Last Wish (Highland Magic #4)

‘Yeah.’

A haggis rolled up to Sorley and started nuzzling his ankle. He reached down and scooped it up, cooing at it. Then he cleared his throat. ‘Big deal. Let the Steward deal with them. The Adair borders are secure. We’ll all be safe.’ He glanced down at the haggis and affected a high-pitched tone of voice. ‘Won’t we? We’ll be safe, won’t we? Who’s the cutest little…?’ He stopped halfway through his sentence, seeming to realise what he was doing. He put the haggis back down on the floor and glared at us all. ‘They’re upset because of the Carnegie woman. I’m just being nice to them to stop them from annoying everyone else.’

I tipped my head to one side. ‘You could have left them at home,’ I pointed out.

Sorley’s eyes shifted. ‘I … er…’

I smiled and returned to the topic in hand. ‘I can’t pretend the Fomori aren’t there. I have to do something to get them to back down.’

Taylor glanced at me. ‘But you won’t fight them.’

‘No,’ I conceded.

He lifted his shoulders in defeat. ‘Then what are you going to do? How are you going to stop them?’

I gazed at him. ‘I’m open to suggestions.’

Byron burst in through the doors. ‘You’re not going to believe this,’ he breathed, as giddy as a child. ‘But I just saw the Foinse. It’s here! The source of all magic is here on this ferry!’ He shook his head in disbelief. ‘Come, look.’

Jamie abandoned Taylor, dashed out the door and almost collided with Speck on his way in. ‘Bloody hell! Who brought the Foinse here?’

Speck beamed. ‘Me!’

Byron turned to stare at him. I threw up my hands. ‘What if the Sidhe had caught up to us? It needs to be kept safe, Speck!’

‘I thought we might need the extra magical boost. It helped me create that wave. You know, the one that allowed us to escape?’ he added pointedly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Byron’s expression flatten into an impenetrable mask. He folded his arms. Crapadoodle. ‘You know it’s here,’ he said. It wasn’t a question.

I scratched my neck. ‘I do now,’ I answered slowly.

‘That wasn’t what I meant.’ He eyed me. Even Sorley seemed to think it was a good idea to back away. ‘You’ve had the Foinse in your possession all this time and you didn’t tell me?’

‘It’s not in my possession.’ I wondered how I could extricate myself without pissing him off again. ‘It’s got free will. It chooses where to go.’

Speck jabbed his finger at me. ‘Yes! If the Foinse hadn’t wanted to come here, it wouldn’t be here. So it’s not my fault.’

I frowned at him and he grinned. I looked at Byron. ‘And it’s not like it’s always been hanging around. It’s only been with us since we got back the Adair Lands. It was there when we arrived.’

‘That’s true,’ Taylor nodded.

‘So what you’re saying is that when I visited you there, the Foinse was there too?’

This wasn’t going very well. ‘Er, yes.’

‘And you kept it a secret?’

‘Byron, I…’ I sighed. ‘Yes, I kept it a secret.’

A muscle jerked in his jaw. He took a step towards me. ‘Why shouldn’t you tell a secret around a clock?’ His voice was dangerously low.

‘Excuse me?’

‘You heard me.’ He tapped his foot.

‘Because, um, time will tell?’

Sorley’s eyes turned from me to Byron and back again then his face cleared and he let out a loud guffaw.

‘That’s right,’ Byron said silkily. ‘And if it takes us until the end of time, I’m going to make sure that you trust me. You got that?’

‘I’ve got it!’ Shite. ‘I mean, I do trust you. I just … forgot to tell you about the Foinse, that’s all.’

‘That’s fine.’ He stepped away.

Feeling hot and bothered, I rubbed my neck. I had completely lost track of what was going on. It was just as well that Bob took that moment to harangue us. He flashed into the room with a disdainful glance. ‘You’ll be relieved to know that we’re safe. The Sidhe are no longer trying to pursue us.’ He sniffed loudly. ‘You’re welcome.’

‘Thank you, Bob.’

He zipped up to Byron. ‘I didn’t hear anything from you.’ He wiggled his earlobe. ‘I know you’re broke but manners cost nothing.’

‘Thank you, Bob.’

‘Well,’ the genie demurred, ‘okay then.’ He flew down, hovering at the edge of Byron’s kilt. ‘What do Scotsmen wear under these things? I’ve always wondered…’

Byron grabbed him before he could take a peek. ‘Manners cost nothing,’ he reminded him.

Bob pouted. ‘Yeah, yeah.’ He looked over his shoulder at me. ‘I should tell you that Tipsy is throwing a tantrum up on the deck. Fergus, May and Candy are trying to calm her down but they’re not having much luck.’

I pressed the base of my palms against my temples. ‘Okay,’ I said, ‘okay.’

***

Bob hadn’t been kidding about the tantrum part. Tipsania was marching up and down the slick boards, picking up everything that wasn’t nailed down and throwing it away. ‘I will wring his neck. I will pull out his fingernails one by one.’ She grabbed a lifebelt and hurled it into the grey, churning sea. Mm. We might need those.

Candy stood to one side. ‘It’s better to let her run out of steam,’ he advised.

‘Steam?’ Tipsania shrieked. ‘I’ll show you steam. I will ram a steaming hot poker right up his arse. Then you’ll see steam.’

May shuffled up, Fergus following with a large golf umbrella in a bid to shield from the sun. ‘Ip. Ee!’ she squeaked.

‘Not now, May!’

Byron said, ‘That’s a Fomori demon.’

Ah. ‘Yes. Yes, it is. She’s nice, though. Honest.’

‘If it takes until the end of time, Integrity,’ he reminded me.

‘I wasn’t keeping her a secret! She just never came up!’

He obviously didn’t believe me. I gave up and focused on Tipsania instead. ‘What’s wrong?’

She stopped what she was doing and stared at me. ‘What’s wrong?’ she shrieked. ‘What’s bloody wrong? You imbecile! You poor excuse for a Sidhe! You white-haired cretin!’

‘I tried to warn you,’ Candy rumbled.

‘Tipsania,’ I said, trying again. ‘I know this has been tough on you. I’m really sorry about your dad. It’s important to grieve but I’m not sure this is the best way to go about it.’

She put her hands on her hips and marched up to me. ‘My dad was a wanker,’ she said icily. ‘I’m not happy he’s dead and I’m certainly not happy about how it happened but that’s not why I’m angry.’

Angry didn’t begin to cover it. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d turned green and ripped her way out of her sodden wedding dress.

‘Aifric,’ she said, spitting the name out with disgust. ‘He’s not dead.’

‘No.’

‘I want to kill him. Slowly.’