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‘I look forward to seeing you when you’re feeling better.’

She might as well bite the bullet. ‘Actually, Sylvie, I’m not sure I’ll be able to continue working with you.’

‘Oh, that’s a real shame. We’ve worked so well together and you’ve helped me so much. Are you sure?’

‘Positive.’

‘Can I ask why?’

Amrita took a deep breath, not knowing what to say – how to explain without sounding like she needed a visit from the local mental health team. But then she remembered: Sylvie was Aiden’s mother. She must know.

Another person who had lied to her – withholding the information that could have kept her safe. She had no reason to hold back.

‘It’s because of the m—’ Her voice choked in her throat. She cleared it and tried again. ‘The ma—’ She coughed again, this time feeling her throat tighten as if being squeezed. Panic tingled through her hands and made her stomach roll.

‘Oh dear, are you OK? Sounds like a nasty cold you’ve had.’

‘Something like that.’ Amrita choked out the words while struggling to remember what she was talking about – and trying not to panic. She was as foggy-minded as if she’d had flu. ‘What… um?’

‘You were saying we’re not going to be working together any more.’

Right. Of course she was. ‘I’ll put together a list of other therapists.’

‘Thank you. I’d appreciate that.’ Sylvie sounded sad, but Amrita couldn’t deal with it through the panic that was crawling up her throat.

‘I’ll give it to Mia. Good luck, Sylvie. I know you’ll do great.’

‘Thank you for everything, Amrita.’

‘Bye, Sylvie.’ She hung up and burst into tears, frustration, confusion and fear making her shake. She’d tried to talk to Sylvie about magic – to explain why she didn’t want to continue working with her – but something had stopped her, stealing her voice and clouding her thoughts. But as soon as she hung up the phone, everything flooded back.

It was terrifying.

‘Magic is real. Magic exists.’ The words came more easily, but still didn’t make the sense she needed them to. But when she’d tried to explain things to Sylvie, the words had refused to come.

Jamie’s words came back to her. He’d wanted to tell her. He’d tried to.

She hadn’t understood what he’d meant at the time – or really cared. He’d lied and that had been heartbreaking enough. She’d only known that he’d lied, just like Suraj had. His name still left a bad taste in her mouth, and adrenaline and mild panic running through her veins and fingers. Just his name and memory were enough to trigger the low-level anxiety flooding back as she remembered the arguments, gaslighting and his fervent promises not to do it again… to do better… to be better… then the embarrassment of being left waiting in restaurants, or on the dark street corner while the lift he’d promised never appeared. Money had rinsed through his fingers as easily as promises, leaving trust almost as hard to find as the confidence which he’d wrecked.

Now she understood, it was still heartbreaking, but with an added layer of being terrifying too. Something had infiltrated her life, her home and safe space, and taken control of her. The thought filled her with terror so visceral it made her stomach churn and she raced for the bathroom.

Afterwards, she lay on the bathroom floor, head against the side of the sink, trying to let the cool, calm stillness of the ceramic calm her too. But there wasn’t anything that was really helping.

And how was she even supposed to start dealing with the supernatural?

There was no book or website search she could use – and if she tried to talk to her family about it, they would freak. The. Hell. Out. Just like she was.

She leaned her head on her knees and let the tears flow – hoping they would be enough to empty out the fear, pain and anger as she cried for the ending of the love that had only just started, for the loss of the sense of safety that she thought had been there her whole life.

* * *

‘She’s still not answering.’ Mia sighed and put down her phone.

‘Amrita again?’ Aiden asked, concerned.

‘Yeah.’

‘We can’t really blame her. It was a shock for me, and I’d been given a lot of hints.’ Aiden sighed. ‘And, I think, after working with Ophelia and Rayenne for so long, it seemed… I don’t know… like it explained a lot, for me.’