‘Not this soon, though. I still have evidence of that last job they pulled. I could make an anonymous tip.’
I seethed. So much for our night of passion, Jamie. Or hour of passion. Okay, ten minutes of passion. Brochan, Speck and Lexie might be safely tucked away around the corner but they’d want to return to their own world sooner or later. If Byron made that an impossibility, I’d ruin him – whether he was concerned about my wellbeing or not.
‘No,’ Byron answered. ‘We’ve gone past that point now. It was a means to an end. But how did they get out so quickly? I thought we’d have a couple of days at least.’
Jamie coughed again. Uh oh. Here we go. ‘There was a barrister. He petitioned the courts.’
‘Where did the money come from to pay him?’ Jamie didn’t answer. I heard a heavy sigh. ‘Let me guess,’ Byron said tiredly. ‘The Lia Saifire.’
‘It was sold for a considerable amount to a warlock over in Fort William.’
There was another loud thump. ‘Fucking hell.’
I frowned. He was taking the loss very badly. Did the sapphire have powers that I’d not been aware of? But why use it as bait if it were so precious? Surely the Moncrieffe Clan could have rustled up some non-magical gems to use. Something wasn’t adding up.
‘Does my father know?’
‘Not yet,’ Jamie said.
Byron sighed. ‘Come on then. You can watch me be the bearer of yet more bad tidings.’
I stayed where I was until I was certain both of them had left the room. Then I scooted out from underneath the bed. Well, well, well. Byron had been correct: – all was most definitely not as it seemed.
*
I slid out of the room, taking extra care in case anyone spotted me. I didn’t want to be caught sidling out of Byron’s rooms. Thus far, the lower class Sidhe and the servants had appeared to be on my side, but that didn’t mean I was going to take unnecessary risks.
I stayed as low as possible until I was well away from Byron’s wing of the castle. As I walked, I pinched my cheeks; hopefully I could make them red enough to give the illusion of an oncoming fever. The moment I emerged out onto a busier corridor, I straightened my back, allowed my features to form into a hard mask and marched towards the round-tabled room where I’d encountered Aifric and the rest of the Sidhe royal wankers.
Several people gaped at me along the way. I glared at them, satisfied when most of them scuttled away. When I reached the room, I slammed open the door and glowered. The light from behind me was strong, silhouetting my form. Aifric, Byron and Jamie were there and they had to shade their eyes to work out it was me. I rather liked that effect. I’d have to time grand entrances like this more often.
‘What gives?’ I snarled. ‘I thought the grove was supposed to be sacred. Now you’re all trying to kill me instead. I’ve got a banging headache, I don’t feel well and I’m in a really shitty mood. Where did those fireballs come from?’
Aifric recovered his voice first although I noted that both Byron and Jamie looked relieved. Yeah, yeah. I was still around to save all their sorry arses. Hurray.
‘I’m glad you’re alright, Ms Taylor.’
It was a shame he didn’t address me as chieftain; that would have been even more fun. ‘No thanks to any of you. Who is doing this? Who’s trying to murder me? That’s two attacks in less than twenty-four hours!’
Aifric’s expression was grim. ‘I can assure you that we’re working on it.’
‘Working on it? You’re going to have to try a damn sight harder than that. Who has more than one Gift around here? Pyrokinesis and summoning? Who can do both?’
Aifric exchanged a look with his son. ‘No one that we know of. We have our best people working through the magical register though. We will find them.’
I tilted up my chin. ‘You’d better hope it’s before I end up getting fried. Where will you all be then?’
‘We will put a guard on your rooms.’
‘No, you sodding won’t. How can I trust your guards? They might be in on the plot.’
He stiffened. ‘Our people are loyal.’
‘When someone stops trying to murder me, I might believe that.’ I swept an imperious gaze across the lot of them. ‘I don’t feel well,’ I declared. ‘I’m going to lie down. Give me back my letter opener.’
Jamie and Aifric both gave me strange looks but Byron dug into his pocket and handed it over. I felt considerably more secure with Bob back with me. As soon as I’d tucked the knife away, I held a hand to my forehead and frowned.
‘You have a fever.’ Byron’s voice was quiet.
Yes, Golden Boy. I have a very bad fever. Spread that little titbit around so everyone thinks I’m about to receive some terrible Gift that’ll put yours to shame.
‘It better not last long,’ I grumbled aloud. ‘The faster we can start travelling to the Foinse, the faster I can escape this hell hole.’