A Dance in Blood Velvet Read Online Free PDF Page B

have panicked , he thought. Should have been more scientific, sent Holly out, tried to communicate. What if...
    Holly came in, interrupting his thoughts. Her normally pert face was stamped with circles of tiredness, her jaw-length dark hair a mess, but still she looked wonderful: a slim beauty in her white silk dressing gown. Their long-haired tabby cat, Sam, was in her arms.
    “Still can’t sleep, darling?” he said. She joined him at the window and stood looking out at her beloved garden. “Cigarette?”
    She shook her head, so he lit one for himself and rolled it between his finger and thumb. Nervous habit.
    “I’ve been thinking,” he said. “The Book made the difference. We’ve proved there’s power in it.”
    Her shoulders tensed under the white silk. She held Sam tighter until he struggled in protest and she had to let him down.
    “Not still upset about it, are you?”
    “I wasn’t upset,” she whispered. “I only wish I’d never seen the damned Book. I knew there was something evil about it.”
    “Oh, evil is subjective!” Ben exclaimed. “Just because something scares the life out of us, that doesn’t make it evil. Simply unknown. Waiting to be investigated.”
    Holly turned to him, her eyes bright with fear. “You’re not planning to try again, Ben.” It was a statement, not a question. “You mustn’t even think of it!”
    Her emotional reaction began to annoy him. She wasn’t saying what he wanted to hear. “But think, Holly; we succeeded! We summoned an entity from the astral realm. Even Lancelyn’s never done that!”
    “But it was horrible.” She shivered. “Hideous.”
    “You couldn’t see it properly.”
    “My eyesight may be poor, but I saw quite enough.”
    “It wasn’t what I expected, that’s true. But fascinating, you must admit.”
    “You have to draw the line at this, Ben. Fascinating, maybe, but dangerous.”
    Growing exasperated, he said, “Time of the month?”
    She glared at him. “What has that to do with anything?”
    “Well, you always get prickly-”
    “Ben, I’m prickly because last night you materialised a thing in our attic that defied description! And you think it’s interesting ?”
    He sighed, breathing out smoke. “I’m sorry, darling. I never meant to alarm you.”
    “Are you going to tell Lancelyn?” she asked sharply.
    For some reason, the prospect was unwelcome. “Yes, yes, I’ll tell him,” he muttered. Holly walked towards the stairs, smoothing her hair. He didn’t want her to go; he wanted to talk, if only she’d calm down. “Where are you going?”
    “To have my bath,” she replied, brisk now. “If Mrs Potter arrives before I’m dressed, would you give her the shopping list?”
    “Yes,” Ben said distractedly. Then, “Holly?”
    She stopped in the doorway. Even angry and tired, she looked charming. “Yes?”
    “You won’t mention it to Lancelyn, will you? I intend to tell him in my own good time.”
    “Of course I won’t,” she said indignantly. “I never speak of such matters without your approval, not even to your brother.”
    Alone again, Ben drew on his cigarette and eyed the Book. Several hundred years old, perhaps a thousand, the volume was beautifully preserved. One of many books Lancelyn had lent him, this volume was exceptional, not least for the strange circumstances in which they’d found it.
    Ben and Lancelyn were trying to translate the text. There were lists of names, apparently some kind of medieval register, pages of scribbled notes in Latinate code, virtually illegible. Hard going. During the experimental summoning, Ben had held certain passages in his mind like photographs, delving for power behind their unknown meaning. And a being from the otherworld had responded.
    I must tell Lancelyn, of course.
    Lancelyn was head of the Order. He should be told, but Ben felt reluctant. He said aloud, “That’s just it. I tell him everything, because he’s the magus and I’m still his apprentice. Eh,