by Helen Harper
‘Ta da!’ Taylor stood up and cricked his neck. He checked his watch and gave Lexie a cheesy grin. ‘And in record time, I might add.’
‘Yeah, yeah. Is there anything useful inside?’
Speck knelt down and rummaged through the contents. ‘Deeds to some land up north. Some cash, a few bearer bonds and stock certificates…’ He whistled. ‘This Bull guy really is loaded, you know.’
‘Leave the money,’ I instructed.
‘Aw, Tegs…’
‘It’s not what we’re here for. Is there anything about the wedding? Anything about Aifric?’
Speck rifled some more. ‘Not that I can see.’
‘Shite. Are you sure? Because—’
Bob piped up. ‘I think I should tell you guys that we’re about to be interrupted.’
We all swung our heads towards him. Bob held up his hands. ‘I can feel the Bull’s presence. Ommmmmm…’
Double shite. ‘Everyone out. Now!’
They didn’t need telling twice. Lexie wrenched open the door, darting out and away with the others hot on her heels. I went to join them but realised at the last moment that the sodding safe was gaping open. Gritting my teeth, I dashed back and tried to slam it shut. A piece of paper jammed in the opening. Feeling my pulse speed up, I fumbled to yank it free and toss it back inside so I could close the safe door. It was lucky that the Bull was a messy boy or he’d immediately have realised someone had been going through his papers.
I got back to my feet. Making a hasty and knowingly foolish decision, I grabbed the photo frame off the desk and ran for the door but it was too late. The Bull was only steps away.
I pulled back inside. There had to be somewhere to hide. Behind the curtains perhaps? They were too flimsy. Under the desk? No, that was stupid. I could wedge myself between the bookshelf and the wall. I leapt towards the gap just as the Bull’s shadow fell into the room. Too late.
The Bull stared at the open study door, his expression thunderous. Then his eyes landed on me, catching me red-handed in the middle of his room. So much for my supposed death. Oh well.
Chapter Four
The Bull’s expression immediately changed from anger to what I could only describe as terror. ‘Integrity Adair,’ he breathed. He snapped his arm upwards.
Convinced he was going to attack, I did the first thing I could think of: I reached inside myself for the Gift I’d stolen from the retching Sidhe at the border and drew on it, desperately hoping it would be something I could use to defend myself. Magic flashed through me but, instead of anything useful, the photo frame in my hands suddenly felt heavier. I glanced at it; it had turned into gleaming gold. My heart sank. A useful Gift in most circumstances but not in these ones.
‘Don’t, Cul-chain’ I commanded, using his true name to compel him. I really should have done that at the start.
His arm dropped to his side like a heavy weight. ‘B‒b‒begone, spirit,’ he stammered.
I blinked. Eh?
‘I cast you out,’ he intoned, his voice still shaking. ‘I cast you out!’
I tucked the frame into my waistband and relaxed. So the Bull was superstitious. Brilliant. ‘That’s not going to work, Cul-chain.’ I hummed, trying to make my voice sound mysterious and ghostly. ‘I’m haunting you for a reason.’ I suppressed the temptation to add a woooo for effect.
‘It’s not my fault you died! I didn’t know Aifric was going to kill you!’
The Gift I’d stolen from Kirsty Kincaid buzzed in my veins. ‘You’re lying. I can see everything and I know the truth.’
He dropped to his knees. ‘I’m sorry.’ He covered his face with his hands. ‘I’m so sorry.’
Pathetic. I folded my arms across my chest and tilted my head. ‘You have been getting yourself into trouble, haven’t you?’ He murmured something. ‘Take your hands away from your face and say that again.’
‘Go ahead,’ he said miserably, lifting his face. ‘Go ahead and curse me. I deserve it. And you can’t do anything worse to me than what’s already been done. Why do you think I’m awake at three o’clock in the morning?’ His eyes turned baleful. ‘Did you murder my daughter?’
Er… I cleared my throat. ‘She is beyond your reach now.’
He choked out a sob. ‘Tipsy. My Tipsy…’
‘You know she’s gone and yet you persist with this wedding,’ I said, watching him closely.
‘It’s not me who wants it to go ahead!’ the Bull babbled. ‘The Steward will kill me when she doesn’t show up! Do you think I want to die?’
I stepped forward. ‘Do you think I wanted to die?’
He blanched, going paler than I would have thought possible. ‘It wasn’t me! It was him! It was the Steward. Aifric Moncrieffe did it all. I’m innocent!’
‘The last thing you are is innocent, Cul-chain,’ I scoffed. ‘Why don’t you tell Aifric that she’s missing?’
‘He already knows! Of course he knows! Do you think I could keep something like that a secret from him? The man has eyes and ears everywhere.’
I rocked back on my heels. ‘So why is he going ahead with the wedding?’
‘He’s got Farsensers out scouring for her. He thinks he can find her.’
I managed – just – to remain expressionless. ‘But he won’t.’
The Bull moaned. ‘If Byron wasn’t in love with her there wouldn’t be a problem.’
For some reason my tongue stopped working. I stared at him, dumbstruck.
‘It’s all that boy’s fault. Aifric is trying to make up for the fact that he left his son for dead across the Veil. He’ll give him whatever he wants.’
I licked my lips and swallowed. ‘And … and what Byron Moncrieffe wants is to marry Tipsania?’ Even though Kirsty’s Gift told me the Bull was telling the truth, I didn’t want to believe it. Every other piece of evidence I’d had was to the contrary but doubt was starting to creep in. Actually ‘creep’ was the wrong word; it was more like a vicious assault.
The Bull’s head dropped again. ‘Tipsania was such a beautiful girl. She wasn’t perfect and I know she was spoilt but she didn’t deserve to die so young. Byron will be heartbroken. He wouldn’t listen to me when I tried to delay the wedding. He wants it done as soon as possible.’ He moaned again.
I barely heard him. I was still absorbing the revelation that Byron was pushing for the ceremony. I’d been such an idiot. The others were right: this had nothing to do with Aifric’s machinations. Byron was in love with Tipsania and wanted to wed her – or worse, he wanted her money to maintain his Clan’s ascendancy, regardless of anyone’s feelings.
I knew the Bull was telling the truth and I knew that I was the worst kind of idiot. I wasn’t denying that Byron had felt something for me but it obviously hadn’t run very deep. Sharp pain stabbed at my heart. My alleged corpse was barely cold. I understood that I’d betrayed him by faking my death in front of his eyes but I hadn’t had any choice ‒ it had been pretend to die or, well, die.
My knuckles tightened around the picture frame and the hurt in my chest expanded. How could one man make me feel like this? A hard knot rose in my throat. I wasn’t going to cry. There was no way I was going to cry.
‘What else is he planning?’ I asked once I could form words again. ‘What else does Aifric Moncrieffe have up his sleeve?’
The Bull’s eyes were wild. ‘How the hell should I know? I’m not exactly his confidante, am I? You put paid to that when you told him you had my true name.’ He paused, his expression suggesting he’d suddenly had a revelation. ‘Hang on. If you know everything then why don’t you know what Aifric is up to?’
I thought quickly. ‘I have your true name. That is why I know of your dealings, Cul-chain,’ I intoned.
The Bull was only mildly appeased. He looked me up and down, taking in my dark clothing. His stance shifted and, as he put his weight onto his toes, I saw suspicion in his eyes. Without further warning, he lunged for me. ‘You’re no ghost,’ he spat.
I dodged t
he blow just as the study was abruptly illuminated with a glowing white light. An odd sensation flitted through my stomach and I felt myself rise into the air, as if my system still had traces of the Levitation Gift I’d once stolen from a Fomori demon. If it hadn’t been for the glimpse I caught of Speck in the open doorway, his hands raised and a look of intense concentration on his face, I’d have believed that’s what it was.
I swallowed and went with the flow while the Bull staggered back a step, slack-jawed. ‘Oh you fool,’ I told him.
He cowered. ‘I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Just don’t hurt me!’ His hands covered his head as if he were trying to protect himself from a blow.
My lip curled. ‘You have been punished already. You will suffer to the end of your days knowing that your daughter is gone as a result of your actions. Tell anyone of this encounter and you will be considered nothing more than a demented old man, turned mad by grief.’
He shook his head violently. ‘I won’t tell anyone!’
‘Promise me, Cul-chain.’
‘I promise!’
I watched him. He was telling the absolute truth; given that my use of his true name compelled him to do what I said, that was hardly surprising. But truth was rarely absolute. Just because he believed he’d stay quiet now didn’t mean he wouldn’t change his mind later. As Brochan had pointed out, he could find ways around the compulsion.
There was little I could do about it. I’d just have to enjoy the relative safety of my death for as long as I could and be prepared for things not remaining that way. I wondered what Byron would think. Would he regret jumping to Tipsania so quickly or had he been in love with her all along? It felt like there was a gaping hole in my chest, exactly where my heart used to be.
Behind the Bull, Speck was starting to tremble. A bead of sweat ran down his forehead; he couldn’t hold out for long. I gave him a brisk nod and, with relief, he released the spell and dropped me back to the ground with an unghostlike thump. The Bull started to look up but I growled at him.
‘I’m taking this,’ I told him, pointing at the photo frame. He flinched then both Speck and I were in the corridor and sprinting away soundlessly.
***
Morning was well under way by the time we arrived back at the Adair border. I remained silent for most of the journey, lost in my thoughts and assailed by a sense of grief for something I’d once almost had and now lost forever. The others had the sense not to press me. Unfortunately, that same sense didn’t apply to Sorley, on duty out by the flagpole with a few other trolls who were standing rigidly upright. Unlike his compatriots, Sorley was kneeling down and murmuring something, his squat fingers running over the fur of a nearby haggis. When he saw us approach he stood up and aimed an irritable kick in the little animal’s direction. I noticed that his foot wasn’t close to connecting with it.
‘You’re not supposed to be back yet,’ Sorley sniped when Speck rolled down the window. The troll was holding a clipboard in his hands; he tapped it with a gnarled fingernail and glared. ‘I’m responsible for everyone’s safety. If you don’t stick to the schedule, you make my life almost impossible.’
‘Sorley,’ Taylor groaned, leaning across to speak to him, ‘this really isn’t the time for your complaints.’
‘Oh yeah, dunderhead? Then when is the time? There was another contingent of Sidhe here while you were gone. This time they said that if all the trolls didn’t return to their posts within the next seventy-two hours, they’d come down here and make us.’ He glared and pointed to some scorch marks on the ground on this side of the border. ‘Look at what they did!’ he spat. ‘They said it was a warning.’
I grimaced. Wonderful. ‘How many of them were there?’ I asked. As much as I might want to go up to my bedroom with a bottle of wine, a ton of chocolate and Joni Mitchell on repeat, I couldn’t abandon my duties as Chieftain. And one of those was making sure that all of my Clan members were safe.
Somewhat mollified at being taken seriously, Sorley’s hold on his spear relaxed. ‘Seven,’ he grunted. ‘All from Clan Moncrieffe.’
I cursed. That wasn’t good; anything that the Moncrieffes did was a worry. Still, I reasoned, in a half-arsed attempt to be logical, at least concentrating on the wedding and trying to find Tipsania would distract Aifric from the trolls for a while.
‘One of them was a Farsenser,’ Sorley added, destroying any silver lining I thought I’d found.
‘Shite!’ I exploded, causing everyone – even the trolls – to turn and gape at me. I sighed. ‘Sorry. But the Bull told me that Aifric has got Farsensers out searching for Tipsania.’
‘They don’t have much reach though, do they?’ Brochan said. ‘A mile or two?’
I ran a hand through my hair, teasing out the tangles and trying to stay calm. ‘Based on what I know from stealing farsensing, yeah. Some will be better at it than others, of course. There was no reason for them to come down this close to the Veil to look for her so I didn’t worry about it before, but now…’ My voice trailed off.
‘They’d be trying to work out how many trolls are here. Or to search for weak spots in the border,’ Taylor said, in an attempt to ease my worry, ‘not Farsense for her.’
I gritted my teeth. ‘It doesn’t really matter why they came here to begin with. They’d have been on the alert for her presence so we have to assume that they know now that she’s here. They can’t pass through the border and drag her out because of the trolls, so they’re going to try something else.’
We exchanged glances. ‘The Wild Man,’ Lexie said. ‘Candy. He’s missing. The Moncrieffes must know about his relationship with Tipsania and they’ll use him to force her out of hiding. It’s the only thing I can think of that would make her give herself up.’
‘How can they know about him?’ Taylor asked.
‘Byron,’ I said grimly. I didn’t want to believe it of him but Tipsania had been adamant that no one else knew about her and Candy. And Byron knew that Tipsania had been here on my land because he brought her himself. Maybe he’d even sent the Farsenser to see if she was still here.
Nobody looked at me. I bunched my hands into fists. ‘We need to think quickly. Right now we have the edge because we know what they’re up to. That’s not going to last for long.’
Taylor licked his lips. ‘I hate to be the one to say it, Tegs…’
I crossed my arms. ‘But you’re going to anyway.’
He gave me a disarming smile which didn’t fool me for a second. ‘You don’t owe Tipsania anything. I can understand why you’re concerned about the trolls. They’ve sworn fealty and they’re Clan Adair now. Tipsania Scrymgeour isn’t.’
‘She offered fealty,’ I pointed out.
‘But she didn’t actually give it.’
Speck sniffed. ‘Taylor is right. We all know she’s a bitch—’
‘A reformed bitch.’
‘Ha! She’s not there yet,’ he replied. ‘She treated you like shit when you were kids. If Byron Moncrieffe wants to marry her then let him marry her. It’s no longer your concern.’
For once even Lexie didn’t stand up for the Moncrieffe princeling. I tried to make the hurt I felt inside coalesce into anger but it didn’t work. I still just felt hurt. ‘Aifric and Byron have probably banded together to kidnap, or maybe even kill, Candy for falling in love with the wrong person. They’ll get away with it because they’re the rulers of this stupid country. Not only that, they’re going to force a woman who’s currently under my protection to marry someone else, as if we’re living in the Middle Ages instead of the twenty-first century.’ I looked at them. ‘I can’t just let that lie.’
Brochan’s mouth turned down. ‘When you put it like that…’
I shrugged. ‘I have to do what I can.’ I lifted my chin and gazed at the horizon – and the dark cloud of the Veil. ‘It’ll be another good opportunity to practise stealing Gifts and prepare us for what’s to come. Sooner or later I’m going to have to deal with the Fomori demons.’
; ‘The Lowlands of Scotland are not your responsibility, prophecy or no prophecy,’ Taylor said.
There didn’t seem much point in responding. We all knew we couldn’t let the situation in the Lowlands continue forever; someone had to do something. And if that someone was going to be me, whether I had a clue about what to do or not ‒ well, so be it. Before that, however, I was going to rescue a damsel in distress and her boyfriend. And I was not going to waste any time being heartsick over any bastard of a Moncrieffe. Screw the lot of them.
***
I showered quickly before grabbing my bag and stuffing everything I could think of inside it. I had no idea when there would be another gang of Sidhe at our door but I had to assume it wouldn’t be long. Time was of the essence.
With wet hair still dripping down my back, I went off in search of Morna and found her at the edge of the Adair grove. New saplings were already springing up, pushing their way towards the sky with an optimism that gave me hope for the future. If they could grow here, on this land that was once so desolate and destroyed, then anything could happen. I brushed the nearby leaves, which might look tiny and delicate but were imbued with considerable strength, and cleared my throat.
‘What is it, dear?’ Morna asked, half-turning towards me.
‘Hi,’ I said, the epitome of awkwardness. ‘The trees are looking good.’
Morna smiled. ‘They are, aren’t they? You’ve done a good job. They’re still small but they’re all healthy.’
‘What type of tree fits in your hand?’ She looked at me patiently. ‘A palm tree.’
I received another polite smile in response. ‘Very good, dear. You’re not here because you want me to laugh at your jokes, though.’
‘No.’ I smoothed my hands down my jeans and took a deep breath. ‘You were right. It’s time for you to go.’