Veiled Threat (13 page)

The car engine revved and Taylor drove past, slamming on the horn in acknowledgment as he did so.

Sorley started to laugh. ‘Sodium. Na. That’s funny.’ He laughed harder.

Byron caught up with me. ‘Your troll is laughing at
my
joke,’ he said with an air of competitive smugness. ‘Not yours.’

‘He’s not my troll.’

‘He called you chieftain. I’ve never heard a troll do that before.’

I paused in mid-step. Byron was right. I shook myself; considering what he now knew about Byron’s father, Sorley probably did it for show. ‘If you really don’t want to be here, you can leave,’ I told him, ignoring the lurch I felt.

‘You need me. As I told you in Perth.’ He dipped his head. ‘
You
asked for my help.  Here I am.’ He paused. ‘Milady.’

I exhaled all my breath in a rush. ‘One minute you’re not talking to me. Then you’re arguing with me. The next minute we’re bantering and...’

‘Flirting?’ he inquired.

‘If you want to call it that.’

He raised a lazy shoulder. ‘I find you attractive. And manipulative as hell.’

That stung.  Even if he was right. Before I could respond, however, Tipsania hissed right behind us. ‘Stop treading on my heels, you lumbering merman!’

I smirked, which was unfortunate because at that moment I got my toe caught in a small pothole and went flying. Byron lunged and grabbed my arm, only just keeping me upright. ‘I guess,’ I said somewhat breathlessly, ‘I just can’t stop myself from falling at your feet.’

He rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t you ever stop with the jokes?’

I blinked innocently. ‘Why would I?’

He muttered something under his breath and clicked his fingers. ‘It’s dark out here.’ The air fizzed. A glowing ball of fire coalesced in front of our eyes, hovering about a foot away and throwing long flickering shadows onto the ground.

‘Pyrokinesis is a handy Gift to have, Integrity,’ he said softly. ‘Don’t you want to steal it from me?’

‘It doesn’t work like that,’ I said honestly. I started walking again. The little ball of fire kept pace, lighting up the road beneath our feet.

‘Then how does it work?’

‘I don’t know. It’s not deliberate, Byron. I tried to explain that to you before.’

‘Explain it to me again.’

So he could take all my secrets to his damned murdering father? No chance. Byron might have kept quiet up until now but that didn’t mean I was going to be reckless. ‘You just said we weren’t friends. Why would I want to confide in you?’

‘You are determined to misunderstand me, aren’t you? You know what I meant when I said that. I also said I’m attracted to you. Crazy and criminal must be the new sexy.’ His eyes glittered with what I could only interpret as smoky promise but wariness still lurked there too.

Oh. Well, okay then.
Now
I knew. If I was honest, it was a large part of the reason why I’d nominated him for this little venture. I sighed and pushed back my hair. Byron’s eyes followed the movement. ‘We don’t trust each other,’ I said finally.

‘That’s a given.’

‘We have nothing in common.’

He leaned his head down to mine. ‘That’s not entirely true.’

This was a mistake; I should never have brought him here. ‘Sex,’ I told him. ‘We need to have sex and then we can clear the air and be more professional.’

Byron didn’t smile. ‘I’m game if you are.’ He looked round the darkened landscape. ‘Right here? Because we should probably let Tipsania and your merman go up to the buildings first. Unless you’d like an audience.’

Was he joking? I was tempted to call his bluff and find out. I massaged my shoulders. There was no doubt that things would be very different without the spectre of Aifric hanging between us.

‘I’m sorry,’ I said. It was far less dramatic than throwing him to the ground and ripping off his clothes but it would do for now.

‘For what?’

‘Everything,’ I answered softly. ‘And nothing.’

I wasn’t sure he’d understand but I should have given him more credit. ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘Me too.’ And with that, we walked the rest of the way in silence.

***

W
ith Byron’s Gift to light the way, I gave Tipsania and Byron a cursory tour. ‘The bedrooms are up there. There’s a kitchen through there. This is the courtyard.’

‘It’s not exactly luxurious, is it?’ Tipsania sniffed.

Brochan rounded on her. ‘It’s been lying empty for a generation. What did you expect?’ The venom in his voice was unusual for him.

Fortunately, before Tipsania could respond with a stinging retort of her own, Byron got involved. ‘Actually, Tipsy, you’re not seeing it properly. The craftsmanship and stonework are quite extraordinary.’ He whistled through his teeth. ‘This place was built to last. I’d have expected its condition to be far worse.’ He looked round. ‘And this courtyard is magnificent.’

I had no right to feel proud at his words but I did. ‘We’ve not been spending much time inside,’ I said gruffly. ‘Not until we get it all cleaned up. Last night we slept in the car.’

‘In the car?’ Tipsania shrieked.

Byron took her hands and murmured something while Brochan sidled up to me. ‘Why do you think he brought her?’ he asked quietly.

‘Damned if I know.’ I watched them, ignoring the tug of jealousy at the way he soothed her with just a few words and at the sight of his thumb caressing the back of her hand.

She nodded, turned around and walked back out through the main entrance. Brochan nodded to me, then followed her.

‘Tipsania’s tired,’ Byron said, as if that explained a lifetime of bitchy selfishness. ‘She’s gone to lie down in our car.’

I shrugged to indicate that she could do whatever she wanted. He looked at me for a long moment as if trying to decide something. Eventually he ran a hand through his hair and I pretended not to notice the way it flopped silkily across his forehead. I wasn’t a sex-crazed Sidhe who was turned on by nothing more than the faint smell of shampoo and pretty golden locks. Nope.

‘Have you had a chance to look over the rest of the land?’ he asked, his tone somewhat less stiff now.

‘Not really. There’s not much to see. Everything was salted so nothing is growing, apart from the tree where I think the grove used to be.’

‘Will you show me?’

I was probably supposed to say something along the lines of, ‘Hell, no. It’s sacred Adair Land, boyo!’ I knew that in his own way he was holding out an olive branch though.  I chose to take it. So sue me. I nodded and led the way out. Let’s face it, at this point, it was pretty much just a half-dead tree; maybe it would look pretty in the firelight from Byron’s Gift. The little fireball was still bobbing around in front of me like an overexcited puppy tugging at its leash.

Tipsania was already back inside Byron’s car. I lifted a hand to Brochan, who had perched himself on top of its roof. Taylor was leaning against the nearby wall with Speck, Lexie and Bob surrounding him in a suspicious-looking huddle. As soon as Byron and I drew close, they threw us gigantic fake grins and stopped talking. I narrowed my eyes but their smiles widened.

‘Your friends are ... interesting,’ Byron commented, once we were out of earshot.

‘They’re the best people I know,’ I said simply.

‘I wasn’t trying to put them down.’

‘I know.’

Byron sighed. ‘We always seem to be at odds with each other, Integrity. This isn’t how I intended things to go. I could have handled things better but you...’ he exhaled, ‘you don’t tend to encourage my rational side.’

I passed a hand across my face. ‘Why did you give me the Adair Lands? You won the Games, Byron. You could have asked for anything.’ He could have got himself out of his relationship with Tipsania; it was only manufactured to help the Moncrieffes with their appalling financial situation. Instead he had helped me – and that was after he’d discovered I’d stolen part of his Gift and accused his father of murder.

He was a silent for a moment before answering. ‘I was blisteringly angry with you. I still am. But the look on your face when you...’ He heaved in a breath. ‘Does it really matter?’

‘Yeah,’ I said, frankly. ‘It does.’

He scratched his chin. ‘However I felt towards you at the time, you deserved the win. But I also feel like you and I have unfinished business. I suppose I wanted to have you in my debt.’ His eyes glittered. ‘I wanted you to owe me a favour even if I couldn’t face talking to you at that moment.’

I was taken aback by his honesty. ‘Is that why you came here? You want to call in that favour? Just because I named you to Chieftain MacBain doesn’t mean you have to follow.’ I paused. ‘I would have understood if you’d stayed away.’

He snorted. ‘You didn’t really think I’d cower in my castle, did you? I want to see the Lowlands for myself. And keep an eye on you. Besides, despite everything, I know the real reason you asked for me.’

I raised my eyebrows. ‘Do you now?’

There was a gleam of mischief in his eyes. ‘You’re still wearing my jacket.’

I immediately began to shrug it off but he held up his hands. ‘Keep it. It suits you better than it does me. Anyway,’ he added with a lightness of tone I’d not heard for some time, ‘it proves that you have feelings for me.’

This was one of those occasions when I should have remembered to think before speaking but, rather than maintaining the banter, the words fell thoughtlessly from my mouth. ‘Right now, most my feelings are centred around frustration that you won’t see the truth about your father.’

He stiffened. Just like that the moment was gone. I. Was. An. Idiot. I damned myself for it.

‘You’re delusional.’ He said it quietly, and with less anger than before, but there was no denying that he believed I was fantasising. ‘I can understand it, Integrity, believe me, I can. You’ve been shat on from a huge height for most of your life. I agree that my father should have done more to help you when you were a child and we’ve had words about that. He recognises that he could have done things differently. But he didn’t try to kill you. You’re jumping at shadows.’

I stopped walking and folded my arms. ‘Do I seem damaged to you?’ I enquired. ‘Yes, my childhood wasn’t the greatest but I’m okay. I sleep well at night. I’m generally a pretty happy person.’ I thought about it a bit more. ‘In fact, I’d say I’m a very happy person considering how many times I’ve had brushes with death recently. A lot of that is to do with those four people back there. I’m not leaping at shadows because my mind is warped from maltreatment.’ An image of Aifric thrusting his sword into my father’s back flitted into my mind and pain lanced through me. ‘I’m hurt,’ I said softly. ‘And I’m angry. And maybe I want revenge for what happened here to my Clan. But don’t ever mistake that for irrationality or insanity, Byron.’

‘My father is a good man, Integrity.’

Byron was blind. Desperation clawed at me. What could I do to get him to see the truth? ‘How did you know that the Fomori are Gifted?’ I asked, repeating my question from Perth.

He frowned at me. ‘Why do you keep asking that? What do you mean?’

I sighed and pushed back my hair. ‘No one else knows that the demons have Gifts, just like the Sidhe. I checked. How did you know? Did your father tell you?’

He stared at me like I’d lost my mind. ‘Are you seriously trying to suggest that he’s in league with the Fomori?’

‘I know it sounds implausible but hear me out. Your father—’

‘For goodness’ sake! Can you even hear yourself?’

All I’d succeeded in doing was making Byron think I was even crazier than he’d realised. But I’d started so I’d finish ‒ what choice was there? ‘Your father has an emblem hidden in his room,’ I said. ‘I saw the same emblem tattooed on a Fomori demon.’

‘So what you’re trying to say is that my father, the Steward, is working with the demons.’ His eyes turned to cold chips of icy emerald. ‘Maybe he’s a time traveller. Maybe he’s actually three hundred years old and he conspired with them to annexe the Lowlands.’ Byron crossed his arms over his chest. ‘Maybe he’s a Fomori demon in disguise.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

‘Are you kidding me? You’re the one who’s being ridiculous. He wants to
help
you.’ He unfolded his arms and gazed at me in frustration. ‘He’s not perfect but he has your best interests at heart.’

My skin prickled. That sounded ominously like Aifric was planning something else and he’d somehow drawn Byron into his scheme. I knew from the Truth-Seeking Gift that Byron believed every word he was saying. I also knew he was wrong. Heartbreakingly so. ‘What do you mean by that?’

His jaw tightened. ‘It’s a beautiful night. You called me here and I came.’ His voice lowered to a husk. ‘You want me and maybe I want you too. Let’s not spoil things by talking about my father any more.’

That was easy for him to say.  He didn’t have imminent death hanging over his head. I made a show of acquiescing for now though. ‘Come on,’ I said. ‘The last part of the Adair grove is just up here.’ I stalked up the hill, leaving him to follow me while I mulled over the possibilities. Obviously I wasn’t going to beat information about his father out of him. I had to trick him into blurting out the truth somehow. Damn it. The trouble with that was Byron was already on his guard and was far too clever. My breath clouded in the cool night air. There was always a way.

Even with the little bud on the far branch, the single tree was stark against the barren landscape. As soon as we reached it, Byron stretched out his palm and placed it against the bark. ‘This is definitely it,’ he said, as much to himself as to me. ‘It’s a miracle there’s anything here at all. It means that Clan Adair isn’t dead, not by a long shot.’

As if in response, the little fireball suddenly flared up, ballooning in size and distracting us both. Byron snapped his head round. ‘Did you do that?’

‘No. I can’t do pyrokinesis.’

Despite softening towards me, he obviously didn’t believe that I’d not stolen his other Gift from him while he wasn’t paying attention. The little fireball continued to grow and, when the silvered glow of the Foinse appeared from the other side of the hill, rising up behind Byron’s head, I suddenly knew why. The Foinse was magnifying Byron’s magic. Shite. I couldn’t allow him to see that it was here.