‘Can we have a secret handshake?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ He raised his voice. ‘I told you, Ivy Wilde. If I find out you’ve been using magic, there will be hell to pay. The Order will see to it that you’re kept off the streets for good.’ He jabbed his finger sharply into my chest for good measure and stalked off.

I watched him go while Amy sidled up. She let out a low whistle. ‘Who was that?’

I made a show of looking unhappy. ‘My old partner. He just can’t let it go that I don’t want to be in the Order.’

‘The Hallowed Order of Magical Enlightenment?’

Was there any other? I nodded. ‘Yep. I’m a witch. But I don’t want to be with them.’

Amy’s eyes widened. ‘You’re really a witch? That’s why you’re here on Enchantment! You want a job with Trevor Bellows as a magical consultant.’

Er, no. ‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Sure.’ I warmed to my topic. ‘He’s amazing.’

‘Is he?’ Amy’s nose wrinkled. ‘He knows a lot about magic, I suppose.’

I thought about the strange pentagram drawn on the wall of his trailer. Maybe Bellows did have a smattering of talent after all. I smiled at Amy. ‘I’m going after him,’ I said, pointing to Winter. ‘He needs to butt out of my life.’

‘He’s gorgeous,’ she said. ‘He can butt into mine any time he wants.’ Then she suddenly looked sorry. ‘I didn’t mean that to sound the way it did. It’s not fair to talk about someone like that.’

‘You wouldn’t want him anyway,’ I snapped. ‘He has terrible halitosis. And he’s lazy. Really lazy. Plus, he’s deformed. He has a wooden leg.’

My tone must have been harsher than I thought because Amy looked slightly hurt. ‘Uh, okay then.’

I felt a flash of guilt – but not enough to make her think that Winter was worthy of her attention. ‘I’ll catch you later,’ I muttered. Then I walked off in the same direction as Winter.

Chapter Seven

Winter smelled good. Really good. I hopped up onto the barstool next to him and inhaled deeply. Then I raised my arm and sniffed an armpit. I grimaced. I guessed he’d have to smell good enough for the both of us.

‘Fancy meeting you here,’ I drawled. ‘Do you come here often?’

He threw me an irritated glance but didn’t comment. Other than the barman, this place was empty no doubt because everyone else was still out and about trying to find out what on earth was happening with Enchantment.

I gave up trying to get Winter to smile and got to the point. ‘Things are afoot. I don’t know how much you’ve heard, or how accurate it is, but Trevor Bellows’ trailer is covered in blood. Drenched in it, in fact.’

‘Do we know whose it is?’

‘It’s not human.’

A frown marred Winter’s forehead. ‘That’s not what everyone is saying.’

‘I reckon the lab results will be out by early morning tomorrow. The blood belongs to a sheep.’