Gifted Thief (Highland Magic #1) (13 page)

‘How long are these matters going to take?’ I asked.

‘We’ll head out for the Foinse straight after dawn. It takes about a day to get there. We’ll arrive in the grove by midday Tuesday so if all goes to plan, you can be back home and sleeping in your own bed by Thursday night.’ Something sparked in his eyes. ‘If you wish, I can tuck you in.’

Byron was obviously irritated and was trying to intimidate me and put me in my place. I quashed down the lustful butterflies that sprang up in my stomach and licked my lips. I twirled my fingers through my hair and moved closer to him, brushing against his body. The answering tension in his muscles brought me deep satisfaction.

‘Don’t,’ he growled.

I stepped back. ‘Then stop trying to flirt with me. We both know that moment has passed.’

He looked like he was about to say something and thought better of it. ‘Fine,’ he snapped, ‘come on then.’

Without further ado, Byron pushed open the large doors, revealing a vast room. Smack bang in the centre was a table, with a lot of well-dressed Sidhe sitting around it. Every head twisted in our direction while I sucked in a breath. I’d thought Byron was attractive but these guys were something else. Not a single blemish marred their skin and not one hair was out of place. It felt like I was walking into the pages of
Vanity Fair
.

A man at the far end of the table got to his feet. The simple gold band encircling his head signified his role and I immediately spotted the family resemblance. So this was Byron’s father, the Sidhe Steward Aifric. He’d been the leader of the Clans for years. It had always seemed a rather pointless role – not just to me but to many Clan and Clan-less people. Each Clan head had his own agenda which almost never corresponded with anyone else’s.

The general consensus was that the Steward was ‘permitted’ to make small decisions of matters of bureaucratic import and that he acted as a conduit to keep the others in check. Apart from the destruction of the Adair Clan, Aifric had done well to avoid outright war between any of the Sidhe groups. It didn’t mean there wasn’t still murder; it just meant there was less murder than if someone else had been in charge. Well, whatever he did, he wasn’t
my
damned leader.

No doubt in deference to Aifric rather than me, the others also stood, gliding to their feet in smooth, practised movements.

Byron addressed them all. ‘Good day to you all.’ He paused for effect. ‘I would like to present Integrity…’ He paused again and shot me a quick look, ‘Taylor.’

I felt an unexpected flash of gratitude that he’d used my chosen surname instead of Adair. The Sidhe Clan heads and royalty were taken aback and several threw startled glances in Aifric’s direction. To the Steward’s credit, he didn’t blink.

‘Well done, Byron,’ he murmured.

There was a chorus of assent from around the table.

‘You did well to bring her in,’ someone commented.

I balled up my fists. Yeah, go, Golden Boy. You brought the stupid Clan-less orphan in out of the cold. Let’s not acknowledge her personally though. I pinned my mouth firmly closed. The tension of being around all these Sidhe wankers was getting to me. The last thing I needed was to snark out some comment that would put them on edge and make them hate me even more than they already did.

Aifric, dressed in a similar manner to Byron, approached me. Watch it, I projected silently. Get too close and I might bite.

He put his hands out, reaching for mine as if to clasp them. I stepped backwards and crossed my arms. I might be trying not to antagonise anyone but I wasn’t the prodigal daughter returning home. I wanted it made clear that I was there under sufferance.

Despite the intake of breath from several of the other Sidhe, Aifric barely reacted. He gave me a flicker of a smile and a nod of acknowledgment, and returned his hands to his sides.

‘It was good of you come. May I call you Integrity?’

‘You may,’ I replied formally. ‘I didn’t have much choice. I had to come.’

Aifric’s facial features might be a match for Byron but his eyes were a brilliant blue rather than an emerald green. They fixed on me with surprising kindness. ‘There is always a choice. We are glad that you are here.’

I wondered whether that was the royal ‘we’. Judging by the dark expressions on some of the other courtiers’ faces, they didn’t share the sentiment. One gaze in particular caught my attention. When I recognised it as belonging to the Bull, I almost staggered backwards. I hadn’t realised he’d risen to the position of Chieftain for the Scrymgeour Clan.

I felt the familiar feelings of inadequacy but I wasn’t eleven years old any more, I reminded myself. I could do this.

‘Explain to me exactly how this will work,’ I said, in a clear voice that was free of tremor.

‘A delegation will ride out tomorrow.’

I choked. Ride? As in horses? Shite.

Aifric didn’t notice my reaction but I was certain that Byron did. I could almost feel the amusement emanating from him.

‘It will take just over a day to reach the Foinse. It’s not an easy journey and the rural location requires old-fashioned transport. There will be two representatives from Kincaid, Moncrieffe, Darroch, as well as you. Kincaid’s key opens the path. Our key – the Moncrieffe key – opens the cavern. Darroch’s key opens the bridge and your key opens the final barrier to the box, within which the Foinse resides.’

I nodded, trying to look wise. ‘And the key looks like…?’

There was a snort from the table. I was pretty certain it came from the Bull but I couldn’t be sure. Aifric barely reacted but I could swear his shoulders stiffened. ‘The key is you. The humans call it DNA. We are less prosaic. We call it your soul.’

Oh. That made a kind of sense. ‘No problem.’

Aifric smiled benignly. ‘All you have to do is whisper your true name and the key will work. The difficult part will be getting to the Foinse. Once you’re at the site, it will be easy.’

I stared at him. A tiny furrow crossed his brow. ‘Is something wrong?’

‘The, um, true name part.’

He nodded. ‘I can understand why you’d be worried about that. No-one will hear you say it. Every representative will be respectful. You have my word.’

‘She’d better be respectful back,’ someone muttered. ‘If she learns one of the others’ true names then…’

Byron strolled over to the red-haired grumbler. He didn’t touch her or speak to her; he simply stood behind her chair. She immediately fell silent. Damn. That was some power. What exactly did he do for his father? Was he some kind of enforcer? I knew of a few Clan-less gangs that had people like that in their ranks. They didn’t tend to last very long.

I shook myself. Whatever Byron’s role, it didn’t alter the issue confronting all of us.

I cleared my throat. ‘This probably isn’t the best time to bring this up but I should mention it as it has a bearing on your plan.’

Aifric appeared confused. ‘Go on.’

‘I, er, don’t have a true name.’

You could have heard a pin drop in the room.

‘Say that again?’

I licked my lips and repeated myself. ‘I don’t have a true name. I never received one.’

It started slowly. Aifric’s cheeks flushed pink then, second by second, they grew darker until his entire face was a mottled purple. His blue eyes turned icy. ‘What is the meaning of this?’

I stepped back. It wasn’t my fault. If any of them had stopped to think about it, they’d have realised. All the same a shudder of fear ran through me. What would he do now?

Byron returned to his spot next to me. Surprisingly, he wrapped his hand round my upper arm and squeezed it reassuringly. By the look on his father’s face, however, that wasn’t going to help.

‘How can you not have your name?’ He turned to the table of astonished Sidhe, fixed on the Bull and raised his voice. ‘How can she not have her name?’

The Bull’s eyes darted around in terror and I realised for the first time that the man who was such a focus for my nightmares when I was a child was actually rather unremarkable. He was morbidly obese, which detracted slightly from his Sidhe good looks and poise, but he wasn’t the monster that I remembered. Whether age had diminished him or whether it was simply that I was no longer a child, I found that I could look at the Bull and feel nothing more than vague disdain. I was neither scared nor angry nor vengeful. I had won.

‘She was eleven years old when she ran away,’ he stammered. ‘It wasn’t my responsibility.’

‘
She
was your responsibility!’ Aifric thundered.

Byron’s grip round my arm tightened.

‘We agreed to leave her be,’ the Bull began.

‘Enough!’

‘If she doesn’t have her true name, then she didn’t receive her Gift,’ the moany red-haired Sidhe interjected. ‘That’s why she didn’t…’ The woman’s voice trailed away as Aifric’s icy blue gaze turned on her.

I frowned. Didn’t what?

‘Byron,’ Aifric snapped, ‘you will attend to this immediately.’

He bowed. ‘Of course.’

‘We will have to delay the journey to the Foinse.’ Aifric stroked his chin. His voice dropped. ‘When was the last time one of us waited until adulthood to receive our name?’

Silence answered him. He scowled.

‘It might make the fever worse,’ a stunning blond hulk of a man muttered.

‘It could be a week before she can travel,’ someone else agreed.

Excuse me? Fever? I crossed my arms and glared, expecting someone to explain.

Aifric shook his head in irritation. ‘Either way, we are forced to wait.’ He looked at Byron again. ‘Make the arrangements.’

A haughty-looking man with a hooked nose cleared his throat. ‘Is the Adair grove still standing?’

Several of the Sidhe exchanged nervous glances. I spotted a few shrugs and one or two head shakes.

‘Even if it’s still there,’ Aifric stated, ‘we don’t have time to travel there. We’re going to lose enough days as it is. We have no clue when the Foinse is going to give out. It might be days or it might be months but we can’t afford to wait. She can use the Cruaich grove.’

There was a collective intake of breath. ‘That’s reserved for Clan heirs,’ the ginger woman complained.

Aifric appeared unimpressed. ‘She’s the heir to the Adair Clan.’

She
wanted nothing to do with the Adair Clan. I decided, however, that this was a good time to keep my mouth shut. Sometimes you learn more by listening. It wasn’t a habit I practised very often but I held my tongue ‒ at least until I had a better grasp of this situation.

‘You can’t let her in there!’ someone burst out. ‘What if she desecrates the ground?’

‘It’s sacred,’ another agreed. ‘Not for the likes of her.’

I almost laughed. It was amusing that they thought I would soil their precious grove simply by my presence. Not for the likes of me, indeed. Had I wandered into the pages of a Victorian novel?

Byron growled, ‘She’s not going to desecrate the grove. She’s here, isn’t she? She’s going to help us with the Foinse. She’s hardly some marauding brute out to destroy us all. She’s not her father.’

I was rather touched by Byron’s interjection. I noticed that he failed to mention that I was here because he’d blackmailed me. Or that I was a criminal.

‘She will use the grove here,’ Aifric boomed, his expression thunderous. ‘And I will hear no more on the matter.’ He glared at every single person. Most – but not all – dropped their eyes.

Still piqued, he sniffed loudly, gathered up his robes and swept out of the room. The remaining Sidhe looked at me and I looked at Byron. I wasn’t going to damage their damn grove. I was more concerned about myself than a bunch of old trees.

‘Fever?’

Byron looked at me with a new light in his eyes but ignored my question. ‘All those thefts. I was sure you had to have…’ He shook himself. ‘You’re more impressive than you realise.’

My earlier amusement dissipated, replaced by tingling wariness. I didn’t understand what was going on but I definitely didn’t like it.

It was with some relief that Byron escorted me out. ‘Naming ceremonies typically take place at midday,’ he told me. ‘They go more smoothly when the sun is at its peak so you’ll need to hang around here until then.’

‘What was that ginger woman going to say?’ I asked. ‘What didn’t I do because I’ve not received my gift? And what the hell is this about a fever?’

‘You have to understand, Integrity, that this has never happened before. All Sidhe receive their true names when they turn thirteen. This is new territory for all of us.’

‘You didn’t answer my questions,’ I pointed out.

‘I don’t know what she was going to say,’ he admitted.

There was a husky interruption from the side. ‘Byron, you’re back! I was hoping you’d come up to my rooms and visit.’

My hackles rose. I craned my neck round, stiffening when my worst fears were confirmed. Tipsania. What was she doing here?

She sauntered up to Byron and hooked her arm round his neck, planting a kiss on his lips. He shifted awkwardly, extricating himself from her grasp.

‘Hi Tipsy.’ He gestured to me. ‘I’m sure you remember Integrity.’

‘Who?’ She glanced at me, pretending to be surprised. It was a ridiculous display. Considering how many Sidhe had watched my approach to the castle, she had to know about my presence. This show with Byron was probably for my benefit. ‘Oh,’ she said, her lips curling. ‘It’s you. So that’s what you’re calling yourself these days.’

I refused to be cowed. ‘Hello Tipsy. How wonderful it is to see you again. It’s like meeting my long-lost sister after years apart.’

She almost choked. This was more fun than I thought it would be. ‘Yeah,’ she muttered unconvincingly, turning away and focusing her attention back on the hapless man. ‘Thank you so much for my present. It’s beautiful.’ She touched her neck. Hanging against her alabaster skin was the bright emerald necklace I’d found in Byron’s hotel safe. The fake one. ‘I love that you gave me emeralds,’ she gushed. ‘The colour matches your eyes perfectly. Every time I wear it, I’ll think of you.’

My eyebrows flew up. So these two were involved? Given what I remembered of her nature, it was hardly surprising. Tipsania had always had an uncanny knack of getting what she wanted. I almost felt sorry for Byron. Almost.

‘It must have been really expensive,’ she continued, kissing him again.

I let out a tiny snort. Byron’s eyes flashed at me in warning. I shrugged. It wasn’t my fault he was pulling the wool over her eyes with some bits of pretty glass.

‘I’m glad you like it,’ he told her. ‘But it wasn’t expensive. It’s…’

‘Darling! That’s so like you to downplay things. You know,’ she said with a wink, ‘I like emerald rings too.’ She held up her hand, rubbing her thumb against her marriage finger. Well, well, well. Byron’s flirtation with me had been all about the manipulation; I doubted that he was the marrying kind. He certainly hadn’t appeared unhappy when the giggly Sidhe girl came onto him. Maybe good old Tipsy was prepared to agree to an open marriage.

Byron coughed. ‘I need to take Integrity up to her room. I’ll come and find you later, alright?’

She beamed. ‘I’ll look forward to it.’

Taking my elbow, he led me away. Once we were out of earshot, I couldn’t help myself. ‘You and Tipsy, eh? How long has that been going on?’

‘It’s complicated,’ he grunted. ‘And I’m sorry you had to bump into her like that. I know she wasn’t very nice to you when you were a kid.’

Wasn’t very nice? That was an understatement. ‘You weren’t very nice to me either, Byron.’

He didn’t look at me. ‘No,’ he said after a long pause. ‘I don’t suppose I was.’

We lapsed into silence. I still wanted answers to my questions about the naming but I sensed this wasn’t the right time. He’d shoved his hands into his pockets and was looking particularly grim. I’d find someone else to explain - Byron apparently had far weightier things to worry about.

He deposited me in a small suite of rooms in the high reaches of the castle without saying another single word. It wasn’t until he was preparing to leave that he grunted that someone would come to help me settle in. Whatever that entailed.

Still, I was finally getting some much-needed solitude. I looked around the rooms approvingly. While I was betting that the other Sidhe were housed in far more luxurious quarters, the simple elegance here pleased me. Until I sat down on the bed; it was rock hard. I tried bouncing up and down and received nothing more than a sore arse for my efforts. I snorted. Well, it wasn’t like I was here to sleep.

Checking the door and the corridor and satisfied that I was well and truly alone, I opened my bag and pulled out the letter opener. I had been rather mean to Bob the last time we talked and I needed him on my side. Especially now. Steeling myself for some grovelling, I unsheathed the blade and gave it a good rub.

Bob appeared with the now-familiar flash of light. That was a start at least. He was, however, clearly put out. I received a petulant grimace before he turned his back on me, sat down and crossed his legs and his arms.

‘Come on, Bob,’ I soothed. ‘Don’t be like that.’

He didn’t answer.

‘I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings before or to take advantage of you. I won’t do it again. I promise.’

When he still refused to look at me, I reached out with my little finger and gave him the gentlest poke. ‘You know how you were impressed with the luxury of the last place? Wait until you see where we are now.’

His body jerked. I was getting somewhere.

‘It’s not as opulent,’ I continued, ‘but it’s certainly exciting. You must be bored being stuck in that knife all the time. Now you can do something more interesting.’

He muttered a few words under his breath. I leaned forward, not quite catching them. ‘What was that?’

‘Dagger. It’s not a knife. It’s not for buttering bread. It’s a dagger. In fact,’ he said, ‘from now on you will only refer to it as a sword. Or a scimitar. Yes. Call it a scimitar.’

I pressed my lips together, forcing myself not to laugh. The letter opener was about as far removed from a scimitar as I was from a troll. If that was all it took to appease him, though, I could manage it.

‘Scimitar, then. It must be boring inside the scimitar.’

‘It’s not so bad. I have
Deep Space Nine
to keep me company.’

I whistled. ‘The boxset?’

‘The entire boxset. Frankly, you’re interrupting my viewing.’

Sitting down with a slab of chocolate and some classic sci-fi sounded incredibly appealing and I was genuinely envious. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to see if it was within his powers to lend it to me. How did he even get it inside the knife? Distracting questions swirled around my head before I tamped them down and got back to business.

‘You’ve still not asked where we are,’ I said, dangling the carrot in front of him again.

He sniffed. ‘I don’t need you to tell me. I’m perfectly capable of working it out for myself. I’m a vastly powerful magical being, remember? I…’ He halted in mid-flow. Then he stood up and slowly spun round, his expression full of awe. ‘The Cruaich? We’re at the Cruaich? Girlfriend!’

I grinned. ‘See? I knew you wouldn’t be disappointed.’

He bounced up and down. ‘I thought you were some crappy minor Sidhe with no powers. But you’ve brought me to the Sidhe Court. I’ve never been to the Sidhe Court before. Are the hallways really paved in gold?’

‘Er, not exactly.’

‘Oh.’ He seemed disappointed. ‘But I bet all the plates are encrusted with diamonds, right? I like diamonds.’

‘I have a fondness for shiny, sparkly things myself,’ I confided. ‘But I’ve not been given anything to eat so I can’t tell you what the kitchenware is like.’

His expression was eager. ‘Find out. You must find out.’

‘I will do my best.’

My earlier rudeness apparently forgotten, Bob leapt onto the palm of my hand, belly-flopping and linking his fingers underneath his chin. ‘So, why are we here?’

‘Something to do with the Foinse and the flow of magic. It’s running out or broken. I’m going to help open it so it can be…’ I hesitated. Actually, I was bit unclear about what was going to happen once it had been accessed. Rebooted, perhaps?

‘What?’ He sprang up, the very picture of alarm. ‘The Foinse is failing? Uh Integrity, that can’t happen! You can’t let it happen!’

I regarded him thoughtfully. It hadn’t occurred to me that the Foinse would regulate Bob’s magic too. I supposed it really did affect everyone after all. ‘I’m certainly going to do my best,’ I told him, meaning it. ‘The thing is, before I can help the other Sidhe to open it up, I need to receive my true name. I left the Clans and the Sidhe before I was thirteen so I never went through the ceremony and I have no idea what to expect.’

‘You don’t know?’ He rolled his eyes. ‘
Everyone
knows what happens during the naming ceremony. You get your true name. And usually a magical Gift too.’

‘Yes, that part I’m aware of. But how does the ceremony work?’

‘You’re the Sidhe,’ he blustered. ‘You should know.’

I sighed. ‘You don’t know anything about it either, do you?’

His shoulders drooped. ‘No,’ he admitted. ‘Not a scooby.’

Shite. ‘There was something about a fever,’ I said, worried at the thought that I might get sick. ‘I’m going to need you to stick close,’ I told him. ‘I might need to use one of those wishes after all.’

‘Don’t tease me, Uh Integrity,’ he moaned. ‘I know you’re one of those stubborn types.’

There was a sharp knock at the door. I looked meaningfully at Bob and he snapped off a salute, hopping back into the blade with another blinding flash. He gave me a little wave from inside then vanished.

Cautiously opening the door a fraction, I gazed out. Well, well, well. It was none other than Dimples himself.

‘Hey!’ I said cheerfully. ‘Good to see you again!’

He threw me a look that was dirtier than the magazine picture I had shoved into the envelope and pretended to post. Okay, he was going to hold a grudge. That was a shame.

‘I’m here to ask if everything is to your satisfaction.’

He wouldn’t even look me in the eyes. He was probably being made to do this as a punishment for losing the Lia Saifire. I should feel guilty but he shouldn’t have been so naïve as to carry it around with him in the seediest part of Aberdeen.

‘The bed’s going to feel like I’m doing penance for my sins,’ I said cheerfully. ‘But other than that, I’m all good.’

‘Great.’ His expression wasn’t thrilled. ‘I’ll leave you in peace then.’

‘So I can rest?’ I punned. ‘But I’m too young to die!’ He gazed at me blankly. ‘Rest in peace,’ I tried to explain.

‘Is that supposed to be a joke?’

‘Obviously not a very good one,’ I muttered. ‘What’s your name, anyway?’ I didn’t think he’d warm to me very much if I went around calling him Dimples.

He grunted in response. ‘Jamie.’

‘I’m Integrity.’ I stuck out my hand for him to shake. He eyed it like it was a venomous snake. ‘Maybe we could start over, Jamie. I feel like we got off on the wrong foot.’

‘I got into a lot of trouble because of you. You stole from me.’

‘You mean the Lia Saifire? Byron mentioned something about that. What makes you think that was me?’

He threw me a doleful glance. ‘I’m not a complete idiot.’

I bit my tongue, waving my hand instead. He took it reluctantly, his grip tight and painful. I squeaked and pulled away. ‘While you’re here, Jamie, do you think you could tell me a little about this true name ceremony thing?’

His lip curled. ‘You don’t know?’

Would I be asking if I did? ‘No,’ I replied pleasantly.

Jamie sighed as if a huge burden had been placed on his shoulders. The sigh was followed by a strange burble. I blinked at him. ‘Are you feeling alright?’

The burble deepened. Jamie’s eyes widened and he stared at something behind my shoulder. Ha. I wasn’t going to fall for the old ‘look behind you’ trick. I was smarter than that. Or at least I thought I was until something coiled round my waist and dragged me backwards.

‘What the hell?’ I shrieked.

Jamie tried to back away but as I was dealing with the tentacle round my waist, another one snapped up round his wrist and dragged him inside the room. My fingers scrabbled, trying to loosen the damn thing’s grip. It wasn’t dry to the touch, despite its scales; it was slimy and wet, making it even more difficult for me to get a decent hold on it.

‘Tell me,’ I gasped, as I was flung against the far wall, ‘that you have a useful gift like telekinesis.’

‘Psychometry.’ He karate-chopped the tentacle that encircled his wrist. All he succeeded in doing was pissing it off because another tentacle appeared from nowhere and grabbed his other arm. ‘It means,’ he said, as he squirmed desperately, ‘that I can tell you this is a stoor worm. From the North Sea. It’s just a baby.’

What kind of a worm has tentacles? This was not good. ‘If it’s from the sea, then how the hell did it get here?’