, it felt like they were the only people in the world and her problems – Christopher, the locket, the police – they could all be easily pushed away.

She looked up at Lynx and he looked back at her and smiled, making her heart ache.

‘Thank you for being here for me,' Iris said.

‘Always.'

‘Will you promise me something?'

‘Anything, whatever you need.'

‘If I go to prison, will you look after my nan for me?'

‘Iris, you're not going to prison.'

‘But if I do, will you look after her and Morag?'

‘I promise you, that will never happen. Even if the police come back here, we can hide you in plain sight. The villagers will protect you, we won't let them take you.'

‘Lynx, will you look after them?'

‘Of course I will, but it won't come to that.'

She reached up to kiss him to stop him talking. Her nan would be OK, the villagers and Lynx would look after her. That was all she needed to hear. She could only hope that the police would believe her and if not, at least she would have protected the people of Midnight. She had been so worried that the locket was going to bring a great danger to the village, but it was her presence here that was the biggest threat. If she took that away, then the quiet, peaceful life that Midnight enjoyed could continue.

He moved his hand through her hair and she wanted to feel alive one more time. She unfastened the buttons on his shirt and stroked her hand over his chest, causing him to moan against her lips. She slid her hand lower towards the waistband of his jeans and undid the button and the zip. She moved her hand inside and had the pleasure of feeling him go instantly hard for her, just from a simple touch. She pushed his jeans and shorts down and he quickly shoved them off.

He rolled half on top of her, his mouth on hers as he slid a hand underneath her dress along her thigh. His touch was so gentle and soft it made her stomach clench with need and desire. His finger traced the edges of her knickers at the sides, at the top, and then touched where she needed him the most with the barest whisper. He hooked a finger through her knickers and slowly slid them down and she helped him by wriggling out of them. Then his hand was moving back up the inside of her thigh and he instantly found that spot that made her go weak. She arched against him, moaning against his lips. He was perfect for her, knowing instinctively how she liked to be touched. She felt a tingling in her stomach, building up with such force it was almost painful, and then she was crying out as he swallowed her moans on his lips.

She rolled on top of him and straddled him, sitting up, and he immediately sat up too so he could continue the kiss, cupping her head in his hands. She pushed his shirt off his strong shoulders. He slid his hands down her back and down her thighs before moving them back up, shifting her dress up to her waist and then pulling it over her head, casting it to one side. He made quick work of her bra too, then his mouth trailed over her chest, her breasts, driving her crazy.

‘Lynx, I need you.'

‘I'm here, always,' Lynx said. She knelt up and he guided her down on top of him, the feel of him inside her making her gasp. She kissed him, cupping his face. She pulled back slightly to look at him and he was gazing at her with such adoration it brought tears to her eyes. Her heart felt so full of him.

‘Lynx, I am falling for you so fast and so hard. I don't want to hurt you.'

He frowned. ‘Why do you think you'll hurt me?'

She shook her head.

‘Did you see something?'

‘No, I just…' she stroked his face. ‘I'm kind of used to being alone and—'

‘You're not alone, not anymore. And I will do everything I can to shield you from this.'

She smiled slightly. ‘I feel the same, I will do whatever it takes to protect you.'

He frowned but she kissed him again to stop him from talking and started moving against him. He slid his hands down to her hips, holding her tight against him, moving perfectly in sync with her.

A glow built up inside of her, filling her with warmth and shining so brightly it surrounded them. She could feel him in every part of her, feel his magic connecting with hers in the most beautiful and intimate way. Then suddenly she was falling, holding onto him, moaning against his lips, taking him with her. And as she came down from her high, he stroked her and kissed so gently, her heart filled to the top for him. She knew she would do anything to protect him and the village she had fallen in love with too.

The night was lit up only by the moon and the stars above them and Lynx was fast asleep next to her, one arm loosely round her shoulders as she lay on his chest.

Iris sat up very carefully, lifting his arm gently so she could climb out of his embrace and placing it softly back on his chest. She stood up and looked at him, her chest aching. He'd pulled his jeans back on, but he was still topless, the moon painting his skin with a gorgeous silvery glow.

She quickly pulled her clothes back on and ran back into the house. She went upstairs and crept into her nan's room. She was fast asleep too, and she placed a soft kiss on her cheek and made her way back downstairs. Morag was curled up asleep on the sofa. Iris gave her a stroke and Morag stirred slightly and looked at her with one beady eye, then raised her head to look at her.

‘I have to go,' Iris said.

Morag looked at her in alarm. ‘Go where?'

‘I have to go home to get the evidence we need to prove the locket is ours.'

‘You can't go back to Scotland alone. If he's there he'll hurt you. I'll come with you.'

‘No, I'm not risking you. Besides, I'm going straight from our farmhouse to the police in London, I can't exactly turn up at the police station with a talking fox and I can't leave you in Scotland either. Look, when I show them the evidence they will have to believe me. I'll probably be back in time for dinner.'

‘I don't like this.'

‘I don't either but it's the middle of the night. Christopher's unlikely to be standing around outside waiting for me at two in the morning.'

‘I don't want you to go to the police either, you're safe here.'

‘I can't let the police come back here. I can't put a whole village at risk, just for me. This is the right thing to do. If I don't come back, look after Ness for me. And tell Lynx I'm sorry.'

Iris gave Morag a kiss on the head and, before she could protest anymore, she slipped out of the house and ran across the road to Lynx's house. Letting herself in, she switched on the lights and she found the key stones sitting in the bowl.

She picked one up to find it felt surprisingly warm in her hand. She needed to do this quickly before Lynx woke up and found her gone, or before she changed her mind. The locket was still in her pocket after they'd opened it earlier that day. She would go back to her home in Scotland, find the wedding photo that matched the one inside the locket, the list of items from her ancestor and the book of pressed flowers with the diagram in it, then take it all straight to the police, and hope it was enough. And if it wasn't, at least it would stop them ever coming back to Midnight. They would have their thief. The case would be closed. She felt sick at the thought.

She thought about Star and Blaze, Erin, Storm, Ashley, Kianga and Maxine, the people who'd come here to escape the judgement of the mundane world. Resolve settled in her gut and a grim determination. She couldn't let the police come back here and ruin their perfect little haven.

Iris closed her eyes, pictured the farmhouse she had grown up in, the place she had lived in almost all of her life. Suddenly she felt a pulling, wind rushing around her fierce and hard as if she was caught in a hurricane. She knew she was spinning, twisting and turning, and then she was spat out the other side.