After a few moments of fiddling with settings and Wi-Fi, she synced her phone to the printer and printed off the spells Alex had sent her. They were all long and complicated, and while she had the ingredients for one, she didn’t have them for the others, and the herbs required were unusual. There were plenty of witchcraft shops she could buy supplies from, but that would take time.

Alex had also suggested spells that would reveal hidden writing. A message within a message. One used fire, but the other was far more unusual. Hating herself for doing it, she called him. After exchanging pleasantries and her thanks, she said, “You suggested a spell using Nephilim blood? Where did you find that?”

“I didn’t. It was Avery’s idea.” Estelle rolled her eyes. Of course it bloody was. Alex continued, “She’s good at making new spells, and she thought seeing as Nephilim are the sons of angels, their blood might unlock some secrets. It might not do anything, of course, but well…”

She finished the sentence. “It’s worth trying.”

“I found hidden messages in one of my spells once, unveiled by fire, which is my element. It worked. It was a bit risky, but seeing as you’re dealing with Belial, they might have used the power in his jewellery to hide something. It’s just a thought.”

“It’s a good one, too,” she said. “It might even be why my finding spells aren’t successful.”

“But you should take all precautions. Set up a circle.” He hesitated. “I don’t like the idea of you doing that alone, Estelle. You’re powerful, but Belial is a Fallen Angel. Who knows what weird crap might be wrapped in that manifesto. Can Caspian help?”

She shook her head, though he couldn’t see her. “He’s tied up with the business.”

“We can’t help, either. We’re placing protection spells around a big hole in the farmhouse cellar today. A bunker for jewellery. Zee and Eli want to be prepared for anything.”

She laughed, and the thought of the farmhouse, and Alex’s Cornish accent, made her suddenly homesick. She had an urge to see the Cornish moors, and feel the cool air, and scent the sea. London was exciting, and travelling was fun, but it wasn’t home. She shrugged it off. She had a job to do. “A bunker? I guess it’s wise, all things considered.”

“It is, and you should be careful, too. Ask the Moonfell witches. Don’t do it alone.”

“It had already crossed my mind.”

They chatted for a few more minutes about ways to cast the spells, and potential issues, before ending the call. She walked over to the table where the manifesto was still laid out, and picked a page up, stroking the paper, and trying to discern what, if any, magic could be in it. The more she thought about it, the more foolish it seemed to presume that this was just a manifesto, despite the fact that it felt innocuous enough. The message aside, of course. The call of mad men to invoke more madness should not be taken lightly.

Their day was open so far. She would phone Nahum and get him to call Moonfell, and while he liaised with them, she could try a few spells, study Alex’s spells, and generally prepare herself.

“You,” she said, tapping the manifesto, “will tell us what we want to know, whether you like it or not!”

“Venice? How sure is he?” Gabe asked Harlan on the phone while he paced around the old attic in Amato’s house.

“Very sure. I’ve read his diaries about it. You know JD. He records everything. It’s worth pursuing.”

“I have no doubt about that. I’d chase anything right now.” Gabe gazed out of the dusty windows, not seeing the forest and overgrown grounds, but a palazzo in Venice that might contain secrets of The Consortium. The Brotherhood. “You have an address? A name?”

“The family is called Lamberti. I contacted Romola Flaco yesterday, a friend who works in our Rome office. I had asked her to investigate Amato’s house, so this morning I asked her to look into this place, too. But there’s a problem. The Lamberti family is rich and powerful—she knew the name straight away—and there’s no way that you can approach them directly. Romola will double check the Venetian house to make sure it still belongs to them, and that we are talking about the same family, but she strongly suspects it will be them. Apparently, they have used The Orphic Guild in the past. They like arcane objects.”

“That’s brilliant!” Ash looked over at Gabe’s excited tone. “But will that be an issue? I mean, might Romola warn them of what we want?”

“I damn well hope not! They’re a client, and they pay for our help for individual jobs, and then we move on. Unless Romola is on some kind of retainer. But she shouldn’t be, that’s not how we work.”

“Good. So how long will that take her?”

“A few hours, maybe? She said she’d call you directly. Is that okay? I gave her your number.”

“Sure. She doesn’t know what we are though, right? Either us or Shadow?” Gabe liked to keep the fact that they were paranormal beings as quiet as possible, despite that Romola worked for The Orphic Guild.

“No. Not from me, at least. I doubt Mason will have told them, either.”

“Thanks. I’ll start looking for accommodation there. I think we’ve wrapped up here.” Ash gave him a thumbs up sign. Niel and Shadow had continued to search the grounds.

“There’s nothing else in the house?”

“Nothing useful. It’s abandoned, and has been for decades. It’s dusty, mouldy, and rotten. I can’t help but wonder what happened to make them abandon it.”

“Romola might be able to help there. Of course, even if the Lamberti family had an item of Belial’s jewellery, it doesn’t mean they still have it now. And one more thing. JD thinks he’s close to unlocking the Emerald Tablet.”

“How close?”

“Days, maybe hours.”

Gabe sat on a dusty windowsill, the rotten wood creaking beneath him. “Seriously?” He turned the speaker on and beckoned Ash over.

“Is this a bad idea? I mean, could he unleash some kind of Biblical apocalypse?”

Ash answered him. “If I believed that, I wouldn’t have given him the tablet.”

“But did you actually think he’d unlock its secrets?”

Ash looked uneasily at Gabe, his gold eyes darkening. “Probably not, but we helped him get the disc, and we know he’s resourceful. It was always a possibility. This soon, however…” He trailed off, and Gabe knew exactly what he meant.

They had given the Emerald Tablet to JD thinking it was the safest place for it, and believing it would be decades, maybe even centuries, before he could truly understand it, but now, a deep unease settled over him. However, other hopeful possibilities presented themselves, too. “Harlan, it’s worrying, but it may offer a way to completely negate Belial’s jewels. And anyway, is it likely that you could stop JD?”

“No, but one of you could.”

Gabe shook his head. “No, like we said months ago, too much knowledge has been locked away. I won’t gatekeep it again.”

“But if it’s as dangerous as Raziel’s book?”

“Raziel was an angel who had recorded the world’s first spells that underpin life. Hermes Trismegistus was not an angel.”

“But,” Ash said, “he was thrice Hermes, which meant he was Thoth, too, and Thoth is an Egyptian God.”

“And the tablet,” Harlan pointed out, “is supposed to contain the secrets of life and immortality.”

Gabe sighed, seeing resignation in Ash’s eyes, too. “I think we have to let this play out. For a start, he already knows the secret of immortality. If he opens it, it’s because he’s worthy of the knowledge.”

“That’s what he said.” Gabe could almost hear Harlan’s eyeroll. “Anyway, back to Venice. I can get you a place to stay there. Orphic Guild connections. Do you want me to organise it?”

“Yes, brilliant. Thank you.”

“Will do. Okay, I’ve got to go. I’ll keep you updated.”

Ash sighed as Gabe ended the call. “I am sort of excited by the possibility, you know? The tablet, I mean.”

“Say he does make it bigger. It doesn’t mean he can understand it! That could just be one step of many.”

“True.” Ash walked over to his pack where the map was stored. “Let’s focus on Venice. You know where it is, right?”