by Helen Harper
I’d only been murmuring my responses and half paying attention until that point. Suddenly I sat upright. This had to be that freaky amnesia thing working again – the magic was trying to reassert natural order by leading me to where I needed to go.
‘There was a fire?’ I questioned.
Sensing my shift from detached politeness to agog interest, the driver smiled. ‘A huge one.’ He tutted. ‘I went past there the other day. The whole building is little more than a shell now.’
‘Where?’ I asked. ‘Where is it?’
‘The east end of Belmont Street,’ he said. ‘You can’t miss it.’
Making a quick decision, I checked how much cash I had on me. It was probably enough. ‘Can you wait for me at the studio?’ I asked. ‘Then take me to Belmont Street afterwards?’
‘You really are interested, ain’t ya?’
I shrugged. ‘I’m morbid that way,’ I said cheerfully.
He sent me a sidelong glance and shuffled away from me slightly, as if my morbidity were contagious. ‘Sure,’ he said. ‘I can do that.’
I guessed the lure of a fare back to the city centre was tempting despite the fact that I was a weirdo. Excellent.
***
The driver dropped me at the main studio gates before circling round to find an appropriate, law-abiding parking spot. I strode up to the security guards. From my previous visit here with Julie, I knew that they took their jobs seriously. That was good for Julie but right now it was bad for me.
‘I’m here to see Julie Chivers,’ I announced.
The two guards exchanged glances. ‘We don’t know anything about this,’ one said.
‘Yeah,’ the other agreed. ‘We can’t let anyone in without prior arrangement.’
‘I’ve been here before. I’m her bodyguard.’
They both stared at me. It took a full second before they burst out laughing.
I put my hands on my hips and glared. ‘I’m not lying.’
Cheeks suffused with red, and stifling more laughter, the first guard held up his hand. ‘Wait here.’ He ambled into the small office to his left. Through the window I saw him picking up the phone.
‘You don’t really expect us to believe that a girly like you is Ms Chivers bodyguard?’
I sniffed loudly. ‘You shouldn’t judge people by appearances.’
‘Do you have a gun?’
‘No.’
‘Can you do karate? Or kung fu?’
‘No.’ I could pull a nasty face though, so I did just that. Unfortunately, the security guard wasn’t in the slightest bit impressed.
The other guard in the office popped his head out of the door. ‘Someone here says that Ms Chivers’ bodyguard is already with her.’
Finn. It had to be Finn. I breathed out a sigh of relief. That was something; he was so vicious he’d guard her with his life. But it didn’t particularly help me.
‘Just tell her that Madrona is here!’ I called back.
‘What kind of name is Madrona? You Spanish or something?’
‘Or something,’ I muttered.
The guard picked up the receiver again, his lips moving as he spoke. There was a momentary pause then a flicker of surprise crossed his face. ‘She’s on her way out to meet you,’ he said. He gave me a closer look. ‘Does it pay well? Being a bodyguard, I mean?’
His buddy snorted. ‘No way is she a bodyguard. She’s not even wearing an earpiece. And even I could bring her down within seconds.’ He patted his rotund belly for effect.
I was tempted to provide a demonstration; it would be easy enough to warp time just enough to get in front of this arsebadger and knee him in the groin before he realised what had happened. But given what Morgan had told me about the dangerous effects of using that kind of magic – such as bringing about the end of the world – it probably wasn’t worth it. Probably.
Fortunately I didn’t have to wait very long. Automatic doors swished open in the building opposite the guardhouse and both Finn and Julie walked out. She was in full make-up and, as a result, looked rather different to normal. Finn caught sight of me and looked psychotic. That was pretty normal for him.
Without paying the guards any attention, Finn strode ahead and walked up to me. His fists clenched and his jaw was tight. ‘You,’ he spat.
From behind him, Julie smiled her relief. ‘Darling! How are you?’
‘Alive,’ I grunted, looking her over. Despite the overdone make-up, which I assumed was part of her soap character Stacey, she seemed alright. ‘You?’
Before Julie could answer, Finn butted in. ‘Alive is more than can be said for my brother.’
I swallowed. ‘I’m truly sorry about Jinn. I tried to stop Rubus from killing him but…’ My voice trailed off.
‘You didn’t try hard enough.’
I couldn’t argue. ‘No,’ I said softly. ‘I didn’t.’
Finn wasn’t mollified and I didn’t blame him. ‘Morgan said he forced you to go with him. Have you escaped or did he let you leave?’ he demanded.
‘Neither, really. I’m working for him again.’
His mouth twisted into a snarl. ‘You’re what?’
‘I’m doing what you did. I’m undercover.’
‘It didn’t work for us. What makes you think it’ll work for you?’
I sighed and pushed back my hair. ‘It did work for you. You, Jinn and Winn helped stop him getting his hands on the sphere.’
‘They’re dead.’
‘And Rubus is sphere-less. Would your brothers have thought it was worth it?’
Finn muttered to himself and looked away. Julie patted his arm. ‘I’m assuming you’re here for a reason, Mads.’
I supposed I might as well get to the point. ‘He wants to meet you.’
Finn’s head snapped back. ‘You told Rubus about her?’ His voice dripped with derision.
‘Not in so many words. He knows I’m friends with an actor from St Thomas Close. It turns out he’s a fan. He doesn’t know which actor, nor does he know about…’ I shuffled ‘…your, er, ethnicity.’
‘Are we supposed to be grateful that you kept your mouth shut about that?’ From the look on Finn’s face, he was about ready to swipe my head off my shoulders. Pointing out that Julie’s magical blood-enhanced NDA meant I couldn’t say anything about her vampirism even if I wanted to probably wouldn’t help.
‘I wasn’t thinking.’
‘Well, there’s a surprise. Even on a good day, you’re as bright as a fucking black hole.’
Okay, enough now. I’d been prepared to grant him some leeway with his guttural snarls because he was grieving but this was too much. ‘And you’re twice as dense,’ I hissed back. ‘Obviously, I’m not going to bring Julie to Rubus. I was actually thinking that she could give me someone else’s name. Another actor.’ I looked at her. ‘Maybe someone you dislike.’
Her eyebrows flew up, startled. ‘You want me to give you the name of an enemy so you can take them to your evil faery boss in my place? Darling, you’re even more Machiavellian than I realised.’
I shrugged helplessly. ‘Is it such a stupid idea? You’ve got Finn inside the studio with you. When I was your bodyguard, you didn’t want me hanging around while you were working. You’re obviously still worried about any remaining vampire hunters. We can get Rubus to keep a look out for them. It’ll tie up some of his minions, keep them busy for ages and kill two birds with one stone. Truthfully, I couldn’t avoid telling Rubus about you. He was always going to ask questions about what was going on at the Travotel when he killed Jinn. If there’d been another way out, I’d have taken it. This mollifies Rubus and keeps you safe from him.’
‘And potentially kills a co-worker.’
‘They won’t be killed.’ Maybe. ‘And you’re an actor. Surely there’s a lot of rivalry. There must be other actors around here who you wouldn’t mind putting in harm’s way. Not,’ I added hastily, reacting to the disturbed expressions on both Finn and Julie’s faces, ‘that they’d
be hurt. Rubus just wants to say hello. I’ll make sure they’re safe.’
The plan I’d come up with had seemed brilliant when I’d mulled it over in my head. Now I was voicing it aloud, it occurred to me that perhaps it had a few flaws.
‘I might work in a soap opera but I don’t live in one.’ Julie shrugged. ‘I don’t hate anyone that much. Neither do I believe that you’re mean enough to put an innocent person at risk like that.’
‘She’s the Madhatter,’ Finn spat. ‘She’s more than capable of it. She’s evil.’
‘Maybe you have to become evil to stop evil,’ I retorted.
Julie put her hands up in a vague protest. ‘Darlings,’ she murmured, ‘enough. I’ll do it myself. I’d quite like to meet this Rubus and see what he’s really like.’
Finn immediately started to complain. ‘You can’t do that! I can’t protect you against him!’
I heaved in a breath. ‘Obviously, you can’t go with her. The thing is,’ I shuffled my feet, ‘as dodgy and dangerous as all this is, it might help. I need Rubus to feel relaxed and happy. Right now, without the sphere he was so desperately searching for, he’s liable to blow up half the city on a mere whim. He’s told me he’s got another plan up his sleeve. We can’t let him succeed. Anything that can be done to massage his ego and calm him down can only be a good thing. He’s putting on a good show of being amenable and happy but under the surface, he’s seething. He likes your soap opera. He’ll feel good about meeting one of its stars and it might just give all of us enough of a break to find out what else he’s planning. It really doesn’t have to be you, Julie. Any St Thomas Close actor will do. I can pay them for their time.’
Julie shook her head adamantly. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I’ll do it.’ When Finn opened his mouth to protest again, she turned to him. ‘You did this,’ she said. ‘You and your brothers worked for him in order to stop him. What I’m doing is pathetic in comparison. It’s just one meeting.’
Finn glared. ‘Fine,’ he spat. ‘But the meeting takes place somewhere public. It doesn’t last longer than an hour. And you,’ he jabbed his finger at me, ‘will guarantee her safety.’
I bobbed my head. ‘Done.’
The Redcap was still unhappy. ‘I’ll believe it when I see it,’ he growled.
Chapter Four
I was aware that I was treading a very fine line. I could be a good person who was prepared to do terrible things in order to achieve a greater goal, or I could easily slip into being a terrible person who was kidding herself that she was better than she was.
Magical sphere or no magical sphere, the cold, casual, callous way in which Rubus had ended Jinn’s life convinced me that I had to find a way to stop him in his tracks. I wasn’t entirely sure how far I was prepared to go to achieve that goal but I hadn’t reached my limit yet. The only real truth I’d discovered was that I clearly wasn’t cut out to be a superhero. It was probably just as well; virtually no one looked good in a leotard. Even me.
After arranging a date and time for Rubus to meet Julie, my friendly taxi driver dropped me off at Chen’s building. He was right about one thing, I thought as I gazed at the hollowed-out, scorched building. The whole place was little more than a shell. Coming here was probably a waste of time.
Unwilling to give up on this new lead, however, I walked past the warning signs to stay away and headed through the tumbledown doorway. Fallen bricks and blackened debris were lying everywhere. If I’d breathed too hard, I wouldn’t have been surprised if the entire structure had fallen down on top of my head. I could only assume that Rubus had ordered the place to be torched in case there were clues leading back to him, or other material that could be scavenged and used against him. Whoever and whatever Chen had been, he was obviously a canny bastard to have got hold of the sphere in the first place.
I took my time, edging carefully from one burnt-out room to another. The devastation was almost total. Charred paintings hung lopsidedly on charred walls. The furniture, which had probably been rather grand, was now little more than a collection of four-legged skeletons. I toed various scraps of paper but any writing that had been scrawled on them was now illegible.
I craned my neck upwards, tempted to try and gain access to the first and second floors. There was little left of the staircase but, if I took my time, I could probably manage it. I was planning the safest route when there was the crunch of a footstep behind me. I whirled round, relaxing slightly when I saw it was Morgan.
I waggled my eyebrows at him. ‘At last. I wondered how long it would take you to find me.’
Morgan didn’t blink. ‘I wasn’t looking for you.’
I smiled. Yeah, yeah. ‘I’ll accept your apology if you go down on bended knee. You don’t have to grovel much. Just a little will be acceptable.’
His mouth twitched slightly. ‘Why would I apologise?’
‘You’re funny. Go on. Let’s get it over and done with and then we can move on.’
‘I really have no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘You’re here to apologise for being so gruff earlier. My idea about staying with Rubus so I can keep an eye on him and stop him from harming anyone else is an excellent one. You have to bow down to my greater wisdom, not to mention my sacrifice.’
He crossed his arms. ‘That’s not why I’m here. I have nothing to say sorry for, Maddy.’
I peered at him. Ah. He appeared to be telling the truth. He did indeed believe that he was still in the right and I should have abandoned Rubus at the first opportunity. I pursed my lips. ‘Oh. Well, it’s good that you still care enough to check up on me and make sure I’m alright.’
I saw the faintest hint of amusement zip across his face. ‘I didn’t know you were here.’
‘You put another of those dandelion tracker things on me, right?’
‘Nope.’
‘It’s okay, Morgan. You can tell the truth. No one else is around.’
He raised his emerald-green eyes heavenward. ‘I’m not lying, Maddy. It didn’t occur to me that you’d be here.’ A note of bitterness entered his voice. ‘To be honest I assumed you’d be with Rubus, doing whatever he wants you to do. I’m here because I heard the building had burnt down and I wanted to see it for myself. All this crap started with Chen and his sphere. The fire makes me wonder what else might have been going on.’
I frowned, vaguely hurt. ‘You could have pretended to be here for me.’
His mouth twitched. ‘I thought you preferred it when we were honest with each other.’
‘I prefer it when I’m honest with you. The reverse isn’t necessarily true.’
This time he was definitely suppressing a smile. ‘That’s hardly fair.’
I gestured down at myself. ‘How do I look?’
He looked me over with a critical eye. ‘Awful. You don’t look like you’ve slept properly for days. There are bags under your eyes. Your hair isn’t as glossy as normal and you’re far too pale.’
It was my turn to fold my arms. ‘Good grief. There’s honesty and there’s far too much information. This is one of those situations when a lie would be perfectly welcome.’
‘Indeed,’ he murmured. He folded his arms across his broad chest. ‘How do I look to you?’
Gasbudlikins. What I should have said was that he looked like a grotesque troll. With a terrible, flesh-eating disease. But his dark hair was just the right side of mussed-up and the shadow of stubble around his strong jaw gave him an irritatingly debonair appearance. His T-shirt stretched against his chest, hinting at his hard body underneath. He was also wearing spicy aftershave but, unlike Rubus, Morgan’s scent was neither distastefully overpowering nor nausea-inducing. His smell made me want to rub myself against him like a cat.
I sighed. ‘You look devastatingly, stomach-squirmingly gorgeous.’
Morgan’s mouth curved into a proper smile and he stepped towards me. ‘Go on.’
I sniffed. ‘Aren’t there more important things to do than talk about how good yo
u look?’
He reached down and tucked a stray curl behind my ear. Unfortunately, the gesture was identical to what Rubus had done to me not that long ago. With my guard down, I couldn’t stop myself from wincing. Morgan’s face immediately shuttered and he stepped back.
‘Sorry,’ I muttered. ‘It’s just that your brother did the same thing earlier. It’s hard having to act a role around him all the time. I don’t want to have to do the same around you.’
His expression softened. ‘That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.’
‘Give me a chance and I might say more. Just remember that I’ve only known you for ten days. You’ve known me for a lifetime.’
Morgan grimaced. ‘Artemesia is still working on that. She’s not yet come up with anything to cure your amnesia.’
‘Rubus has set her uncle onto it as well,’ I told him. ‘And speaking of him, I might have mentioned where Artemesia’s hideout is. I trust she’s already moved on. She suggested that she’d have to do so because I couldn’t be trusted.’ I shrugged. ‘She was right.’
‘She was packing up five minutes after you left.’
I breathed out; at least that was something. There were only so many disasters I could be responsible for. Artemesia reuniting with her evil apothecary uncle didn’t have to be one of them. ‘Good,’ I said. ‘That’s good.’
Morgan watched me. ‘Is it?’
‘I’m still on your side.’
A muscle ticked in his jaw. ‘It’s not about sides. It’s about doing what’s right.’
‘It’s always about sides, Morgan.’ Before we could descend into an existential argument, I pointed upstairs. ‘I was about to head up there and see what I could find. Down here is just a burnt-out mess.’ I paused. ‘Are you coming?’
He smiled again. ‘Lead the way.’
Taking our time, we stepped gingerly upwards. Along the way, I filled him in on everything that had occurred, from my plans with Julie to Rubus’s attempts to test me. None of it made Morgan happy. ‘You have to be careful, Maddy. Rubus isn’t an idiot. Far from it.’