Gifted Thief (Highland Magic #1) (22 page)

‘How the hell should I know?’ I snapped. ‘I ran away about ten minutes after you pissed off. It was the best thing I ever did.’

A shadow crossed his face. ‘I didn’t know you were going to do that,’ he said. ‘All I knew was that if I showed you kindness, Tipsania would take it out on you later. I was trying to get her to leave you alone. It was clumsy and probably did more harm than good. Honestly though, I wasn’t being mean to you.’

I scanned his expression. He seemed earnest; hell, he seemed more than earnest. ‘Why her?’ I asked. ‘If she’s such a bitch, why are you with her now?’

He cursed under his breath. ‘She’s not a bitch, although I can see why many people think that. I’m not
with
her either. I just hang out with her sometimes. Really, it’s all politics. Her father has money.’ His eyes narrowed unhappily. ‘The Moncrieffes are broke.’

I tried to keep my expression blank. It wouldn’t do either me or him any favours to point out that I’d worked that out already. ‘How can you be broke? You’re the most powerful Clan.’

‘My father hasn’t gone into details but he’s alluded to plenty. Buying loans, paying for expensive penthouse suites and drinking pink champagne doesn’t help,’ he said, shooting me a wry look. ‘And it’s not easy keeping the other Clans in check.’

I glanced ahead. The Kincaid kid and the Darroch woman, whose Gift was dowsing, were bickering loudly. ‘I’ve seen that,’ I admitted. ‘So he’s spent the Moncrieffe fortune because he’s the Steward. Why not give up the title? Pass on the reins to someone else?’

Byron let out a sharp laugh. ‘I’ve asked him that. He’s hell-bent on being his responsibilities, though. He doesn’t think it would be fair to quit.’

My eyes fell on Aifric’s back. He seemed relaxed but if I looked closely, I could just see the line of tension down his spine. ‘Maybe the Clan-less don’t have it so bad,’ I commented.

Byron smiled sadly. ‘Maybe not.’

‘Is that why you sleep around?’ I asked curiously. ‘Because you don’t like Tipsania in that way but you can’t tell her directly?’

The atmosphere between us shifted abruptly and he dropped my hand. ‘I didn’t say I didn’t like her. And I’m not the one who sleeps around. I rather think that’s you.’

‘You mean Jamie. That wasn’t a sex thing.’

His emerald eyes flashed. ‘You could have fooled me.’

‘You’re the one with the playboy reputation.’ And the one who continued to flirt outrageously with me.

‘And,’ he said, his voice dangerously soft, ‘I’d have thought that with your reputation, you’d know better than to place credence on such matters.’

‘So you’ve never cheated on poor Tipsy? Because, Byron, we came pretty close.’ I knew there was unreasonable anger in my tone, but I couldn’t help it.

‘I told you, I’m not with her. Besides, you wanted it a hell of a lot more than I did,’ he growled.

He had me there. ‘Oh, I wouldn’t dwell too much on that,’ I spat back. ‘After all, I drop my knickers when any man so much as looks at me.’

His expression darkened. I had the feeling he was tempted to drag me off poor Barbie and shake me. If it hadn’t been for Lily’s timely interruption, he might have.

‘This is fun, fun, fun!’ she exclaimed, dropping back. ‘Can you feel the crickle crackle, Chieftain?’

‘I’m not a chieftain, Lily,’ I said tiredly. ‘What crickle crackle do you mean?’

Byron nudged the black stallion and sped up, joining his father at the front. He didn’t look back.

‘Him,’ she said, in a tone that suggested she was pointing out the obvious, ‘and you. Lots of crickle crackle.’

I stared at Byron. That was certainly one way of putting it. Me and my big mouth.

We finally made camp a few hours after dusk. Byron had resolutely refused to speak to me since our argument and Lily, while fun to have around, was often flighty, taking off in mid-conversation to gallop after a butterfly or a beam of sunshine or whatever happened to take her fancy. I tried to ask her several times what she could tell me about my parents but, whereas before when I hadn’t wanted to know she’d practically begged to tell me about them, now she didn’t seem interested.

I started wishing I could bring Bob out, just so I’d have someone to talk to who wasn’t going to go off on a tangent or sulk. I even wondered if it would be really bad to teleport myself to the Foinse and do my bit then leave. Perhaps the others wouldn’t notice my absence.

Of course, it didn’t help that my arse was incredibly sore. After hours of bouncing up and down in the saddle, I could barely stand when I slid off Barbie. For her part, she seemed unconcerned, nudging me curiously when my legs gave way and I crumpled right next to her. She proceeded to grab a mouthful of my hair and chew on it. The Darroch dowser, whose name I discovered was Diana, found that very funny. I dragged myself up, using Barbie’s bulky frame, rescued my hair, and started muttering.

‘Diana Darroch dowses dutifully. Diana Darroch dowses dutifully. Try saying that five times over,’ I called out to her. ‘It’s a great tongue twister.’

She sniffed and turned her back on me. It was better than the sniggering. I didn’t want anyone sniggering unless it was at one of my jokes.

Once I’d untacked Barbie – which took me far longer than anyone else because I was hurting so much – I watched with interest as Byron used pyrokinesis to light a fire. While the others started cooking, and Lily curled up next to the fire and promptly fell asleep, I wandered off and tried to do the same as Byron. No matter how hard I concentrated, I couldn’t create a single spark. That answered one question at least: it wasn’t enough for me to be in the vicinity of someone when they used their Gift; to learn it – if that was even what I did. I tapped my mouth thoughtfully.

‘Bob,’ I whispered. ‘Are you there?’

There was no answer. I slid out the letter opener and glanced around again to double check that I was on my own. It was just as well that I did because Aifric suddenly appeared from out of the trees.

‘Integrity! You ran off very quickly. We’ve got some food. Come back and join us. We don’t often cook for ourselves, you know,’ he added with a wink. ‘You should enjoy the moment while you can.’

I smiled at him, smoothly returning the blade to my pocket. ‘You’re right. Highborn Sidhe doing the job of a servant? What is the world coming to?’

Aifric appeared very easy going for someone in his position. ‘The others wanted to bring more people along to serve us,’ he confided.

‘You didn’t want them?’

‘The groves are sacred. The Foinse even more so.’

I licked my lips. ‘It regulates all the magic, right?’ He nodded. ‘And the magic affects everyone in some way or another, whether they have Gifts or not.’

‘That’s true,’ he agreed.

‘Well then, don’t keep the Foinse hidden away. It shouldn’t be a matter of privilege. Everyone should be able to see it. It would solve your problem of these soul keys if that were the case.’

He looked speculatively. ‘You’re a lot like your father.’

I blinked. I wasn’t expecting that. ‘What do you mean?’ I asked, carefully.

‘He always thought that power should be spread more evenly. He advocated opening the magical barrier and letting the Clan-less come and go as they please. The other species who work for us receive a higher wage, thanks to his efforts.’

Apart from Lily’s ramblings, this was the first time I’d heard someone say something positive about my father. ‘What was he like?’ I asked, suddenly desperate to know more.

‘He was a good man,’ Aifric said heavily. ‘A very good man. Better than the rest of us put together – but what he did was wrong. It changed the course of history, and not in a good way. But his wife, your mother, died during childbirth and he just couldn’t take it. He went mad.’ Something dark crossed his eyes. ‘Not like the Macquarries, you understand. Theirs was true insanity. No, something dark took hold of your father and wouldn’t let go.’

‘Like a demon?’

Aifric looked at me sympathetically. ‘I’ve heard that story too but it wasn’t that. It couldn’t have been.’ He shook himself. ‘Such a waste,’ he muttered.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear any more. ‘What about my mother?’ I asked.

He smiled, although his eyes were tinged with melancholy. ‘Everyone wanted your mother. She was truly beautiful, inside and out. There were a lot of happy men around the day she rejected the Bull. Of course, she only had eyes for your father.’ He shrugged his shoulders. ‘
C’est la vie
.’

I twirled a strand of hair round my finger. I needed to tread carefully. ‘I was in the library the other day. The Cruaich one, I mean. I couldn’t find anything about the Adairs. Anywhere.’

Aifric took my hands. ‘It was a difficult time in our history,’ he said. ‘We tried to keep it as quiet as we could. There are a lot of people in the Clans. We didn’t want the Clan-less to realise we were vulnerable and we definitely didn’t want anyone else getting ideas.’

‘Ideas of genocide?’ I was confused.

‘Some things are better forgotten.’ He squeezed my fingers. ‘Anyway, will you come and eat?’

I was tempted to try and hold him back, to pry out more information. From the look on his face, however, I’d pushed him as far as I could for now. Nevertheless, I decided that it might be worth cultivating my relationship with Aifric Moncrieffe, no matter how his son felt.

I was passed a plate as soon as I sat down. My fingers brushed inadvertently against the Kincaid Chieftain’s as I took it from him. I’d never seen anyone flinch so obviously.

I cocked my head. ‘Do you think that you’ll catch a disease by touching me?’ I asked. ‘Or are you afraid that I’ll take offence that you touched me and murder you tonight in your sleep?’

His younger Clan companion joined him, expression blazing. ‘Adair,’ he snarled. ‘You think you’re important now. Once the Foinse is dealt with, you will crawl back to the dirty hole you came from. You’re no one.’

Aifric threw an arm round his shoulders. ‘Relax, Malcolm. We are all friends here.’

Malcolm Kincaid didn’t look happy but he didn’t throw off Aifric’s arm either. He subsided in a series of grumbles before eventually going to the other side of the fire –as far away from me as possible.

Aware of Byron watching me, I picked up a hunk of crusty bread then said to no-one in particular, ‘
A man asked his friend, “Want to hear a joke about butter?” His friend was like, “Sure.” The man thought about it then changed his mind. “Nah, I butter not tell you. You might spread it.”’

They all stared at me. ‘Not my best, I admit,’ I said, then ignored them all and ate my dinner.

*

The next day, as we started to ride again, my muscles screamed with pain. I couldn’t stop thinking about Darth Vader. He was evil. In fact, he was arguably one of the best science fiction villains ever created. When Taylor introduced me to
Star Wars
not long after I joined him, I was utterly terrified. But I was convinced that, while I might tread on the wrong side of the law and I was far from perfect, I wasn’t evil. And, in the end, as well as the beginning (although I refused to dwell too much on those films), Darth Vader wasn’t bad. He was also Luke Skywalker’s father.

Darth Vader and my dad were not all that different. It’d be nice to think that my father didn’t go in for the whole heavy breathing thing, though – that was just creepy.

‘I’m Luke,’ I said decisively to Lily, who was dreamily gazing up at the sky. ‘I don’t have a light saber – and I wouldn’t want to use it even if I did have one –but I think I’m Luke.’

Barbie whinnied in agreement.

‘Lookee, lookee,’ Lily hummed.

‘Of course,’ I grumbled, ‘people generally liked Luke. No-one bullied him. He was a hero.’

‘Gale Adair was a hero,’ Lily said.

I froze. ‘Was he?’ I asked carefully. ‘Can you explain why?’

She gazed at me, her expression reflecting a clarity I’d not seen since we set off yesterday. ‘He saved people,’ she said. ‘They say he didn’t but he did. He was a good man.’

I stared at her. Unlike everyone else I’d seen so far, her aura was continually changing colour like a kaleidoscope. Right now, there were shimmers of blue not all that different to those I’d seen for Speck. It was frustrating that I had this key to people’s souls and I still couldn’t unlock it. ‘What happened, Lily?’

‘He was betrayed, Chieftain. Make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to you.’ Her aura changed again, settling into a cloudy white.

‘Lily,’ I hissed, ‘this is important. How was he betrayed?’

She placed her finger to her lips. ‘Shhh,’ she said. ‘There are ears. Ears of corn. Bunny ears. Big ears.’ She winked.

I looked up and noticed that both the Kincaids and the Darrochs had twisted round in their saddles and were frowning at us. I clenched my fists – and my entire body tightened. Barbie, sensing the movement and misinterpreting it, abruptly sped up into a canter. She narrowly avoided Diana Darroch’s huge bay gelding and made a beeline for Byron’s black monster. I tried in vain to pull her up but I guess his swishing tail just looked too tempting to eat.

Byron’s horse was unimpressed. He swung his round to take a bite out of Barbie.

‘Hey! Leave my horse alone!’ Okay, she started it but still, he was at least double her size.

‘Then keep your pony under control,’ Byron hissed.

Aifric smiled. ‘Help her out, Byron.’

Byron muttered something under his breath and pulled back. ‘You’re still doing it all wrong,’ he observed calmly, although the dark jade in his eyes suggested he was feeling something different.

‘Frankly, it’s a miracle I’m doing it at all.’ I rubbed my aching arse for good measure. ‘I don’t understand why anyone bothers with all this horse malarkey.’

Byron pulled up his reins, bringing the stallion to a halt. Barbie, of course, kept going. I twisted my head. ‘What are you doing?’

Byron’s eyes were fixed on my bum. ‘Curvy. You have some padding there.’ He scratched his chin. ‘It can’t be that sore.’

I glared at him. ‘Wanker.’ Was he deliberately trying to get a rise out of me?

There was the faintest grin. He nudged his horse forward again and gestured at the horizon. ‘Look at all that. Why wouldn’t anyone want to do this?’

I followed his finger. We were surrounded by undulating hills, each one cloaked in a myriad of colours, greens and browns and even purples. I focused on one distant patch of wild thistles. Even from here, the colour mimicked the aura around Byron’s head.

‘Okay,’ I conceded. ‘It’s pretty.’

He was watching me. ‘It’s more than pretty,’ he said quietly.

I sucked in my breath. One minute he was all snarly and the next minute he was flirtatious. I didn’t understand him at all.

‘I’m sorry I was so touchy yesterday,’ he continued. ‘You have an uncanny knack for winding me up.’

I shrugged. ‘Hey, I guess I have a gift after all.’

He still didn’t look away. ‘Whatever impression Tipsania might have given you, we’re not romantically involved. We’re just friends.’

I raised my eyebrows and thought of the necklace. ‘Perhaps you should tell her that.’

‘She knows.’

I wasn’t so sure about that.

‘I’m single, Integrity.’ His eyes glittered. ‘For now.’

There was a tight knot in the pit of my stomach. I cleared my throat and pointed at Barbie. ‘Aren’t you going to tell me what I’m doing wrong? It would be nice to be able to stand up when I get to the Foinse.’

For a moment he didn’t answer. I was about to repeat my words when he finally said, ‘Sure.’

Other than the mechanics of riding, he didn’t say anything else for a very long time.