19
Two days later, and I had my gateway straight into the heart of Merlin’s grove all set up. Ophelia had constructed one for me in my own room, with a silver-shimmering pentagram drawn onto the floor by her own hand.
‘Oooh,’ I’d said, enthralled. ‘What does the star do?’
‘Shows you where it is,’ Ophelia had answered as she straightened. ‘So you don’t wander onto it by mistake.’
‘…Right.’
I hadn’t yet used it, except once to test that it worked. My apprenticeship would be confined to Tuesdays, except when I was out on assignment. We’re beginning next week.
After Ophelia left, my apprehensions reached such a height that I spent a full thirty-six hours out in the unicorn glade with Addie. Human doubts and fears don’t strike you the same way when you have hooves, a horn and a tail. I re
