My stomach lurched. Bob. I kept my grip on the Bull but I was losing control of my body. We twisted and tumbled through the air. The ground seemed a long way down. As I spun one way, I could just make out the dot of the castle below. It might look far away but it wouldn’t take us very long to go splat.
‘What the hell have you done?’ the Bull yelled. Instead of pulling away from me, his hands frantically scrabbled forward, latching onto my shoulders. ‘Get us out of here!’
‘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.’