Chapter 21 Truth Time

21

Truth Time

BELLE WASN'T ENTIRELY sure how a summoning even worked between witch and watchman, but she thought of him. Tried to make it a clean line of communication, tried even harder not to dwell on his piercing dark eyes, the way his hair constantly fell into his face, that smirk. She hoped it was some kind of telepathic phone system, one that wouldn't pick up on the unsubtle pounding of her heart at the thought of his arrival.

"You rang?" Rune shook out his head a little before dusting down the collar of his shirt, unbuttoned just below his collarbone.

"Hi."

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Rune asked, glancing around Artorius's living room to take in his new surroundings. He shrugged off his coat and threw it onto the back of a floral armchair. "You know, it's funny. I was just getting ready to pay you a visit myself."

"You were?"

"The watchman spell has been highlighting a feeling that I wasn't entirely comfortable with." He gestured to somewhere amongst his ribs underneath his shirt. "Right here. I've been feeling this real, tangible dread when I thought of you."

Belle shot him a look across the living room. "Charming."

"Not like that. Like something was wrong. I needed to check you were okay days ago, but I've been torn as to whether I should step in. I know you don't like me being around."

"I never said—" She stopped herself. Another time. "Well, you were on to something. Against my better judgement, I've been told I need to tell you if anything weird is going on, so…"

His face darkened. "I was right, wasn't I?" He took a step towards her, closing the space between them as though it were instinctive. "Something is wrong. What is it?"

"It's a long story." Belle hesitated. "Can I get you a drink? While we talk?"

"Later. Like I said, imminent danger first, please."

Belle sighed, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "Okay, truth time. You're not going to like it. In fact, you're going to freak out."

"And putting off the subject for as long as possible is really going to help with that."

"Subfuror Incantare," Belle blurted.

Rune's brow raised. "What about it?"

"It happened."

He took another step towards her, close enough now that she noticed his scent again, the burnt caramel and earthy tobacco. "What do you mean, ‘it happened'?"

" Sub …don't make me say it again. Whatever it is, it happened to my mum."

A look of deep concern etched itself across his forehead, eyes pinching into fine lines at the edges. "You're not serious?"

"Yes, I love making jokes about things I can neither say nor understand."

"Belle, will you just talk seriously for once in your life? Your mother experienced Subfuror Incantare ? When?"

Belle fiddled with the tassel of a cushion on the sofa, buckling under the intensity of his furious stare. "I guess technically I experienced it, too. It was my magic, my spell that was under control of something or someone. I managed to summon my mum to Artorius's attic, finally managed successful transference of another person, and it all went catastrophically wrong."

"Are you okay? Is she okay?"

"We're both fine. She's tucked up in bed." Belle gestured upstairs. "Recovering well now."

"When did this happen?"

Belle grimaced. "Two nights ago." She tried to ignore how silly she now felt for delaying as he turned exasperatedly and paced away.

"Two nights! How many times, Belle?" He looped back towards her. "I'm supposed to be protecting you. Looking out for dark magic, helping you stay safe. Why are you so adamantly against asking for help with anything?"

She could see his chest heaving, the rhythm of his shoulders as he ranted.

"Will you keep your voice down? Mum and Arty are both napping. And I'm sorry, I've been a little preoccupied nursing my mother back from the brink to worry about what my own resident heavy might think of the matter."

"You are absolutely infuriating." His nostrils flared as he stared down at her, their eyes defensively locked on each other's. A fraction of a moment too long passed by in silence. His gaze darted to her lips almost imperceptibly.

She took a step back and turned away, breaking the spell. "Anyway, we're both fine, thank you for your concern. We need to work on your bedside manner, by the way. I'm just, you know…" She hesitated. "Slightly concerned as to what it means that someone might be trying to stop my endarkenment. So it felt like something I should probably tell you."

He took a calming breath. "You should tell me everything."

"Fine."

"Good."

A silence hung between them, and Belle dared herself to ask the next question. "So what does it mean?" She glanced back over her shoulder.

"It means exactly what you said. The protection circle I could dismiss as some kind of coincidence, a glitch or an accident. But Subfuror Incantare is no accident. The two combined is bad news. Someone is trying to take your magic before it's yours to keep."

"Why would anyone want to do that?"

"I don't know, Belle. I haven't quite had time to process this just yet. Off the top of my head, I'd wager they're feeling threatened. By what you could mean for Selcouth? I…I don't know."

"Aren't you supposed to be the one with the answers to all of my problems?"

"Normally, yes. But this is slightly beyond the remit I expected. Subfuror Incantare is really dark magic, Belle."

"So I've heard." She laughed bitterly.

"Of course, we need to consider the possibility that Artorius is—"

"How many times? It's not him." She raised her voice definitively, prodding the top of the couch emphatically. "I know it for a fact."

"Actually, you don't." Rune's temper flared again to match.

"You didn't see him when my mum was…breaking, literally breaking in front of us. It was…It was the single most terrifying moment of my life. He didn't know what was happening, either. I was…" She swallowed hard. "I was so scared."

She couldn't stop it. She burst into tears. Big little-kid crying. Heavy sobs that shook her whole chest. She buried her face in her hands to hide. And before she knew what was happening, two arms wrapped around her. Warm and entirely enveloping, a shoulder to press her face into that smelled like an autumnal dream, woody and spicy, clean and smoky. A chin resting on the top of her head. She let herself be swallowed up, a little sorry creature swept up in a blanket from the cold rain. She let her guard down just for a moment. It had been a long time since anyone had held her like this, like someone was around every part of her, a wall of safety between her and the world.

He breathed a rough, quieting shush into her hair. The soft sound was soothing, mollifying in its deepness.

A creak on the floorboards upstairs snapped her out of it, like a hammer to glass. She went rigid. He evidently sensed her change in comfort, dropping his arms instantly.

"I don't…This is weird."

"Right." He nodded. "Unprofessional. Sorry, I—"

"No, I'm sorry. That was really nice of you. Thank you. Sorry. I don't know why I cried like that. I'm just really, really tired."

"Because you've been through something awful." Rune sighed, looking at her as though trying to read her. "No one should have to witness a loved one caught up in dark magic. That kind of thing…It stays with you."

Belle glanced up at him through wet lashes.

"And will you stop apologising all the time?" he carried on. "Especially for crying. I know I'm pretty terrible, but I'm not that much of a monster."

Belle shook herself down, brushing the traitorous tears off with her wrists.

He lifted her chin with a finger to examine her face and find her eyes. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when your mother was in danger, Belle. I think…and I know you're not going to like this, but just hear me out."

She started to shake her head and brush him off, but he carried on regardless.

"You're exhausted, let me pick up the slack. I'll stick around a little more, swing by Quill Lane again. I've been operating the watchman spell at its lowest grade because you didn't want me around, but now I need to do my job properly."

"But—"

"C'mon, Belle, let me do this. I want…I need," he corrected himself, "to make sure you're safe."

She thought for a moment, then conceded. "Okay. But no watching my spellwork during lessons, because I know you'll laugh at me. No interfering with Artorius. Absolutely no pointing out my mistakes, because I'll simply have to kill you. And none of—"

"Deal." He smiled as her list of stipulations continued.