Chapter 24

Chapter

Twenty-Four

L ord Pemberville was lost for words, his jaw working uselessly as he tried to make sense of what was happening. ‘But … but … but…’

‘Your son obviously takes after his mother and not you,’ Hester said snippily before flying at full speed to the car and inserting herself through a gap in the window. Otis immediately followed suit, while Lady Pemberville continued to stare at the grown-up version of her son.

‘Hugo,’ I warned in a low voice.

He shook his head and muttered something under his breath, then vaulted towards the car. He nudged his mother into her seat and opened the rear door.

I twisted Gladys in my hands, preparing to slice at Baltar. ‘You too, Lady Rose,’ I said firmly. ‘Get into the car. I’ll deal with him.’

‘I can’t leave yet,’ she whispered. She looked at the house.

‘Whatever is in there isn’t worth your damned life,’ I snapped.

Her eyes narrowed. ‘You might be surprised,’ she returned with equal irritation .

Her vehemence surprised me. I watched as she took off at high speed, pulled open the front door and disappeared inside.

I cursed and took a step towards Baltar as Gladys buzzed with effervescent joy. Unfortunately the cumbubbling fiend wasn’t done with us yet. As soon as I raised the sword and prepared to deliver the blow, his hand lashed out and he struck my calf with clawed fingers that ripped through my jeans and tore at my flesh.

Hugo was already leaping away from the car and running towards me, but Baltar was ready for him, too. He flashed out a wave of magic and whipped the air into a black, smoke-filled typhoon. It swept towards Hugo, swallowing him up and dragging him backwards against his will.

Fury roared through me and I swung Gladys down towards Baltar’s neck. I wasn’t swift enough: he dodged the blow, then he was up on his feet and facing me yet again.

I hissed under my breath and thrust Gladys towards him once more. He grabbed hold of her blade with his bare fingers, squeezing hard and ignoring his dripping blood. He yanked harder and pulled her out of my grasp – it hadn’t even occurred to me that such a thing might be possible. Cumbubbling bollocks. I wasn’t remotely proficient with a sword, despite the training I’d put in; if I died here it wouldn’t be because Baltar had won the fight, it would be because I lost it.

The car door opened and Lord Pemberville stepped out, grim-faced. He stalked forward, breathing deeply. ‘I will help you!’ he called to me.

Goddammit. ‘No!’

Hugo had finally extricated himself from the magicked wind and was also marching towards me. Then, to add further to the chaos, Lady Rose reappeared in the doorway holding a bundle in her arms. For fuck’s sake.

Baltar was grinning at me with the confidence of a man who knew he would win. There was only one thing left for me to do. I reached inside myself and pulled out everything I had. Air. Water. Fire. Earth. Lightning. I scooped up every inch of my power and threw it at him.

He howled – but it wasn’t with pain but with delight. I kept going, dredging up whatever power I could find. Air – more air. Blast him in the damned face and chest and legs. Follow it up with waves of water. Rain fire on him. Attack the earth at his feet. Send lightning towards his head.

Over and over and over again I pulled on every thread of magic that I had and threw it at Baltar. He counter-attacked but I paid no attention and I didn’t bother to defend myself. His magic had been weakened thanks to his earlier electrocution, and I was dimly aware that Hugo and his father were using their powers to protect me whenever they could.

I kept going, searching my body for every scrap of energy I could find until I’d grasped it and thrown it in Baltar’s face. Air, water, fire, earth, lightning. Air, water, fire, earth, lightning. Air, water, fire, earth, lightning.

Baltar fell to his knees and so did I – but where I was struggling to maintain a grip on my consciousness as dizziness and nausea assailed me, he was smiling. ‘Is that all you’ve got? Is that it?’ he sneered.

A dark shape loomed behind him, but I didn’t have the strength to look up and see who it was. I was done; I had nothing more to give, no more magic to throw.

‘Try this,’ Lady Rose hissed.

I caught a glimpse of shining steel as Gladys’s blade caught in the sunlight before descending and slicing through Baltar’s neck, then my vision diminished to little more than shifting shapes and dark shadows. In truth, I felt like little more than a shadow myself .

Strong hands reached for me: Hugo. He wrapped his arms around me, picked me up and cradled me against his chest.

I dug as deep as I could, summoning up the last of my energy. I had to speak; our lives counted on my words. ‘Wait,’ I whispered. ‘Baltar…’

‘I took care of him,’ Rose said.

‘No. He’ll … he’ll … come back. He’s not … dead.’

‘Don’t worry,’ Hugo hushed. ‘We have time to get away before he reanimates. It’s fine. It’s all fine.’

‘Will she be okay?’ I heard Lady Rose whisper.

Hugo’s response was curt. ‘Yes, but we need to get her to hospital. Help me lift her to the car.’

I felt myself being moved, heard a door open and registered the flutter of soft wings as Hester and Otis hovered anxiously over my face.

‘I’m driving,’ Hugo snapped. ‘Everyone get in and fasten your seatbelts.’

‘Hang on a minute,’ Lord Pemberville began.

‘Just fucking get in, Dad!’

A strange dreaminess overtook me. Nothing mattered any more. It was all fine. Hunky dory.

‘Wait!’ Lady Pemberville’s sharp cry made me jerk.

‘Look! That’s the doctor’s car – he’s on his way. He can help Gertrude – or Daisy – or whoever she is.’

Hugo’s answer sounded as if it were coming from a great distance. ‘Fuck. Fuck. The back road – is it clear, Rose? Can we get out of your estate that way?’

I tried to listen to her answer but a strange caterwauling was ringing in my ears, high-pitched and annoying. It sounded like a small angry cat .

And that was the last thought I had before darkness descended.

Even before I opened my eyes, I knew I felt different. It was difficult to put the sensation into words. There was a calmness deep within me that I’d not felt for a very, very long time. I was … centred.

Or I was until I remembered what had happened before I blacked out.

I sat bolt upright. ‘Athair,’ I said aloud, as a surge of panic overtook me.

‘It’s alright.’ Hugo was holding my hand. ‘We got away. We took a back road and drove off before he reached us. We’re safe, Daisy.’

I blinked rapidly and gazed into his velvet-blue eyes, which were shining with a heartening mixture of warmth and relief. I reached for him and pulled him close, and he wrapped his arms tightly around me. ‘We should add falling unconscious to the list of things you should never ever do,’ he said in my ear,

I smiled into his shoulder – then I made the mistake of breathing in. Whoa. ‘You, Hugo Pemberville, are very smelly.’ Usually he exuded a spicy aroma that made me slightly weak at the knees but right now he reeked of acrid sweat and dirt.

‘Is that your way of saying I should let you go?’ he murmured.

‘Never,’ I whispered.

He grunted. ‘Just as well.’ His arms tightened a fraction.

There were several sharp jabs on the back of my head. ‘You’re awake!’ More jabs. ‘I’m so happy.’ Several more jabs. ‘Can I have a hug, too?’

I reluctantly released my hold on Hugo and smiled at Hester. She hovered in front of my face for a few seconds then flew to my collarbone and burrowed against my skin. ‘I’m so glad you’re okay, Daisy. You’ve been out for a whole day.’

Otis piped up from the corner of the bedstead. ‘We were really worried.’

‘I’m fine,’ I said. ‘A bit shaky but fine.’ I looked around. Wherever we were, it wasn’t a hospital, not unless high-elf medical institutions in the nineties favoured baroque interior design.

‘We were planning to take you to hospital,’ Hugo admitted, ‘but our plans changed when Athair showed up. We couldn’t risk him finding us. We’re in Edinburgh, in a flat belonging to a friend of my parents.’

A very grand flat; I was in a four-poster bed, for heaven’s sake. The wallpaper was heavy, flocked damask and there was a lot of dark burnished wood. It was dramatic, overly ornate – and exactly the sort of place where I’d expect the Pembervilles to hide out.

‘How are your parents?’ I asked.

‘Shocked.’ He paused. ‘To say the least.’

I couldn’t blame them.

‘They’ve sent my other self down south for a holiday with my nanny to keep him – me – safe.’ He scratched his chin. ‘It’s not something I have any memory of happening.’

‘You were two years old, so that’s hardly surprising.’ I passed a hand over my face. ‘Baltar is still alive, just like in the future. I don’t think anything we do here can change what will happen in the future. And that means we can’t change things for Lady Rose.’

Hugo lowered his eyes and I stared at him, alarmed. ‘What? What is it? Is she okay? Is she here with us?’

‘She’s here.’ He still wouldn’t look at me. ‘She’s fine. She wants to talk to you on her own as soon as you’re up to it.’

Hester drew in a breath and prepared to speak but Hugo’s head snapped up and he glared at her. I folded my arms and switched my gaze between the pair of them. ‘What’s going on, Hugo? What aren’t you telling me?’

‘Rose will explain when you’re better.’

‘Hugo—’

His voice was strained. ‘Please, Daisy.’

Goddammit. ‘I’m better now,’ I said. I was annoyed. Hugo was supposed to be on my side and we’d promised not to keep secrets from each other. What the fuck was going on?

‘Okay.’ He stood up and ran a hand through his hair. ‘I’ll get you some food so you can get your strength up.’ He picked up a glass of water from the bedside cabinet and handed it to me, then dipped his hand into his pocket and held out two pristine pills of spider’s silk. Bless him. I gazed at the pills for a moment, then all-but snatched them from him.

Hugo looked away as I raised them to my mouth. And then I stopped, swallowed hard and handed one of the pills back to him. He stared at me.

‘It worked,’ I whispered. ‘I released all my magic at Baltar and it worked.’ I touched the centre of my chest. ‘I can feel it inside me – it’s different. I can control my magic, Hugo.’

To prove it, I pushed myself up and kissed him full on the lips. My senses swam at the taste of him and my stomach flip-flopped, but no trace of wild magic surged forward. After all these years, I was finally in control.

I drew back and gazed into Hugo’s eyes. Hester and Otis were staring at me, their expressions so desperately hopeful that I couldn’t look at them directly. ‘I can’t go cold turkey,’ I whispered.

He nodded, understanding immediately. ‘It’s too dangerous – you’ll go into sudden withdrawal.’

‘That doesn’t mean I can’t start weaning myself off it. ’

He wrapped his arms tightly around me, and for that one moment nothing mattered except the two of us. Eventually, he moved away. ‘I’ll get you some food before I’m the one who loses control,’ he said gruffly. ‘I’ll tell Rose she can come in and speak to you, if you want.’

My stomach knotted. ‘I do want.’ My addiction was not my only problem; I needed to know what else was going on.

Hugo crooked his finger at the brownies. ‘You two should come with me.’

‘No way.’ Otis shook his head firmly.

‘We’re staying here,’ Hester said.

‘Please.’

‘Go with him,’ I told them softly. ‘It will be alright.’

There was a mutinous tilt to Hester’s chin, but she glanced at Otis and something unspoken passed between them. ‘Fine,’ she said and pointed to the door. ‘But we will be right there waiting if you need us.’

‘We’re all here for you, Daisy,’ Hugo said quietly. ‘Whatever you need and however you feel.’

There was definitely no trace of a calm centre inside me now. I clutched the sheet to my chest and scooted against the elaborate mahogany headboard, wide-eyed and nervous. As soon as Hugo and the brownies left the room, I gulped down my single pill of spider’s silk. When it hit my system, my heart rate increased and my ears started to ring. I had to stay absolutely still until the wave of light-headedness and nausea passed.

Despite those symptoms, the kernel of hope deep inside me was growing by the second. If I made it out of this mess alive – and I could deal with the risk posed by Athair – I could work on myself. I was worth recovery.

When Lady Rose came in, she looked even more nervous than I felt, though that didn’t make me feel any better. Unlike Hugo, she’d cleaned herself up and found a fresh set of clothes. With a scrubbed face, she appeared younger than before. I knew that legally she was an adult, but she still looked so very young. I was struggling to deal with the situation, and she was at least ten years my junior, so I couldn’t imagine how she was coping.

I reminded myself that I still didn’t know the full story and vowed to be patient with her; she deserved that much, at least.

Lady Rose sat down on the chair that Hugo had vacated. ‘How are you feeling?’ she asked.

‘I’m pretty good. Surprisingly so.’ I tried to grin. ‘I guess I just needed a long nap.’

She didn’t smile. ‘You deserved it after all you did. When I saw how you fought Baltar, I knew I could trust you – I knew you were who you said you were. The way you went up against that fiend…’ Her voice trailed off and she shook her head. ‘It was impressive.’

‘You’re the one who took him out at the end, Lady Rose.’

She grimaced. ‘Don’t call me that.’

I blinked. ‘What would you like to be called?’

She stared down at her hands. ‘Maybe just Rose,’ she said in a small voice. ‘For now.’

I nodded slowly. ‘Okay.’

She didn’t look up but started twisting her fingers over and over again; she had something important to say and I would give her all the time she needed to say it. Seconds ticked by. Eventually she sighed. ‘I know you’re worried about the blood-magic business. But I’m not a fiend.’

Not yet , I thought.

‘I’m not close to becoming a fiend either.’ She shuddered. ‘I’d kill myself before I let that happen.’

I tried to keep my voice soft. ‘You must know how dangerous blood magic is, though.’

‘Yeah. But nothing else has worked against Athair. My elvish magic is strong and I know I’m powerful, but nothing I threw at him affected him – until I tried blood magic.’

‘Blood magic won’t beat him, Rose. It will only destroy you.’

Her cheeks flushed; she clearly knew that already. I could empathise because I knew that my spider’s silk addiction would destroy me – it was already destroying me. Even now, lying in bed with my wild magic finally under control, my pulse remained erratic and I knew my hands would shake if I raised them. I had still swallowed that pill, though. I still wanted to swallow more.

‘I will try and stop using it. If I don’t meet any more fiends it’ll be easy,’ she said with a faint smile of self-mockery.

‘How did you get involved with Athair in the first place?’ I asked.

‘I met him at a party. For a long time I didn’t know he was a fiend because he looked so normal. He was charming and sweet and?—’

Her eyes filled with tears. ‘I felt myself falling for him. It didn’t occur to me he was only using me. With hindsight, it’s easy to see that he knew I could be manipulated. I don’t have any close family left. My mum and dad both died a couple of years ago. My great-aunt tries to keep in touch, but she’s often busy with her own life. And it’s the same with my friends – they’re preoccupied with their own concerns.’ She sighed and rubbed her eyes. ‘I was easy pickings for someone like Athair.’

‘I’m so sorry, Rose,’ I whispered.

‘It’s not your fault.’ She sniffed. Then she looked up, gave me a direct stare and changed the subject. ‘Hugo told me you were adopted.’

‘Uh, yeah.’

‘What are they like? Your adoptive parents, I mean. Are they nice?’

My face softened. ‘They’re amazing. They’ve always been amazing. They’re human, so they don’t have any magic and they don’t understand a lot of what’s inside me, but they’ve always supported me. They’ve always loved me. I’m very lucky to have them.’

‘It sounds like you had a happy childhood with them.’

‘I did. I really did.’

She bit her lip then, without warning, she stood up. ‘I’ll be back in a minute.’

What? ‘Rose,’ I began, ‘I still don’t?—’

‘There’s something I have to show you.’ With her head held high and her shoulders pulled back, she marched to the bedroom door and opened it. Hester and Otis tumbled in.

I gave both brownies an exasperated look. ‘You were eavesdropping?’

‘Of course!’ Hester rolled her eyes to indicate that I was an idiot for thinking otherwise.

‘Sorry, Daisy,’ Otis muttered.

I tutted, just as Rose reappeared in the doorway. I glanced at the bundle in her arms, then at her face, then at the bundle again. Oh. ‘That’s a baby.’

‘Well done, Daisy,’ Hester said. ‘Your powers of observation are extraordinary.’

Everything was beginning to fit together. ‘Athair’s baby?’

Rose nodded.

‘And yours?’

She nodded again. ‘She’s ten days old.’ She gently tugged the edge of the blanket to show me the baby’s face. She was very small, very red and very crumpled. Messy tufts of bright red hair covered her scalp. ‘Her name,’ Rose added very quietly, ‘is Daisy.’