Chapter 22

Chapter

Twenty-Two

I knew who it was long before he stepped out of the expensive car. Baltar hadn’t used his powers to disguise his body, even though he was more than capable of doing so. That was probably why he was driving a vehicle with tinted windows: anyone seeing a golden-skinned creature with long black hair driving a Porsche would remember him. They might call the police and cause all sorts of problems.

Hugo sucked in a sharp breath and the brownies’ eyes were as wide as saucers. In thirty years’ time I would encounter Baltar on two separate occasions – and the second time I would kill him.

‘Athair is not the only fiendish bastard who wants Lady Rose,’ I muttered. But we still didn’t know why. Surely it couldn’t be because she was using blood magic? Were the fiends truly that desperate to recruit her?

Baltar tossed back his hair and gazed at the mansion, a snide smile playing around his thin golden lips. Instead of approaching the building, he walked to the passenger side of the car, opened the door, reached inside and hauled someone out. Whoever it was, it wasn’t a fiend.

‘Who is that?’ Otis whispered.

I shrugged to indicate I had no idea.

‘Sorcerer,’ Hugo hissed. He was right; Baltar’s companion had the lean, gangly look of their kind.

‘He looks a bit like Gordon,’ Hester said. I was about to disagree when I realised she was right. Although this man’s swarthy features were totally dissimilar, his expression mirrored the one I’d frequently seen on Gordon’s face.

‘He’s scared,’ I breathed. ‘That sorcerer isn’t here by choice.’ I felt sick to my stomach; there could only be one reason why Baltar had dragged him here.

The fiend gave his companion a gentle look – then backhanded him across the face with such force that the crack echoed. I clamped a hand over my mouth to stifle my cry, than I started to move to confront Baltar.

Hugo reached for me in warning. ‘Wait,’ he said. ‘We need to see what happens. We need to know what’s going on, Daisy.’

He was right. Despite my frustration, I nodded and turned back .

Baltar shoved the sorcerer towards the wall of the mansion and forced him to crouch down and examine the blood ward. After a few moments, the sorcerer nodded.

The fiend’s answering grin was coldly gleeful. He spread his arms wide and addressed the silent fa?ade in a loud voice. ‘Lady Rose Assigney! My name is Baltar! You know what I am, and you know what I am here for!’

I didn’t know what he was there for; it would be helpful if he spelled it out so we could all understand.

There was no answer. Gladys, however, buzzed impatiently by my side. She recognised Baltar – of course she did; it was her blade that would kill him in the future.

‘You must know that you cannot win against Athair,’ Baltar continued. ‘You will have to yield sooner or later. I can smooth the path for you, bring all this to an end.’

I suddenly realised what Baltar was up to: he was hoping to ingratiate himself with Athair by helping him achieve his objective. Fiends were supposed to work alone, but in my experience in the future they didn’t. Perhaps this was the turning point when their methods changed.

‘Drop your ward and open the door,’ Baltar bellowed, ‘and I will allow you to walk away unharmed. If you don’t let me in, I will break down your defences – and you will not enjoy the consequences.’ He ran his tongue across his lips. ‘Personally, I’m hoping for that – I enjoy tasting elvish blood.’

I shuddered.

The sorcerer, still kneeling, was etching a series of runes on the ground next to his feet. I reached to my left and grazed the wall of the mansion with my fingertips; it was growing hot. Very hot. Whatever that damned sorcerer was doing to Lady Rose’s defensive ward was working.

‘We have to act, Hugo. We can’t just watch,’ I pleaded.

His expression was grim, but he didn’t disagree. ‘You killed that bastard once,’ he said. ‘If we fight together, you can do it again.’

‘And if you kill him,’ Hester whispered, ‘you’ll also prove that the past can be changed. You can alter history.’

I had my doubts about that but I smiled anyway. ‘History was never my favourite subject at school,’ I murmured.

A flicker of amusement flashed across Hugo’s face. ‘What kind of treasure hunter are you?’

I looked at Baltar, who was crooking his finger towards the house as if he could coax Lady Rose out by dint of his crappy personality. ‘The kind who wins.’ Then I withdrew Gladys from her sheath, threw my head back and roared at the top of my lungs .

Baltar froze as Hugo and I emerged from behind the shrub; he obviously hadn't been expecting company. With surprise on our side, we fired off two powerful blasts of magic before the fiend could react. I directed a wave of earth magic at the space around his feet, opening up a wide trench between us that would buy us space to continue attacking from a safe distance.

Hugo ignored Baltar and focused on the sorcerer, who was arguably the more dangerous of the two where Lady Rose was concerned. He shot a ferocious surge of air magic at the nervous man, yanking him upwards several feet and stopping his attempts to break the ward. The sorcerer squeaked as his arms and legs flailed uselessly in mid-air.

Baltar recovered quickly and his smooth, golden face twisted into a snarl. ‘Who the fuck are you?’ he spat.

I didn’t waste my breath answering him; he’d find out soon enough. Instead, palms tingling as I stretched my magic, I used the same trick Lady Rose had employed against us and sent several scorching fireballs in his direction. Fire didn’t really harm fiends but the force of the fireballs certainly could. It was a testament to my training with Hugo’s Primes that I no longer required kindling to create a blaze; these days, all I needed was oxygen.

As I had done earlier, Baltar flipped out a stream of water to extinguish the fire. Three seconds later he was howling as scalding steam enveloped his body. ‘Impressive,’ Hugo said.

I grinned. ‘I’m a fast learner.’ I nodded at the hovering sorcerer. ‘Can you deal with him while I take care of Baltar?’ Unlike Hugo, I could kill the fiend. My cursed heritage had to be good for something.

He nodded and darted around the steam cloud to the sorcerer. At the same time, Baltar strode towards me, flicking his wrist to shoot out earth magic and repair the trench I’d created. His face was contorted with anger; it was surprisingly satisfying to see his fury escalate so quickly.

‘Go Daisy!’ Otis shouted from several metres away.

‘Kill that fiend!’ Hester screeched.

Baltar’s eyes narrowed. ‘Your name is Daisy? So that makes you – what? Bosom buddies with Lady Rose?’

I ignored my flash of confusion; there would be time to puzzle over his words later. I licked my lips, tilted my head and tossed out a burst of water magic. A perfect sphere of icy water smacked into his cheekbone. It would do little more than sting, but I wasn’t trying to hurt him. I threw out another burst and sent a cricket-ball sized sphere towards his stomach.

‘What the fuck are you doing?’ he asked.

Making you angry , I answered silently. I launched another watery ball at his groin and smiled when I hit my target. Slim would be very proud of my precision.

Baltar scowled. ‘You stupid woman,’ he muttered. ‘You can’t seriously think that will hurt me?’

I ignored him and aimed two balls of water at his eyes, temporarily blinding him. He growled and answered with a jet of fire, but his aim was off and I scarcely needed to sidestep to avoid its searing heat.

I glanced over his shoulder to check on Hugo, who was visible now that the steam cloud had dissipated. He had brought the quaking sorcerer down and was preparing to haul him away from the battleground. Baltar appeared oblivious. Good: my distraction technique was working.

Gladys buzzed repeatedly, her hilt warm in my hand, but Baltar was still several metres away from me. I needed him to drop his guard further and come in closer before I swung her blade towards his heart.

I smirked at him. ‘You missed,’ I said. I sent him a ripple of earth magic that made the ground rumble and shake. Baltar kept his footing – but only just.

His glistening golden cheeks had turned scarlet with embarrassment or anger; it didn’t particularly matter which. He snarled again and took three more steps towards me. Only a few more and I’d have him.

I had a far greater chance of success if he came to me rather than the other way around, so I stepped back, hoping that he’d think I was trying to put more space between us.

He laughed coldly. ‘I may have missed but you can’t harm me.’ He thumped his chest. ‘I am a fiend! As a mere elf, you cannot do anything that will affect me.’ His red eyes glittered. ‘In minutes you will be dead.’ He raised his long index finger and a bolt of lightning zapped towards me.

This time he didn’t miss.

The lightning slammed into my shoulder. The pain was excruciating, reverberating through my body in snaking, agonising threads. I staggered backwards, barely managing to keep hold of Gladys as my knees gave way, and I fell. Tiny lights danced in front of my eyes and nausea rose in my throat.

I swallowed hard and ignored the faint smell of my burning flesh. My tinnitus made an unwelcome return, buzzing in a way that made me want to screech with irritation, but I did my best to ignore it. I looked up and caught a glimpse of Lady Rose’s pale face at one of the windows. I wanted to shout out to her that this was part of my masterplan and that I knew what I was doing, but I couldn’t make a sound.

I reached inside myself for the strength I knew I had. I was Daisy fucking Carter and I was strong – I was certainly far stronger than Baltar realised. His lightning attack had knocked me for six but I was recovering quickly. It helped that Hester and Otis were screeching support from a corner of the mansion; every fighter should have a cheerleading squad.

I stayed down, hoping to goad Baltar into coming closer for his kill shot. To encourage him, I flicked out more water magic but made sure it splashed weakly into the ground in front of me. ‘I’m not dead yet, you fucker,’ I whispered.

I knew from the look in his red eyes that he’d heard me. He took one step in my direction and I tensed, praying he would come close enough for me to thrust Gladys into him. Then he paused and looked over his shoulder.

Oh no.

Hugo and the terrified sorcerer hadn’t got as far as I’d hoped. The sorcerer had kept collapsing, and when Hugo tried to haul him up in a fireman’s lift he’d resisted for several long moments.

Baltar stared after the departing pair then muttered under his breath. A second later, he threw a blast of air magic at them, expertly curving it around so that it whacked Hugo and his clumsy cargo from the front. Even though I was lying some distance away, I felt the force of Baltar’s magic.

Hugo didn’t stand a chance.

Hester and Otis screamed as he and the sorcerer were thrown backwards. I sensed Hugo conjuring up magic to counter the attack and I did the same in a vain bid to help him, but my effort was weak and Hugo’s attempt was too late. He was thrown against the wall of the Assigney mansion with a sickening crunch while the sorcerer’s thin body jerked to a halt in mid-air. Hugo crumpled in a heap while the sorcerer stayed suspended. Fuck, Baltar’s magic control was impressive. Far too impressive.

I dragged my eyes away from Hugo’s body as the fiend stalked towards the sorcerer. ‘Hey!’ I called weakly. ‘I’m not done with you yet!’

‘I’ll be back for you shortly,’ Baltar grunted. ‘Don’t you worry. ’

The surge of anger I felt at my ploy so nearly coming to fruition helped me force myself upright, but by the time I was on my feet again Baltar had reached the sorcerer. ‘Is it done?’ he spat.

‘N – n – no – no.’ The sorcerer blanched. ‘Nearly.’

Baltar yanked him down to the ground. ‘Then finish it,’ he snarled.

The sorcerer’s head dropped. He trudged towards the mansion and the blood ward he was attempting to destroy.

Hugo stirred and my breath caught in my throat. My earlier strategy hadn’t worked. I stopped thinking rationally and clutched Gladys harder. The only option left was to attack Baltar head on.

Before I could move, the front door swung open. Suddenly Lady Rose was on the doorstep. Her face was still as pale as death but she’d scrubbed away the tearstains and dirty marks, and when she spoke her voice was clear and steady.

‘You want me?’ she asked. ‘I’m right here.’ And she stepped across her own ward and walked right up to Baltar.