PROBLEM - Anthony Lockwood

CHAPTER SIXTY

~

lx

in which we go to emo diagon alley

~

AN AWKWARD SILENCE filled the room as the group sat there, watching the sirens and lights go away as DEPRAC left the street, leaving the night quiet and eerie.

Alice kept her eyes off of Lockwood.

She didn't want to look at him, all bothered and nervous. With his blazer off. His shoulders looked broad in his dress shirt and she was very desperately wanting to press her lips to his again.

Three times, he had kissed her now.

What the bloody hell did it mean?

Alice avoided his gaze, utterly conflicted. She let her eyes stray to outside the door of the parlour and into the hallway, where Carver's death glow shone.

Seven. Not one. He had said. Come with me.

To the Other Side.

Alice stood abruptly, grabbing her cloak and clasping it on. "Onyx." she called. "Onyx!"

What she had hoped to be an incredibly dangerous demon familiar had ended up becoming an incredibly lazy cat. Alice didn't want to tap deep into familiar magic just yet, though. She was happy with Onyx being a lazy cat instead of a twisted demon for now.

The black cat meowed harshly, coming into view from what seemed like thin air. "I'm going out," she declared.

Lockwood looked up, "You can't go anywhere alone after all of this bullshit."

Alice smiled at him, "Don't worry, love. I won't be alone." Her eyes fell on George, sitting and staring into the darkness, as if transfixed. "George is coming with me."

George looked up, "George is doing what?"

"George is getting up and coming with me," Alice demanded, she grabbed his coat, slipping on her shoes and throwing the coat at him.

George caught it, "I don't think this is a good idea. Where are we going?"

"Alice?" Lucy inquired.

Alice shot Lucy a look, "I'm sorry guys, but I have a lead that I want to follow up on and George is the only one who'll be of help. No offence."

Lockwood clenched his jaw, grabbing her hand, "Be careful. Be back before dawn."

Alice smiled, "I thought you said you weren't a worrier, Anthony."

Lockwood chuckled, bringing a hand up to nervously itch the back of his neck. "I'm not."

"Good." Alice squeezed his hand in goodbye, shooting Lucy one last smile and then grabbed George and dragged him outside, letting Onyx come out with her.

"Where are we going?" George inquired, shuffling nervously after her.

The smile fell from Alice's face, "The, uh, the Witch Corner." She straightened her dress, not meeting George's gaze. "Since you know what I am, and you're a researcher - I figured we'd ask around there about the bone glass."

"Oh okay," George replied. He pursed his lips for a moment, walking in relative silence alongside Alice and her cat. "Um, Alice. How come you're calling Lockwood by his first name?"

Alice avoided his gaze, but George could have sworn he saw her blush in the dim street lighting.

"He just told me to," Alice told him, "The night we cleared Bickerstaff's grave."