But Ferrets Can Never Hurt Me

by Nhys Glover

  “If I did, I suppose I would have sold the house. But Watkins didn’t seem to know about Daphne. It’s like so much of what was happening here at Ahman Hall was kept from him. Like we had some kind of ward in place that screwed up their seers. Does that make sense?”

  “As much as any of this shite does,” Jake grumbled again.

  I laughed. “All right, enough Q and A for tonight. I’m too tired for anymore. It’s already light out there!” I looked at the sunlight glowing around the edges of the heavy curtains.

  “I’ll be going then. Goodnight darling. I’m so glad you’re home safe,” Daphne said before disappearing.

  “I hope Squib turns up again tomorrow. If it was him who knocked me down, then he’s a real hero this time. Maybe he’s not your guardian angel but mine.”

  Jake laughed. “Can’t wait to see his face when you tell him that!”

  Neither could I.

  With that amusing thought, I let Jake’s regular heartbeat beneath my ear lull me into sleep.

  I was home. I was safe. I was with Jake. For now, that was all that mattered.

  Jason arrived at Ahman Hall late the following afternoon. I answered the knock and immediately led the young detective to the back of the house and the kitchen where Jake was busy creating another of his gastronomic masterpieces. The smells had been wafting through the house for the last hour.

  “Good to see you, Jase. Do you want to stay for dinner? It’ll be ready in about half an hour.” Jake gestured to the AGA where a steaming saucepan could be seen.

  “You might not be so happy to have me after I debrief you,” Jason replied, looking troubled.

  “Are you going to tell me Arthur Watkins got away last night?” Jake demanded, putting his knife down.

  Jason gave a humourless laugh. “No, not that. We found sixteen bodies up on Logan Hill this morning, burned beyond recognition. But one body had a metal pin in the knee. It had a serial number on it that we matched to Arthur. So we have no doubt he died last night. DNA will identify the others in due course.”

  Picking up the knife again, Jake began his chore, avoiding further eye contact. “Good.”

  “Then why might you not be welcome to stay for dinner?” I asked, feeling dread pooling in the pit of my stomach.

  “I knew what was likely to happen last night, not what was fated to happen, and I made no attempt to stop you going with us. In fact, by leaving you at the back of the group with only two kids to watch over you, I assured it did happen.” The way his jaw worked told me just how upset he was at having to confess his actions.

  “Why did you?” Jake said, not looking up from the carrots, which were being diced to within an inch of their lives now. There was diced and there was minced, and these were quickly moving from one form to the other with Jake’s increasing distress.

  Jason looked away from us both. “One of the reasons I stopped encouraging my Gift was that I found, if I tried to change what I saw, something worse usually happened. Believe me, the helplessness that knowledge creates is not something anyone would want to experience. So when I saw what was going to happen up on the Hill, I knew I had to let it play out. Assist it to play out as I’d seen it happen, so something worse didn’t occur.”

  “What could have been worse than Alfie being kidnapped, again, and nearly burned alive?” Jake snapped, his temper rising.

  “Nearly burned is better than actually burned, isn’t it?” Jason snapped back, his hard-headed police persona rising to the surface.

  “If she’d stayed away completely she wouldn’t have been at risk,” Jake snarled.

  “Do you think Arthur hadn’t considered that possibility? He sent Mason Jordan in, to direct you to the gathering, but he had men in place to take her if he wasn’t successful.”

  “How do you know that?” I asked, trying to keep my tone light.

  The tension was electric in the kitchen now and Rex’s hackles had risen.

  Daphne and the recently returned Squib appeared at that moment, took in the scene, and moved off to the side to watch the drama unfold, without saying a word. I noticed my dead aunt had her arm linked with the much shorter man. They were the ultimate odd couple, but given Squib’s bravery last night, I understood his appeal for Daphne.

  “Jordan was only too willing to share all he knew when he realised Arthur was dead. He’d been promised the best barristers, if he was arrested. With Arthur’s demise, those barristers were not forthcoming, so he had to negotiate for himself. Offering us dirt on the rest of the Watkins crew was how he did it.”

  The disgust was plain in Jason’s voice, as was the weariness. Had he gotten any sleep at all in the last few days?

  “So, if Alfie had stayed behind she would have been taken anyway? How would they have gotten into the house? I locked the kitchen door so no more unwanted visitors came through the dog flap,” Jake said, taking his carrot mush to the pot and dropping it in.

  “He unlocked the library window just before the dog found him, so Jordan said.”

  A small smile came to my lips at the memory of the scene we’d come upon in the library last night. But though it had been hysterical at the time, it wasn’t so hysterical now we’d learned he’d achieved his goal before he was discovered. That goal might have eventually led to my death.

  “Did you know I’d be taken from the house if I stayed home?” I asked.

  Jason shook his head. “No. I only ever see one possible future. That’s why I try not to deviate from it in any way. Once that timeline is interfered with I’d have no idea what to expect. And at least in that future I saw you’d survive. But the timing had to be precise. If Jake had tried to go in early it might have changed everything.”

  Jason leaned his hands on the counter, studying his cousin through narrowed eyes as he considered all the possibilities.

  “Better the devil you know?” he asked on a growl.

  “Something like that,” came the determined answer. “Believe me, if I’d ever experienced a positive result from changing the futures I see I would have taken the chance and tried to keep Alfie out of it. But there has never been a better result. That’s why I’ve worked so hard not to let the visions in. What use are they when I couldn’t do anything to change them?”

  “But Arthur had his own seers. Why didn’t they tell him what was going to happen?” I asked, even though I thought I probably knew the answer.

  “You’re right, Arthur had several seers. Or he had. From what Jordan told us, any seer who had the audacity to tell him the fiery end he was courting, ended up dead. So the one still alive had hidden the truth and talked about a wonderful future with Watkins in control of the dragon and set to take over the world. Interestingly enough that particular seer was so sick last night he couldn’t attend the event he’d so glowingly predicted.”

  So I hadn’t been quite right about the possible futures then. There had only ever been one, which might have gotten even worse had we tried to interfere with it.

  “He shoot the messenger?” Jake said, shaking his head. “What kind of fool did that?”

  “A fool who was so certain of his eventual success that any naysayers were considered enemies. Jordan told us William suffered from the same condition.”

  “Insanity you mean?” I said on a grunt, remembering how William Watkins had carried on about his grand plans for world domination, using the dragon. At that point there had been no hint of a mastermind behind it all, even though I’d sensed there had to be someone else pulling the strings. William probably didn’t expect his father to live much longer. He’d probably already taken up the reins of the organisation in his mind.

  A thought entered my head and I frowned. “If Mason was already inside, with access to everything, why did William try to break in when we were gone that day?”

  “I actually wondered about that myself,” Jason confessed. “So I asked him. He said William could be a loose cannon at times. His father had said the books needed to remain with the house and they
’d become theirs eventually, after the sale went through. But William believed you’d take the books with you and they’d lose them. So he planned to take them for himself, making it obvious Jordan had no part in it. His father was furious when he found out. Especially when it all went wrong and he ended up being arrested and confessing to both the attempted break-in and arson. A real coward, was Arthur’s only son.”

  “Did Mason know I was going to be kidnapped? The first time. I assume he knew the plan the second time, if he left the library window unlocked.” I had to know, even though it really shouldn’t have mattered to me.

  Jake glanced my way, his gaze suddenly soft. I could read his concern in them. He knew how much it had hurt being betrayed by the man.

  “He said he didn’t. The first he heard about it was during the dinner with William in Leeds when he was told they were setting up an alibi for the kidnapping. Coming back out to Wiggleswick had been his idea so he could make sure William didn’t get carried away. He had a reputation as a sadist. Most of the torture carried out by the clan was left up to him. Jordan wanted to do what he could to convince you to sign over the house to save yourself.”

  That meshed with the way he’d behaved that night. But I also knew he probably wouldn’t have gone out on a limb to stop Watkins, if he’d decided to torture me. I was kind of glad Jake had beaten him bloody.

  “Who actually is he, this Mason Jordan?” I persisted, not wanting to keep thinking of the man but unable to stop.

  “Grammar school lad who had a taste for the fast life. When he was disowned by his family at eighteen he became a con-artist, using his pseudo education to sell investment portfolios that didn’t exist. He’d done time, that’s how we found out his real identity. Seems he got onto Watkins’ radar when they were looking for a suitable romantic partner for you. They thought a toff was what you’d go for.” Jason rolled his eyes as he took in the man I’d actually gone for. Jake was as far from their perfect match as anyone could get. Thank goodness I was as unpredictable as Arthur claimed I was.

  “What do the police think of the fire up on the Hill?” Jake asked, obviously wanting to get my thoughts off Mason.

  Jason seemed equally glad to move away from the painful subject. “A rave gone wrong. Sometimes kids have parties out on the moors, light bonfires, drink, do drugs. That sort of thing. They think either the bonfire got out of control or the arsonists they’re after found them and decided to light the party up. The fact that all the bodies were men and at least one was a known criminal in his seventies, doesn’t seem to interfere with their theory.”

  His disappointment with the intelligence of his beloved police force was clear.

  “And the older man you have in custody for Mr Andrews’ death?” I asked.

  “Hired assassin. It seemed Watkins’ business ventures included murder for hire. The man had been with Arthur since the early days. Responsible for over sixty deaths in those years. Jordan didn’t know any of the details but he was fast enough to tell us what he knew. He didn’t want that bastard coming after him when he got out.”

  “Will he get out? I mean either of them, I suppose.”

  “Had Arthur still been alive I would have said there was a good chance they’d both get off with most of what they’d done. Good barristers can work magic, and Arthur’s had had plenty of experience getting him and his men off. But with Arthur’s death his empire is crumbling. The money can’t be accessed for barristers or any other purpose. The big boys will step in and fill the void fast enough, but for now there’s chaos in Watkins’ ranks.” There was satisfaction in his voice now.

  I wish I felt the same satisfaction. It seemed to me that one mob boss was as bad as the next. Although one who used black magic to achieve his ends would have to be considered one of the worst. I was just so glad they hadn’t been able to control the dragon. They would have been unstoppable then.

  “So, will you stay for dinner?” Jake asked again, making the peace offering a little begrudgingly.

  Jason looked at me and I smiled, more than willing to accept his explanation and the regret he felt at being forced to put me in such a dangerous situation.

  “It smells incredible. I’d love to stay. Then I’m off home to bed where I’ll sleep the clock around. Then we have to start finding the dragon again. It’ll be harder to catch this time, given its experiences last night.

  “No visions of that encounter?” Jake asked, handing me the cutlery so I could set the table.

  “No, thank the gods.”

  Later that night, as Jake and I cuddled up in bed, I let out a sigh. I could hear the three pets scrambling around on the floor, probably fighting for the best spot. For a few moments I toyed with the idea of putting them out so Jake and I could be alone. But for some reason I needed them near me. I’d come very close to dying last night, and that made me all the more grateful for those I loved. If it hadn’t been weird, I would have invited the ghosts to spend the night with us as well.

  “Are you awright about Mason’s part in it all?” Jake asked as he drew me against his naked body, his ever-present arousal pressed against my side.

  I knew it wouldn’t have taken much to get him interested. Heck, he was already interested. But I didn’t want sex tonight. The intensity of it would only add to my overload. Right now, I just wanted to mellow out, to bring the volume down a little.

  “Yes, I think so. The more I found out about him, the more I realised I wasn’t as upset as I thought. The man I’d respected and liked didn’t exist. The real man, this Mason Jordan, I didn’t care about at all. If that makes sense...”

  Jake kissed the top of my head. “It does. Now go to sleep. You’re worn out.”

  “Don’t you want to...” I reached to encircle his heavy length in my hand. He stopped me.

  “I always want to. But you need sleep more than sex. Maybe in the morning I’ll have an early breakfast.”

  For a moment I didn’t understand. Then my cheeks burned as I realised what he meant to eat.

  His laughter filled the air and unsettled the pets on the floor.

  With a tired smile on my lips I let myself drift off to sleep. Tomorrow I had more challenges to face, as well as some activities to look forward to. But right now, the world was just perfect.