Last Wish (Highland Magic #4)

His hands left the Draoidheachd and, for a moment, it hung in mid-air. Then it flipped and spun on a direct collision course with the Foinse.

Everything seemed to slow down. I heard Asbar shouting. Bolts of magic blasted out from everywhere as the Fomori tried to do something – anything – to stop what was about to happen but they were no match for the magics. I smiled serenely and stepped back. A sudden explosion of light blasted us backwards, Sidhe, Fomori and everyone else. A loud hum filled the air, musical and light – and, above all, triumphant.

The conjoined magic spun upwards, zipping vertically as if it wanted to reach the stars. Above our heads there was a shaft of light, as if the sun were piercing through dark storm clouds. The light grew and grew, bathing everything in gold. At first I heard screaming and then there was nothing but awe.

I was the first to stand up. I walked over to the castle wall and gazed out. The view was magnificent; instead of the dark, dim shadows, green land stretched in front of me. Whichever way I turned, all I could see was bright light and beauty. The Veil had gone. We were one.

Bob flitted up to my shoulder. I dragged my eyes away from the magnificent vista and spoke, my words heavy with dread. ‘Go on then,’ I said. ‘What are the consequences? What’s going to happen as a result of my wish?’

He pulled backwards, hovering away from me so I could see him properly. He took out a massive handkerchief and blew his nose. ‘Bob,’ I said, even more alarmed. ‘Tell me. Is this going to hurt the Fomori?’

He wiped his eyes and threw the handkerchief to one side. Unfortunately it smacked Asbar on the nose. He hissed in disgust but he seemed to understand what I was asking of the genie. He watched us while the others gaped at the newly transformed Lowlands.

‘There are no consequences.’ Bob said, with a tremulous smile. ‘Not for this.’

My brow furrowed. ‘I don’t understand.’

He nodded gravely. ‘I know. No one ever does.’ He leaned towards me. ‘Why didn’t you wish for the Fomori to be sent away? A bit of sunlight isn’t going to stop all your problems. There still might be war.’

‘Asbar said it himself,’ I told him. ‘This is their home now. For better or for worse. There’s a Sidhe army out there preparing to meet them and…’ I choked slightly. ‘Things might yet become very bad. But this was the right thing to do.’

‘There’s your answer,’ Bob said simply. ‘Your wish was selfless. It won’t solve your problems and they might still turn around and kill you. So might Aifric. But you used your wish to benefit them anyway. Most people suffer the consequences of their wishes because most people wish selfishly.’

Byron put his arm round my waist. ‘You’re saying the key is altruism? Why the hell didn’t you tell us this before? It would have saved a lot of heartache.’

Bob rolled his eyes but Fergus understood. ‘Because if you knew that to succeed you had to be selfless, it would be almost impossible to be selfless. It wouldn’t work. Your mind would trick you.’

Bob nodded. ‘He’s right.’ He raised his voice. ‘But I’m still the magnificent being around here. Not him.’ Fergus just looked confused.

The English-speaking demon, who was listening in, murmured to Asbar. The Fomori leader stared at me. ‘This is true?’

I pointed at the sun. ‘You’re not burning up yet.’

‘No.’ He gazed round in wonder then he walked over to me and held out his hand. ‘You have saved Alba. And destroyed her too. We have a future now. All of us.’

‘You fucking bitch! What have you done? You’ve doomed us all!’

I glanced over at Aifric’s furious figure as he stood in the doorway and glared at me. Shite. It wasn’t time to celebrate yet.





Chapter Twenty-One


‘You cannot trust this woman!’ Aifric bellowed at Asbar. ‘The prophecy tells the truth! Look at what has happened! The sun will scorch your skin. Your children will burn and die. This is the end and she has caused it!’

‘Father,’ Byron said, ‘shut up.’

Aifric stared at his son. Calculation flitted across his expression and then he spread out his palms pleadingly. ‘Byron,’ he said heavily, projecting himself as the voice of reason. ‘I understand you have feelings for her. She is attractive in her way and power is always alluring. But she is a thief. I know the truth now. She stole my Gift from me. She ripped it from my very soul. That’s the kind of person she is.’

Byron folded his arms. ‘I know exactly what kind of person she is.’

‘She’s believes she’s doing the right thing but by bringing down the Veil, she’s brought about the destruction of the Fomori. And before the UV rays kill them, they will make a damned good attempt at killing us. Their armies were on our borders less than three days ago.’

‘But,’ Byron replied implacably, ‘they’re not there now.’ He shook his head sadly. ‘You have so much to answer for. What really happened to Clan Adair?’

‘Gale Adair killed them.’

‘No, he didn’t.’

A muscle jerked in Aifric’s cheek. The Sidhe, pixie and Bauchan, who’d been selected to come along, stared at each other. ‘Fine,’ Aifric spat. ‘But you need to understand the harsh reality of life. The only person who was strong enough to keep the Highlands safe was me. I was bargaining with the Fomori. If it weren’t for me, they would have invaded us long ago.’ He glanced at Asbar. ‘You know you were thinking about it.’

Listening to the translation, the Fomori leader shrugged. He didn’t seem to care; he already had everything his heart desired and it had nothing to do with Aifric. ‘It is true that we considered it. But we discarded the idea as too risky.’

I told Aifric what he’d said. The Steward of the Highlands could barely look at me. ‘You see?’ he said softly to his son. ‘It was too risky because I made it too risky. Gale wanted us to adhere to the old traditions of term limits. He didn’t think any one Chieftain should be Steward for too long. He clung to the old, outmoded ways without realising that experience is more important than length of service. I had that experience. He just wanted to take my place.’

Nothing I’d learned about my father suggested that was true. Other than offering my interpretative skills, however, I wasn’t getting involved in this. Byron needed to do this for himself, otherwise he’d never find peace.

‘So you killed an entire Clan?’ he demanded. ‘Because their Chieftain had a different political opinion to you?’

‘Until Integrity Adair got involved, there wasn’t a single Fomori demon incursion for twenty-six years,’ Aifric said. ‘What I did might have been brutal but we’ve had peace for that reason. Now we are on the brink of war.’

‘On your orders,’ Byron sneered. ‘You are the one who is causing the problems. You could tell them to stand down but I already know that you won’t.’