He nodded grimly. ‘Okay. I’ll see if I can get hold of the rushes for today and we can use them to get a closer look. There were plenty of cameras pointed at the stage. One of them must have a decent shot of the vial. If we can get a good picture, together with your description, someone back in Oxford is bound to know what she’s keeping so close to her chest.’

‘Why would a fêted celebrity want to raise the dead?’

Winter gave me a long look. ‘Why would anyone?’

Indeed. ‘I should get back. If I’m too long, they’ll send someone after me.’

‘Good,’ he growled. ‘They should be looking after you better. Drink lots of water. If there is anything untoward going on here, that will help to flush it out of your system.’

‘Am I going to be alright?’

‘As far as I can tell.’ He tilted his head. ‘You’ll still be annoying though. And your hair will still do that weird thing where it sticks out at the side like…’

I thumped his arm. ‘You can stop that now.’

Winter grinned briefly before sobering up. ‘I won’t let anything happen to you, Ivy. I promise you that.’

I licked my lips. All of a sudden I felt very hot. It was probably another side-effect. ‘You know,’ I told him, looking serious, ‘if this isn’t poison, and if I really am just tired, then it’s clear that work of any sort is very bad for my health.’

Winter leaned forward and brushed his lips feather-light against my temple. ‘If you say so, darling.’

I pulled back and looked at him. ‘Rafe…’

‘I know.’ The blue depths of his eyes turned a shade darker. ‘We need to have a proper conversation. Not about magic or dead people rising from their graves but about us.’ He licked his lips. ‘This isn’t the time though.’ His hand touched my cheek. ‘You said you liked me.’

‘I do.’ Even with the weariness permeating every bone in my body, it took almost everything I had not to jump on him then and there. He was right though; this really wasn’t the time. ‘When all this is over…’

He nodded. ‘We’ll talk.’

Barry’s voice drifted over from down by the cabin. ‘Ivy? Is everything alright?’

‘It’s fine.’ I offered Winter a crooked smile. ‘I’ll talk to you again soon.’ I held up my pinkie towards him.

He stared at it. ‘Is something wrong with your finger?’

‘Pinkie promise!’

His brow furrowed. ‘Huh?’

‘Never mind.’ I reached up on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. Then a wave of dizziness overtook me and I swayed. ‘I really do need to lie down.’

Winter took my arm and helped me stumble back down the slope. I should have felt rage or worry or something like that. All I felt, however, was brimful of delight.

***

I couldn’t have said with any certainty how long I was out for. When I woke up, birds were already tweeting the dawn chorus and light was streaming in through the cracks in the timber frame of the cabin. Harriet was snoring just as loudly as she had on the boat yesterday and, as far as I could tell, both Mike and Lou were also still out for the count. For a long moment, I revelled in the chance to finally stretch out and doze. Unfortunately the pressure in my bladder wouldn’t permit me to stay in that position for long.