‘Oh yeah?’ I sneered. ‘Like what?’
‘That magic controls the Veil,’ he said. ‘The barrier that prevents the Fomori from entering the Highlands.’
I scowled at him. Okay, the Fomori were pretty scary demons who were better kept well away from us.
‘That same magic keeps nature in check,’ Byron continued in the patient, patronising tone you’d use when explaining something to a particularly stupid child. ‘You want to build a factory? The magic adjusts itself so the environment isn’t irreparably harmed.’
I didn’t want to build a factory but I got his point.
Byron wasn’t finished. ‘You want more disasters like the Dee surge? Only on a far greater scale?’ He folded his arms. ‘Then be my guest. Let your friends rot in jail. Let your mentor pay his debts by losing part of his soul. You’ll also be letting all of Scotland suffer.’
Alright. Jeez, he’d made his point. ‘You could have told me all this in the first place. The Lia Saifire ruse was unnecessary.’
‘Would you have listened?’
Maybe. Okay, probably not. In fact no, I wouldn’t have. The first ten years of my life ensured that the last person I’d listen to was a Sidhe.
‘Fine,’ I snapped. ‘I’ll do what you want. Release Taylor from his debt though and let Speck and Brochan go.’
‘That will happen when you’ve done what we require.’
My eyes flashed. ‘You don’t trust me.’
‘You’re a thief, Integrity. Why would I trust you?’
‘It’s not just my name. I’ve got more integrity in my little finger than the Sidhe will ever have. No matter who my father was.’
He shrugged. ‘We’ll have to agree to distrust each other then. We’ll go to the Clan lands, you’ll help us with the Foinse, then you can go back to your oh-so-wonderful criminal existence.’
I hated him. I really, really hated him. I stood up and, as he moved his head to watch me, his hair fell across his eyes. Damn it. I also still lusted after him. Awkward.
‘First,’ I said, as calmly as I could, ‘I need a shower and a change of clothes. Second, I need to tell Taylor what is going on. Once I have achieved both those things, I will come and meet you.’
‘I’m not letting you out of my sight.’
‘Yes,’ I said, ‘you are. I will present myself at the Sidhe court this evening. Until then, you’ll have to wait.’
And, with that, I stalked out.
Chapter Nine
Taylor couldn’t stop shaking his head. ‘All this time? They’ve been watching you all this time? How could we not have known?’
‘I doubt they’ve been staking me out twenty-four hours a day. They probably just check on me from time to time.’
‘But this is ridiculous! I’m a professional, Tegs. I should know when someone is watching me.’
I walked over to him and held his head in my hands. ‘Stop jiggling your head around like that. It’s making me nauseous.’
‘Sorry. But to keep tabs like that… Do you think they were watching during the Scone job?’
I bit my lip. ‘I don’t know. Maybe. Whether they were watching or not, they didn’t do anything to stop us. They’ve always chosen to take a hands-off approach.’ I frowned. ‘Until now, of course.’
‘Do you think they’ll leave you alone? After you help them reach this Fonzie thing?’
‘Foinse,’ I corrected him absently. ‘And right now, I doubt it. I do this for them and then in a couple of years’ time there’ll be something else, then something else, then something else. I’ll never be free.’ I met his eyes. ‘I’m sorry. It turns out that all this mess is my fault.’
‘If I’d not gambled…’
‘Brochan and Speck would still have been rounded up. They’d still have found another way to get me to do what they want. Maybe it’s better that they’ve forced the issue. The failure of the magic is a big deal and I should help out. It’ll be disastrous for everyone if I don’t. Now I know they’re watching me, however, I’ll do a better job of disappearing once I’ve fixed their problem for them.’
His eyes scoured me. ‘You mean for good, don’t you?’
I gave a helpless shrug. ‘What choice is there?’
He ran his hands through his hair and I suddenly realised how old he looked. There were lines on his face and a pallor to his skin that went beyond grey hair.
‘What if…?’ He swallowed.
‘Yes?’ I prompted.
Taylor sighed. ‘You said that the reason they didn’t get rid of you when you were a kid was probably because they knew that they might need you for something like this. Once the Foinse is accessed, what if they decide that they don’t need you again?’
‘You mean they’ll kill me once I’ve helped them open it?’
He nodded, trouble written all across his face.
‘I’ve considered that,’ I told him truthfully. ‘I’m going to need several exit plans to ensure it doesn’t happen.’