Last Wish (Highland Magic #4)

He glared. ‘We’re leaving.’ He pointed at Jamie. ‘Me and him.’ He ran a hand through his hair and I watched as it flopped down against his forehead, one golden curl standing out against his perfect skin. ‘You will stay here until morning. If you keep quiet and don’t answer the door, you’ll get three times your usual fee.’

What the hell was going on here? What were they up to? ‘I guess I can do that,’ I said hesitantly.

All business now, Byron nodded. ‘Jamie, we’ll stick to the rest of the plan. You stay downstairs in case anyone gets suspicious. If you need to, you can come up here and pretend to check on me from time to time.’

‘Where are you going?’ I asked.

‘None of your business,’ Byron said sharply.

Jamie touched my arm. ‘He’s sneaking off to see his fiancée,’ he said. Well, I knew that was a lie even without my Truth-Seeking Gift. ‘It’s nothing against you. He’s just not that into the whole stag night thing.’

‘Yeah,’ Byron muttered unconvincingly.

I moved past him and perched on a sofa. ‘Sounds like easy money to me.’

‘Do up your shirt.’

‘Huh?’ I glanced down and realised I was still proudly displaying my – or rather Chardonnay’s ? rather bounteous assets to the world. I licked my lips. ‘Don’t you like what you see?’

‘I’m not interested,’ Byron growled. There was an edge of anger in his words that I’d ever heard before, not even when he’d discovered I could steal magic.

If Jamie hadn’t been present, I might have played around some more. Instead, I nodded and fastened the buttons. ‘So where is your lovely bride?’ I asked casually.

He ignored me. ‘I’ll be back before dawn.’

‘See that you are,’ Jamie said. ‘You know what could happen if this gets screwed up.’

Byron’s answer was flat. ‘I’d better not screw up then.’ With that, he walked to the sash window, yanked it up and disappeared into the night.

Jamie looked at me. I held up my hands. ‘I’ll be good.’

‘Can I get you a drink or something while you’re waiting?’

I shook my head. ‘I’m absolutely fine. You go and enjoy the rest of the party.’

‘Thank you for this.’ He was being honest. Jamie Moncrieffe really was a nicer guy than anyone gave him credit for.

I shrugged. ‘I’d hate to stand in the way of true love.’

He scratched his chin. ‘Have we met before? I’m sure we haven’t but there’s something about you that’s incredibly familiar.’

Er… ‘I get around,’ I purred. ‘Maybe you’ve been to one of my parties before.’

For a moment, he looked absolutely terrified. ‘I don’t think so.’ He opened the door and stepped out. ‘Thanks again.’

The second the door shut behind him, I sprang into action. I grabbed a chair and propped it underneath the doorknob ? that would keep him out for a short while if he felt the need to come up and check. Then I dashed to the window and peered out. Byron was already on the ground, running towards a parked car. I flipped over the edge of the window sill, dropping cat-like. I had no idea what he was up to but I was going to find out.





Chapter Eight


‘Well?’ Bob grunted, flashing back into existence when I called softly to him. ‘Have you finished making a complete idiot of yourself? Have you been killed yet? Because black is not my colour so don’t expect me to go to your funeral and mourn.’

‘Come on!’ I hissed. ‘We need to move. Byron’s already driving away.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean, that he’s pretending to be drunk, pretending to be in a room shagging Chardonnay and is actually driving away on some secret mission. We need to get to the car and follow him.’

Bob blinked, as surprised as I had been. ‘Are you sure?’

I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, pinched him between my finger and thumb and began to run. ‘There’s no time to delay!’

‘Is he like James Bond, do you think?’

I snorted. ‘Hardly.’

‘Or maybe he’s the Milk Tray man. He knows where Tipsania is and he’s going after her with a box of chocolates.’

I didn’t deign to answer. Instead, I vaulted over the wall to my left and dashed for our car with Bob flitting behind me. Maybe I’d get lucky and catch up with Byron at the first intersection. I bit my lip, remembering that one of my stolen Gifts was Electrosurge. I squeezed my eyes shut and focused, silently telling all of the nearest traffic lights to flicker to red. From the distance, there was a squeal of tyres and some loud beeping of horns. Shite, I hoped I’d not just hurt anyone. More haste less speed, I reminded myself. I wasn’t in the business of causing car accidents.

I flung open the car door and jumped in, before gunning the engine and taking off. I swerved round the corner and completed an illegal U-turn to head the car in the same direction as Byron’s. When I spotted it up ahead, waiting in a growing queue, I exhaled in relief and released my hold on the traffic lights.

There were four cars between me and Byron. That was good; I didn’t want to get too close. Many aeons ago, not long after I’d passed my driving test, Taylor had schooled me in the art of evasion whilst in control of a car. Despite his dire warnings about how difficult it would be to avoid the police if they ever tailed me, it had been more fun than anything else. Unfortunately I’d never had any practice at being predator rather than prey.

The lights changed back to green. As soon as I started driving again I winced, noting with a sinking heart the fender-bender between two cars that had stopped on the side of the road to my left. Bob, perched on the steering wheel, made a point of highlighting it too. ‘You’re a pacifist, Uh Integrity. Or is it that you’re a pacifist except when you’re chasing down the hot, sexy man of your dreams?’

I craned my neck, breathing out in relief when I saw the two drivers getting out of their stalled vehicles. They were obviously unharmed. ‘No one got hurt.’

‘That’s not the point.’

Bob was right. I was determined to follow Byron but I wasn’t going to put anyone else in harm’s way. I braked slightly, staying back from the car in front, and forced my shoulders to relax.

‘Go back and get their number plates, Bob,’ I said. ‘I’ll make things right later.’ I could track them down and send them some kind of compensation. Frankly, compensation was the least I could do. The last day or two I’d been getting ridiculously reckless. I needed to remember who I really was.

Bob threw me a scowl but did as I asked and zapped away. When he returned, he sniffed grudgingly. ‘They’re fine. The damage is minor.’

I smiled. ‘That’s not the point.’

Appeased, he shrugged and patted my finger then turned to the front. ‘Let’s not waste all our efforts and lose Byron now. Look, he’s indicating left up ahead.’

Bob was right. Two of the cars in front drove straight on, leaving only two between Byron and me. That was cool. I followed them, keeping strictly to the speed limit as we continued through the streets of Perth.

‘Where do you think he’s going?’ Bob asked.

‘I don’t have a clue. Neither do I understand why he’s sneaking away from his own stag party.’

‘Maybe he’s doing a runner. He’s going to head for the sea and swim across to Europe.’

‘Right now we’re going west,’ I pointed out.