‘What made you check?’ he asked. ‘About what name he’d registered under at the hotel?’
I ignored the angry gesture from the motorcyclist in the lane next to me as I overtook him and answered. ‘It was always too easy. It’s been niggling away at me that we know how clever Blackbeard is. We know what he’s achieved so far. Would he really allow himself to be surrounded by both police and witches?’ The heavy weight that had settled across my shoulders when I hung up on Tarquin increased. ‘I should have thought of it earlier. I should have asked about it earlier.’
‘Less than twenty-four hours ago, you were lying unconscious on the floor of a pet crematorium. Not to mention the fact that you’re still recovering from Scotland.’
‘I can’t use either of those as an excuse.’
Winter looked at me sternly. ‘This is not a one-man band, Ivy. It’s not even a duet. There are hundreds of people involved in this operation. It’s not your fault if we all believed he was in Uffington.’
I bit my lip. ‘It feels like it is.’
The taxi’s dashboard flashed an orange warning light. Arse. ‘We need petrol,’ I hissed in irritation.
‘There’s a service station coming up. Don’t worry,’ Winter said. ‘We’re getting closer to Oxford. We’ll be there soon.’
‘Let’s just hope it’ll be soon enough.’
The song still chiming out of Winter’s phone came to an abrupt halt and the recorded voice broke in again. ‘Your call is very important to us. You are now number fourteen in the queue.’
My knuckles turned white around the steering wheel. Throwing the phone out of the window would really not be helpful right now.
I slowed down, indicating left to pull off the motorway. At least the service station wasn’t too busy and there wasn’t a queue at the fuel pumps. As soon as I stopped the taxi, I leapt out to fill it up. There were still another sixty miles to go until we reached Oxford and the Order Headquarters. It was barely midday on a Sunday; the roads would be quiet. But we had no idea what Blackbeard was planning, or when he was going to try and pull it off.
From the other side of the forecourt, a man in top hat and tails raised a hand in greeting. I rolled my eyes and pretended not to see him I really didn’t have time for another damn ghost, not right now. They could have my full attention, such as it was, when Blackbeard was out of the way. Until then, they’d have to wait.
‘Coooeeee!’
I stared at the pump, willing the numbers to move faster and for my tank to fill just that little bit quicker. Another twenty seconds and we’d be ready to go again. Come on. Come on.
‘You’re Ivy, right?’
Tralalalalala. The petrol finally stopped flowing. I hastily re-hooked the hose and put the taxi’s fuel cap back on.
‘Hello?’
I can’t hear you. I reached into my back pocket to pull out my purse to pay and strode towards the main booth.
‘Clare Rees asked me to find you.’
Arse. I halted abruptly, causing the person behind me to smack into my back. I turned and glared at her, as if it were her fault that we’d collided, then looked at the ghost. ‘Is there a problem?’
‘No, no!’ he trilled. ‘Quite the opposite, in fact.’
I gritted my teeth. If Clare had sent a fellow phantom here simply to say hello, I’d kill her whether she was a ghost already or not. ‘Then, why,’ I asked, ‘are you here?’
‘Well,’ he said, flipping his white silk scarf over his shoulder and considering the question, ‘I’m not entirely sure. I must say, I’m very glad to be here though. I perished on the Titanic so I could have ended up either in New York or here.’ He shuddered. ‘Or at the bottom of the ocean. Can you imagine having to haunt a bunch of fish for the rest of eternity?’
I stared at him then I began to turn away. Sod this malarkey.
‘Oh,’ he said. ‘You mean here as in this place. Whatever it is. I’m looking for you because Clare Rees wants you to know that the rest of her coven have appeared.’
I spun back round then immediately regretted it as I almost toppled over. I definitely needed a holiday to regain my equilibrium. I’d had three days’ hard graft. That was more than enough for this month. Or this year.
‘Ivy!’ Winter called from the car. He tapped his watch and I nodded to show I understood.
‘Give me a minute. Can you pay for the petrol? I need to talk to this guy.’ I gestured at the overdressed spectre.
Unfortunately, a man who was most definitely not dead – but who looked like he had the sort of hangover that made you wish you were dead – passed in front of me and frowned blearily. ‘What? Were you at Jill’s party? Because what happened with that bush wasn’t my fault.’
‘I wasn’t talking to you,’ I said.
He glanced over his shoulder. There was no one there apart from Mr Titanic who, of course, my new acquaintance couldn’t see.
I rolled my eyes. ‘Just piss off.’ Politeness was all very well when you didn’t have dead people and mass murderers and potential Order destruction on your plate at the same time. I could see him thinking about retorting but in the end the hangover won out and he continued on his way. It was probably just as well.
I returned my full attention to the ghost. ‘Where are they?’ I asked. ‘Where are the other coven members?’
‘Visiting their families, I believe.’ He sniffed. ‘The newly dead often find it hard to let go when they realise they’re no longer physically viable.’
‘I meant where are their remains?’
His eyebrows lifted. ‘Oh yes. Apparently I’m to tell you that they’re in a hotel room in a place called Uffington. There’s a lot of activity going on outside. Something to do with magic? Or police?’ He shrugged. ‘I don’t really know.’
My stomach sank. ‘Is that it?’
‘Yes.’
‘Thank you.’
He bowed. ‘It was my pleasure, my dear. Toodle pip.’ He vanished.
I returned to the car at the same time as Winter. ‘All paid,’ he said. ‘Was that another ghost?’
I nodded grimly and told him what Mr Titanic had said. Winter’s expression grew even bleaker while his blue eyes darkened. ‘It’s confirmed then. They wouldn’t have appeared if Blackbeard was in the vicinity. His null nature would have prevented it. He’s definitely not in Uffington but he wants us to think he is.’
I turned on the engine. I thought I’d been driving too fast before; that was nothing compared to what I was about to do.
***
I half expected to arrive at the Order headquarters and find a scene of bloody carnage. We’d kept the radio on as we drove on the off-chance that a breaking news bulletin would tell us everything we didn’t want to know, but there was nothing. Abandoning all sense of propriety or sanity, I abandoned the taxi in the middle of the road and jumped out.