Veiled Threat (2 page)

She wasn’t Sidhe so at least I didn’t have to worry about any violent Gifts rearing up to bring us down. She was, however, standing spread-eagled, with a shiny dagger clutched in each hand. There wasn’t a scrap of emotion in her face; this wasn’t personal for her. Somehow that made it even worse.

She gave a loud battle cry and leapt in our direction. Although Taylor tried to act as cover once more, it was clear that it was me she was interested in. She lashed out with one blade, slashing it against his arm, and then kicked him in the chest so he staggered backwards. As he gasped in pain, she continued her advance.

‘Fucking Sidhe,’ she hissed. ‘You’re all as bad as each other.’ She lunged with her dagger again.

I held up my hands. ‘Can we at least talk about this? I’m assuming you’ve been paid to attack us. How about we double that payment?’

She ignored me and swiped through the air. Taylor groaned and tried to get up but I spat out an instruction for him to stay down. He wasn’t as nimble as he used to be and this would be easier without me having to worry about him. I danced to the side, avoiding yet another blow.

‘We were told you didn’t like to fight much,’ the woman said with a cold smile. ‘Perhaps you should revise your position.’ From the expression in her eyes, I knew at least some of her buddies had managed to get round the burning car and were now at my back. That had been far too fast. These bastards were chillingly good.

There was a shriek from the far side of the car. Lexie ‒ she was in trouble. Speck cried out and ran to her side but she pushed him off and gestured frantically at the ninja who was now taking on Brochan. Taylor was on the ground and bleeding. I could hear blood pounding in my ears and the continued roar of fire from the car. Even with the trickle of telekinesis which remained inside me, we were no match for this bunch: they were too strong and too determined. It was time for that last resort. Again.

‘Bob! I wish...’

A huge hand appeared from behind and clamped over my mouth, followed by a tree trunk of an arm that encircled my chest and squeezed my ribs until it was painful to breathe.

Floating in front of my face, Bob shouted, ‘You have to say the words!’

I bit down hard on the fleshy part of my captor’s palm. He yelled but he didn’t let go.

Bob threw himself forward, kicking and tugging. ‘Let her go! Let Uh Integrity go!’

‘Once you die,’ said a rough voice in my ear, ‘the genie is mine.’ His arm left my chest. Before I could gasp in relief, his free hand wrapped round my throat and threw me to the ground.

‘Tegs!’ Taylor shouted.

I caught a glimpse of one of the attackers punching him in the side of the head and he collapsed like a sack of potatoes. Rage unfurled inside me and I kicked violently upwards in a bid to free myself. The woman was right: I abhor violence but dare to hurt one of mine and my rage is incandescent.

Anger wasn’t going to help me, though. The grip round my throat tightened until my eyeballs bulged. The man fumbled at his side with his free hand and thrust a black object in my face. Gun, I thought dimly. That’s a gun.

‘You’re not all that good after all,’ he sneered. ‘Say ta-ta.’

I couldn’t believe it had come to this. After everything I’d been through and all my recent successes, I was going to end up as a corpse at the side of a quiet country road. Sorry, Dad. I tried.

There was a crunch of footsteps. A pair of booted feet halted by my side and a balaclava-covered face peered down. ‘Integrity? Is that you?’ a female voice asked.

I opened my mouth to speak but managed little more than a grunt. The figure gestured towards my captor and he released me. ‘What gives?’ he grunted as I rolled and coughed, my eyes streaming.

The woman muttered something in response. I tried to lift my head but the effort seemed too great. There was a loud curse and then I was hauled up by my armpits. The speaker pulled off her balaclava and I stared into a pair of arresting cat-like eyes. I half grimaced, half smiled. ‘Chandra. Long time no see.’

***

I
t took us some time to re-group. With a series of malevolent glares, Brochan helped bring the fire under control while Taylor had his wounds tended. Lexie and Speck stood, arms crossed, both looking considerably worse for wear. Even Bob was in a huff and stayed as far away from Chandra’s gang as possible.

I took a swig of water, wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and threw my one-time nemesis a suspicious look. ‘So you’re an assassin now?’ I asked, unable to keep the sneer out of my tone.

‘It pays well. And we’re very choosy about our targets.’

I scoffed loudly.

‘Sorry.’ She didn’t look apologetic at all. ‘This was a rush job with limited time to carry it out.’

‘Let me guess,’ I said drily. ‘You had between the Cruaich and the old Adair Lands to take me down.’

‘Yup. All we knew was that you were a Sidhe. I should have twigged the truth. Who else would be interested in going to that place?’ She looked at me curiously. ‘Why
are
you going there?’

I ignored the question. This could be my chance to prove once and for all that Aifric wasn’t the upstanding man everyone pretended he was. Byron’s father, the Steward of the Highlands, was determined to see me dead. Knowing wasn’t evidence though. If I could get Chandra to give me proof that he’d hired her to kill me, then Byron would have to believe me. ‘Who’s your employer?’

‘You mean who wants you dead,’ she said. It wasn’t a question. ‘I have no idea. It was a dead drop. We advertise on the Dark Net and anonymity is assured for both client and freelancer.’

Shite. And thanks to the Gift I’d stolen from Kirsty Kincaid which, because I’d ripped it away from the hapless Sidhe in its entirety was showing no signs of dissipating, I knew she was telling the truth. ‘There’s no way you can...’

She shook her head. ‘No.’

‘I don’t get it, Chandra,’ burst out the man who’d thrust a gun into my face. He’d taken off his balaclava to reveal dark, swarthy skin, an impressive moustache and the largest set of ears I’d ever seen. He glared at her. ‘Our job is to kill her. She’s just a Sidhe, so why the hell don’t we get on with it before she pulls more sneaky magic shit?’

‘She’s Clan-less, Ramsay.’

That wasn’t actually true any more but somehow I didn’t think this was the time to mention it.

‘Bullshit. There’s not a single Clan-less Sidhe in the whole of the Highlands.’

Chandra gave him a long-suffering look. ‘This is Integrity Taylor.’

Ramsay started, more surprised than was sensible considering the gun he still held loosely in his hands. As he jerked involuntarily, it went off. Everyone jumped, apart from Speck. He screamed.

‘You arse,’ Chandra said to Ramsay. ‘You could have killed someone. It’s lucky that car was already set for the knacker’s yard.’

I frowned and looked round, my heart sinking when I saw what she was referring to. The stray bullet had slammed into our fuel tank; a steady dribble of petrol was already leaking out.

‘Brilliant,’ I sighed.

Twitchy-Finger stared at me. ‘Integrity Taylor is a myth.’

My eyebrows flew up as his words drew my attention away from the poor car. Before I could say anything, Chandra laughed. ‘What colour is her hair?’

‘White.’

‘And is she old enough to have white hair?’

‘She looks mid-twenties,’ he said grudgingly. ‘But she could have dyed it.’ His lip curled. ‘You women like to do that.’

Chandra rolled her eyes. ‘Us women? Just remember who pays your wages, boyo.’

One of the others sidled up. ‘You’re really Integrity Taylor?’

I coughed. ‘I hadn’t realised I was so famous.’

‘Infamous more like,’ Chandra snorted. ‘I keep telling them that I kicked your arse and broke your nose but they never believe me.’

‘I was thirteen.’

She looked at me blankly. ‘So?’

‘You couldn’t do that to me now.’

‘Honey, we almost killed you about ten minutes ago.’

Okay, I’d give her that. I tugged at a loose curl, tucking it behind my ear, and massaged my neck. My skin was tender and I had no doubt that by tomorrow I’d be sporting some very unsightly bruises. ‘Lots of people know who I am, Chandra. Why’s he being so weird?’

‘You’ve not been in Aberdeen for a while, have you?’

I shrugged. ‘I guess not.’

‘There are a lot of stories coming out of the Cruaich that you infiltrated the Sidhe and stole the source of all their magic.’ I frowned. ‘Plus,’ Chandra added, ‘some people say you won the Games.’

‘I didn’t win.’

Chandra waved her hand in the air as if it didn’t matter. ‘Your old neighbour, Chump?’

‘Charlie.’

‘Well, Chump has been going around saying that he knows you intimately and that you’ve been using magic for years. He says you’ve sworn vengeance against the Sidhe for what they did to your family and that you’re amassing an army to destroy them.’

My mouth dropped open. I glanced round at Speck, Brochan, Taylor and Lexie. Formidable thieves they might be, but they were hardly an army.

‘If you need some help,’ Chandra said casually, ‘then we’ll offer our services.’

I gaped at her. ‘Eh?’

She leaned in. ‘The Clans have had a hold over us for too long.’ Her eyes gleamed. ‘It’s time to start fighting back.’

‘I don’t fight,’ I whispered. ‘And I’m technically one of them.’

‘No you’re not.’

‘I’ve taken my Clan name back,’ I told her. ‘I’m Integrity Adair. Not Taylor.’

Chandra lifted her chin. ‘You’re still one of us. You’ve still got the Clan-less in your heart.’ She jabbed her finger at my chest. ‘In your soul. You know what it means to be on our side of the magic.’

I did. But I wasn’t a fighter. Then I thought of my true name, the one I’d received in the Cruaich’s sacred grove: Layoch, meaning warrior. I shivered.

‘You’re not ready yet,’ Chandra declared. ‘But you will be. I can see why they want you dead. You should take care, Integrity Adair. Watch your back. You’re damned lucky it was me who picked up this little gig. I’ll spread the word, though, and make sure no one else takes up the contract. I can be pretty scary when I want to be.’

My thirteen-year-old self could attest to that. At least thanks to the stolen Gift running through my veins I knew she was telling the truth. ‘Thanks,’ I murmured.

She grinned and whacked me on the shoulder, sending me flying. ‘Any time.’ She pointed. ‘We’re parked over there out of sight. We’ll give you a lift into Perth. You should be able to find someone to come out and do something with your ... car.’ She said the last part dubiously as if she wasn’t sure if such a rust bucket merited that title.

‘Are you going to pay for the damage?’

Chandra flicked me a look. ‘Well, sure,’ she said easily. ‘I reckon five hundred quid would more than cover it.’

I spotted Taylor wincing out of the corner of my eye. Great. He probably owed her money. And it was probably five hundred pounds.

‘We should make a move before it gets dark. On the bright side though, it’s Saturday night. There’s a ceilidh on in the town hall.’

‘I’d rather go to a rave,’ Lexie muttered.

Chandra smiled then jerked her head. ‘Come on, boys and girls.’ Her team started trailing after her. One or two of them sent me suspicious looks while the others seemed to regard with me with awe.

I looked at my friends. ‘We should go with them,’ I said finally. ‘That car’s not going anywhere.’

‘You mix with disappointing company, Uh Integrity,’ Bob said. ‘They are ... grubby. I don’t like the way that Ramsay man looked at me.’

‘And here was me thinking that you couldn’t wait for me to make those remaining two wishes so you could get away from me.’

‘The grass is not always greener,’ he said patronisingly.

‘It’s pretty green on this side because we’re fertilised by your bullshit.’

He stared at me. ‘Is that a joke? That had better be a joke.’ He rolled up his sleeves and formed tiny fists with his hands. ‘Otherwise I’ll break that pretty nose of yours again.’ He danced from foot to foot and began humming
Eye of the Tiger
. ‘I’ve seen every Rocky film. I will pulverise you, Uh Integrity. They will be picking bits of you up when I’m done.’

‘Bits of me smashed into the green, green grass?’ I enquired with a wink.

‘You betcha! You...’

‘How do you really know her, Tegs?’ Lexie interrupted. ‘Chandra, I mean.’

‘We went to school together,’ I said absently, turning my attention away from the genie. ‘She was in the year above me.’

Speck cocked his head. ‘You went to school?’

I smiled. ‘Are you saying I come across as uneducated?’

‘No. It’s just that I’m having great difficulty imagining you dressed in a uniform and doing your homework. Did you have pigtails?’

‘She only lasted six months before she was expelled,’ Taylor said. ‘I home-schooled her after that.’

‘It’s not my fault,’ I protested. ‘Living as a nameless Sidhe servant didn’t exactly prepare me for the world of education.’

Taylor patted my cheek fondly. ‘You did alright in the end.’

‘It’s not the end yet,’ I grumbled. ‘Let’s grab that lift into town with Chandra. We don’t need any more ... mishaps.’

We all began to move, apart from Brochan who remained immobile. I looked at him. ‘You coming?’

‘Isn’t anyone going to point out the obvious? Raising an army against the Clans?’

‘She was only talking, Brochan. It was just bluster.’

‘It didn’t sound like bluster,’ he said. ‘It sounded like hope.’

Something indefinable tightened across my shoulders. ‘It’s a really silly idea and you know it. Besides, the only really dodgy Sidhe who needs stopped is Aifric.’

Brochan rubbed his chin. ‘Mm.’

I looked up. Chandra had already reached the top of the hill and was glancing back. She wouldn’t wait around forever. ‘Let’s go,’ I said softly.

T
he mechanic, a loud, blousy woman with grease ingrained so deeply in her palms that I doubted it would ever come off, agreed to pick up the Fiat. She seemed doubtful about how quickly she’d get round to fixing it so we ended up buying yet another heap of a car so we could reach my Clan Lands before the month was out. Taylor was grumpy at the amount of money it cost but the last thing I wanted was to hang around Perth for days on end.