Chapter Seventeen

 

It took the Bull less time to recover from my sudden appearance than I anticipated. He flung back his head and roared. It was a deafening sound. If his intention was to scare me, it worked. When his eyes fell on a point beyond my shoulder, however, I realised he’d done it for a different reason. Behind me was a door. He was calling for back up.

Assuming that he had Clan members close by, I wasted no time. To the right there was an oak table. It wasn’t huge but it might buy me some time. I grabbed the edge of it and tipped it so it fell heavily against the door. For good measure, I also gave the lock a hefty kick, splintering it to help jam it. It was a move Taylor had me practise for weeks on end until I’d got it right – goodness knows how many doors we’d gone through. He’d insisted that it was important in case I ever found myself cornered during a heist and needed some breathing space to work out an escape route. At the time, I’d stubbornly declared that I’d never approach a job without having numerous escape routes and I’d never be stupid enough to let myself get cornered. Now I was seriously grateful for that training.

Unfortunately my preoccupation with the door gave the Bull time to attack. He came at me from behind, swinging a heavy sword. I heard the whisper as it flew through the air and just managed to duck in time, leaping away a heartbeat afterwards. He didn’t manage to hit me but there was an odd buzzing in my ear that didn’t sound right. I shook my head in a bid to clear it and focused on the Bull.

‘Now that’s a weapon,’ I said. I showed him my bare palms. ‘I’m not here to fight though. In fact, I’m a pacifist. I don’t do violence.’

‘Oh yeah?’ he sneered. ‘Then what’s that in your pocket?’

Rather than take my eyes off him, I raised one hand to check. It was Bob’s sodding letter opener. No doubt he’d come along for the ride in the hope that the mess created by my first wish would make me ask for a second.

‘This is a letter opener,’ I told the Bull. Screw Bob’s delicate ego. ‘It’s not much good for anything. I keep it handy for urgent letters. I’d forgotten I had it.’

There were several shouts from the other side of the door, followed by a series of loud thumps. The Bull bared his teeth. ‘You’ve got about five minutes before you’re surrounded. Whatever you’re going to do, you’d better do it fast,’ he said.

He swung the sword again, his muscles straining. Sadly for him, he’d clearly fallen out of shape over the last twenty years and those muscles were encased in far too much fat. He’d made the classic error of using a weapon that was too unwieldy for him to manage. It was easy to avoid his blow and scoot to the other side of the room.

I pursed my lips. He’d kept me at such an arm’s length when I was a kid that I’d never known what his Gift was. Judging by the fact that he was obviously biding his time until his Clan came to rescue him, I bet it was something fairly useless. Of course, that knowledge would only help me until his goons arrived.

‘You didn’t do the actual conjuring, did you?’ If he possessed that kind of Gift, he’d already have used it here.

‘Unlike you, I have a loyal Clan bursting at the seams with talented people. They did what I asked.’

I felt a slight twinge. It’d be handy to have people around who jumped to your every demand, even if it was attempted murder. ‘Why are you trying to kill me?’

‘You know why.’

Er, no. ‘If I die,’ I said, circling away in case he decided to take another heavy-handed swipe, ‘then you’ll never be able to open the Foinse.’

His lip curled. ‘The Foinse is already doomed.’

I blinked. He didn’t even think it was worth trying to kickstart it? ‘You’ll lose all your magic. The Sidhe will lose their standing. Not to mention it might mean hundreds of thousands of deaths.’

‘The Scrymgeours are prepared. Any Clan worth its salt is prepared. This has been on the cards for a long time.’

‘You’re rich,’ I said quietly. ‘As rich as Croesus. You’re going to make sure that your Clan survives because you can pay for the protection you’ll need.’ There was a flicker of acknowledgment in his dark eyes. ‘You might even be happy,’ I continued. ‘If other Clans are decimated then you’ll rise up even further in the ranks.’

‘You have no idea what it’s like,’ he hissed. ‘I’ve got bodyguards outside my door because you can never be sure what the others are going to do. You think I was a bastard to you? Well, think again. I’m nothing compared to some of these bloodthirsty pricks.’

I had the odd sensation that he was telling the truth. Or at least that he believed what he was saying. ‘I don’t see your bodyguards right now,’ I pointed out.

‘They’ll be here. Do your worst, Adair.’

I just kept circling. Even if had the skills or the desire, getting into a fight wouldn’t help me. I had to be smarter. If I could keep him talking, perhaps I’d find a weak spot. ‘That’s why you could fling those fireballs at the grove,’ I realised. ‘If the Clans are doomed then it doesn’t matter if the sacred ground is destroyed too.’

His face twisted. ‘I don’t need the other Clans on my back right now. You were going to be alone. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.’

I lifted an eyebrow. ‘Other than me. Why do you hate me? Even as a child, you hated me.’

‘Black,’ he spat.

‘Come again?’

‘Your aura is black. It always has been. Even when you were a babe in arms, it was black.’

‘That’s your gift,’ I breathed. Wow. That was pretty impressive. You’d know as much about your enemy as they did about themselves. Another wave of nausea hit me but I swallowed it down. ‘You read auras. What does black mean?’

He shifted his grip on the sword. Even from here, I could tell that his palms were sweaty. He was as likely to drop it on the ground as he was to strike me with it. ‘Evil. It has to be. No-one else has an aura like yours. I see greens, blues, reds. Every hue under the sun. You’re the only person, Sidhe or troll or damned kookaburra, who’s got black. No wonder you hang around with the dirty Clan-less.’

I was taken aback by the venom in his voice. Was that why I’d been treated so badly when I was his ward? Because everyone thought I was evil? I didn’t feel evil. I was a thief, sure; I wasn’t always on the right side of the law. But pure, unadulterated evil? I was confident that if my soul truly was like that, then I’d know it. Hell, I’d probably revel in it. That’s what evil people did.

‘Your father was evil,’ the Bull spat. ‘And you’re evil.’

‘I thought you said I was the only person you’d ever seen with a black aura?’

‘His was close enough. Dark grey.’

‘Have you seen a lot of those?’ I was genuinely curious.

‘What are you trying to do? Are you going to kill me or talk me to death?’

‘I could tell you a few jokes,’ I suggested.

He stared at me as if I were insane. Right now, he probably wasn’t far off the mark. I was trapped in a room with the man who’d caused virtually every nightmare I’d ever had, and half his Clan were trying to break down the door. If anything was likely to make me crazy, then this would be it.

The continued banging on the door finally had some effect. Whoever was on the other side had kicked hard enough to make some headway. Now there was little more than the table between me and several vicious Scrymgeour goons.

Panicking, I pulled out the letter opener and sprang towards the Bull. He was three times my size – it was no wonder how he’d earned his name. If I could put the blade to his throat, however, the rest of his Clan might back off. It was unlikely but I was desperate.

‘You think that’s going to work?’ he sneered.

No, not really. I kicked upwards, knocking the sword out of his hands. It fell to the ground with a clatter.

‘You made a mistake coming here, girlie. It’s a shame you won’t live long enough to regret it.’

‘Believe me,’ I grunted, shoving the letter opener towards his throat and grabbing him from behind, ‘I’d rather be falling out of the sky than here with you.’

The door burst open and a number of grim-faced Sidhe piled in, a few of whom I recognised. Before I could say so much as boo, however, my body was yanked backwards.

‘Teleporta…’ the Bull started to yell. Except his shout was swallowed up in the billowing wind. We were no longer in his quarters. Sodding hell: we were falling through the sky.

My stomach lurched. Bob. I kept my grip on the Bull but I was losing control of my body. We twisted and tumbled through the air. The ground seemed a long way down. As I spun one way, I could just make out the dot of the castle below. It might look far away but it wouldn’t take us very long to go splat.

‘What the hell have you done?’ the Bull yelled. Instead of pulling away from me, his hands frantically scrabbled forward, latching onto my shoulders. ‘Get us out of here!’

‘Bob!’ I screamed. ‘You wanker!’

There was the inevitable flash of light. I heard a curse from the Bull, before the genie appeared in front of my face.

‘Hi, Uh Integrity!’ The little shit had a parachute strapped to his back.

‘First you send me to him and now you do this?’

He shook his head. ‘Nah, I didn’t do this. You didn’t say “I wish”.’ He gave me a salute. ‘I’m here at your service if you need me, though.’ A tiny furrow lit his brow. ‘You must have … never mind. I seem to be stuck here with you.’

He spoke the truth. I switched my attention to the Bull, who was gaping at Bob. ‘What are you?’ he whispered.

‘None of your sodding business,’ I snapped, trying to time to stretch my body in the way I’d seen free fallers do on television. ‘I thought you said your Gift was aura reading?’

‘It is! This is down to you, you Adair bitch!’

Huh. I jerked my head down. The castle was getting bigger. Maybe I had received a Gift after all: I really could do teleportation. Pretty cool. I grinned to myself.

‘What are you smiling at, you freak?’ he yelled. ‘We’re going to die!’

I released my grip on him. His eyes widened in terror. ‘Don’t do that! Hold on to me!’ He clutched at me in desperation, his fingers white-knuckled.

‘You tried to kill me,’ I said calmly. Now that I was in control, I was starting to enjoy myself. My hair was flying up behind me like Superman’s cape – or so I imagined. Unfortunately the gusting wind was making my eyes water. My ear was still buzzing irritatingly. Next time I tried this, I’d remember to bring goggles – and perhaps ear plugs as well. Bob perched on my elbow, grinning manically.

‘I’m sorry,’ the Bull babbled. ‘But it was only a matter of time before you came after me for what I did.’

‘Tell me. Tell me what you did.’

‘I’m going to die,’ he moaned. ‘Tipsania will be all alone. She’s just a kid. She’s not going to manage.’

No. I was just a kid when he’d treated me like shit. Now we were all adults. I glanced down at the castle again. As this was my first skydive, it was difficult to estimate how much time we had before we reached the ground. It didn’t look like it would be long.

Almost casually, I reached over to the Bull’s left hand and eased it away from my body. He clawed it back but I twisted away. With only one set of fingers linked to me, the Bull’s terror was growing.

‘There’s no time,’ I said sadly. ‘I’m going to have to go. It’s a shame because I really wanted answers.’

‘No. No. Don’t go.’ His eyes pleaded with me.

‘Give me your true name and I’ll take you back with me.’

His face went pale. ‘I can’t do that.’

I shrugged, which isn’t easy to do in midair. ‘Your choice.’ I turned my attention to his right hand, prying off one finger.

‘You said you were a pacifist. This is murder.’

I considered. ‘It’s more manslaughter than murder. I didn’t intend for this to happen. You just came along for the ride.’

‘You’re going to rot in hell.’

‘Probably.’ I pointed down. ‘Hey, look! I can see sheep!’ I pried off another of his fingers. They were remarkably fat and squat; clearly he wasn’t a piano player. ‘Before I go, do you want to know what the hardest part of skydiving is?’ The Bull stared. My grin widened. ‘The ground.’

‘Alright! It’s Cul-Chain. My true name is Cul-Chain.’

A wave of power filled me. It wasn’t just an emotional reaction, I felt a physical surge as well. ‘Let’s test that, shall we?’

‘There’s no time!’

‘I’m off,’ Bob announced, breaking into our conversation. I’d almost forgotten he was there. He pulled his parachute cord and jerked upwards. ‘I’ll catch up with you later, Uh Integrity!’

I looked down. The ground was getting dangerously close. ‘Let go of me, Cul-chain,’ I ordered.

The Bull released his grip. Crapadoodle – it worked. I lunged forward and grabbed him again, while he closed his eyes and muttered a prayer. I’d have to hope that the first time wasn’t simply a fluke. ‘The library,’ I said aloud.

For one heart-stopping moment, nothing happened. Then I felt the tug. Both the Bull and I fell onto the hard, stone floor, smack bang in front of a grey-haired Sidhe who was so astonished he dropped the pile of books he was carrying right on top of us. Ouch.

I picked myself up and pushed off the books. Stretching a hand down to the Bull, I offered to help him up. He screwed up his face. ‘Piss off.’

‘You could be a little more polite,’ I told him. ‘Especially as you’ve sworn fealty to me now.’

‘I’ve done no such thing.’

I turned my head, addressing the older Sidhe who was still staring at us. ‘Leave us.’

He didn’t need telling twice. He pivoted on his heel and ran off.

‘Cul-chain,’ I said in the most dulcet tone I could manage, ‘be more polite.’

The Bull’s expression tightened. He bowed, however. ‘Yes, Miss Adair.’

‘Taylor,’ I said. ‘Until Clan Adair is resurrected, call me Miss Taylor.’

He bowed again. I clapped my hands. I could get used to this.

‘How did you do it?’ he asked. ‘How did you do the teleportation?’

‘Beats me,’ I shrugged. ‘I’ll let you into a secret – I didn’t think I’d get any Gifts. When I didn’t get a fever, I was sure of it.’

‘That’s not what I meant.’ There was a dangerous glow in the back of his eyes. The Bull still hated me probably more than ever now. But his fear was greater than his hatred. With my knowledge of his true name, he’d do whatever I asked even if that meant slitting his own throat. ‘How did you bring me along with you?’

I frowned. ‘Eh?’

‘I know other Sidhe who can teleport but they can only bring themselves and the clothes they are wearing. They can’t even hold a cupcake and bring it with them.’

No wonder he didn’t seem concerned when I grabbed hold of him in his room. Thanks to Bob’s machinations, the Bull already believed I could teleport before I did so – but he didn’t think I could include him on the trip. Interesting. ‘You will tell no one about this.’

The Bull nodded. Then there was a tiny twitch at the side of his mouth.

I smiled. ‘I almost forget. It’s like Simon says, isn’t it? I have to say your name to force you to do my bidding. Cul-chain.’ I rolled the word around my mouth like a tasty treat. ‘You will tell no one about this. And you will order your Clan to keep quiet too.’

He snarled. He also said, ‘Yes, Miss Taylor.’

I circled round him. ‘Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? Why did I become your ward?’

‘Aifric commanded my Chieftain. I either agreed to take you in or lost several key lands to the north.’

I rubbed my chin. ‘But why you?’

He looked defiant. ‘I’m the Bull.’

‘I don’t understand.’

He set his jaw. ‘Your mother was engaged to me.’ I sucked in an astounded breath. He ignored it. ‘But because I am the Bull, she grew unhappy and left. I assume he thought that because you were her child, I would take good care of you.’ He looked at me. ‘I swore to keep you alive.’

‘Because you’re the Bull, she split up with you?’ I asked, puzzled. He rolled his eyes at the same moment I realised what he meant. ‘Ohhh. You’re not called the Bull because you’re a big guy. It’s because you think of yourself as a stud.’ I looked at his body derisively.

‘I was younger then,’ he spat. ‘I was a different man.’

He’d have to have been very different for anyone to want to shag him. I stared at him in mock horror. ‘My goodness! You could have been my real father after all!’

He hawked up a ball of phlegm. Before he could do anything with it, I wagged my finger. ‘I don’t think so, Cul-chain.’

He swallowed it back down. Eurgh.

‘So,’ I said, ‘you wanted to kill me because of my aura. And because you want the Foinse to fail. Is that correct, Cul-chain?’

Yes,’ he mumbled.

‘Speak up.’ I nudged him gently with my toe. ‘Is that correct?’

He cleared his throat. ‘Yes.’

‘Was my father really evil?’

‘Yes.’ His gaze was unwavering.

‘If I asked any other highborn Sidhe, would I get the same answer?’

‘Yes.’

‘What about the lower classes?’

He looked away. ‘They’re naïve.’

‘Why do they think differently?’

‘He manipulated them. There are stories suggesting that it wasn’t him. Or that he was possessed by a demon.’ His expression made it clear how unlikely he thought that was.

‘Very well. From now on, Cul-chain, you will not seek to harm me. You will ensure no-one in your Clan seeks to harm me. In fact, you will not seek to harm anyone.’ I smiled. ‘I wasn’t lying. I really am a pacifist. I might have an imaginative interpretation of the word but I’d never have let you fall.’

His eyes spat fire. ‘Evil bitch.’

I shrugged. ‘Evil bitch who’s now your boss.’ Not that I thought he needed reminding. ‘You may leave now.’

He turned tail and ran. As I watched him go, my hard demeanour softened to something more genuine and far more troubled because from the moment, the Bull told me his true name, I’d been able to see a strange halo round him. It was a sickly yellow and it followed him as he spun out of the library door. The aura of the grey-haired man who dropped the pile of books was more of a chocolate-brown colour.

I had no way of interpreting what each hue meant but apparently I could add aura reading to teleportation as one of my gifts. It was a damn shame it wouldn’t be of any use without a colour chart.