A Villain for Christmas (The Holyoake Christmas Series, Book 2)

Additional Character Line-Up

"There's nothing to tell," Billie answered in a low voice. "We were swamped today, and I'm tired... so if you don't mind–"

"Sybil!" Aunt Hazel frowned - and then immediately tapped her forehead between her eyebrows with her perfectly manicured index finger, reminding herself to relax her facial muscles to avoid the 'pesky untimely wrinkles,' quoting the same Aunt. "According to your sister, you were supposed to meet a man today, a man who'd make a difference in your life - and more importantly, in the Harewicke bloodline. So, we need to–"

"Who is he?!" Phee cut in impatiently.

It was endlessly unusual for her to show such lack of deference towards the older Harewickes, but clearly they all thought that the circumstances excused it, since no one protested - and everyone just intently stared at Billie.

"Who is who?" Billie asked.

She'd long mastered the skill of 'playing the daft lassie,' as they called it in Fleckney. Her Aunts exchanged frustrated looks - and all three of them turned to Delia. Phee joined them. Billie thoroughly loathed this silent communication that all her relatives were so proficient at - and she just couldn't get the knack of. Her last hope had died when Phee had learnt the ropes of being a 'proper Harewicke witch' at the age of three.

"The man you met!" Aunt Thelma barked, as usual, the first to lose her patience.

Billie was almost ready to give in and opened her mouth to recollect her woes of the day - but then she remembered who she was dealing with. She'd get no sympathy for eight hours of customer service slavery, nor for trodding through the snow to and from the Hall - and especially not for the shock and anguish of hitting a human being to their head with an antique vase of an approximate value of ninety plus thousand quid!

"I've met plenty of men today," she said, glowering at her relatives. "I'm a shop clerk. We get hundreds of customers every day, since we're a famous tourist location in the three counties. We even get visitors from–"

"Sure, sure, we all know how much you enjoy your little side gig," Aunt Hazel dismissed, with a wave of her elegant hand.

If Billie was a tad more divvy, she'd argue that she absolutely did not enjoy working in a bookshop, and that she'd love to pay her bank loan with potions and prophecies instead - but she knew better now! Her Aunts and Delia had the most consummate skill at twisting her words and interpreting her situation whichever way suited them at any given moment. Phee was too much of an airy-fairy to care.

"There is a possibility that Sybil simply didn't distinguish him among her customers," Aunt Sophia said pensively.

Aunt Sophia was trying to be her usual compassionate - read, patronising - but Billie properly didn't need any further reminders of her inadequacy today. Her head was starting to hurt, and she forcefully rubbed her temple with her thumbs.

"You're pressing on the wrong points again, dear," Aunt Hazel immediately jumped in. "Remember, you need to wrap your other hand around your thumb." She lunged ahead and grabbed Billie's hands. "I've shown it to you so many times! How hard is it–"

"It can wait, Hazel!" Aunt Thelma hissed at her sister. "Let's focus on the important matters."

Hazel nodded and returned on her spot on Billie's swivel chair. Only she could look so stylish and regal sitting on this cheap plastic contraption.

"Did any man stand out today?" Aunt Thelma pressed on, pinning Billie down with a steely gaze.

Well, one did. Three heads above everyone else, Billie thought.

"Not particularly," Billie answered. She needed a better answer, though; she was a rather poor liar, after all. "I had to deal with something related to the bookshop in the Nidhogg Hall, though. And I met Sir Niklas, and we chatted, so–"

"Oh don't be ridiculous!" Aunt Hazel cut her off. "I've done so many readings for Lady Bjornsson. They have two more children intended for them, and her love line is one of the longest and the most prominent I've seen in all my years. She's got a double Venus girdle as well. The man's not going anywhere."

"He also has only one true love in his star charts," Aunt Thelma confirmed.

"And an almost unnatural amount of good fortune, to compensate for his past hardships," Delia added. "Aunt Hazel is right, he's not leaving his wife for you."

"Well, that was harsh," Billie muttered.

"Anyone else?" Aunt Sophia asked.

Billie once again considered fessing up. She was still shaking after the encounter, or maybe from exhaustion of walking through the snowdrifts in the Fleckney Woods; and she'd been scared out of her wits earlier; and she still didn't know whether Sir Niklas would keep his word; and if not, what sort of repercussions she'd face for her bizarre, out-of-character feat with a highly breakable antiquity. And then she weighed the years of her experience with her Aunts and her sisters, against a tiny sliver of hope that she'd see some commiseration - and shook her head.

The women in the room released a collective disappointed sigh - with a note of habitual dissatisfaction with Billie's pathetic self, mixed in. There might have been a tinge of superiority woven into the tone as well.

"I'll go have some tea and read the Book for a bit," Delia said, rising decisively. "Maybe I'll find some clarity. I must have given Sybil too much credit."

"I'll do the charts again," Aunt Thelma said, already from the door.

"I don't know why we all got so excited." Aunt Hazel followed them. "It's Sybbie we're talking about. Maybe Delia's prophecies were meant for someone else. Or had nothing to do with the Man."

"Don't be too harsh on the girl," Aunt Sophia said to her sister. "She's doing her best. It's not easy to interpret her visions. And it's not like she can show them to Sybil, who's less open-minded and receptive than most of our customers."

Now, it was just Sybil and Phee in the room; and Billie threw an impatient side-glance at the youngest Harewicke, mentally urging her to join the others as soon as possible.

Phee scratched the head of the cat that was sleeping on her lap.

"Something did happen, didn't it?" Phee said quietly - and Billie jolted.