Van is sitting at the head of the table, I’m to her left, and Gabriel is sitting opposite me. He and I have been together all day, eating, swimming, sunbathing, and occasionally arguing. Gabriel says that we’re on holiday and that this is what fain holidays are like. We don’t argue about Annalise; she isn’t mentioned again. We do argue about who runs faster (me, by a mile, and yet Gabriel seems to think he wins every race because of some handicap system that applies to fain bodies), swims further underwater (me by fifty meters but yet again the handicap system reveals my failings), climbs faster (there’s a climbing wall in the garden—as in most drug-baron homes, I expect—and this one Gabriel wins before the handicap system comes in; after the handicap is applied I’m relegated to slug speed). We eat a lot and discuss food a lot: whether croissants are better dipped in coffee or hot chocolate, bread with peanut butter or chocolate spread, chips with mayo or ketchup, that sort of thing. I realize how much I’ve missed him. He’s good to be on holiday with but now the games are over.
The dinner is formal, with a lot of crystal and cutlery and candles, though I’m dressed in my old clothes. Van is immaculate in a cream-colored suit and Gabriel is wearing new clothes he found in the house. He and Van make a beautiful pair. Nesbitt is a lot less beautiful and has on the same black clothes he’s always in. He’s both chef and waiter and I have to admit he’s pretty good. In fact, now I think about it, he’s pretty handy at most things: cooking, serving tea, hiding a trail, strangling Hunters. As far as assistants go, Van has the best.
We’ve had soup, then lamb, but no dessert. “I think we’re all sweet enough” is Van’s comment. I snort a laugh.
She turns to me, saying, “I’m serious. Nesbitt told me that you threatened to cut his tongue out but you resisted. I suspect your father wouldn’t have held back.” Van watches Nesbitt walk away with a pile of plates. “Anyway, I’m glad you didn’t do it.” She hesitates and glances at the doorway through which Nesbitt has just exited. “Nesbitt and I are old friends and, much as my life would be infinitely more peaceful should Nesbitt be mute, he’s a lot more useful with a tongue in his head.”
I’m trying to work out their relationship. Van says she and Nesbitt are old friends and she looks like she’s only a few years older than me, but she acts as if she’s older than Nesbitt. They appear to be like a master and servant who’ve been together for decades.
I say, “Nesbitt told me you’re an expert at potions.”
“He’s very generous. And certainly I prefer potions. For example, I would never use anything as crude as a knife to cut a tongue out. Potions are extremely adaptable and more precise than even the sharpest blade. A certain potion dropped on your tongue and you would eat it—your own tongue, I mean.”
“I’ve never heard of that. My gran’s Gift was potions too. She had a strong Gift.”
“I take it you’re referring to your grandmother on the White side of your family?” Van doesn’t wait for me to reply before going on. “Most White Witches know little about the power of Black potions. Potions have infinite uses and strengths. They are, in my humble opinion, the most powerful of weapons.”
“And you’ve used that weapon? Made someone eat their own tongue?”
Van gives the faintest shrug. “I have few enemies; most I have dealt with.”
Nesbitt has returned to clear more plates and bowls and as he piles them up he says, “Tell ’em about the potion for those who don’t repay you.” He grins at me and Gabriel. “I earn my keep, boys. You should think about earning yours.”
“I’m not sure that those details are for the dinner table,” Van says. “Though it is very effective.”
“I think Gabriel has repaid you for your help,” I say to Van.
“Yes. All in all I like to think we have done well by each other. Gabriel is alive and well, and I have half the amulet as he promised. Gabriel has been gracious and helpful: the perfect patient and the perfect guest. And you, Nathan, have your own charms.”
“Yeah?” I can’t believe Van finds anything about me charming. I look at Gabriel, who is grinning, no doubt at the comment about my charms, but I tell Van, “We’ll be leaving tomorrow.”
“That is, of course, entirely up to you.”
“It is.”
“May I inquire as to your plans?”
“You can inquire all you like.”
“I assume that you’re intending to find Mercury and help your friend Annalise escape. A worthy quest for a young man who is blinded by love.” She smiles at me and then turns her smile on Gabriel.
“I’m not blinded by love.”
“No. Of course not,” Van says. “And even so the quest is a worthy one.”
Nesbitt brings coffee and places the pot centrally on the table between us all. Van continues. “It feels rather unfair that I know your plans and you don’t know mine. And I’m nothing if not fair.” She waves at Nesbitt to indicate he can pour the coffee. “I too am on a quest of sorts.”
“To find the other half of the amulet?” I ask.
Van shakes her head slightly. “That is something I hope to do at some stage, yes, but it isn’t my first priority.”
“And what is?”
“Since you left the world of White Witches, Nathan, a lot has happened. The old Council Leader, Gloria Dale, has been ousted. Soul O’Brien used your escape from the Council building to bring about her downfall. No prisoner has ever escaped before and you are the son of Marcus. Your escape was both unprecedented and unforgivable.”
“But I was a prisoner of Soul.” Or at least I think I was.
“It doesn’t matter who took you there or why. The Council guards failed to guard you and the magic protecting the building failed to retain you. The building, the guards, the magic are all the responsibility of the Council Leader. Gloria took the blame and Soul made sure she took it all.”