Artemis straightened his tie.
Freud, he felt certain, would have a field day with that.
Artemis hurried upstairs to his parents’ room. The rug was coated in a pool of lumpy fat. Two sets of fairy footprints led from the turgid pearlescent puddle into the en suite bathroom. Artemis heard the power shower drilling against the tiles.
Opal used animal fat to suppress No1’s magic. How despicable. How horrible.
Young Artemis was studying the spreading mass of goo. “Look,” he said, noticing his older self. “Opal used animal fat to suppress No1’s magic. How ingenious.”
Under the noise of the shower were the sounds of retching and complaining. Butler was hosing down Holly and No1, and they were not happy or healthy.
But alive. Both alive.
Angeline lay on her bed, wrapped in a goose down duvet. She was pale and dazed, but was it Artemis’s imagination or had just a tinge of color crept back into her cheeks? She coughed gently, and immediately both Artemises were at her side.
Artemis the elder raised an eyebrow at his younger self. “You can see how this might be awkward,” he said pointedly.
“I can indeed,” conceded the ten-year-old. “Why don’t I have a poke around in your . . . in my study. See what I come up with.”
This is a problem, Artemis realized. My own inquisitiveness. Perhaps I should not have promised not to mind-wipe my younger self. Something will have to be done.
Angeline opened her eyes. They were blue and calm, peering out from tired, dark sockets.
“Artemis,” she said, her voice the rasp of fingers on tree bark.“I dreamed I was flying. And there was a monkey ...”
Artemis shook with relief. She was safe; he had saved her.
“It was a lemur, Mother. Mom.”
Angeline smiled wanly, reaching up to stroke his cheek. “Mom. I have waited so long to hear you say that. So long.”
And with that smile on her face, Angeline lay back and drifted off into deep, natural sleep.
Just as well, Artemis realized. Or she may have noticed the fairies in the bathroom, or the contents of a fat barrel on the rug. Or a second Artemis lurking shiftily by the bookcase.
Butler emerged from the bathroom dripping wet, shirtless, paddle marks scorched into his skin. He was paler than usual, and had to lean against the door frame for support.
“Welcome back,” he said to Artemis the elder. “This little one is quite a chip off the old block. Gave me one hell of a jump start.”
“He is the old block,” said Artemis wryly.
Butler jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Those two didn’t enjoy their dip in the barrel.”
“Animal fat is poison to fairies,” explained Artemis. “Blocks the magical flow. Turns their own power rancid.”
A shadow settled on Butler’s brow. “Opal made me do it. She . . . Miss Book approached me at the main gates as I was leaving for the airport. I was trapped in my own skull.”
Artemis laid a gentle hand on his bodyguard’s forearm. “I know. No apologies are necessary.”
Butler remembered that he did not have his weapon, and he remembered who did have it. “What did you do with Schalke? Knockout dart?”
“No. Our paths did not cross.”
Butler staggered to the bedroom door, Artemis hot on his heels. “Opal is controlling him, though he’s making her work for it. We need to secure them both right now.”
It took them several minutes to reach the security booth, with Butler pulling himself along the walls, and by that time Opal was already gone. Artemis ran to the window just in time to see the blocky rear end of a vintage Mercedes take the bend in the driveway. A small figure bounced on the backseat. Two bounces, the first time it was Opal, the second Miss Imogen Book.
Already her power returns, realized Artemis.
Butler loomed above him, panting. “This isn’t over yet.”
Artemis did not respond to the comment. Butler was simply stating the patently obvious.
Then the engine noise increased in volume and pitch.
“Gear change,” said Butler. “She’s coming back.”
Artemis felt a chill pass over his heart, though he had been expecting it.
Of course she’s coming back, he thought. She will never have another chance like this one. Butler can barely walk. Holly and No1 will be diminished for hours, and I am a mere human. If she retreats now, Jayjay will be free of her forever. Soon Foaly’s squad will arrive from Tara and whisk the little lemur underground. For perhaps five minutes, Opal has the upper hand.
Artemis planned quickly. “I need to take Jayjay away from here. So long as he is in the manor, everyone is in danger. Opal will kill us all to cover her tracks.”
Butler nodded, sweat running in rivulets through the lines on his face. “Yes. We can make it to the Cessna.”