Gifted Thief (Highland Magic Book 1)

by Helen Harper

  There was only one person with Byron and it wasn’t Mr Dimples. It was some massive guy who was blocking my view. I wrinkled my nose. Come on. Get out of the way. I could hear Byron chatting about something to do with keys, which made next to no sense to me. The big guy shifted his weight. Jeez. He was the size of a freaking Wild Man. A second after that that thought, I smelled the cloves. No. Sodding. Way.

  My heart hammering against my chest, I pulled back from the door and pressed against the wall. Why would the Wild Man enforcer be here with Byron? It wouldn’t make sense unless he was working for him. Unless Byron himself was the moneylender who’d bought Taylor’s loan. Several pieces slotted into place. I was a complete and utter fool. I thought I’d been manipulating him when all along he’d been the one manipulating me.

  I thought of the letter I’d received demanding my presence at the Sidhe court. The one that had made me ramp up my plans to leave Aberdeen. When I didn’t answer, Byron must have put his own plans into action.

  He dangled the cherry of the Lia Saifire in front of our eyes then yanked it away, ensuring at the same time that the jewel’s whereabouts were well publicised. He found a weak spot with Taylor and bought his loan, then demanded immediate repayment – along with impossible interest – to force the issue. Who else but a Sidhe princeling could pull the police’s strings and get Brochan and Speck arrested on nonsensical charges? Byron pretended to be into me while I pretended ‒ sort of pretended ‒ to be into him. He made me promise to come back tonight. All this was part of some elaborate plot to make me do as he wished and go to the Sidhe court. I still had no idea why but I didn’t bloody care. The utter wanker. The total bastard. The…

  ‘You can come out now, Integrity.’

  I swore bitterly and flung open the door, glaring at him. ‘You prick,’ I hissed. ‘You set me up.’

  He linked his hands behind his head and grinned at me. ‘You set me up too.’

  I jabbed my finger at his chest. He was bloody lucky I hated violence because right now I was tempted to poke his eyeballs out. ‘Why? Why go to all this trouble?’

  ‘If you’d answered the first missive…’

  ‘Missive? What are you? An eighteenth-century weirdo? Why not phone? Or show up at my door? If you’d talked to me in person…’

  ‘You were already making plans to run off,’ Byron said calmly. ‘You wouldn’t have listened. This way I got your attention.’

  ‘My friends are in jail!’ I shrieked. ‘My mentor is hiding out in my flat under the impression that his throat is about to slit!’ I glared at the Wild Man. ‘Your henchman knocked me out!’

  There was a rumble. ‘Sorry about that,’ the Wild Man said. ‘I tried to be gentle but you’re pretty fragile for a Sidhe.’

  ‘It wasn’t his fault,’ Byron said. ‘Candy was under orders.’

  ‘Candy? That’s his name?’ I muttered under my breath. ‘You’re all a bunch of nutters.’

  Byron swept a bow while I continued to glower. ‘At your service, ma’am.’

  ‘The champagne,’ I accused. ‘You knew it was spiked and you switched the glasses.’

  ‘Hello? I’m a telekinesis expert, remember?’

  I shook my head. All this bloody time… ‘You can’t keep me here,’ I spat. ‘This is a free country and I’m not eleven years old.’

  ‘No. You’re not that pathetic either.’

  I narrowed my eyes. ‘You remember who I am.’

  He looked at me patiently. ‘Integrity, how many other women are there with your colouring wandering the streets? Of course I know who you are. Everyone knows who you are.’

  What did that mean? I cleared my throat. ‘Everyone?’

  ‘Your location was found less than forty-eight hours after you flitted from Bull Scrymgeour. Lots of people have been keeping tabs on you, not just me. We needed to know where you were because we knew we might possibly need you in the future.’ His eyes gleamed. ‘I must say, you’ve had a very interesting career.’

  My nausea increased. ‘Let me out of here.’

  Byron stepped back. ‘You’re free to go at any time.’

  ‘Just as well,’ I huffed. I stalked past him, eyeing Candy in case he tried anything. Fortunately, the Wild Man didn’t move a muscle. I placed my hand on the doorknob and tugged.

  ‘There is just one thing,’ Byron interjected.

  I swung my head round. ‘What?’

  ‘Your mentor, whatever you want to call him, still owes me money.’

  Shite. Well, I’d just find another way to solve that little problem. ‘You’ll get your money.’ I opened the door.

  ‘And your friends are still enjoying the very best that the prison service can offer.’ He tutted. ‘It would be a real shame if someone tipped the police off about all those thefts that have been occurring in the city. Your friends might never get out.’

  I stared at the lift. It was right there, waiting for me. All I had to do was get in it and go home. I clenched my fists. ‘What do you want?’ I asked finally.

  ‘Close the door, come inside, sit down and we can talk about it. I promise, it’s really not that bad.’

  Like I’d believe that. My shoulders slumped. So you can never escape your past after all. Fine. I’d listen to what he had to say then I’d take Bob and make whatever wishes were necessary to get myself and my adopted family out of this mess. Sod the consequences. Byron Moncrieffe might think he was holding all the cards but he didn’t know everything.

  I crossed my arms and stalked over to the sofa. I pushed myself into the far corner. The stupid hot pink dress immediately rode up my legs. I pulled down the hem and crossed my arms again. ‘Speak then.’

  ‘I did tell you,’ Byron said, ‘that I preferred it when I was in charge.’ Rather than joining me, he ambled over to the fridge and reached inside for a bottle of water. ‘Would you like a drink?’

  ‘No,’ I replied stiffly.

  ‘Not even pink champagne?’ His amusement was clear.

  ‘Piss off.’ Oh, what a brilliant rejoinder that was.

  ‘Not just yet. Candy, if you’d be so kind…?’

  ‘Sure, boss.’ The huge Wild Man lumbered out, closing the door behind him.

  Byron smiled. ‘Alone again.’

  I felt sick. This could not be happening. ‘Spit it out,’ I snapped. ‘What do you really want?’

  ‘You know, you were far more pleasant to talk to last night.’

  ‘Last night I didn’t know that you were a scheming manipulative wanker who enjoys playing with innocent people’s lives.’

  His eyebrows shot up. ‘Innocent? Is that what’d you call a group of thieves who between them are responsible for some of the biggest heists this century has seen?’

  ‘It’s 2016,’ I said flatly. ‘That’s hardly much of a feat. And besides, you know exactly what I mean.’

  He grabbed a chair, pulled it over and placed it in front of me before sitting down. ‘You were quite prepared to steal from me when you thought I was innocent.’ He ran his tongue across his lips. ‘I can still taste you.’

  Oh God. I hugged myself. ‘Either tell me what it is you really want or I’m walking.’

  ‘Tough words.’

  I stared at him. He sighed, his amusement fleeing. ‘It’s not as sinister as you imagine. All you need to do is open a box.’

  ‘Really?’ I sneered. ‘All the might of the Sidhe world behind you and that’s something you can’t manage on your own? They didn’t cover box opening in Fey finishing school?’

  He took a long swig of his water. ‘It’s a very special box.’

  For a brief moment, a saucy sexual innuendo was on the tip of my tongue. I bit down very hard. No way was I going there. Not again. ‘Go on,’ I said grimly.

  ‘On the wall behind you, there’s a thermostat. It controls the temperature of this room so it’s never too cold or too hot. It’s really an extraordinary feat of technology when you think about it.’

  I was going to get a les
son on thermodynamics now, was I? I resisted the urge to look round. ‘And?’ I asked, sounding as bored as I could.

  ‘The Sidhe lands run on a similar concept except instead of temperature control, what we concern ourselves with is magic. Too little magic and systems start to fail. Too much magic and, well, kaboom. It’s not pretty when that happens.’ His mouth tightened and his eyes were momentarily distant and unfocused. ‘The tidal surge down the Dee a couple of years ago? That was one of those occasions.’

  I might have known. Hundreds of people died. Not Sidhe people though, of course. Poor people. Underclass people. My people. ‘So the Clans are destructive and murderous as well as power hungry.’

  His chin tipped up and I spotted a sudden flash of anger. ‘A lot of my friends risked their lives that day to hold back the water.’

  ‘Well they didn’t do a very good job, did they?’

  The way Byron’s body tensed, I wondered whether he was about to punch me in the nose for that comment. I rather hoped he would. It would release some of the tension both of us were feeling.

  ‘It might not have been broadcast in your neck of the woods, but Sidhe died too.’

  I did what I could to ignore his haunted expression. ‘My heart bleeds. Get to the point,’ I snapped.

  Byron straightened his shoulders. His green eyed gaze held mine until I felt trapped. ‘Long ago, checks and balances were put into place to prevent any one Clan from gaining an overly advantageous hold on the flow of magic. The four strongest Clans were each granted a key, if you like, to the Foinse. Unless all four keys were used at once then the Foinse couldn’t be touched.’

  ‘Foinse meaning…’

  He gave me a strange look. I was pretty certain it was along the lines of ‘you’re an absolute idiot for not already knowing this’. It was hardly my fault old Bull hadn’t permitted me an education. And Sidhe lore wasn’t exactly a concern of Taylor’s. ‘Source,’ he said finally. ‘The Foinse is the source of all Scottish magic. And it’s failing.’

  I could feel the corner of my mouth twitch in an uncontrollable spasm. It wasn’t a particularly funny situation but it was still difficult not to laugh. Even I had enough scanty knowledge of Clan hierarchy to work out what was wrong. Things might have changed in the last two or three decades but, before then, the top Clans had remained the same for five hundred years.

  ‘Let me guess,’ I said, ‘you need access to this magical Foinse to solve the problem. The four Clans with these special keys are Moncrieffe, Kincaid, Darroch and,’ I paused, ‘drum roll, please, ladies and gentlemen…’

  Byron nodded. ‘Adair. And you are the sole remaining member of the Adair Clan.’

  No wonder they’d been keeping tabs on me. I wondered what they’d have done if I had inadvertently walked out in front of a bus. It would have been adios muchachos and not just for me. Then my humour fled. No doubt this was the reason why I was shoved into the Bull’s care, such as it was, instead of simply being smothered as a baby.

  ‘So you’re going to blackmail me into helping you open the Foinse. Like I give a shit whether the magic fails or not. In fact, seeing the Clans brought down might be worth my friends spending a bit of time in the slammer.’ I tipped my head. ‘Long term goals versus short term gains.’

  Byron regarded me with a flat, emotionless expression. ‘I was warned you’d be like this,’ he said finally. ‘Bitchy and uncaring. Last night I thought they’d got it wrong and you were actually a nice person. Clearly, I was wrong.’

  I raised my eyebrows. ‘They?’

  ‘The Clan Chieftains. They don’t normally agree on much but they agreed on you.’

  ‘I haven’t spoken to a single Sidhe in fifteen years. Whether your lot have been keeping tabs on me or not, none of you know anything about me. Don’t presume that you know what I’m like or who I am,’ I hissed. ‘You have no idea.’

  ‘And don’t presume that keeping the magic stable in the Clan lands is purely to benefit the Sidhe,’ he shot back. ‘That magic does many things which the Clan-less also benefit from.’

  ‘Oh yeah?’ I sneered. ‘Like what?’

  ‘That magic controls the Veil,’ he said. ‘The barrier that prevents the Fomori from entering the Highlands.’

  I scowled at him. Okay, the Fomori were pretty scary demons who were better kept well away from us.

  ‘That same magic keeps nature in check,’ Byron continued in the patient, patronising tone you’d use when explaining something to a particularly stupid child. ‘You want to build a factory? The magic adjusts itself so the environment isn’t irreparably harmed.’

  I didn’t want to build a factory but I got his point.

  Byron wasn’t finished. ‘You want more disasters like the Dee surge? Only on a far greater scale?’ He folded his arms. ‘Then be my guest. Let your friends rot in jail. Let your mentor pay his debts by losing part of his soul. You’ll also be letting all of Scotland suffer.’

  Alright. Jeez, he’d made his point. ‘You could have told me all this in the first place. The Lia Saifire ruse was unnecessary.’

  ‘Would you have listened?’

  Maybe. Okay, probably not. In fact no, I wouldn’t have. The first ten years of my life ensured that the last person I’d listen to was a Sidhe.

  ‘Fine,’ I snapped. ‘I’ll do what you want. Release Taylor from his debt though and let Speck and Brochan go.’

  ‘That will happen when you’ve done what we require.’

  My eyes flashed. ‘You don’t trust me.’

  ‘You’re a thief, Integrity. Why would I trust you?’

  ‘It’s not just my name. I’ve got more integrity in my little finger than the Sidhe will ever have. No matter who my father was.’

  He shrugged. ‘We’ll have to agree to distrust each other then. We’ll go to the Clan lands, you’ll help us with the Foinse, then you can go back to your oh-so-wonderful criminal existence.’

  I hated him. I really, really hated him. I stood up and, as he moved his head to watch me, his hair fell across his eyes. Damn it. I also still lusted after him. Awkward.

  ‘First,’ I said, as calmly as I could, ‘I need a shower and a change of clothes. Second, I need to tell Taylor what is going on. Once I have achieved both those things, I will come and meet you.’

  ‘I’m not letting you out of my sight.’

  ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘you are. I will present myself at the Sidhe court this evening. Until then, you’ll have to wait.’

  And, with that, I stalked out.

  Chapter Nine

  Taylor couldn’t stop shaking his head. ‘All this time? They’ve been watching you all this time? How could we not have known?’

  ‘I doubt they’ve been staking me out twenty-four hours a day. They probably just check on me from time to time.’

  ‘But this is ridiculous! I’m a professional, Tegs. I should know when someone is watching me.’

  I walked over to him and held his head in my hands. ‘Stop jiggling your head around like that. It’s making me nauseous.’

  ‘Sorry. But to keep tabs like that… Do you think they were watching during the Scone job?’

  I bit my lip. ‘I don’t know. Maybe. Whether they were watching or not, they didn’t do anything to stop us. They’ve always chosen to take a hands-off approach.’ I frowned. ‘Until now, of course.’

  ‘Do you think they’ll leave you alone? After you help them reach this Fonzie thing?’

  ‘Foinse,’ I corrected him absently. ‘And right now, I doubt it. I do this for them and then in a couple of years’ time there’ll be something else, then something else, then something else. I’ll never be free.’ I met his eyes. ‘I’m sorry. It turns out that all this mess is my fault.’

  ‘If I’d not gambled…’

  ‘Brochan and Speck would still have been rounded up. They’d still have found another way to get me to do what they want. Maybe it’s better that they’ve forced the issue. The failure of the magic is a big deal and I should help
out. It’ll be disastrous for everyone if I don’t. Now I know they’re watching me, however, I’ll do a better job of disappearing once I’ve fixed their problem for them.’

  His eyes scoured me. ‘You mean for good, don’t you?’

  I gave a helpless shrug. ‘What choice is there?’

  He ran his hands through his hair and I suddenly realised how old he looked. There were lines on his face and a pallor to his skin that went beyond grey hair.

  ‘What if…?’ He swallowed.

  ‘Yes?’ I prompted.

  Taylor sighed. ‘You said that the reason they didn’t get rid of you when you were a kid was probably because they knew that they might need you for something like this. Once the Foinse is accessed, what if they decide that they don’t need you again?’

  ‘You mean they’ll kill me once I’ve helped them open it?’

  He nodded, trouble written all across his face.

  ‘I’ve considered that,’ I told him truthfully. ‘I’m going to need several exit plans to ensure it doesn’t happen.’

  ‘Was what your father did really so bad that an entire Clan needed to be exterminated?’

  It was a rhetorical question but I answered it anyway. ‘He was responsible for more than a thousand deaths. He exterminated Clan Adair himself. I’m not aware of more than that, though. I was a baby when it all went down and no one ever saw fit to tell me the salient details.’ I smiled, although my smile was tinged with sadness. ‘I was a nobody, remember?’

  Taylor reached over and hugged me tight. ‘You’re not a nobody now.’

  For a brief moment, I felt safe and secure but it was only temporary. I pulled away. ‘I have to get going. There’s a lot to do before I walk into the lions’ den.’ I met his eyes. ‘Why did the lion lose at poker?’

  Taylor didn’t smile. ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Because he was playing against a cheetah.’