28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Alessandro Alessandro – Ali – looked the same age, but his eyes were older and colder. ‘Hi, Grandad,' I greeted the portal keeper.

He folded his arms, clearly in a huff. ‘You turned me into a vampyr.'

‘Nope! Not me. That was all you,' I said emphatically. I needed him on side. ‘I helped save you and I helped you keep your fire magic. You're welcome.'

His jaw worked as he stared at me. ‘Who's this?' he asked finally, gesturing to Greg.

‘Oh, this is Greg Manners. Your future grandson-in-law.'

‘Nice to meet you,' Greg said loudly. ‘Again,' he muttered.

I looked around the rustic room. Ali was alone. ‘You're on portal duty, huh?'

‘It's New Year's Eve and everyone else is getting ready for the celebrations. When the portal connected to the Third, I knew the chances were good that it would be you strolling through.'

‘And you were right. Give the man a cookie,' I replied irreverently. My expression sobered. ‘Listen, Ali, I need your help.'

‘Of course you do,' he said gruffly, his hard expression not changing an iota.

‘We're family,' I entreated.

A half-sigh slipped out. ‘What do you need?'

‘I need to get to the Staffordshire Pack. Pronto.'

He looked amused. ‘Nothing in this time is pronto, Lucy.'

‘I thought of that and I allowed a day for travel.'

Ali snorted. ‘It'll take you four days of carriage travel to get there.' As I started to swear loudly, he relented. ‘That's some vocabulary. So a carriage is out, but you could use the trains.'

I brightened. ‘Brilliant!'

‘Not really. There will be reduced service for New Year. You'll need a night's stopover in Birmingham.'

‘Okay, that's not so bad. I kind of like the accent there.'

‘The accent isn't the problem, it's the gangs you'll have to contend with. The Peaky Blinders, the Cheapside Sloggers, the Gun Quarter, Garrisons Lane, Ten Arches and Bishop Ryders. The Sloggers are your biggest concern. They're run by Timmy Krieg. He's Other, and so is his little crew.'

‘What are they?' Greg asked, looking grim.

‘Besides lawless hoodlums? They're all types of Other folk under the sun. Krieg is happy to use you, as long as you're a deadly immoral prick, and there are wolves, vamps, dwarfs, dryads and ogres. It's a melting pot of the Other and none of them give a shit about the law, Other or otherwise.'

‘So we avoid them,' I said simply.

Ali shook his head. ‘Not possible. They've got eyes on the station. When you roll in with the triangles on your forehead, they'll be all over you demanding a protection fee.'

Greg grimaced. ‘So we pay them and then we move out.'

‘If you can. If Timmy gets curious about you, you'll be taken to him regardless of your wishes.'

‘How do you know so much about it?' I asked nosily.

‘A fire elemental came to us from there. He's still pretty scarred from his time with the Sloggers. We had to pay Krieg a ransom to get him to "forget" about Torrance. It was worth it because Torrance is a good kid, and Krieg is anything but. Torr ran away from a life of privilege and he still hasn't found his way back – his teenage rebellion lasted a shade too long with dangerous results. He's still working up the courage to rejoin his family, but he doesn't want to bring scandal to their door.'

‘Telling my story for me, Ali?' a very familiar posh male voice asked. Chills ran down my spine as I turned to face the newcomer.

It's you, I whispered to the crown on my head.

One and the same, Your Majesty, Terrance agreed, his tone oddly regretful.

How?

My parents created me the usual way, I assume. He sounded calm, unruffled.

Huh, Esme said. I assumed he'd been in the crown for a very long time, given that it has been called the crown of Torr for hundreds of years.

Yeah, me too. Assumptions, I muttered.

Make us asses, Esme noted.

I realised I was still gaping at Torrance's human form. Torrance Hargreave was handsome, brown haired, with a dash of freckles and a devil-may-care smile that was looking a little strained as I continued to stare. Oops. ‘Hello,' I finally managed. ‘I'm Lucy.'

‘Hello, Lucy.' He bowed and touched a hand to his heart. ‘It is my honour to meet you. '

It was odd to hear my name from his lips because Terrance called me ‘my Queen' or ‘Your Majesty'. He'd only once spoken my name and, now that I thought of it, it had been with some reverence. I'd assumed that was respect for my position, but now I wasn't so sure.

‘My fiancé,' I said faintly. ‘Greg Manners.'

‘My honour to meet you, Torrance.' Greg was looking at me weirdly; he knew that I was freaking out but not why. I hadn't told him that Terrance had been renamed by Nina and that his original name had been Torrance. Neither could Greg recognise the stiff speech pattern of the crown since Terrance spoke directly into my head.

Torrance bowed again, his eyes flashing over Greg in a quick evaluation. His body tensed: he had correctly assessed that Greg was a threat. ‘You're in need of a guide,' he said finally. ‘I'll go with you. I can ensure that no harm comes to you from Timmy.'

Ali frowned. ‘Are you sure?'

‘She is your family, is she not?'

‘She is. She's an Alessandro.'

Torrance bowed to him. ‘I am indebted to the Alessandros, so allow me to assist. You cannot leave your post and I cannot in good conscience let these two stroll defenceless into the ogre's den.'

‘We're hardly defenceless,' Greg growled.

‘Perhaps not,' Torrance agreed. ‘ But you won't have allies there and you'll need them. She will catch Timmy's eye. She's his type.'

This time Greg's growl was loud and rumbling.

I sighed. ‘This is all a bit more complicated than I'd envisioned.' I admitted. ‘I just need to get to the Staffordshire Pack.'

‘Tomorrow?' Ali confirmed.

‘Tomorrow,' I agreed.

‘Then you have no choice. You'll have to go through Birmingham and risk meeting Timmy Krieg.' Ali spoke the name with a whisper and a shudder, the way you might speak of the devil.

How awful could this Timmy Krieg be? There was no doubt in my mind that he was a relative of Robert Krieg, the High King of the ogres, and if I'd handled Robert I could surely handle Timmy.

‘I can deal with one ogre,' I said confidently. Ogres were some of the deadliest bastards in the Other realm, second only to griffins, but Esme was confident she could kill one. Faced with two, we'd probably die. But one? We'd probably be fine. Maybe.

‘I hope so, for your sake,' Ali muttered. ‘But Torrance is right, you stand a better chance if you take him with you. He can smooth your way if Krieg wants to see you. Torrance was always a favourite of his, which is why it cost so much to free him. Anyway, take the cart to the station. Best of luck. I'll be here when you're ready to return.'

‘Thank you.' I hugged him, careful not to call him grandfather in front of Torrance.

Ali squeezed me back. ‘Go on now.' His eyes settled on Greg, ‘You keep her safe.' It wasn't a request.

Greg nodded. ‘Yes, sir.'

Satisfied, Ali led us out to the back. He hooked a cart up to a horse – no unicorn this time; Torrance swung up into the driver's position and we were off.

Ali watched us go, his expression full of foreboding. I wanted to tell him everything would be alright but I wasn't sure if I'd be lying.