Raven (A Very British Witch Book 4)

by Isobella Crowley

  “So what about his—Raven?”

  “Oh, his girlfriend?”

  “In name only, she—”

  He coughed.

  “Yes, his girlfriend,” she continued. “She did it.”

  “Not according to the evidence. The evidence suggests it was you.” He levelled a hard stare at her, his notes still in front of him.

  “I see. So, you can’t get me off, is that what you’re saying?”

  “No, I’m not saying that, but it will be difficult and may take some time.”

  She lowered her head and mumbled. “It wouldn’t if you were halfway competent.” She looked up. “So, what happens now?”

  He leaned back in his seat and gave her with a dry look. “Well, what happens now, Vixen, is that you’re going to go to jail.”

  She sat up straight. A policeman stepped into the room, and she looked wildly at him, back to her solicitor.

  “What? Right now?”

  She thought he looked just a bit too smug when he replied. “Yes.”

  The policeman stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder. “Vixen, I’m arresting you on suspicion of murder. You have the right to—”

  Vixen stood up, sneering angrily. “Blah, blah, blah, I get it.”

  The policeman took her securely by the arm. She had time to give her solicitor one last withering stare before she was pulled from the room.

  “I better be hearing from you soon,” she spat.

  Her solicitor blinked at her calmly. “You will. Eventually.”

  The door swung closed behind her, and the policeman lead her down a long, cold hallway, which eventually lead her to a block of holding cells.

  “Welcome to your new room,” he said, shoving her in the cell. “Hope you find everything to your satisfaction.”

  She gave him the finger.

  “Don’t mind the neighbors, will you?” He lowered his voice. “Their bark is worse than their bite.”

  The door banged shut and he stepped away.

  “Ta-ta for now,” she called out after him.

  Listening to him walk along the aisle, clanging his truncheon against the bars of each cell he passed, she slumped down against the back wall.

  Let’s face it, she thought, none of them are the brightest button in the box. None of them had the intellect nor the guile to stop her breaking free once she’d saved up enough energy to cast a nasty spell. And once she was out, she’d make them all truly sorry.

  She stared through the bars at the occupant of the cell opposite while she plotted her revenge. First it was going to be Raven, then Scarlett, then that dim-wit of a solicitor. The thick bars in front of her weren’t going to stand in her way either. It wasn’t going to be long before she was out, not long at all.

  +++

  Market Square, Bicester

  Cliff caught Scarlett’s eye, nodded and continued towards his car. Something in him made him stop to see what the others were up to.

  He noticed Scarlett get into Tim’s car and grinned. He’d sowed all the seeds. She was bound to see sense and drop this idiot soon. He watched them getting cozied up and tried to put himself into her mind. Did she really care for the man?

  For all he knew, she could be faking it, just so he’d help her out with her problems. That had to be it. Tim must be naive in the most extreme sense of the word to have fallen for that. Most likely, Scarlett was in there, holding Tim, but thinking of Cliff. In Cliff’s mind, that would explain many things.

  He thought about going to Tabitha’s, all of them paired up, watching Tim and Scarlett all over each other. He couldn’t go bursting in, all guns blazing and rescue her. She might still have a use for Tim. No, he’d have to sit there and watch the charade play out with that cat at his feet. The very thought of it made him sick.

  But what was the alternative? Going home to a cold and empty house, while the others laughed it up without him.

  It was a tough choice, but eventually, he decided loneliness was preferable to humiliation. So the best thing for him to do was make a quick exit before Tabitha saw him and insisted he go with them.

  He couldn’t resist taking one last peek into Tim’s car, though. Just as he’d thought, they were all cozied up. Scarlett was grinning at him. They were laughing at something or other. Perhaps they were laughing about something Cliff had done or said and she was wishing he was there. That made sense.

  He forced himself to watch as Scarlett, all starry-eyed, leaned across and basked in his embrace. As far as Cliff was concerned, it was a perfect performance.

  Without further ado, he left the main parking lot and stepped into the shadows. He’d parked his car down a side street away from the others and at that moment, he was glad he’d done so. He opened the car door, dropped into the driver’s seat and clicked his seatbelt into place.

  Just who the hell did she think she was, treating him like that? And after everything he’d done. As much as he liked Scarlett, he couldn’t see why she was ignoring him like she was. From now on, he was only going to look out for the person that mattered most—himself.

  Scarlett wrapped her arms around Tim’s back and pulled him in tight. “Tim, what a hero you are.” No sooner had she closed her mouth, than the thought hit her that perhaps her words felt a bit false. An engine started and headlights flashed in through the side window.

  Tim patted her thigh. “Darling, what is it?”

  She pulled out of his embrace and peered through the window at Cliff’s taillights. “That’s Cliff.”

  Tim sighed. “So it’s Cliff, who cares?”

  Scarlett turned her back on him. “I do, Tim. I thought he was going with us to Tabitha’s. He was part of this as much as you were. He should be there.”

  +++

  Tim pulled out of the parking lot and took a left, past Costa and into town. Looking through the window at all the lights, Scarlett’s mind began to race. The streets were packed with people, going about their business like it was any other day. They had no idea of the danger they had been in not so long ago. They didn’t know about the spell or the black hole or even the murder.

  She turned to check up on Raven, who hadn’t so much as murmured since she climbed into the back seat. “Are you okay in the back? It’s been a long day, hasn’t it? We’ll soon have you back home and fed, don’t worry.” She reached out to let Raven’s soft fur run between her fingers.

  The car slowed and pulled up behind the car in front. Tim strained to get a look. “Oh, I don’t believe this. Look’s like there’s been an accident or something.”

  Scarlett leaned forward to look through the windscreen. “Looks like it’s going on for miles.” The sound of a distant siren advanced along the single lane next to the queue, getting louder by the second, until they had to cover their ears.

  The ambulance shot past them, leaving Scarlett speculating as to what had happened as the siren faded into silence. The houses lining the road nudged toward them.

  Scarlett shifted her eyes from the window towards Tim. “Poor souls, wonder what that was about.”

  “You’d better ring your aunt, let her know we’re going to be late.”

  “Unless they’re caught up in it too.”

  “But even so, best let her know.”

  Her phone rang before she could take it from her pocket. “Hello, Aunt Tabitha, how are you? You stuck in traffic too?”

  Tabitha confirmed that they were indeed in the line of cars, a little ways ahead of them. Scarlett hung up, slid her phone back into her pocket and looked through the window at the houses, trying to imagine what was happening in each home. The car nudged forward again, and she glanced at Tim, the trance broken.

  From the look on his face, the way his eyes were glazed over, she got the sense that something was on his mind. “What is it?”

  Tim looked confused. “What’s what?”

  “There’s something on your mind, I can tell.”

  The car nudged forward a few feet. There was a yellow car in front,
with two children, no more than eight or nine, wreaking havoc in the back. One of them turned around, saw Scarlett smiling at them, grinned and gave her the finger. His friend thought that was the funniest thing he’d ever seen, and the fighting stopped as the laughter took their breath away. Even she couldn’t help tittering to herself.

  Tim laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous, darling. It’s just been a long day that’s all. What are you laughing at?”

  “Oh, nothing, just those kids in front.”

  “Yes.” He scowled through the windscreen. Scarlett pulled her tongue out at him, which the kids found hilarious.

  “Don’t you go smiling at them Scarlett, you’ll encourage them.”

  Tim drove forward, for a good ten seconds this time. Although he was concentrating on the road, she could still tell that something was wrong. “You absolutely sure, nothing’s bothering you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Whatever you say.” She stretched and yawned, the events of the day finally catching up with her. “So, where did you go then?”

  “When?”

  “Earlier. How did you come to know so much about McMillan?”

  “Oh, that.”

  “Yes, that.”

  Tim smiled. “I was wondering when you’d ask me about that. I just had one or two leads to check up on, people I’d had dealings with in the past.”

  “You never said anything.”

  “No, I couldn’t. I didn’t want you incriminated in any way. I asked you to stay out of trouble, remember?”

  Scarlett felt herself blushing. “Oh, yeah.”

  “It turned out that Vixen’s name and address had been filed by the police when Robert was being stalked.”

  “Oh, so she was known to them?”

  Tim nodded. “It would seem so, yes.”

  “So, if the police knew about her, it would suggest that he’d reported her and—”

  Tim nodded. “He wasn’t seeing her. She was stalking him.” He drove forwards and his tensed expression relaxed. At last, they had a front-row view of what had happened. There were two ambulances and a police car.

  Scarlett screwed her eyes and looked at her feet. “I hate things like this,” she muttered as the paramedics stretchered a man into the ambulance.

  “Good thing you’re not a nurse then isn’t it?” Tim mumbled the last couple of words, perhaps regretting his mistimed joke.

  Raven stood on all fours to nudge the back of Scarlett’s neck with her nose.

  She turned around, smiling, and patted Raven’s head. “Oh, Raven, you’re in the clear, aren’t you? This is good news for you, isn’t it? How could we forget that?”

  Raven purred.

  She leaned over the back of her seat and drew Raven into a hug. “So sorry for doubting you. How could I do that? How could anyone?”

  Raven skimmed Scarlett’s ear with her nose and purred even more loudly than before.

  Tim punched the air. “Well hallelujah, for that,” he said as he accelerated onto the clear road ahead.

  As they got close to where the hold up had been, had they not been so distracted, they might have noticed an upturned car in the roadside ditch, flanked by emergency vehicles. An upturned police car.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Tabitha’s Residence, Bicester, England

  It wasn’t long before Tim caught sight of Tabitha’s car out in front. “Look,” he said, pointing through the windscreen as the car got closer. “There’s your aunt. See, nothing to worry about.”

  Scarlett leaned forward and peered through the windscreen. “Oh, yes.”

  Tim smiled at her. “Happy now?”

  “Very.” She twisted around to look at Raven. “You happy there in the back?”

  Raven purred. “Very.”

  Scarlett looked through the window at the countryside as it whipped passed and felt a pensive cloak descend over her. She’d been through a lot lately and, although she knew it had affected her in some ways, she wasn’t sure how. Vixen’s cruel words came to mind, the way she’d made fun of her. She felt the desire to inflict some revenge.

  Perhaps now, at the very least, she’d formed an unbreakable bond with Raven. She grinned at the thought of them bringing up Vixen’s name each time they had an axe to grind with someone.

  It wasn’t until she again caught sight of her aunt’s car that her thoughts switched to the night ahead. She loved going to her aunt’s. It made her feel all warm and nostalgic. The taste of sweet hot chocolate appeared out of nowhere and her mind flashed to Cliff’s contrasting comments about booze. She considered it interesting how different people have different perceptions of places.

  The car in front slowed and Tim followed suit. In no time at all, they were heading along the quiet country road toward Tabitha’s house.

  Tim continued along the road until he found a parking space of adequate size and came to a stop. Scarlett had counted ten houses between them and Tabitha’s. By the time they stepped through the front door, Tabitha was already stoking up a fire.

  “Hello, auntie,” Scarlett said to Tabitha’s backside.

  “Oh, hello dear,” Tabitha spoke without turning around. “One minute, let me just get this fire seen to. I was freezing in the car.”

  She moved towards her aunt, noticing for the first time that her ears and nose were stinging. “I know what you mean.”

  A flame sprung up and the fire roared to life. “There,” Tabitha said, standing up straight. She made a shivering sound, rubbed her hands together and warmed them in front of the fire, before glancing at the cupboard at the back of the living room. “Let me get some drinks in, dear.”

  Raven appeared out of nowhere, settled in front of the fire and purred.

  Tabitha took out some glasses and started pouring some drinks. Once the glasses were full, she counted them, furrowed her brow and said, “Where’s Cliff?”

  Tim shrugged. “No idea. We saw him shoot off, didn’t we Scarlett?”

  She faced her aunt. “Yeah, we thought he’d be here. Maybe he got stuck in traffic.”

  Tarquin glanced at the clock and shook his head. “No, he’d be here by now. Things were starting to clear up when we were there.”

  Tabitha handed out the drinks and sat on the armchair, close to the fire. “Well, take a seat everyone. We might as well make a start. I expect Cliff’ll be along soon.” She glanced at Scarlett. “You can fill him in, can’t you?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  Tarquin wouldn’t let it drop. “Where is he? It doesn’t make any sense at all.”

  “He’s probably just been delayed,” said Scarlett. “He’ll be here soon.”

  Tim shook his head. “Unless he’s gone home.”

  Tarquin took out his phone. “I’m going to ring him. I don’t think we should start without him. We’re all in this together.”

  Everyone nodded in agreement, except Tim who sighed and folded his arms.

  They sat sipping their drinks, listening to the rustling leaves on the trees outside and gazing into the roaring fire. Ten minutes later, a car turned down their street, passed Tabitha’s house and came to a halt further along the road.

  Tabitha sighed. “Thought that was him for a minute.”

  “Still could be,” Tim said, leaning forward. “There aren’t many parking spaces. We had to park much further along.”

  Footsteps clapped along the pavement, the gate opened and in no time at all, so did the front door. “Hello everyone,” Cliff said, stepping into the warmth.

  Scarlett moved up to make a space for him on the end of the couch.

  Tim leaned over her. “Glad you could make it.”

  Tabitha handed Cliff a drink and returned to the armchair. “Glad you could join us, Cliff. We were getting worried.”

  “Oh well, no need to worry. I just had to pop home. One or two small things to take care of that couldn’t really wait. You know how it is.”

  Tabitha nodded. “Well, you’re here now and that’s the important thing.
Let’s err, make a start then, shall we?”

  “They performed a binding spell,” Scarlett began.

  Cliff furrowed his brow. “A binding spell?”

  “Yes. Tabitha? You’d better explain. You know more about it than me.”

  “We’d discussed the possibility of handing Vixen in to the military for proper containment, but decided that was a bit inhumane. Scarlett couldn’t get her head around the moral dilemma.” She looked at her. “Could you?”

  Scarlett shook her head.

  “So then, Scarlett came up with the idea of a binding spell.”

  Cliff took a deep breath and repeated the question he’d asked five minutes earlier. “What kind of binding spell?”

  “Well, a spell to bind her. Keep her in one place so that she’s safely locked up.”

  He turned to look at Scarlett. “This was your idea, was it?”

  “Well, I can’t take all the credit,” she said.

  Tarquin took over. “Yes, as Tabitha said, it’s a binding spell to keep her in one place. Trouble is, she’s a witch herself.”

  “So, she’s a witch, big deal,” said Cliff.

  “The problem is, she might make a counterspell of her own and break free.”

  Cliff smiled and nodded. “Now I’m with you.”

  “Good,” said Tarquin. “So there are no guarantees that it will hold. It’s a chance we’ve just had to take though, isn’t it?” He threw a glance at Tim, who in turn, momentarily locked eyes with Scarlett.

  Scarlett smiled to herself, wondering if they’d had the same thought and if they had, then what did that say about their relationship? Or maybe she’d got it wrong and they’d both had opposing thoughts and were fishing to get a sense of how the other would react. After weighing things up, she felt the latter to be the more likely scenario. He was obviously still unwilling to accept the magic route as a credible alternative.

  From the corner of her eye, she noticed Tabitha looking at him, intrigued, as if she were able to read his thoughts.

  Tarquin sensed the unspoken communication flying around, but didn’t bat an eyelid. He continued to explain about how they performed the spell, and then resumed his place beside Tabitha.