Westerham Witches and a Venetian Vendetta by Dionne Lister (top rated books of all time TXT) 📕

of the water pushing against it, making it rock, would take a lot of power to quell. Damn it. He couldn’t give me his hand because he was holding the dock so the boat didn’t float away since he’d already untied it. I stared at the ebony sky and took a deep breath. Here went nothing. I tried to step down but had to do a little jump because the boat was so much lower than the dock. I landed with a thud, and the boat wavered underneath us, pitching me forward towards the water.

Crap.

My hands shot out in front of me. Will grabbed the back of my T-shirt. I jerked backwards, and as I hit him, he fell onto the bench seat, his arms snaking around me, securing me safely on his lap. He laughed. “I should’ve known you’d almost fall in. You owe me one.”

“Well, if it wouldn’t have used so much power to keep the boat steady, I would’ve done it myself.”

“Huh?”

“I figured that’s why you refused to do it.”

He smirked. “I could have, but I chose not to.”

My mouth dropped open. “You did it on purpose, hoping I’d go flying?” Anger funnelled up from the depths of my body. I didn’t know whether to punch him or bide my time and push him in later.

“Something like that. Also, remember when I said when you least expect it to expect it?”

“This is payback for the anchovies?”

“Yep. Be thankful I didn’t let you fall in. I really, really hate anchovies.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Big baby.” I slid off his lap and carefully sat next to him. He chuckled as we drifted away from the wharf; then he started the outboard motor. I cringed at the noise and stared back at the building next to the wharf. Hopefully no one was watching, ready to come after us. After we’d made it another minute with no movement on the shore, I sucked in a deep breath. So far so good. But I’d have to give the universe a chance to stuff us up. Sigh.

As we motored across the lagoon, salty air whipped past my face, cooling me down. The distinct odour of Venice—briny with a generous dollop of sewerage—was unmistakable. We didn’t say much on the way. Will’s jaw was set as he steered in the dark—there were buoy markers to navigate by, but it wasn’t like he did this every day. I ruminated over what we should do next if both the factory and Lorenzo’s apartment turned up nothing. I chewed my nail, and my leg bounced up and down. Gah, stop thinking. I was pretty sure my death grip on the seat was going to give me hand cramps. I needed to relax and not use all my energy before we even got there.

Finally we reached Murano. He pulled in at the same wharf we’d been on yesterday. Was it only yesterday? It felt as if we’d been looking for Angelica for weeks. Time… the construct that was always against us—if we needed it to slow down, it went faster, and during the times we wished it would go faster, it slowed down. Totally disagreeable if you asked me.

Will tied the boat up and stepped out, giving me a hand up onto the wharf. At least we’d done it sans drama this time. I checked my no-notice was still activated. The path was void of anyone else, but nerves still churned my stomach. Lights shone from buildings where people probably lived, and it looked as if there was a small restaurant on the other side of the narrow canal. Fingers crossed no one lived above any of the factories near Lorenzo’s place.

Will wasted no time and hurried towards the factory. I had to jog to keep up. He made a BOS. “Once we’re there, I’ll disable the alarm and cameras. Until I give you the nod, you need to stand guard outside and keep facing away from the wall. We don’t want our faces on camera. I’ll chuck on a balaclava before I go in.”

“Okay.” My scalp itched—from the humidity or fear, I didn’t know. I wasn’t going to argue with anything right now. I just wanted to get in and out.

We reached the factory wall. I made sure I stayed a few metres from it and turned my back. As Will broke in, I slid my phone from my pocket and brought up the camera app—better I was occupied than freaking out. If I didn’t keep myself together, I’d be in a foetal position on the ground in no time. Come on, Lily. You’ve been in way more dangerous situations. Worst comes to worst, you magic back to the hotel reception room or home. Surprisingly, that thought took the edge off my fear. No one was about to kill us…. But then again, they’d managed to take Angelica by surprise. Gah!

Once the camera app was ready, I kept an eye on the path and my ears strained. I couldn’t look for people coming the other way because then my face would be visible to the camera. I bit my fingernail. How long was Will going to take? I checked my phone again. A minute had passed. At least no alarm had gone off.

A seagull cawed loudly in the distance, and I jumped. Seriously? I tried to slow my sawing breaths. I so wasn’t cut out for this kind of stuff. Give me a face-off any day compared to sneaking around.

Tick, tick, tick. Bite, bite, bite. At this rate, I’d have no fingernails left by the time we got back on the boat.

Two minutes.

A hand landed gently on my shoulder. I slammed my hand over my mouth and tried not to scream.

“Hey, it’s just me.”

I spun around. “I know that… I mean, I figured once I’d survived another shock. Sneaking up on me isn’t the answer to all life’s problems, you know.”

He chuckled. “I didn’t think it was.”

“You scare me enough that I’m beginning to wonder. You know