Chapter 25

Chapter

Twenty-Five

H orace didn’t stay for long; he didn’t dare give Athair another reason to punish him and none of us wanted to raise his suspicions. The little brownie didn’t believe that we’d escape from the oubliette, let alone defeat Athair, but he wished us luck and I believed he was being sincere.

Eight hours later, as we continued to hide in the damp dungeon with William Hausman’s corpse for company, Hester was still talking about him. ‘I like the way his eyes twinkled,’ she said. ‘And did you see the way his hair made those cute curls on the nape of his neck?’

Otis gave a long-suffering sigh. He’d done remarkably well to keep his mouth shut until then but even his patience was starting to ebb.

I massaged the back of my neck and tried to stretch my limbs, an almost impossible task; there wasn’t enough space in the dungeon for one full-sized person to be comfortable, let alone Hugo, me and a dead body.

Time was ticking away. I had hoped to get to Edinburgh and take up position near the Royal Elvish Institute long before Athair arrived, but we couldn’t get out of here until he left Culcreuch. I wouldn’t just be stiff and tired when I arrived for the final showdown, I’d also be late.

I knew it would be too dangerous to confront him here on his own territory, though the thought was becoming more and more appealing. If we didn’t manage to get out of the oubliette soon, we might have to face him.

I was shifting position for the umpteenth time, manoeuvring carefully around Hausman, when Hugo’s head reared up. His hearing was far keener than mine. My eyes flew to his and he nodded grimly. As if on cue, my nose started to itch again. I ignored it and stayed very, very still.

‘I will be leaving within the hour,’ Athair said, his voice growing louder as he walked down the stairs towards us. ‘Make sure the car is waiting out front.’

I wondered if slashing his tyres and delaying his arrival in Edinburgh would aid our cause. Probably not. It would be entertaining, though.

‘My vampires are already gathering,’ he continued.

Hugo’s gaze sought mine; they were filled with warmth, love and reassurance.

‘It will be a glorious night in Edinburgh. I have been waiting for this moment for a very long time,’ Athair said.

‘Master?’ Horace squeaked.

‘What is it?’

‘What will you do if she chooses not to join you?’

Athair’s footsteps reached the ground floor and once again I prayed that his eyes didn’t stray towards the oubliette. ‘My Daisy will make the right decision,’ he said. ‘She will be by my side before the next dawn arrives.’

‘But if?—’

‘Enough!’ Athair roared. There was a pained squeak from rusting hinges as he yanked open the door leading out of the tower. ‘If she chooses to remain as she is, there will be no choice. I will kill her – but not before I kill everyone she has ever loved. She will watch them suffer and then she will die. Painfully.’

He cleared his throat and his voice returned to normal. ‘That will not happen. She is not stupid. There will soon be another fiend joining our ranks.’ The tower door thudded closed. If my fiendish fucking father added any further dark promises, I didn’t hear them.

‘Is it too late to make a Will?’ Hester enquired once several beats had passed.

I forced a smile in her direction. There was nothing more for me to say; I didn’t even have any misplaced humour to offer her.

‘Whatever happens tonight, history will be made,’ Hugo said quietly. ‘People will be talking about this night for generations to come.’

I considered his words then I reached behind my neck and fumbled for the clasp on my pendant necklace. Once it was unfastened, I dropped it to the dungeon floor. ‘For posterity,’ I whispered. ‘And future treasure hunters who might venture through here one day.’

Hugo smiled and his dimple flashed. ‘Amen.’

We waited for as long as we dared before we conjured up enough air magic to boost us out of the oubliette. Although there was no time to celebrate, the relief I felt at escaping the dark hole was wonderful. I allowed myself a long luxurious stretch before I turned back and glanced down at William Hausman, bowing my head in brief, silent prayer. Only then did I speak.

‘We have to get out of here,’ I said. ‘And fast. Athair will already be on his way to Edinburgh and if we don’t hurry we’ll be late.’ The hours spent inside the oubliette had been necessary but they could cost us, lethally so.

‘I should be able to get a phone signal as soon as we’re outside,’ Hugo told me. ‘Slim will be waiting to pick us up. But we’ll have to take care – the sun will have already gone down and those bloodsuckers out there are a real threat.’

Hester blanched. ‘We can do this,’ I told her.

She swallowed. ‘Yes.’

We gazed at each other. Then, without another word, we ran for the stairs.

It was far easier to leave the tower than it had been to enter it. Hester and Otis swooped across to the front of the castle and quickly established that Athair had definitely gone so there was no longer any reason to worry about detection. We ignored the rope in favour of another blast of air magic then skirted the castle by avoiding the muddy quagmire at the front and heading for the open driveway.

By the time my bare feet hit tarmac, Hugo had already messaged Slim. In less than fifteen minutes, the battered Jeep stopped beside us and we jumped in. Slim gunned the engine and accelerated away. ‘I was beginning to get worried,’ he said. ‘I didn’t think you’d take this long.’

‘Neither did we,’ Hugo said. ‘But we got what we needed and we got out safely. That’s what’s important.’

‘You have the ring?’ Slim asked.

‘Yes.’

‘And?’

Hugo looked at me.

‘It’s what we expected,’ I said.

Slim exhaled. ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Okay.’ He licked his lips nervously. ‘I don’t suppose there’s any point asking why you’ve lost your shoes and clothes?’

‘Not really.’ I’d already retrieved the bag I’d taken to King’s Lynn and was searching for the cleanest set of clothes I could find. I couldn’t face Athair dressed as I was, but there was no time to stop off at home first. I had to make do with what I had – although I kept on Hugo’s T-shirt.

When he raised an eyebrow, I told him the truth. ‘It smells of you.’

His lips curled up with a hint of possessive delight. ‘Good.’

I dropped my head onto his shoulder. ‘Don’t die tonight.’

‘I’ll do my best. Don’t you die, either.’

I smiled softly but I didn’t say anything. Slim put his foot down and we sped towards the city – and whatever fate awaited us.

It didn’t matter how fast Slim drove, we were playing catch up with Athair and he had a good head start. I spent most of the journey staring at the clock on the dashboard. Any traffic problems and we would be late. I dreaded to think how Athair would react if that happened.

We were approaching the Queensferry Crossing, with the Forth Road Bridge to the left, when the phone calls and text messages started. I checked the time again. It was 11.31pm. We could still make the midnight deadline.

Sir Nigel was first. ‘Good evening, Daisy.’ Even under the most extreme circumstances, he remained perfectly polite.

‘Good evening,’ I said. I didn’t bother with any preamble. ‘Is there a problem?’

‘I thought it would be prudent to inform you that there are a number of vampires descending on Charlotte Square.’ He coughed delicately. ‘In fact, there are more than I’ve ever seen before in any one place.’

My mouth dried. The Royal Elvish Institute was on Charlotte Square. ‘Are they attacking anyone?’

‘Thus far, they are remarkably well behaved.’

Truthfully, I would have preferred the reverse. The Royal Institute was more than capable of battling vampires. Bloodsuckers weren’t smart and they were almost exclusively driven by bloodlust; the only thing that could hold them back from an attack was the control of a fiend. Athair had told Horace the vamps were gathering, so it appeared that he was in control and he had a plan. I just had to pray that my plan was better.

‘Are they entering the square itself?’ I asked.

‘No, but they appear to be encircling the area. They have left the George Street entrance clear, but the remainder of Charlotte Square is blocked off.’

I swallowed. ‘Okay.’

‘Are you in the vicinity?’ he asked hopefully.

‘We’re twenty-five minutes away.’

There was a beat of silence. ‘Tell that dear chap to put his foot down, will you?’

I looked at Slim’s grim expression. ‘I heard,’ he said. ‘I’m going as fast as I can.’

‘We’ll be there, Sir Nigel,’ I told him. ‘We’ll make it.’

Two minutes after I hung up on him, Miriam called. ‘We’re all here, dear, waiting for you.’

‘We’re not far out.’

‘I’m pleased to hear it. Everything is in place.’

I exhaled. ‘Good. That’s good.’

The next phone call was unexpected. ‘Are you fucking coming or not?’

My brow furrowed, then I realised who was calling. That growl was unmistakable; it was one of the doormen from the Royal Elvish Institute. ‘Huey?’ I asked.

‘My name is Lewis.’

‘If you say so. We’re ten minutes’ away. We won’t be long.’

‘Uh-huh.’ He sniffed. ‘You might want to try moving a bit faster.’

‘We’re doing our best.’

‘Your dad is here. He’s waiting for you out front.’

‘Already?’

Lewis was telling the truth; Hugo’s phone was chiming with message alerts and so was Slim’s. Cumbubbling bollocks.

‘Yes,’ he snapped. ‘Already.’

Hugo nudged me and held up his phone, showing me a photo of Athair standing smack bang in the centre of the square. He was leaning casually against the statue of Prince Albert as if he were waiting for a friend. This was no casual social appointment, however.

‘I’m on my way,’ I said. ‘Don’t worry.’

Lewis snorted derisively.

‘Don’t worry?’ Hester asked. ‘ Don’t worry ?’

Yeah, alright. It wasn’t my most impressive attempt at a stirring speech. I shrugged helplessly. What else was there to say?

I ended the phone call and turned off my phone. The stream of calls wasn’t conducive to calm, and anyway I had nothing useful to offer any of the callers. We were coming. That was all.

The seconds and the minutes ticked by. It helped that most of Edinburgh’s streets were empty and silent; it appeared that most people had learned that something terrible was going down and had taken the wise decision to stay indoors away from the action.

At two minutes to midnight, Slim swung the Jeep onto the city’s main thoroughfare, Princes Street. We were almost there. He twisted the steering wheel and the tyres squealed onto George Street. Charlotte Square was dead ahead – I could see the lights. And I could certainly see the vampires, who were six deep. But Sir Nigel had been right: they’d left a gap so we could get through. How very thoughtful.

The Jeep screeched to a halt. There wasn’t time for any final words and we’d said everything already. I straightened my shoulders, jumped out and started marching past the rows of waiting vamps. Hugo flanked my left and the brownies flew through the air by my shoulder to the right.

But Athair had already started to shout, his voice so loud that I felt the ground vibrating beneath my feet. ‘Where is Daisy? Is she nothing but a coward after all? Has she run away? Is she too afraid to face me? Where the fuck is my daughter?’

If anybody answered I didn’t hear them as I passed through the waiting vampires. Their ranks immediately closed behind me, effectively sealing off the square; there was no turning back now.

Glancing round, I spotted Athair. He was sitting astride Prince Albert’s statue, straddling the horse with his arms around Albert’s bronzed-green waist like a drunk university student looking for attention.

‘I’m right here,’ I said as calmly as I dared.

Athair’s head whipped towards me. ‘You’re late.’

A nearby clock started to chime midnight. I raised my index finger. ‘Nope. I’m bang on time.’ I eyed him. ‘I thought you didn’t like that statue.’

‘I don’t.’ He leapt off and landed on the ground next to it. His gold-skinned, sinewy body was almost cat like. ‘But I was bored and it turns out that old Albie is surprisingly huggable.’ He leered at the statue then returned his attention to me and folded his arms across his chest. ‘So let’s get to it and not waste any time. What is your decision? Will you join me? Or,’ he licked his lips, ‘will you die?’