Veiled Threat

by Helen Harper

  I stretched up on my tiptoes so that my lips were by his ear. ‘Tell Tipsania the truth about what we’re planning.’

  He was so surprised that he jerked his head back. That would have been fine except Speck was standing right behind him and he received an inadvertent head butt as a result. The warlock let out a sharp howl and glared.

  ‘Are you sure?’ Taylor asked me.

  I glanced at her. Tipsania’s fingers were twitching, plucking anxiously at the folds of her skirt. There was a lot at stake for her as well. I could ask her to swear fealty – she had already offered to do so after all – but somehow I knew it was better not to go down that road.

  ‘Yeah.’ It felt right.

  ‘You’re the boss.’

  ‘You’re not going to try and tell me I’m wrong?’

  Taylor smiled. ‘You’re not a little girl, Tegs, you’re my Chieftain. Brochan and I shouldn’t have argued with you about Byron. Go bring your boy home.’

  My bottom lip trembled. I stepped away and looked at the others. Lexie had a curious sheen to her eyes that probably mirrored my own. Speck’s glasses had fogged up and Brochan wouldn’t look at me.

  I raised my hand. ‘I’ll be back before you know it.’ And then, before I had to look at their forced smiles, I spun round and plunged back through the Veil. Third time lucky.

  ***

  Secrecy was far more important than speed. I had to keep my presence hidden; it was the only way I had a chance of rescuing Byron. Rather than rushing, I took my time. I had to be absolutely sure that there were no demons around. I was even wearing the Hello Kitty t-shirt which I’d taken from a reluctant May. It reeked to high heaven but, if it helped to disguise my scent, it was worth it.

  I skirted away from the route I’d taken on my two previous visits. I was heading in a different direction and I needed to change others’ expectations. If I were a balding, ugly demon with murder in my heart, I’d expect the object of my desire ‒ me ‒ to take the same path she’d taken before. Of course, if I were that demon and I possessed any iota of sense, I’d also keep an eye out everywhere else too. But I reasoned that the demons couldn’t be everywhere at once.

  There was a considerable expanse of land between here and the old capital. Aifric had said that the Fomori had wanted more land but that didn’t make sense; they really did have all the space they could possibly want or need. With the sky obscured as it was, they didn’t grow anything; not even weeds could live in this barren landscape. I couldn’t see the Fomori as farmers; whatever they ate – and I was trying not to think about that part too much – the need for more land was the one point I was sure Aifric was lying about. The other thing I couldn’t reconcile was that he was prepared to lose his son because of whatever was going on with the demons. That was a level of unfeeling callousness that, even knowing what I already did about him, was impossible to fathom.

  Although I was travelling in a different direction, the Lowlands were still depressing in their uniformity. The atmosphere was sticky and unpleasantly humid; the ground was hard and dark. Everything was still shrouded in an unshakeable evil. The idea that Byron might spend his last hours on earth here was untenable. I set my jaw. His father might not care enough about him to mount a rescue but I was damned if I was going to abandon him – no matter how little he trusted me.

  I was just getting used to the silence when there was a low whistle. Managing not to shriek out loud, I lunged for the tiny figure that appeared from nowhere. I’d left Bob’s scimitar back at the Adair mansion so he must have hitched a ride without me noticing.

  ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ I hissed. ‘You know I can’t risk this getting screwed up!’

  ‘It is pretty grim, Uh Integrity,’ he said. ‘Let me take you somewhere nicer. The Caribbean is looking particularly good at the moment.’

  ‘Bob, so help me God...’

  He sighed dramatically. ‘I thought you might need some help. And if not help, then some company. It’s not my fault that you can’t control yourself when I’m around. You only have one wish left anyway. How much damage can one teeny little request do?’

  I glared at him but his face was the picture of innocence. He knew damned well just how much damage could be wrought. If I found Byron and he was in a bad way, there was no telling what I’d wish for. Bob could harp on about self-control all he wanted, but if temptation was there I’d reach for it if I couldn’t see any other way. And the consequences could be catastrophic.

  ‘Get yourself back home,’ I told him. ‘Now.’

  ‘You’re not my boss.’ He paused. ‘Well, you are, sort of. But I’m tied to you. I can’t risk you dying before I get what I’m owed.’

  ‘I’m not going to die. Besides, if I die you’ll just find a new owner who’ll probably be more than happy to make lots of wishes.’

  Bob scowled. ‘The merman said that if you die, he’ll bury my scimitar in the ground.’

  ‘I doubt he meant it.’

  ‘He did.’ Bob flounced. ‘I know he did.’ He leaned into my ear. ‘I don’t think he likes me. It hurts my feelings. I’m a congenial genie.’ He flashed a grin. ‘Congenial genie. Cool, huh?’

  I rolled my eyes. ‘Do you see what I’m doing now? Where we are? I do not have time for your petty bullshit.’

  ‘Just because you don’t care what others think doesn’t mean the rest of us can be so blasé.’ He stuck out his tongue. ‘Just for that, I won’t tell you about the twenty demons that are about to show up.’

  I froze. Shite. Bob beamed and burrowed his way back into my bag while I swung my eyes from left to right. I couldn’t see anything but I knew that the Fomori could move at ridiculous speeds. They could be on me at any moment. I twisted round, checking my back. Nothing there. The Veil was already out of sight. Where...?

  ‘Made you look,’ Bob trilled.

  I counted to ten very slowly; when that didn’t work, I lunged for Bob’s squirming figure. ‘Hey!’ he cried. ‘You make jokes all the time. Obviously you don’t like it when you’re on the receiving end.’

  ‘Why the hell doesn’t Kirsty Kincaid’s truth-telling Gift work with you? Nothing told me that was a lie.’

  He tossed his head. ‘Duh. I wasn’t lying, I was telling a joke.’ He waved his tiny hand in the air. ‘It’s all about intentions, darling.’

  My eyes narrowed. That was an interesting – and sobering ‒ difference. ‘It wasn’t a joke because it wasn’t funny.’

  ‘Then how do you get away with being unfunny all the time?’ he enquired. ‘Besides, it was a little bit funny. The way you panicked...’ He halted mid-speech and his eyes widened. ‘There are demons heading right this way.’

  ‘I’m not going to fall for that again, Bob.’

  ‘I’m being serious this time! Uh Integrity, hide!’

  Even Bob couldn’t fake that note of terror. I flung myself on the ground and flattened my body as much as I could. My heartbeat was so loud that I was certain any creature within a ten-mile radius could hear it. I did what I could to regulate my breathing.

  The only saving grace was that the demons, who numbered at least thirty, were taking some pre-designated route which didn’t involve coming this way. I watched them; it was difficult to tell from this distance but there seemed to be a tension about them that I’d not seen in our previous encounters.

  I thought about what Angus had said about the look of fear on the other demon’s face. I considered what I knew of the prophecy. Were they more afraid of me than I was of them? The thought wasn’t comforting. Fear made all living creatures act rashly; in terms of fight or flight, it didn’t take a genius to work out which option the demons would take.

  I was worried that the troop was heading to the Veil to attempt another attack on the Highlands but they veered away from the border. They were searching for something. Or someone. I nibbled on the inside of my cheek. Hm.

  ‘Uh Integrity,’ Bob whispered, once they were out of sight, ‘I have a bad feeling abou
t this.’

  I swallowed. ‘Me too.’

  ‘Is he really worth it?’

  There was no point asking who Bob was referring to. ‘It’s not just Byron,’ I said. ‘The Fomori have enslaved others. They need my help too.’

  ‘You don’t know that. They might be perfectly happy working for the demons.’

  I didn’t bother to answer. Bob sighed. ‘You don’t know how many are enslaved. You wouldn’t come to their rescue without knowing as much as you could about them first. Don’t kid yourself. No matter what is going on in this godforsaken land, you’re here for Byron Moncrieffe. There’s no shame in it but you’re risking your life for someone who doesn’t believe a word that comes out of your mouth.’ There was no censure in his tone; there wasn’t even any amusement. He was merely stating a fact.

  I inhaled deeply. ‘I’ve accused his father of genocide, of trying to kill me. Why would he believe me? It’s his father.’

  ‘He didn’t choose Aifric Moncrieffe as his father. He chose you, though.’

  I shook my head sadly. ‘I don’t think it’s possible to choose who you fall in love with. If it was, the world would be a far happier place.’

  ‘You think he’s in love with you?’

  I shrugged awkwardly and stood up. ‘I don’t know, Bob. I think he feels a hell of a lot of lust for me, whether he wants to or not.’

  ‘Are you in love with him?’

  I thought about the way I couldn’t get him out of my head. The way his golden hair flopped across his forehead. How his green eyes flashed when he was angry. The tone of his voice when he spoke to me and only me. The stiffness with which he’d held himself when he’d given me the prize for the Games, even though he’d won. ‘I’m here, aren’t I?’ I said eventually.

  Bob cocked his head for a moment before flying up to my cheek and leaning against it as if in sympathy.

  ‘Thank you, Bob.’

  He didn’t reply. We remained there like that for a moment longer. ‘You know,’ he said eventually, ‘we could call you Byntegrity. A romance for the ages.’ He frowned. ‘No. The other way around. Integron.’

  I grunted. ‘Sounds like a Transformer.’

  ‘Yeah, you’re right. You should call this whole thing off. It’s not going to work after all.’

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘It’s probably not.’ I tucked my hair behind my ear. ‘You need to go, Bob. It’s too dangerous.’

  ‘I don’t want to leave you here on your own.’ His voice was small.

  ‘I appreciate the thought, I really do, but I can’t risk having you here. Go enjoy yourself in the Caribbean. Have a cocktail for me.’

  Bob nuzzled against me. ‘I’ll go. But don’t get hurt, Uh Integrity.’ He paused. ‘You’re the only friend I’ve got.’

  And then, before I could say anything else, he’d gone.

  Chapter Sixteen

  There was part of me that regretted sending Bob away. Annoying as he could be, and as much as we sniped at each other, I enjoyed his company. It was oddly reassuring having him by my side and I was pretty certain he felt the same way. He was my friend, as Speck or Lexie or Brochan or Taylor were. I couldn’t imagine asking the little genie for my last wish but, if I did, I worried about what would happen to him afterwards. I sighed. It seemed like all I did was worry these days. I pushed him out of my head. At least he was safe for now. For my part, the solitude and silence were clawing at me and there was a tightness around my shoulders that belied my own tension. I had to get on and find Byron. There was simply no other choice.

  Wary after seeing the troop of demons pass by, I moved in a more easterly direction than I’d planned, curving round the valleys and hills until Edinburgh grew close, looming up out of the darkness.

  If I’d expected a city like Glasgow, I was mistaken. Glasgow was all low-lying buildings and cracked stone; Edinburgh, even from a distance, was completely different. The castle rose above the city, watching over everything and giving the place an air of drama and mystery. Given its history, that was hardly surprising. Even with my limited education, I knew what role the city had played in Scotland’s past, but I hadn’t imagined that it would appear so majestic. I’d seen a couple of ancient oil paintings ‒ I was pretty certain I might even have stolen one once from a merchant’s Aberdeen townhouse ‒ but seeing the castle was entirely different. It was also comforting to know that the demons hadn’t destroyed it. It had stood for eleven hundred years; maybe it would stand for eleven hundred more. One could only hope.

  As I got closer, it was clear that the castle was in need of some repair. A tower on the eastern side was little more than rubble. That wasn’t surprising; apparently this was one of the last strongholds to maintain a presence against the demons after their invasion. The people inside – both Sidhe and otherwise ‒ had fought hard. No one knew what had happened to them. It was believed that they’d all died when the castle had fallen. Considering what I now knew, the truth was probably worse.

  In any event, it wasn’t Edinburgh castle that I was aiming for. I tore my eyes away from it and focused on the buildings and the roads which surrounded me. They seemed as empty and lifeless as the ones in Glasgow but this time I knew better than to take things at first glance. I peered into dark interiors and kept a close eye on the rooftops. Getting here had taken ages and I was nervous about time slipping away. I knew the demons roused themselves at midday so I’d have to find cover before then. I didn’t know how long they stayed up for, however, or what they did during those hours of wakefulness. I guessed I’d soon find out.

  I kept on a straight path, heading for Arthur’s Seat. From time to time, I twisted away as odd noises travelled over the rooftops. They were never anything definite, just muffled thuds breaking the eerie silence, punctuated by the occasional swishing sound. There were no voices or snarls or screams but each time my hackles rose and I adapted my course to keep well away.

  The only thing I was thankful for was that I didn’t have to cross any rivers. The memory of the stinking, viscous Clyde was more than enough to live with. I’d jumped in there when I was avoiding the demons in Glasgow. The waters had concealed me then, but I didn’t feel the need to go for a dip in another Fomori river again.

  As I wended my way forward, I reminded myself that the Gifts I’d stolen were finite; I had to resist the temptation to use them because I was feeling nervous.

  To keep my spirits up I sang in my head, where I was pitch perfect and no one could complain that their ears were bleeding. As I arrived at a crossroads and prepared to turn left, I launched into a rendition of ‘I’m Too Sexy’. I hadn’t even finished the first line when I spotted a flurry of movement down one of the streets. I flung myself backwards, using the corner of the nearest building to shield my body. Then I peeked round.

  Whoever they were, they weren’t Fomori. For one thing, they were too tall and I caught a glimpse of a flap of fabric and a flip of long hair. I had yet to see a single demon which wasn’t naked or virtually bald. Curiosity got the better of me and I looked again.

  There were a lot of them; I counted at least thirteen heads crossing the cobbled street before they were swallowed up by the darkness. They appeared to be carrying objects from one broken-down old house to another.

  I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to know who they were and what they were doing. The demons slept on the rooftops, not inside, and I’d seen no evidence that they entered any of the buildings. Perhaps the houses were kept purely for their slaves, those poor souls descended from the people trapped here when the demons annexed the Lowlands. It was also almost ten o’clock at night which didn’t tally with the other information about the demons either.

  I could edge my way forward and see whether any of them spoke English. If they spoke Gaelic, I could probably use my own meagre smattering to have a quick conversation ‒ but there was no way of telling whether they’d want to talk to me or not. Whoever they were, they knew no other life than this. They might be terrified and immediat
ely raise an alarm. They might adore their demon overlords and run to tell them that the scary Adair was here.

  I told myself firmly not to get side-tracked. Byron needed me. These others might need me too but right now I couldn’t be sure. Until Golden Boy was safe and sound, I had to deal in absolutes.

  I waited until the last of them disappeared and sped across the road. It looked like there was another street veering left a couple of hundred feet away. It wasn’t too much of an adjustment to my course.

  I stayed close to the walls of the empty buildings, maintaining a good pace but staying vigilant. The desolation of the old city was starting to get to me. From time to time I spotted objects lying forlornly on the ground: bits of broken wood that looked like they might once have made up the parts of a children’s toy; a glass bottle or two; some china plates lying intact, as if they’d been used for a game of Frisbee before being abandoned abruptly. There was even a mottled cannon ball that had gouged a hole in the cobbles. I shivered. I could only wonder at their provenance.

  There was another turning ahead. I could choose to go straight on or turn right. I knew from May’s crudely drawn map – and Bob’s explanation – that going straight was the most direct route but that didn’t necessarily make it the best one. It was important that I stayed away from main thoroughfares in case some of the Fomori got up early, looked over their parapets and saw me. And there was the tiny matter of those patrols.

  I glanced in both directions. On the right-hand side, about halfway towards the next crossroads, the road seemed to be blocked. Timber, chairs, tables and beds, which had probably once adorned the house of some rich, dead dude, were piled up to create a barrier that would be awkward, although not impossible, to get over. The road straight ahead was completely clear.

  Rather than immediately taking the easy path, I pursed my lips and leaned back against the wall. The troop of demons which Bob had forewarned me about had led me to enter the city limits at a different angle to the one I’d planned. The non-demon workers had made me change course again, if only slightly. There were distant noises which had spooked me enough to make me keep away. Now there was a very obvious barrier so I was forced to go ahead rather than right.