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“Probably ran out of money,” I guessed. “Let me guess, you took advantage of the situation and decided to have a little chat?”

“You know perfectly well I’m a lousy mentor,” Sabrina parried my question and stared out the window again.

“Well, what’s the matter then?” I persisted. I was genuinely curious about what might have happened to bring about such colossal changes in Eric and his sister.

“Some Mr. Murphy called him,” Sabrina said casually and glanced at me intently, apparently awaiting some extraordinary reaction.

Paradoxically, her expectations were fully met. I gripped the steering wheel and clenched my teeth to stop a string of curses ready to come out of my mouth. Great.

Now the picture was becoming clearer. Mr. Murphy – one of Grandpa’s old friends and, by the way, the man who had made sure that all reports about the De Manshand witches, and witches in general, ended up directly in his hands.

“And…?” I tried to sound as casual as possible, vaguely imagining what Eric might have said, or rather, shouted at Mr. Murphy.

“Eric looked at me in horror, and when he hung up, he grabbed his head so hard I was afraid he would pull out his hair. Then he sat down on the floor and stopped showing signs of life.”

The girl fell silent, took a deep breath, and returned to look out the window. I rummaged in my pocket for cigarettes, lit one, and tried to steady my nerves. What if Eric had let something slip in a moment of folly? That could explain Sabrina’s change in behavior and…

“You smoke too much, ” Sabrina said out of the blue.

“What?” the tone of her voice made me stop mulling over Eric and look at her.

“I said you smoke too much. It’s harmful. Not that I’m against cigarettes, it’s just that one day it might end badly.”

“Oh, come on, Sabi! Since when do you care about my health?” I interrupted irritably.

“I don’t wish death upon anyone, even such a sweetheart as you,” Sabrina smiled venomously and deliberately turned away from me. Judging by the tension in the air after her words, she was doing her best to hold back and refrain from saying any more venomous “compliments” to me. And to avoid saying something I myself might regret later, I tried to focus on the upcoming conversation with her wayward brother.