Thicker Than Water

’ Her stare was cold and stern: she knew me, and she knew how hard it was for me to take no for an answer. She was warning me with her eyes that any subsequent answers would be smackdowns.

But fools rush in, as they say. ‘It kind of already has been,’ I pointed out. ‘Raised, I mean. Can you at least tell me whether you felt this thing?’

‘No.’

‘Or whether you recognised it? Whether it’s something you’ve met before?’

‘No.’

‘But you’re a ghost-breaker,’ I pointed out. ‘This is your living, right? What if I hired you to—’

‘I said no, Castor.

I’m not for hire. If you can handle this yourself, do so. If you can’t, don’t come to me for help or try to pick my brains with one of your stacked games of twenty questions. It will cause friction between us. It could even compromise our friendship.’

Before I could think of a question that wouldn’t sound like it was a question, Susan Book crossed the room and joined us. She put a hand on Juliet’s shoulder: Juliet took it in her own, touched it to her lips and then replaced it.

Susan beamed at me. Being with Juliet had made her blossom: turned her from a shy, conflicted little mouse with a self-effacing stammer and a tendency to blame herself for other people’s failings into a woman with confidence and quiet charisma. Sex is magic, and she was tapped into the wellspring. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t envy her that.

But in case the point needed to be made, that unobtrusive little kiss on the back of the hand reminded me that there was a lot more to this relationship now than sex.

Susan loved Juliet, wholly and desperately and unquestioningly. And Juliet - felt something too. Something that made her protective and a little possessive and occasionally exasperated when Susan wouldn’t do as she was told or see things as they obviously were. Might as well call that love, too: it had a lot of the hallmarks.

‘Hi, Felix,’ Susan said. ‘Are you going to come along with us to the Martin Amis thing?’

‘And be lectured about how Muslims ought to smack their kids more? Nah,’ I said.

‘No, thanks. You crazy kids go and enjoy yourselves.’

I stood up, trying not to let my consternation and annoyance show on my face. Juliet had warned me once before this - about a year before, if memory served - that certain subjects would always be taboo between us. Heaven and Hell were on the list, and so was God, and so were her own nature and origins.