Gifted Thief

by Helen Harper

  ‘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.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The faint buzzing in my ear still hadn’t gone away. It was incredibly annoying. I tried scratching and slapping at it but they had no effect. It was as if I had a bee trapped inside my ear canal. I wondered if one had flown in during my little skydiving adventure but I’d been too high up for bees – and the buzzing had started before then anyway. Odd.

  Bob winked into existence. He’d managed to lose the parachute but he still had a smug smirk plastered over his face.

  ‘You waste of space, genie,’ I hissed. ‘You almost got me killed.’

  He raised his eyes to the heavens. ‘Come on, Uh Integrity. You knew there would be consequences. You told me about them often enough. Besides, it all turned out well in the end, didn’t it? You discovered your Gift and you got the nasty old Bull to tell you his true name. Now you own two people.’

  I gritted my teeth. ‘I don’t “own” anyone.’

  ‘Monsieur Scrymgeour and I would beg to differ.’

  I scratched at my ear again. Damn, that sound was annoying.

  ‘That’s your friends,’ Bob told me cheerfully. ‘I told them it probably wouldn’t work.’

  My brow furrowed. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘They’re trying to summon you with your true name but they’re not Sidhe. They can probably bend you to their will if you’re in the same room as them and you can hear them. But from a distance?’ He shrugged. ‘It’s never going to be a strong enough call.’

  ‘Well, that’s stupid,’ I said irritably. ‘If they’d summoned me back straightaway then your little game would have been null and void.’

  ‘As I’ve already said, you have benefited immeasurably from my,’ he sketched air quotes, ‘ “little game”. Don’t be a sore winner.’

  ‘They’ll be worried. I should get back.’

  Bob beamed. ‘You’re right. They are worried.’

  I started running out of the library. I had to get back to Lexie, Speck and Brochan as quickly as possible before they did something rash.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Bob shouted after me.

  What did he think I was doing? I cursed under my breath then smacked into a hard body. Slightly dazed, I pulled back. Byron. The shimmer around him was a deep purple. It should have clashed with his bronze hair but instead it made him appear more regal and charismatic. Great. That was all I needed.

  He caught my arm and gave me a funny look. ‘I thought you were feeling sick and lying down in your room.’

  Shite. ‘Er, I was. But now I feel better.’ I gave a disarming smile. ‘I can’t tell what gift I have yet, though.’ I might have more reason to trust him but that didn’t mean I was going to volunteer information.

  His eyes suspiciously. ‘How did you get past the…’

  I raised my eyebrows. ‘The guards that I asked you not to post but you did anyway?’

  He sighed. ‘Someone’s trying to kill you, Integrity. You shouldn’t be flippant about these matters.’

  ‘Not until the Foinse is safe and sound anyway, right?’

  A strange expression crossed his face. ‘Right,’ he muttered.

  ‘Actually, I was coming to find you,’ I said. ‘That’s why I was in the library. You asked me to meet you there before, so I thought it might be where you liked to hang out.’ I gave myself an imaginary pat on the back. Nice little side step I did there.

  ‘What do you need?’

  I grinned. ‘As I’m clearly hale and hearty, we can get on with the crusade to the Foinse. The sooner we fix it the better, don’t you think?’

  I still hadn’t allayed his suspicions. He folded his arms and gazed at me. ‘Are you sure you’re up to the journey?’

  I beamed. ‘I can’t wait. Let me rush upstairs and grab my things and I’ll be ready to go.’

  The furrow in Byron’s brow deepened. I caught sight of Jamie and Tipsania hovering in the back and gave them an enthusiastic wave. ‘We’re going to the Foinse,’ I bellowed out. ‘Do you want to come? We could take a picnic.’

  Jamie threw a nervous glance at Byron then looked embarrassed again, while Tipsania wrinkled her nose irritably. I wondered whether her father would tell her what had transpired between us; somehow I doubted it. The Bull wouldn’t want to look weak in front of anyone, even if they were his closest family or loyal Clan members.

  It was interesting that Tipsania’s aura was a pretty pink, with some flecks of scarlet. How come I was the evil black-aura woman and she got pink?

  ‘They can’t come,’ Byron muttered. ‘Only two representatives from each Clan are going to travel to the Foinse.’

  ‘Why two?’

  He didn’t meet my eyes. ‘It’s an auspicious number.’

  ‘Really,’ I said flatly. ‘Or is it because you need an heir and a spare?’

  ‘Accidents happen.’

  ‘Is that what we’re calling murder these days?’ I asked, although there was a lightness behind my words. Byron might not be aware of it but there was little chance of any further mishaps now I’d sorted out the Bull. But it still didn’t seem fair that I was the only one without a buddy. ‘There’s only me from Clan Adair,’ I said, pointing out the bleeding obvious. ‘Does that mean I can nominate someone to come with me?’

  Byron’s gaze flickered towards Jamie. ‘I’ll talk to my father. But even if he agrees, you can’t bring someone who’s in the Kincaid, Darroch or Moncrieffe Clans because they will be already be represented.’

  I shrugged. ‘Suits me. Jamie can be one of the Moncrieffe reps.’ I winked at him. The corners of his mouth tugged up in a quick answering smile. He was still very cute, especially when he put his dimples on show like that.

  Byron’s jaw tightened. ‘No, he can’t. Both my father and I will be travelling for Moncrieffe.’

  I was surprised at that. Byron’s attendance made sense; he had, after all, been one of the few Sidhe I’d had proper contact with and I doubted that the other Clan reps would be keen to chew the fat with me during our journey. However, I’d assumed that the Steward would delegate the journey to someone else. He must
be a hands-on kind of leader.

  Tipsania was looking bored. ‘He’s made things very awkward for the other Clans. Now they all have to send their Chieftains so they don’t lose face.’

  ‘As they should,’ Byron replied. ‘This is a matter of some importance.’

  ‘So I’ve heard,’ she said sarcastically.

  His expression softened. ‘Sorry. It’s been a long week.’

  Tell me about it. ‘Can we get this show on the road?’ I interrupted.

  ‘I’ll inform the others. Despite your sudden desire to get going, we won’t leave until first light tomorrow. By the time everyone gets their gear together, it’ll already be too late today.’

  I remained cheerful. ‘More time for me to hang around the Cruaich and get to know the Sidhe, then. What fun.’

  Tipsania rolled her eyes. ‘Byron, baby, will you come with me to the garden? I need some fresh air.’

  ‘It would be my pleasure.’ It was interesting that his expression told an entirely different tale. He was going to have to work on his acting ability if he planned to make an alliance with the Scrymgeours through Tipsania to solve the Moncrieffes’ financial woes. Although, looking at the way she hooked her arm round his and gazed adoringly up at him, that might not be too hard.

  I watched them go. Jamie said reluctantly, ‘I have to, um, I have to go too.’

  I smiled at him. ‘Okay.’

  Byron’s head turned for a moment, as if he were checking up on his mate. Perhaps he was worried I’d jump on Jamie and rip his clothes off right here and now. But as soon as Jamie walked off in the opposite direction, Byron returned his attention to Tipsania.

  ‘You like him,’ Bob said coyly into my ear.

  I jumped. He was perched on my shoulder like a damn parrot. ‘Don’t sneak up on me like that!’

  ‘Why? Are you worried I’ll catch you drooling?’

  ‘For Jamie Moncrieffe?’ I considered it. ‘His dimples are rather alluring.’

  ‘Not him,’ Bob purred. ‘The other one.’

  I stiffened. ‘Just because I might find Byron Moncrieffe sexually attractive, along with his friend,’ I added quickly, ‘does not mean that I drool. Besides, as you can see, he’s already taken.’