Cat and Ghost

Chapter 6

Edwin didn't want to be jealous.

Crystal had grown on him. He'd confessed his feelings to Charles. He'd opened himself up in ways he never thought he'd be able to. He'd lived with the reality that Charles didn't return his affections in the same way for a long time. The confession was more to clear the air than it was to change things between them.

That didn't mean Edwin could banish how it made him feel to see Crystal and Charles close.

They'd spent most of the day poring over books. Crystal and Charles had taken the more straightforward research, while Edwin dedicated himself to the task of breaking the tether by alchemical means. It was an alchemical process that had created it, so it served to reason that would also be the solution.

Alchemical work meant Edwin was in his study and the others were in the office proper. Every now and again, he peeked through the door to watch them talk quietly to one another and make each other laugh. Eventually, he decided to remove the distraction and closed the door.

About an hour later, there was a knock on his door.

"Come in," said Edwin without looking up from his book of alchemical formulations.

Charles opened up the door rather than phasing through it. He could see Crystal moving around in the background. "Hey. Crystal's hungry. And I figure we need to know who might be close enough to April to have access to her flat. I'm going to go with her while she has a bite, then we're going to check in on April. She's been hanging about at the shoe shop and her school to see if she could overhear anything."

"Have you made any progress with research on the hix?" asked Edwin in a detached tone that was partially deliberate, but in part because his mind had been deep in the concocting of potions when he'd been interrupted.

Charles gripped the side of the doorway and rocked back and forth. "Yeah," he motioned back out of the door.

Crystal appeared with a pad and a book. She sat both down on the desk by Edwin. "Notes on what other texts said, cross-referenced with this one. It has several pages dedicated to the hix. There's some contradictions with other sources. Annoyingly, the bits that are contradicting themselves are how to kill the damned thing. Some sources say breaking the tether will make it promptly starve. Others say that will just make it desperate and angry and it will try to eat anyone it can get its hands on."

Edwin looked at the pages of notes in neat handwriting, annotated with references and page numbers. He then looked up at Crystal. "Excellent work. I'm shocked and impressed. We'll make a proper supernatural detective out of you."

Crystal smiled and rocked on her heels. "Look at you. You big softie."

Edwin rolled his eyes. "Don't make me regret my praise. Being able to research and annotate your sources is an essential skill, but it isn't difficult."

"Annnnd he's back again," said Crystal with an affectionate eye roll. "Come on, Charles. I'm about to chew my own arm off."

"Are you em, are you certain you wouldn't like me to come along?" asked Edwin.

Charles paused and turned back. "Naw, mate. You've got important things to do. Finding the hix won't mean nothing if we don't know how to fight it or break the tether. Besides, this next part involves talking with people. Me and her are better at that than you are, admit it."

Edwin knew that would be Charles' response. But he also knew that his friend wanted some time with Crystal. "All right. Report back as soon as you can."

Charles gave him a cheeky wink. "We've got this. It's in the bag." And then he turned to leave.

—

For the first half an hour after he was left to his own devices, Edwin lost himself to the work at hand. He pored over the research Crystal and Charles had completed and compared it against a few other sources. Once the knowledge was in his spectral brain, he let it percolate.