He waved her reassurances away. “Consider yourself invited. You’re family now! I mean, you’re carrying a little Nahum package, and they’re all going to be uncles! I consider myself one, too—for the record!”

Nahum spat his pint out, showering his thankfully empty plate with beer.

Zee threw his head back and roared with laughter. “A Nahum package! Oh, that’s priceless.” He caught Olivia’s eye, tried to stop laughing, and failed. “Sorry, but it is.”

The whole table was laughing now, but Avery squeezed Olivia’s arm. “So sorry. Reuben’s mouth runs away with him sometimes.”

Despite her blushes, Olivia laughed. “It’s fine. It is a Nahum package. Mine too, though.”

Reuben, clearly enjoying himself now, and with a big twinkle in his eye, suggested, “You should have a joint name. Like celebrities do. For example, me and El could be Reuspeth, or Elben. I think Reuspeth is better. Avery and Alex would either have to be Avex, which sounds like a car rental company, or Alery, and that’s not much better. You two, though, could be Navia. Or Olivum.” He grimaced. “Olivum sounds gross. Navia, however, is great! You could name your daughter Navia!”

Nahum was still struggling to get his breath after almost choking, his face flushed. He glared at Reuben, who ignored him completely.

Olivia tried to remain composed. “I don’t think we’ve decided anything yet, but obviously we will consider it carefully!” What she didn’t say was that mashed names denoted a couple, and that was one thing she and Nahum were not. She focussed only on the baby’s name. “But thank you for the interesting suggestion! And the invitation, of course. I must admit, I do love a good wedding, as long as I’m not intruding.” And by that she meant on Nahum’s friendships. He might not want her there. She would discuss it with him later, and if he looked like he hated the idea, she would back out.

“Anytime. I’ll send you an official invitation. Or I could just add a plus one to Nahum’s invite.” He cocked an eyebrow, amused, and now she knew he was shit-stirring, and so did Nahum, who looked ready to throw something at him.

“Perhaps,” Nahum said, finally finding his voice, and shooting an apologetic glance at Olivia, “we should talk about our issues with Belial.”

“Excellent idea,” Alex agreed.

Reuben smirked. “If you insist.”

“I do.”

The conversation turned to Alex’s theory about Shadow being impervious to Belial’s power, and how to use that to their advantage. Olivia breathed easier. With no idea how their relationship was going to progress, the subject always felt awkward with others. Never when they were alone, though. Well, not once they had got past their initial awkwardness, at least.

Avery, however, the pretty red-haired witch who sat next to her, had other things to talk about, and she lowered her voice. “Sorry, Olivia, Reuben is a dreadful tease, and I hope he didn’t embarrass you. I could hex him sometimes.”

“No, of course not. It’s a weird situation, isn’t it? I can’t deny it.” She glanced around the table, relieved that no one was listening to them. “I’m sure everyone is wondering what will happen with us, but the truth is, I don’t know. Other than of course being parents, and we’ll make it work. Somehow.”

“Of course you don’t know. It just happened, as some things do. I’m a big believer in fate though, especially after our tangle with Wyrd last year. You two, and your baby, were clearly meant to be. Of course, it’s impossible to say what will happen in the long-term, but you know,” she hesitated and then rushed on anyway, “he watches you. In a nice way, obviously. And discreetly, of course. I think that says a lot.”

“Like what the hell have I done, and how do I get myself out of this mess?”

“No! Like how do I make this thing work without scaring you off? Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything, because I’m interfering, but well…” Avery smiled. “I thought you should know. The men won’t say anything. Maybe Zee would, but they wouldn’t want to interfere directly. Reuben—obviously—is a massive tease. I, on the other hand…”

Olivia laughed, still feeling awkward, but she knew Avery meant it for the best. “Well, thank you, I’ll bear that in mind.”

Avery pulled back, leaving her to her thoughts, and Olivia was relieved when her phone rang. Harlan. She excused herself from the table.

“Hiya. Is everything okay?”

“No! Yes. I have news, Liv! Big news, and if possible, I need Nahum’s help.”

Twelve

Jackson studied the group of people gathered in Chadwick House’s study, wondering how best to manage all the information they had to follow up. Initially they had struggled for leads, and now it seemed they had too many.

It was Sunday evening, and Nahum and Olivia had returned from Cornwall, Harlan from Mortlake with what was, quite honestly, shocking news, and Barak, Estelle, and Lucien, had cracked the manifesto at Moonfell. Sort of. All of them looked tense, not surprisingly. It was too much. However, they needed a plan, and they needed to stop arguing. Right now, Nahum and Barak were standing by one of the bookcases, locked in fierce debate as what to tackle first. Harlan and Olivia were in chairs by the fire, chatting quietly. Estelle and Lucien were seated at the table with Jackson, its surface covered with notes.

“Clearly,” Jackson interjected, trying to calm Nahum and Barak down, “we must split things up between us, which includes the others in Italy, and Maggie, too.”

“Which means,” Harlan said, breaking off his conversation with Olivia, “telling her about the tablet. Is that wise?”

“I trust her! Don’t you?”

“Sure, but it’s the tablet! It’s huge news!”

“So is Belial,” Lucien pointed out, “and we trust her with that. She is the lead detective of the Paranormal Policing Unit.”

“Plus,” Jackson said, “we don’t know what effect that tablet may have on things in general. It could carry paranormal repercussions. She needs to know, which is why I have invited her tonight. She’ll be here soon.”

“I have no problem with that,” Nahum said, shrugging. “She’s always helped us in the past. Like making sure we don’t end up with criminal records, despite the body count.”

“Good.” Jackson massaged his temple. Keeping secrets was his job, but keeping them from his friends who could provide valuable help was annoying. He was tired of monitoring his conversations as to who knew what. “I suggest you get her up to speed, Harlan, when she arrives.”

“Sure, will do. It will be a relief, actually.”

“Well,” Barak said, taking a seat at the table, “we must go to the British Museum tomorrow. That cannot be avoided. We have to sign the paperwork, and I want to see that treasure! We were holed up in France at the time.”

“I want to see it, too,” Estelle added. “It’s not like we’re wasting time. It’ll be over by midday.”

Jackson gestured to Harlan, Olivia, and Nahum. “You three are going, too?”

Nahum nodded. “After that, I will happily go to JD’s place with Liv to see the Emerald Tablet that is now a cave.” He stared at Harlan. “You’re not winding us up, are you?”

“No! It really is a giant, emerald cave. I would never kid you about that!”

“Which means that we,” Estelle said, including Barak and Lucien in that, “can focus on what we saw in the spell at Moonfell.”

They had already updated all of those present with the images the spell had lifted from the manifesto. Jackson wished he’d been there to witness it. Everyone now took a seat at the table in the centre of the room, keen to formalise their plans.

Olivia tapped the loose papers covered in scrawled names. “These were in that spell?”

Lucien nodded. “Yes. The letters lifted off the page, rearranged themselves, and made the names. They just hung in the air! But it was too fast to catch all of them. We missed some.”

“We missed a lot,” Barak virtually growled. “There were dozens of them. Maybe hundreds.”

“But potentially,” Harlan pointed out, “that could be a list that has accumulated over decades. Centuries, even. They could be dead by now.”

“Not if they’re directly related to the manifesto we found. It’s only a few decades old. Jacobsen’s signature was on it.”

Estelle drummed her fingers on the table. “That’s an interesting suggestion, Harlan. The parchment and the ink are old and imbued with angelic magic. Odette said so, and I don’t doubt her. One of the images showed piles of parchment on a desk, and scrolls stacked on shelves. Therefore, any individuals that contributed to their making, storage, or anything else, were probably part of The Brotherhood years ago, and could well be dead now. The spell pulled up everyone’s names.”

“It’s a fair point, Estelle, but we shouldn’t assume,” Jackson mused. “Any names you recognise?”

“Amato’s, but that’s all,” Barak said.