Last Wish (Highland Magic #4)

Pathetic. I folded my arms across my chest and tilted my head. ‘You have been getting yourself into trouble, haven’t you?’ He murmured something. ‘Take your hands away from your face and say that again.’

‘Go ahead,’ he said miserably, lifting his face. ‘Go ahead and curse me. I deserve it. And you can’t do anything worse to me than what’s already been done. Why do you think I’m awake at three o’clock in the morning?’ His eyes turned baleful. ‘Did you murder my daughter?’

Er… I cleared my throat. ‘She is beyond your reach now.’

He choked out a sob. ‘Tipsy. My Tipsy…’

‘You know she’s gone and yet you persist with this wedding,’ I said, watching him closely.

‘It’s not me who wants it to go ahead!’ the Bull babbled. ‘The Steward will kill me when she doesn’t show up! Do you think I want to die?’

I stepped forward. ‘Do you think I wanted to die?’

He blanched, going paler than I would have thought possible. ‘It wasn’t me! It was him! It was the Steward. Aifric Moncrieffe did it all. I’m innocent!’

‘The last thing you are is innocent, Cul-chain,’ I scoffed. ‘Why don’t you tell Aifric that she’s missing?’

‘He already knows! Of course he knows! Do you think I could keep something like that a secret from him? The man has eyes and ears everywhere.’

I rocked back on my heels. ‘So why is he going ahead with the wedding?’

‘He’s got Farsensers out scouring for her. He thinks he can find her.’

I managed – just – to remain expressionless. ‘But he won’t.’

The Bull moaned. ‘If Byron wasn’t in love with her there wouldn’t be a problem.’

For some reason my tongue stopped working. I stared at him, dumbstruck.

‘It’s all that boy’s fault. Aifric is trying to make up for the fact that he left his son for dead across the Veil. He’ll give him whatever he wants.’

I licked my lips and swallowed. ‘And … and what Byron Moncrieffe wants is to marry Tipsania?’ Even though Kirsty’s Gift told me the Bull was telling the truth, I didn’t want to believe it. Every other piece of evidence I’d had was to the contrary but doubt was starting to creep in. Actually ‘creep’ was the wrong word; it was more like a vicious assault.

The Bull’s head dropped again. ‘Tipsania was such a beautiful girl. She wasn’t perfect and I know she was spoilt but she didn’t deserve to die so young. Byron will be heartbroken. He wouldn’t listen to me when I tried to delay the wedding. He wants it done as soon as possible.’ He moaned again.

I barely heard him. I was still absorbing the revelation that Byron was pushing for the ceremony. I’d been such an idiot. The others were right: this had nothing to do with Aifric’s machinations. Byron was in love with Tipsania and wanted to wed her – or worse, he wanted her money to maintain his Clan’s ascendancy, regardless of anyone’s feelings.

I knew the Bull was telling the truth and I knew that I was the worst kind of idiot. I wasn’t denying that Byron had felt something for me but it obviously hadn’t run very deep. Sharp pain stabbed at my heart. My alleged corpse was barely cold. I understood that I’d betrayed him by faking my death in front of his eyes but I hadn’t had any choice ? it had been pretend to die or, well, die.

My knuckles tightened around the picture frame and the hurt in my chest expanded. How could one man make me feel like this? A hard knot rose in my throat. I wasn’t going to cry. There was no way I was going to cry.

‘What else is he planning?’ I asked once I could form words again. ‘What else does Aifric Moncrieffe have up his sleeve?’

The Bull’s eyes were wild. ‘How the hell should I know? I’m not exactly his confidante, am I? You put paid to that when you told him you had my true name.’ He paused, his expression suggesting he’d suddenly had a revelation. ‘Hang on. If you know everything then why don’t you know what Aifric is up to?’

I thought quickly. ‘I have your true name. That is why I know of your dealings, Cul-chain,’ I intoned.

The Bull was only mildly appeased. He looked me up and down, taking in my dark clothing. His stance shifted and, as he put his weight onto his toes, I saw suspicion in his eyes. Without further warning, he lunged for me. ‘You’re no ghost,’ he spat.

I dodged the blow just as the study was abruptly illuminated with a glowing white light. An odd sensation flitted through my stomach and I felt myself rise into the air, as if my system still had traces of the Levitation Gift I’d once stolen from a Fomori demon. If it hadn’t been for the glimpse I caught of Speck in the open doorway, his hands raised and a look of intense concentration on his face, I’d have believed that’s what it was.

I swallowed and went with the flow while the Bull staggered back a step, slack-jawed. ‘Oh you fool,’ I told him.

He cowered. ‘I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Just don’t hurt me!’ His hands covered his head as if he were trying to protect himself from a blow.

My lip curled. ‘You have been punished already. You will suffer to the end of your days knowing that your daughter is gone as a result of your actions. Tell anyone of this encounter and you will be considered nothing more than a demented old man, turned mad by grief.’

He shook his head violently. ‘I won’t tell anyone!’

‘Promise me, Cul-chain.’

‘I promise!’

I watched him. He was telling the absolute truth; given that my use of his true name compelled him to do what I said, that was hardly surprising. But truth was rarely absolute. Just because he believed he’d stay quiet now didn’t mean he wouldn’t change his mind later. As Brochan had pointed out, he could find ways around the compulsion.

There was little I could do about it. I’d just have to enjoy the relative safety of my death for as long as I could and be prepared for things not remaining that way. I wondered what Byron would think. Would he regret jumping to Tipsania so quickly or had he been in love with her all along? It felt like there was a gaping hole in my chest, exactly where my heart used to be.

Behind the Bull, Speck was starting to tremble. A bead of sweat ran down his forehead; he couldn’t hold out for long. I gave him a brisk nod and, with relief, he released the spell and dropped me back to the ground with an unghostlike thump. The Bull started to look up but I growled at him.

‘I’m taking this,’ I told him, pointing at the photo frame. He flinched then both Speck and I were in the corridor and sprinting away soundlessly.

***