Chapter 9

L ynx was working away at the back of his shop, banging the hell out of a copper rod. That woman was going to be the death of him. Iris might as well have dragged him to a watery grave, as the kelpies were known for, because he was done for. His every thought, every breath was filled with her. And when they touched it made it so much worse.

It was clearly just an infatuation, something he needed to get over, but he'd never felt this way about a woman before. And he was pretty damn sure that she felt the same too. Which begged the question, why was she fighting it so hard?

He knew he'd pissed her off when he'd stolen the locket from her, but that didn't seem enough of a reason not to at least investigate the spark between them. Although the fact they now lived in the same village was probably part of the problem too. If this was going to be her new home, she probably didn't want to get involved with him and make things awkward between them when they had to see and even work together every day. He could understand that. He'd never dated anyone from the village before. Not that he'd had strict rules against such a thing. If there had been someone he liked enough, he would have dated them but he could appreciate how awkward that would be if it all went wrong. But he and Iris were both adults who, he assumed, could be sensible about it if they did get together and then broke up.

Or was it the child she'd seen? There was a part of him that hoped it was their child, but if it wasn't, if she'd seen him happily married with another woman, then she might not want to get involved with him, only for it to end in a few months or years when he met his future wife.

He knew she was battling against what she felt was a predestined path and trying to prove that she had control over her own life, and he could understand shying away from that path to a certain extent. But what if that path was them together, married with children? Surely then she wouldn't avoid that just to prove she was in charge of her own destiny? That felt like cutting your nose off to spite your face. She'd said that her future made her ridiculously happy shouldn't she be running towards it, not away from it?

He sighed as he battered the copper rod beyond recognition. It didn't really matter her reasons. It was quite clear she didn't want anything to happen between them, not now at least, and he had to respect that.

The door opened and his friend Erin walked in. He had known her for way too long and generally their conversations revolved around teasing each other mercilessly.

‘I hear you have a girlfriend,' Erin said with no preamble.

He frowned as he stared at his completely ruined copper rod. Only Wolf and Star knew about the kiss in London and he knew they wouldn't say anything to anyone. He doubted Iris would have told anyone, so he wasn't sure where Erin had got that information from.

He turned to look at her. ‘I'm not sure what you mean.'

‘Our newest resident, Iris McKenzie. Apparently the two of you were seen looking very cosy together under the tree on the green this morning.'

He cursed under his breath. He sometimes forgot how quickly rumours or embellishment spread in Midnight. He supposed he had looked pretty cosy with Iris but it certainly hadn't been the high drama Erin was making it out to be. Good job she didn't know about the kiss in London.

‘That was nothing,' Lynx muttered.

Erin laughed. ‘So why are you blushing?'

‘Because of how it's been misconstrued.'

She studied him for a moment. ‘You like her.'

‘I don't really know her.'

But that didn't stop his need for her.

‘But you'd like to,' Erin smirked.

‘Did you come here just to annoy me?'

‘Isn't that normally why I come here? But now I think I need to introduce myself to my new best friend. I hear she's opening a shop upstairs, another jewellery shop. That's got to be galling.'

‘I don't mind the competition.'

‘I bet you don't when it's a pretty woman.'

He grinned and shook his head. ‘It's not like that. It's just been a big change for her, moving here from Scotland, and I want her to settle in and be happy. If opening up a jewellery shop helps her, I'm all for it.'

‘Oh I really need to meet her, I can see she's made quite the impression on you. Is she upstairs?'

‘Yes, but Erin, be kind. She's had a rough few days.'

‘I'm always kind.'

‘Not to me.'

‘But where would be the fun in that?'

Lynx rolled his eyes as Erin ran up the stairs.

Iris was busy making some more jewellery. The shop was much bigger than she'd envisaged and she wanted enough things to sell to fill it.

She heard a female voice at the top of the stairs.

‘Hello!' she called. The accent was Irish so it definitely wasn't Star.

‘Hello,' Iris said.

A woman with long blonde hair streaked with blue walked in, a big smile on her face.

‘Hi, I'm Erin.'

‘Iris. Good to meet you.'

‘I'm part of the welcoming committee.'

‘Is there one?'

‘Well, unofficially. Secretly, it's my opportunity to be super nosy about the newcomer.'

Iris laughed at the honesty.

‘There are rumours about you and Lynx being an item already, apparently you two were seen cuddled up on the village green earlier. So I needed to come and meet you.'

Iris flushed. ‘That wasn't… what it looked like.'

‘Lynx said the same thing, but the word is that you two looked pretty cosy.'

‘We were just sitting together making decorations for the summer solstice.'

Erin laughed. ‘They always make something out of nothing here, but in my experience there's no smoke without fire.'

Iris smiled and shook her head. Village life was going to take a lot of getting used to.

‘Will you come to potions club on Wednesday night? It's a good laugh and everyone is lovely, no one takes it very seriously.'

‘I, umm…'

Maybe she should embrace the community spirit. She couldn't be anti-social if she was going to open a shop. Everyone was going to be curious about the new girl and her jewellery, which meant she had to practise being friendly, not closet herself away like she'd been doing for most of her life.

‘I'm afraid I can't take no as an answer,' Erin said.

‘Well in that case I suppose I better.'

‘That's the spirit.' Erin stepped closer, looking at the jewellery that Iris was making, ‘These are beautiful.'

‘Thank you.'

‘Lynx is going to have stiff competition.'

‘That's the idea. I was hoping my presence here would piss him off but he seems to have taken it in his stride.'

Erin laughed loudly. ‘I can see I'm going to like you. Why would you want to piss him off?'

‘We met in London, before I came here, and he… well let's say he did something that deserves revenge.'

‘Oh I definitely need more details.'

‘I'm too embarrassed to tell them.'

‘Is that why you moved here? For revenge?'

Iris laughed. ‘No, I'm not so petty as to upend my whole life for revenge. No, sadly, I've got myself mixed up with what turned out to be a dangerous man, so Lynx invited me here to protect me. I was worried about my nan so I came here so she would be safe.'

‘Oh, that's nice of him.'

‘It is, rather annoyingly. So revenge has to be fairly low-level.'

Erin grinned, moving closer. Suddenly she gasped.

‘Dear Gods. You're a kelpie.'

Iris's heart leapt. She hadn't been planning on telling anyone that, such was the bad reputation of kelpies.

‘I, umm…'

‘No need to look so alarmed. My best friend was a kelpie. Oh, we had such fun growing up, her with her water magic, me with my air and wind. I thought she was amazing. I was a little bit in love with her if I'm honest. Her family moved to Japan with her dad's work when she was sixteen and we lost contact after that. As soon as I got close enough to sense you, I could feel it. It's the same energy she had.'

‘I… wow, I've never met another kelpie before, outside of my family. I never even knew there were any left.'

‘Oh, I've never met another, so I think they're quite rare. But both her parents were, and her sister, so there are definitely some out there. Can you change appearance too?'

Iris changed from her normal self to a wrinkled, weathered elderly man.

Erin laughed with delight. ‘Oh, I'm really going to like you. Kelpie magic and looking for revenge on Lynx, this couldn't be any more perfect. I think the man has a little crush on you.'

Iris changed back and decided that, as Erin had been so enthusiastic about her kelpieness, she would be a bit honest with her.

‘Irritatingly, the feeling is mutual.'

Erin howled with laughter. ‘Oh, this is too good. Rather than succumb to his charms, you'd rather exact revenge. It's going to drive him mad.'

‘That's the idea.'

Although Iris wasn't going to be completely honest about all the reasons she was holding back, like her future written in the stars that she was currently fighting against.

‘This is brilliant.' Erin glanced out of the window and cursed.

Iris followed her gaze to see a giant of a man walking past the shop. ‘Who's that?'

‘That's Storm Quinn. He's relatively new in the village too, been here a month. He's a right grump, doesn't like anyone, especially me. I don't particularly like him either but unfortunately for me I keep having sex dreams about him and I seem to bump into him every day with all his scowls and anger.'

Iris burst out laughing. ‘Oh no, that's inconvenient.'

‘It really is. I find it so embarrassing. Thankfully, they're only dreams and he doesn't know but that doesn't stop me blushing like a schoolgirl every time I see him. Right, I must go. I'll see you Wednesday, at potions club. It's at Ashley's house. Lavender Cottage, Sycamore Street. Seven o'clock.'

‘I'll be there. But listen, could we keep the whole kelpie thing between ourselves? Wolf, Star and Lynx know but I worry how others will react to it. Kelpies don't have the best reputation.'

‘My lips are sealed.'

Erin gave her a wave and walked back down the stairs. Iris leaned over the banister to hear what she'd say to Lynx on her way out.

‘I think Iris is going to be my new best friend,' Erin said.

‘Wonderful,' Lynx said, dryly, which made Iris snort.

But then she smiled. She knew Erin was being flippant and they weren't kids anymore, but she'd never had a best friend before and that thought made her feel warm on the inside.

Iris had spent the rest of the day tweaking the design and layout of the shop using the VR headset, adding ice sculptures, more lights and icicles until it was perfect. She had spent a lot of time making more stock too, trying new styles, different sizes, in the hope she would have something for everyone.

She grabbed her bags and went downstairs. Lynx was packing up ready to go too.

‘How's it going up there?'

‘Stock-wise, I'm ready. The room is finished on the computer program, Wolf just has to work his magic now. Depending how long that takes, I should be ready to open the day after tomorrow. Are you ready to have your ass whipped?' Iris said.

Lynx laughed. ‘I am. I'm presuming we're only judging it on shop sales, not online?'

‘That seems fair.' She glanced at a few price tags of his jewellery, forty pounds, fifty, thirty-five, very similar prices to hers. So he would have to sell approximately the same amount of jewellery as her to win. It would probably take a few days for both of them to get near to five hundred pounds too.

‘Before you go, Wolf would like to talk to you about the locket.'

‘Oh, of course. Should I go and get my nan? It's her locket really.'

‘No, Wolf was quite adamant about only wanting to talk to you about it, not Ness. I'm not sure why, but we can go together if you want.'

‘Sure, OK.' Iris was a bit confused by this but hopefully she could at least finally get the locket back for her nan. She just hoped they believed it was hers without any evidence, as that was still sitting up in Scotland.

They left the shop and, with a wave of his hand, Lynx locked it.

She glanced up and smiled when she realised the shop sign had changed. Instead of Fire in the Heart, it was now called Fire and Ice.

‘Did you do this?'

‘Yes, it needed a new name to reflect the new ownership. People need to know about you and your jewellery.'

‘Thank you, that's really nice.'

He shrugged. ‘No big deal.'

She couldn't help feeling touched by that, even if it was a symbol of their unity that she wasn't sure she wanted to advertise. She didn't want anyone else to think they were together.

They started walking back through the street towards the village green. Lots of other shop owners were leaving and making their way home and a few of them were looking over at her curiously. Or were they looking at them, wondering if they were together, just like Erin had said?

‘Erin seems nice,' Iris said.

‘She is, well to most people. She generally loves to give me a hard time. But for the most part I give as good as I get.'

‘And you two, there's no romantic history between you?'

‘Oh no, I've known her for I think fifteen years, maybe more. She's like an annoying little sister to me. Besides which, Erin is dating a witch from outside the village, Greg I think his name is, he works in finance.'

Erin hadn't mentioned that when she'd talked about her inappropriate feelings for Storm earlier.

‘She, umm… knows I'm a kelpie,' Iris said. ‘Apparently her friend was one when she was growing up so she felt it as soon as she came near me. It wasn't really something I was going to share with anyone as kelpies have such a bad reputation, but I guess a lot of people might be able to sense that me and Ness are different to them.'

‘They might. I certainly did, but I didn't think kelpie, I just presumed you were a witch. Your aura is completely unique but the world of magic is a curious thing, there are witches out there that can do things we never thought possible, so I wasn't concerned that you were different. But if anyone guesses and gives you a hard time about it, they'll have me to answer to. And Wolf. As mayor of the village it's important to him that all witches are welcome here, regardless of their background, and that this is a safe place for them. He would want everyone here to treat you in the same way, so if you meet any resistance to you being here, you must tell us so we can deal with it.'

‘I will, thank you.'

They approached a house which Iris assumed was Wolf's, although it wasn't any grander or bigger than anyone else's. Clearly being mayor didn't come with any trappings, or at least nothing showy to prove he was important.

Lynx knocked on the door and after a few moments Star answered it.

‘Hey, how's it all going in the shop?' she asked, stepping back to let them in.

‘Great,' Iris said. ‘I've finished the design so it's ready for Wolf to make it into a reality and I have enough stock to fill the shop. I should be ready to open soon. And my competition has been annoyingly magnanimous.'

Lynx laughed.

They followed Star down to the kitchen to find Wolf there with a little girl on his lap. Iris assumed this was Blaze. He was feeding her something that was so bright orange it was likely to be pureed pumpkin.

‘Iris, hello, thank you for coming to see us,' Wolf said as he looked up from feeding time. ‘Have you finished with the VR design?'

‘Yes.' She handed him the headset and tablet. ‘It's all in there.'

‘Great, I'll get that done for you tomorrow morning. It should be ready for you to move your stuff in tomorrow afternoon.'

‘Thank you.'

Just then a black cat jumped up on the table and eyed her suspiciously.

‘You're Iris, I presume,' the cat drawled.

‘Hello, yes, you must be Viktor.'

‘I am. And you're a kelpie, I hear.'

‘Part kelpie, part witch,' Iris said.

‘I have met kelpies before in a previous life. I feel like they are misunderstood so I'm prepared to give you a chance,' Viktor said, haughtily, as if he was the one in charge of the village. ‘Your fox on the other hand. I'm not sure whether I can let her stay.'

‘Viktor,' Star said, warningly.

‘I met her last night,' Viktor went on, completely unabashed.

‘You did?'

‘I did not like her.'

‘Morag is lovely. A little bit blunt maybe, sometimes she's a bit grumpy, but you two have a lot in common.'

‘I don't have anything in common with a fox.'

‘Well fortunately we don't kick anyone out of the village just because you don't like them,' Wolf said.

‘She will have to prove herself to me,' Viktor said.

‘How can she do that?' Iris said, trying not to laugh that this cat was taking it all so seriously.

‘I will be watching,' Viktor said.

‘OK,' Iris said, slowly. ‘I'll be sure to pass that on.'

‘You do that,' Viktor said, before jumping off the table and walking out of the cat flap with his tail high in the air.

‘Don't mind him,' Lynx said. ‘He's filled with his own self-importance.'

‘And he's a little upset he's no longer the only talking animal in the village,' Wolf said.

‘He'll get over it,' Star said.

‘Anyway, we wanted to talk to you about the locket and its history and your connection to it,' Wolf said.

‘Well, as I said to Lynx, the locket is my nan's, she would certainly be able to tell you more about it than I could.'

‘And I can talk to her if I feel I need more information about it, but I didn't want to worry her.'

‘Worry her?'

Wolf stood up and passed Blaze to Lynx. Lynx's face lit up and the little girl reached out for his hair. Wolf went to a cupboard and took out a small box. He brought it back to the table and opened it to show the locket sitting inside. Iris had known it was safe in the village somewhere, but seeing it now made her let out a little sigh of relief.

‘Can you tell me what you know about the locket?' Wolf said.

‘It was a wedding gift from my grandad to my nan. She wore it on her wedding day, over sixty years ago. Before her, my grandad's mum wore it on her wedding day and her mum before that. As far as I know, it's been in our family for around three hundred years but it could be a lot longer. It was listed in one of my ancestors' possessions when she passed in 1719, which is the first mention of it we can find. There is a drawing of it in a book of pressed flowers that is dated 1747. Beyond that I have no idea when or how it was made, and whether it was always in our family or how our family acquired it, but the women of the family have worn it on their wedding days as far back as we know. It's something my nan has worn every day since her wedding but she has always charmed it to look like something else. We don't know if the stones are precious, we never had it valued or authenticated, but we knew it certainly looked real, which would make it an easy target for thieves.'

Iris sighed as she reached out to touch the locket. ‘I met Christopher about six months ago, we had a relationship, he was… lovely and there were many times he would come round to dinner and meet my nan. They got on like a house on fire. I guess one day she forgot to charm the locket, or she trusted him and so didn't bother, and he saw it for what it really was. One day, when I was out, he drugged my nan's tea and stole it. I'd like to think he was simply an opportunistic thief that saw the locket and took it, not that his relationship with me was all part of one big con to get it. But you lot had heard about the locket way before it was stolen so maybe he had heard about it too, which makes his betrayal so much worse.'

‘We know about it because it's talked about in witch society. It's mentioned in our history books. As Christopher is a mundane he wouldn't have heard about it in that way, so I'd suggest it was the former rather than the latter,' Wolf said.

Iris nodded. That only made her feel a tiny bit better. It was still a betrayal. ‘My nan was heartbroken. So as soon as I heard he was going to display it at an exhibition, I decided to steal it back for her. To find out he brought a gun to the exhibition because he knew I'd come for it is just… horrifying. I slept with this man. I told him I loved him. And he betrayed me and then planned to kill me.'

Wolf nodded. ‘I believe the locket is yours. Unfortunately Christopher is claiming the locket is his and the police are involved. Because of the perceived value of the locket and the manner in which you took it back, it's been hailed as one of the biggest jewellery heists of the twenty-first century.' Wolf opened up his laptop, pressed a few buttons and turned it round for Iris to see. It was a CCTV video of her stealing the locket. ‘This video is everywhere. It's been covered in the press, the TV news, the police are going nuts trying to find you. Fortunately, the person they are trying to find, this blonde woman, doesn't exist, so you have that in your favour. But if the police somehow do track you down, you'll need to somehow prove you have ownership of the locket. Do you have the pressed flower book and the list of possessions you were talking about?'

‘Not here, they're still up in Scotland along with half of our lives. We were supposed to bring them with us but in the rush to pack they somehow got overlooked. But I can go back for them.'

Lynx shook his head. ‘No way. I'm not risking you like that. We have no idea if Christopher is waiting for you.'

Iris found his protectiveness endearing and infuriating at the same time. Christopher wouldn't be there twenty-four/seven and if he was she was pretty sure she could handle him.

Wolf nodded. ‘I don't see how they can ever find you or the locket here so I'm sure it's not anything to worry about. It will all die down eventually and be forgotten. I just wanted you to be aware what was happening out there.'

‘Well I appreciate it. As you said, we have no links to Midnight prior to coming so they can't possibly know we're here, but if they did turn up, we do have proof it's ours. Nan has one of her wedding photos inside the locket, it's magically seared to the metal, kind of like it would be if it had been lasered on, so there's no way Christopher could have removed it.'

Wolf frowned in confusion.

‘You didn't open it?' Iris said.

‘We tried. The locket appears to be permanently closed.'

Her heart leapt in alarm. ‘What?'

She picked up the locket, lifted the tiny gold latch and… nothing, the locket didn't budge at all.

She examined it. ‘What the hell has he done to it? This was never stuck. Do you have a magnifying glass?'

Star hurried to a drawer in the cupboard, and brought one back to the table. Iris looked at the seams.

‘I think he's superglued it together. Why would he do that?'

‘Well I guess because of the photo,' Lynx said. ‘If no one can see that, you can't prove your ownership.'

‘Dear Gods, my nan is going to be gutted about this. She would look at that photo every day and stroke it. Can anyone magically remove it?'

‘I could obviously magically force it open, but I would worry about the damage that could do to the locket,' Wolf said.

‘I could melt the glue with my fire,' Lynx said. ‘There's pretty much nothing I can't melt, but again I'd worry about melting the locket or causing some irreversible damage.'

‘I'm sure there is something we could use to chemically remove it,' Star said. ‘Like acetone, nail varnish remover, vinegar. I bet if we were to google it we could find something.'

‘I'd be worried what kind of damage nail varnish remover would do to the gold though,' Iris said. ‘Are you telling me, with all your great power, there's not some magic spell you can utter that could just get rid of it?'

‘There's not a spell I know,' Wolf said and Lynx shook his head too. ‘But there's lots of magic that I don't know or can't do. Normally in these situations, magical brute force works well enough for me.'

‘I bet Ashley could come up with something,' Lynx said. ‘She's our potions queen, she can come up with a spell, charm or potion to solve pretty much any problem. It may take her a few days to do it but I'm sure she'll manage something.'

‘OK, I think I would trust magic over acetone or vinegar.'

‘Come to potions club the day after tomorrow, you can meet everyone and then talk to Ashley after about the locket,' Star said.

‘Erin has already persuaded me to come.'

Star laughed. ‘I bet she did.'

‘But I may go and see Ashley tonight, I'm keen to get this back to my nan as soon as possible.'

‘You're free to take the locket back to Ness, even if it isn't in quite the same state it was when it was taken from her,' Wolf said. ‘And we'll keep you posted about any developments outside the village. But before you go, can I ask, does the locket hold any power?'

‘No, well none that I know of, and my nan certainly hasn't said anything about it if it has. It obviously has a magical energy but I think that comes from being worn by kelpies and part witches for the last few hundred years.'

‘The stories we've heard involved the locket being used to control the seas and rivers. That's why we were so keen to make sure it didn't fall into the wrong hands.'

Iris smirked. ‘No, that's us, the kelpies. We have that power, not the locket.'

‘Oh,' Wolf said. ‘You can control the seas?'

‘If we wanted to. It's not something we ever do, we respect the water and the wildlife that lives in or around it, so we don't just cause tidal waves and tsunamis for fun. But yes, if you've heard stories of people wearing the locket and controlling the rivers, using the water as some kind of weapon, that's kelpie magic, not the locket. Though I have to say, I've never heard of anyone in my family doing something like that before. There was once a kelpie who caused the land to flood after a massive drought, but that was trying to help the farmer so he didn't lose his crops, it certainly wasn't malicious. And I don't think they were one of our family anyway. The kelpies obviously got caught up in the witch hunts and the stories tell of them causing great torrents on the rivers to escape the mundanes that were chasing them, but I think that's as far as it goes.'

‘Wow,' Lynx said. ‘Remind me never to piss you off.'

‘You already did that,' Iris said, she made her hand into a gun shape and squirted water at him as if using a water pistol. It hit him square in the face and Blaze let out a squeal of laughter.

Lynx chuckled and wiped his face, looking as if he was plotting some terrible revenge and that gave her a delicious thrill.

‘Well, I should go.' Iris put the locket back in its box. ‘I'm sure my nan will be delighted to get this back. Thank you for letting me know about the investigation.'

‘I'll walk back with you,' Lynx said, handing his niece to Star.

Iris said her goodbyes to Wolf and Star and walked out with Lynx.

‘Are you worried about all this police stuff?' Lynx asked.

‘Not really, they can't possibly know I'm here. But even if they did, it's not like I'm going to be carted off to jail for stealing back my own property.'

‘You'd have to prove it's yours, though.'

‘If we can get the locket open, then we'll have all the proof we need. If not, then I need to work out another way to discredit Christopher. We may have to go back to Scotland at some point to get the evidence.'

‘No, that's too dangerous.'

‘I could go in disguise.'

‘I don't want you anywhere near that man. If we need it, we'll go mob-handed to go and collect it. There's safety in numbers.'

‘I'm not worried right now. I think this will fade away quite quickly when there are no leads.'

They left Wolf's road and started walking up theirs.

‘Want to come in for a coffee?' Lynx said.

She thought about it for a moment but she was sure she could be in his house for half hour without suddenly wanting to marry him or freaking out if she saw that she did. ‘Sure, OK.'

She followed him inside his house, which she noticed was still unlocked. ‘Are you not worried about break-ins here?'

Lynx smiled. ‘Not here.'

She moved into the lounge, trying not to look at the dreaded sofa that she deliberately didn't touch. She didn't need any more visions.

She glanced around the room. She hadn't had a proper chance to look around before, because of the glimpses of her future she'd seen. But now she could take her time. There were a few artefacts from different countries in the world, showing Lynx's love of travelling. There were photos too, some of big tourist destinations, some of places that were definitely off the beaten track.

In a green glass bowl were three black stones with the iridescent rainbow glow of petrol and oil. She could feel a weird energy coming from them and she knew they were obviously magical.

‘What are these?'

‘Witches have different names for them. Some call them journey stones, or roaming stones or even holiday stones. I've always known them as key stones, as they are the key to different destinations. You hold them in your hand, close your eyes, think of where you want to go and, when you open them again, you find yourself there.'

‘That easy?'

‘Oh no, I wish it was, it takes a lot of energy and power to do it. And it's kind of like travelling on a twisty rollercoaster, you arrive feeling sick and dizzy, which is why it's recommended to shut your eyes. You have to really know your destination well, to take that leap; sometimes I can be standing here for ages trying to get a lock on the place, so I have to watch a ton of videos and look at loads of photos of the location before I try and travel anywhere with them. So it's not easy or enjoyable. But the effects wear off after a while. I also have to be careful about going to public places, like the Eiffel Tower for example. That's always filled with tourists, so I can't just appear out of thin air.'

‘Yeah, I get that. I've never heard of key stones before.'

‘They're quite rare. There are various different ways to travel through the fabric of space but none of them are easy or particularly pleasant. I find using the key stones to be the easiest. But you got down here quickly from Scotland, I'm presuming you used some sort of magic to expedite your journey?'

‘Ah that's kelpie magic. We can travel via the rivers, lakes and lochs. They all have a magical energy about them and we tap into that energy to travel to different locations. I'm not sure how to explain it. It's kind of like creating a portal that we drive through in the car at the start of a river and there's a wormhole type thing that takes us to the end of the river or loch. But we can only go as far as the end of the water source then we'll drive a little way to pick up the next river and then we can jump to the end of that too. It's not an instant travel solution like your keystones because we travel in increments, but it makes a ten-hour journey around two hours instead so well worth doing.'

‘That's fascinating. I've never thought about using the rivers as roads. I wonder if that's something us witches could try or whether that's exclusively a kelpie thing.'

‘I'll have to try and teach you one day. It's easier to create a portal for one person than it is to create one big enough for a car. But travelling by water doesn't make me dizzy or sick, so it's worth a go.'

‘I'd love that. I love learning about new magic, so much of it has been lost over the years and we're constantly finding new or better ways to do things. Let me make us a drink.'

She followed him down to the kitchen.

‘Tell me more about being a kelpie,' Lynx said as he started magically making two mugs of coffee.

It was a funny thing, being able to talk about it so openly for the first time in forever and not face any judgement or fear either.

‘Well, we can see perfectly underwater without the need for goggles and we can hold our breath underwater for a really long time.'

‘How long?'

‘Two or three hours.'

He turned to look at her in shock. ‘What?'

She shrugged. ‘Just one of our special skills.'

‘I'm beginning to realise there's a lot of special things about you.'

She smiled. ‘Let's not get carried away, we still have our fight to the death to endure.'

He carried the two mugs through to the lounge and placed them down in front of the sofa. He sat down and, with no other seating available, she reluctantly sat next to him.

‘I'm also starting to understand why you're shying away from a relationship with me.'

Her heart leapt. ‘Hang on, since when was a relationship with you even on the table?'

‘You can't deny we have a connection.'

‘There is no connection.'

‘When we kissed, when we touch, it burns bright between us, but you keep pushing it away. And now I know why. You've been let down so many times, with Jack who you were engaged to, and Christopher who betrayed you in the worst possible way. You don't want to take a risk with your heart again.'

‘I don't want to damage your ego but maybe I'm just not that into you.'

‘My ego is fine. If a woman isn't interested in me, I'm OK with that. And if that's the way you want to play it, I promise I'll say no more about it. But we both know there's something between us. And I get that you're scared of getting hurt again but I would never hurt you in that way. I can't speak for our future, I don't have that gift, but don't you think we owe it to ourselves to find out if we have something beyond one amazing kiss?'

She'd be lying if she said she didn't want to find out, that she hadn't thought about kissing Lynx one more time. But there was a big part of her that was still fighting against her predetermined future. She wanted to feel like she had some control over it.

‘Maybe the kiss wasn't really that amazing.'

‘You seemed to enjoy it at the time.'

‘Maybe that's it. Maybe it was just the adrenaline of the moment, stealing the locket, the guards looking for it, hiding in darkened corners. Maybe we just got caught up in the thrill of it all. I bet if I were to kiss you right now, we wouldn't feel a damned thing.'

He shrugged. ‘I'm happy to put that to the test. And if we don't, we know we can finally put these maybes to bed once and for all.'

Iris really didn't want to kiss him, she knew one more kiss would change everything between them and she wasn't ready for that.

She quickly backpedalled away from it. ‘I didn't mean I wanted to kiss you right now. I'm just saying, if we did, it wouldn't be anywhere near exciting as you hope it would be.'

‘Let's see.'

She bit her lip and his eyes darkened as he watched her. OK, she could do this. If she could have one simple, meaningless kiss with no emotional reaction, then maybe he'd leave her alone and she could get on with her life without this great big Lynx complication hanging over her. Maybe she could just pretend she was kissing a frog. That would do it.

‘Fine, one kiss and we're never doing it again.'

He nodded and moving quickly, perhaps before she talked herself out of it, he bent his head and kissed her.

The second their lips touched, feelings exploded through her. A need for him, desire, passion, hunger, but above it all was this feeling of happiness and peace, the same kind of feeling she got from water bathing, that sense of being where she belonged. What she'd hoped would be a brief, chaste kiss very quickly turned into something so much more.

She stroked his face, he cupped her neck, she slid her hand down the open neck of his shirt, feeling the strength and warmth of his chest. He moaned against her lips and then hauled her closer against him, but not close enough. She knelt up and straddled him without taking her lips from his.

He slid his hands up her back, his fingers grazing her skin at the top of her dress. It was crazy to feel this way, this insatiable need, but she wanted so much more. She undid one of his shirt buttons and moved her hands inside, caressing the muscles on his chest. He shifted his mouth to her neck and she gasped. Her breath was heavy as if she'd just swam a hundred miles. He slid his hands up her dress and round her bum as he moved his mouth to her breast.

Suddenly she remembered one of the flashes of Lynx's future she'd seen before. Making love on the sofa just like this, even wearing this dress. This was the moment she'd seen, or at least a few minutes before it.

With more determination than she thought she had, she pulled away from him, trying to catch her breath. He looked at her in confusion, his eyes clouded with desire.

What was she thinking? She'd known she couldn't kiss Lynx sensibly and not have any reaction to him, so why the hell had she done it?

She climbed off him and stood up. She grabbed her coffee and took a big swig and realised she was still trembling with need for him. She started pacing the room. She couldn't exactly say it meant nothing to her now when she'd undone his shirt and straddled him.

‘I think you proved your point. Yes, I'm attracted to you, yes I want you as much as you want me, happy now?'

He stood up. ‘Iris, I'm so sorry. I never meant to take it that far. It was only supposed to be a quick kiss, I didn't keep going just to prove a point. I've never met a woman that makes me feel the way you do, I just lose all control with you.'

‘The feeling is very mutual.' She rubbed her hand over her face, trying to clear it of the need to finish that kiss. ‘Please don't apologise. You didn't do anything I didn't want you to do. And if I listened to my heart, I'd be making love to you right now. I just…' she trailed off. How could she even begin to explain she was fighting against a beautiful, perfect future? It didn't even make sense in her own mind. Stopping the kiss, stopping that particular flash of his future from happening, made it feel like she was still in control of her life, like she was in charge, not on some predetermined path. But the decision she'd made to not let it happen wasn't something she wanted, so it didn't exactly feel like a triumph.

‘It's happening too fast?' Lynx said.

‘A little.'

‘I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed it. After what Christopher did, I can understand you being cautious and not wanting to get involved with someone.'

‘I trust you in that regard. But I feel like if we did get together, our relationship would be something serious and life-changing, and I need to get my head around that, not rush in, all guns blazing, just because we've now had two earth-shattering kisses. I should have been honest and said I wasn't ready, not pretend this thing between us didn't exist.'

He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned into him, sliding her arms round his back. He kissed her forehead and she looked up at him.

‘There's no rush, I can wait as long as you need.'

‘Thank you.' She smirked. ‘You know, if we do eventually make love, it's going to be explosive.'

‘Oh, I don't think we'll survive it.'

She laughed. ‘I better go, I want to talk to Ashley about the locket tonight.'

He let her go and she stepped back slightly from him. She reached out and did the buttons back up on his shirt. The way he was watching her made her mouth go dry.

‘Can I take you to the pool tomorrow? Wolf will be transforming the shop and I don't want to get in the way of that. I promise I won't be naked or try to kiss you again. I'll be the perfect gentleman.'

She nodded. ‘I'd like that.'

‘I'll come and collect you at nine.'

‘OK.'

She went to the door and he followed her. He opened the door for her and she stepped outside but then she turned back. Why was she running away from this? Every fibre of her being was telling her to go back inside the house and finish that kiss properly. Sex didn't need to be a relationship. Why couldn't she just have some fun with Lynx? Just because she'd seen that future, it didn't mean it would play out like that. Surely she could enjoy herself without focussing on that predetermined path. If she hadn't seen that future, if she wasn't trying to run away from it, she'd probably be having the best sex of her life right now.

‘What if I just want sex?' she blurted out.

She heard a splutter from next door and felt her cheeks heat. They both looked round to see Lynx's elderly neighbour, just coming out of her house.

‘Evening Elizabeth,' Lynx said.

‘Evening.' She gave him a wink.

He turned his attention back to Iris. ‘I'm definitely OK with that too.'

She hurried away, embarrassed, and every time she looked back, he was still standing in his doorway watching her go. Who was she kidding? There could never be anything casual about her relationship with Lynx Oakwood.