From out of nowhere a woman appeared and Winter’s body tensed.

She brandished a shotgun in his direction. ‘Get out of my house.’ She raised the muzzle.

Winter’s hand snapped forward and he yanked the weapon out of her grasp. ‘Where is she?’ he demanded. ‘Where is Ivy Wilde?’

The woman’s eyes were as wide as saucers. ‘I don’t know who you mean,’ she stammered. ‘No one lives here by that name. It’s just me, my husband and our two boys – Alistair and Gareth.’

Gareth. Winter hissed through his teeth. ‘Where is he? Where is Gareth?’ He took a step towards her.

The woman obviously felt threatened because she stepped back and he could see her trembling. ‘He went out after a sheep. It got lost. A woman came round looking for him. Blonde with crazy hair and crazier eyes. She…’ Her voice faltered slightly at Winter’s look. ‘She went after him. She said he was a good friend of hers.’

‘Where’s your husband?’

She swallowed. ‘In the pub.’

‘And your other son? Alistair?’

‘I … I … don’t know. Out with his pals, maybe.’

Winter’s fists clenched. ‘And where exactly did Gareth go to find the sheep?’

‘I don’t know that either! I…’

He spun round, abandoning her to return to his bike. Ivy wasn’t here. His next stop had to be Dead Man’s Hill. With his fear increasing, he ignored the woman who had altered her course of stuttering fear to one of rage.

‘You bastard! Coming into my house and threatening me! I’ll have the police on you! My son can do magic, you know. He’ll hurt you for what you’ve just done! He’ll turn your insides out!’

Winter revved the engine and took off without once glancing back.

***

He was still a long way from the cemetery and the hill behind it when he saw the lights. As far as he could tell, they were man-made and nothing to do with magic. All the same, he continued to gun the engine. What the hell was Ivy thinking? What was really going on? Winter pressed down on the accelerator. He’d ask questions later.

The moment he reached the entrance to the graveyard, he flung down the bike. Its wheels were still spinning when he took off in the direction of the lights. There were shouts and screams, each one sending a bloodcurdling chill down his spine. Then he saw Ivy, suspended in the air above a small group of people, her face contorted in an expression of pain and horror.

No.

Winter ran forward, his hands raised. In quick succession he threw out every single protection rune he could think of. Each one bounced uselessly off Ivy’s body. Her mouth opened as if in a scream and her body began to shake violently.

Winter sped past a kid, who was pulling himself up from the ground with a dazed expression, and headed directly to her. Her eyes moved to him and for the briefest moment she seemed to relax. Her lips formed three unmistakable words that made his heart stop. Then the life seemed to go out of her, like someone had flipped a switch.