Box of Frogs (The Fractured Faery Book 1)

by Helen Harper

  ‘My brain is already damaged,’ I informed him sniffily. ‘Keep it.’

  He didn’t blink. ‘Put on the damned helmet, Maddy.’

  ‘Now you’re concerned for my safety?’

  Morgan didn’t bother responding. I sighed and walked over, taking it from him and squeezing it down over my head. Inhaling deeply, it occurred to me that this was clearly part of his devious master plan. Now all I could smell was Morgan, all around me. Well, just because he smelled divine didn’t mean I was going to fall to the ground and worship at his feet. I was made of far stronger stuff than that.

  ‘Get behind me and put your arms around my waist,’ he instructed.

  I did as bade me. Good grief, his body was strong and wide and comforting. Without even thinking about it, I leaned against him. Okay. I’d worship him if he wanted me to.

  ‘You don’t need to cling quite that tightly,’ Morgan murmured. ‘I’m good at this.’

  I didn’t relax. In fact, I tightened my hold, enjoying the heat of his body against mine. Mmmm. Snuggly. ‘If you say so,’ I answered. I inhaled again. I could get used to this.

  Apparently yielding to the fact that I was going to hang onto him like a limpet, Morgan switched on the bike’s engine. ‘Which way?’ he asked.

  How was it possible for someone to come out of a brutal fight to the death and still smell so good?

  ‘Maddy!’ he said sharply. ‘Which way?’

  I shook myself. He doesn’t want you, I reminded myself. And Julie needs rescuing from a field. I raised the visor and glanced at the phone. ‘Straight ahead,’ I muttered. ‘Then take the first right.’ At least Julie was on foot and hadn’t got very far. I pressed myself against Morgan’s back. I’d have to take my comfort where I could get it.

  He revved the engine and took off along the narrow road before turning where I’d told him to. I had to admit that he was right; he was indeed a good bike rider, maintaining a careful speed and not veering too close to the looming hedgerows. At one point a fox bounded out in front of us. Without missing a beat, Morgan slowed, nimbly driving round it so it was free to scamper back to the undergrowth in safety. When we picked up Julie, I’d have to point out to her that she should take note of the benefits of careful driving.

  I wondered how we were going to fit three people on the back of the bike. Maybe I’d end up walking back after all.

  Using the map, I directed Morgan to the left. Julie’s red blip was still moving but very slowly now. She appeared to be taking a cross-country route. That was sensible for avoiding scary vampire hunters but it was less useful when her bodyguard was trying to catch up with her.

  I tapped Morgan’s arm. ‘Stop here,’ I told him. ‘I think she must be in that field.’

  He did as I asked, pulled the motorbike neatly into the side and turned off the engine. Reluctantly, I slid off the back. I was going to miss the warmth of his body. I yanked off the helmet and pointed. ‘She’s that way.’

  ‘Who is this Julie exactly?’ Morgan enquired. ‘And what do you do for her?’

  ‘She’s a soap star,’ I said. ‘I’m her bodyguard.’

  He snorted in disbelief. ‘Bodyguard? Since when?’

  ‘Yesterday.’ I located the gate and hopped over it, my feet squelching in mud as I landed.

  ‘You thought that someone was trying to attack her down a quiet country lane? When you’re a drug-dealing faery who was almost killed just a few nights ago?’

  I shrugged. ‘People are out to get her too.’

  ‘What people?’

  Uh… ‘Stalkers.’

  ‘Stalkers plural?’

  ‘She’s very famous,’ I answered stiffly. ‘Are you coming with me to fetch her or are you staying here?’

  He leaped over the gate with far more grace than I’d managed. ‘Coming with you, of course. I’d hate to think you’d get attacked by a crazed cow.’

  I glanced round the dark field. ‘Sheep,’ I said. ‘Not cows.’

  Morgan squinted. ‘It’s unusual for sheep to be bunched together like that unless they’re being herded. I don’t see any sign of a woman either. Are you sure she’s in this field?’

  I glanced at the phone. ‘According to this, she is.’ I held it up. ‘She’s still moving.’

  ‘Maddy,’ Morgan said, ‘no one’s there.’

  My stomach tightened. ‘Of course she’s there. We just can’t see her yet.’ With that, I took off and jogged towards the flock. None of the animals appeared to be sleeping but that was probably because Julie’s presence had woken them up. She was going to be there, I told myself; she’d be sitting next to one of the sheep and chatting away to it whilst swigging from a hip flask. I was prepared for her yelling at me for being a useless bodyguard but I wasn’t prepared for her not to be there.

  Scanning the field desperately, my eyes finally alighted on a huddled figure beside a clump of trees. Breathing a sigh of relief, I headed straight for it, narrowly avoiding a collision with several sheep.

  ‘Julie!’ I exclaimed. ‘I’m so sorry! I…’ My voice trailed off. It wasn’t her. What I’d thought was a person was nothing more than the stump of a tree. I looked down at the phone again. According to the map, she was less than twenty metres away. Then my eyes snagged on one of the sheep that was straying away from the others. In its mouth was a small grey box.

  I darted over. The sheep, startled by my approach, dropped it almost immediately and ran off. I ignored it and picked up the tracker. Maybe Julie had dropped it by accident and was still somewhere around here.

  I opened my mouth and yelled. ‘Julie! It’s Madrona! Where are you?’

  My voice echoed back. I spun round, continuing to search. Trying to stay calm, I centred myself, digging down for the same sensitive hearing I’d used back at the country house. All I could hear, however, were the shallows breaths of dozens of sheep. No one else was here.

  Then, over in the far corner, Morgan raised his arm. ‘Here,’ he said, his voice grim.

  I sprinted over to join him. Snagged to a post was a scarf. Even in the gloom, I immediately recognised it as the brightly coloured one that Julie had been wearing. I stared at it, my heart sinking into a dark chasm of despair. While I’d been snuggling into Morgan and enjoying myself, the vampire hunters had nabbed her.

  Chapter Eighteen

  It didn’t take long to re-orientate and re-group. The Redcap, who was lying dead out on the road behind us, had been surprised to see me. He was also one of the trio who had attacked me on the golf course that very first night. Whatever his motives had been then, it was clear that it wasn’t me he’d been after tonight. While we’d faced him down, his two buddies had circled round and grabbed Julie from the front. It was a strategic action I should have foreseen. There was no point berating myself about it, however. I could wallow later; right now there were far more pressing matters.

  ‘You said that the dead Redcap worked for Rubus,’ I said to Morgan. ‘Are you sure about that?’

  He watched me, obviously not entirely sure what was going on but understanding that it was serious. ‘Positive.’

  ‘Would he ever work for himself or for someone else at the same time?’ I asked, wanting to avoid making another stupid mistake.

  Morgan shrugged. ‘Anything’s possible.’

  I nodded, although that information wasn’t really all that helpful. ‘And where,’ I asked through clenched teeth, ‘would I find Rubus right now?’

  ‘He has various hideouts,’ Morgan said. ‘He switches between them to avoid the likes of me repeatedly trying to shut him down.’

  I kept my breathing even and steady, although my heart rate had ratcheted up several notches. ‘You must have an idea about where he is. If you were following me, you must have thought about following him too.’

  Morgan barely moved. ‘He’s wise to my actions and he’s a slippery bastard.’

  ‘You wouldn’t hurt him because of the truce though.’

  ‘No,’ he answered. ‘But I
could still make life difficult for him if I knew where he was. He’s secretive, Maddy.’ He ran his tongue over his teeth. ‘Do you think he’s abducted your new employer to piss you off? Because if that’s the case, attempting to rescue her has to be a trap. Rubus is certainly capable enough – and mean enough – to try something like that. And don’t forget that the Redcap’s presence means he’s been trying to kill you.’

  ‘Mmm.’ Except Morgan didn’t know what I did about Julie – and I couldn’t tell him. Her abduction might have nothing to do with me at all and everything to do with her vampiric ethnicity, especially given McNasty Number One’s reaction to my presence. Either way, I was going to raise hell to get her back. I folded my arms and met Morgan’s gaze with a hard-eyed stare.

  He sighed. ‘Hang on. I’ll make a call or two and see if anyone’s seen him recently.’

  I bit out a thanks and strode back across the field, ignoring the sheep that scattered in my wake. Morgan walked with me, muttering into his phone. By the time we reached the far gate again, he’d put the phone away.

  ‘You have an answer?’

  ‘A possible answer – but it’s dangerous. You should let me handle this. Humans are out of bounds and Rubus will pay dearly for involving them. This is something I should deal with.’

  Except Julie wasn’t human. Not to mention that she was my responsibility. ‘Just drop me off at the place, Morgan. Then you’re free to go on your merry way. Thank you for your help so far.’ My words were stiff and angry.

  Although the sentiment wasn’t directed at him, his eyes flashed at me through the darkness. ‘What Rubus does or doesn’t do is as much my business as it is yours,’ he sniped. ‘I’m not leaving you to deal with him on your own.’

  ‘This is my problem, not yours.’

  Morgan laughed humourlessly. ‘Where you’re concerned, it’s always my problem. Besides, if Rubus has kidnapped a human, his time is up. Drug dealing and stealing you is one thing, but messing with the people on this demesne is entirely different.’

  I stared at him. ‘Stealing me? I’m not an object, Morgan. And whether I can remember them or not, the choices and decisions that I’ve made in the past were mine.’

  He put his hands in his pockets. ‘You were mine, too.’

  Half an hour ago I might have been flattered. ‘I don’t have time for this caveman bullshit.’

  ‘Then,’ he bit out, ‘stop arguing with me and let’s get a move on.’

  I gritted my teeth. Right now it wasn’t as if I had much choice.

  ***

  The address that Morgan had managed to finagle out of whoever he’d spoken to was in a quiet corner of Salford Quay, a recently re-developed area of the city. The building wasn’t as highly stylised or well refurbished as the others, however. It was shadowed by a glittering high-rise residential structure and it was barely noticeable. It wasn’t rundown per se but it paled into comparison with its neighbours. I bet plenty of passers-by wandered past without giving it a second glance. It was ideal for a hide out.

  Morgan stopped the bike on the corner opposite and we gazed across at it the same assessing look in our eyes. The building was shrouded in darkness and there wasn’t a flicker of life visible from any of the grimy windows.

  ‘Tell me about him,’ I said quietly. ‘What do I need to know about Rubus that I can’t remember?’

  For a long moment, Morgan was silent. I wasn’t even sure if he’d heard my question and I was about to repeat it when he finally spoke up. ‘He’s bullish,’ he said. ‘Likes to get his own way and is overly concerned with how others treat him. By which I mean that he expects to be venerated for who he is. If he doesn’t receive the respect that he thinks he deserves, his temper flares up quickly.’

  ‘He doesn’t sound as if he has much of a sense of humour,’ I commented.

  ‘No,’ Morgan agreed quietly. ‘He doesn’t. But as much as he acts like a brute who’s quick to anger, don’t underestimate him. He’s not stupid and he likes to play the long game. There was once a Fey who insulted him when we were back in Mag Mell, laughed at him when he tripped and fell. Rubus pretended to laugh it off like it was all a big joke. Ten months later, when that same Fey petitioned to be allowed to cross over here to retrieve some mugwort to help his sick daughter, Rubus made sure his petition was denied.’

  ‘So he’s high up then? In Fey Land? I mean, Mag Mell,’ I corrected.

  ‘Yeah.’ Morgan’s mouth tightened. ‘Or at least he was.’

  If there was one thing I’d learnt about myself over the last few days, it was that I possessed a sharp tongue. ‘I’m surprised that I chose him,’ I mused. At Morgan’s sideways glance and brief, annoyed flush, I hastily explained. ‘If I’ve learned anything about myself it’s that I don’t tend to keep my mouth shut. I can see how that could annoy someone with a short temper and a large ego.’

  ‘Rubus has a jealous streak,’ he murmured. ‘Even when we were kids, it was the same. Whenever I had something, even if he’d shown no interest in it, he immediately wanted it.’

  ‘You grew up together?’

  Morgan’s jaw clenched. ‘He’s my brother.’

  I stared. ‘You didn’t think to mention this little fact before?’

  ‘It’s why I have as much right to confront Rubus over what he’s done to your new boss as you have,’ he said stiffly, without looking at me.

  I swallowed and plucked at the hem of my T-shirt. ‘Did I betray you with him?’ I asked, suddenly nervous about the answer.

  All I received in response was a tight, barely noticeable nod. Gasbudlikins. No wonder Morgan despised us both.

  ‘Maybe you’re too close to all this,’ I said. ‘Maybe you should stay here while I check out the building.’

  ‘You’re not going in there alone,’ he growled. Both his tone and his expression were implacable.

  Arguing felt like a waste of time. ‘Fine then,’ I said. ‘Let’s do this.’

  ‘What’s the plan?’

  I turned to him and bared my teeth. ‘March up there and break down the door, of course.’

  A faint glimmer of amusement lit his eyes. ‘Of course.’

  I hopped off the bike and Morgan followed. My shoulders were tense; there was no denying the knot of anxiety in the pit of my stomach. But I had no choice – I had to do this. I strode across the street, blood roaring in my ears and Julie’s scarf wrapped tightly in my hands. As soon as I reached the large steel door, I kicked at it. The metal reverberated loudly. I scowled and tugged at the handle. Morgan reached down and placed his hand on mine.

  ‘Allow me,’ he murmured.

  Reluctantly, I stepped back. He touched the door, his palm flat against it and he murmured something under his breath. A moment later, he tried the door again. This time it slid open easily.

  My eyes narrowed. ‘That’s a neat trick.’

  ‘One you’re adept at, as well,’ he told me. ‘I’m sure you’ll be breaking and entering all over the place once you get your memory back.’

  ‘You really don’t have a very high opinion of me,’ I muttered, although given what I’d learnt that was hardly surprising. I stepped over the threshold,

  Morgan hesitated at the doorway. ‘No ward,’ he said, as much to himself as to me.

  I glanced back. ‘Ward? Is that what you put on the pub to prevent me from entering?’

  He nodded. ‘They need to be refreshed every six hours if they are to remain effective against Fey intrusions. For someone like Rubus, I’d imagine they’re a foregone conclusion.’

  I swung my head round and searched the cavernous, dark interior. ‘You don’t think he’s here.’

  Morgan grimaced. ‘I’m beginning to doubt it.’

  I curled my hands into fists and nodded. Whatever Rubus had been to me, I wasn’t going to let him get away with abducting Julie. ‘Even if he’s not here, there might be clues as to where he’s gone. We should still look.’

  ‘You actually sound reasonable, Madrona,’ Morga
n told me. ‘It must be time to up my medication.’

  I let out an unladylike snort. ‘Yeah, yeah. Save it till later.’ I pointed. ‘I’ll go right if you go left.’

  Morgan nodded agreement. ‘Yell if you need help.’

  My eyes flashed at him. ‘Ditto. I’m perfectly prepared to come and rescue you if you need it.’

  He offered me a half smirk before turning and melting away to the side. I took a deep breath and headed in the other direction. Coming, Rubus. Ready or not.

  The corridor was desperately dingy, with the sort of melodramatic cobwebs hanging from the corridors that looked like they’d been manufactured in a factory for a Halloween party. I stopped in my tracks, my feet refusing to continue. I scanned the cobwebs. It didn’t look like there were any spiders hiding in them. I told myself that the webs were too large to be real and that I shouldn’t be surprised if I rounded the corner and was attacked by a plastic skeleton. My heart rate slowed. That was better. Come on feet.

  Shuffling to the corner, I peered round and was confronted with a vast space of nothingness. The place didn’t look like it had been touched in months. At least there were no giant spiders scuttling towards me. Telling myself that appearances could be deceptive, and that I had to look beyond what was on the surface, I edged forward. Given that I left no footprints, the warehouse was certainly cleaner than it looked on first inspection. I sniffed the air delicately. There was a definite eau de mould clinging to the air but, if I weren’t mistaken, there was something manufactured about it. Rubus wanted incomers to believe that this building had been abandoned for months. There must be a reason for that.

  Moving forward silently, I swung my head this way and that. There were a number of doors on the left-hand side and nothing but empty space to my right. No prizes for guessing which direction I should head in, then. I tiptoed over.

  ‘What’s behind door number one?’ I whispered, before pushing it open.

  I was immediately assailed by the stench of death. Covering my nose and mouth with my sleeve, I eyed the small space. There was nothing there apart from the tiny corpses of three rats. I pursed my lips and hunkered down.