Chapter 27

Chapter

Twenty-Seven

I wasted no time. Drawing on all the training I’d received, I danced forward on delicate toes and then I slashed at Athair with brute force. Gladys’s blade caught his shoulder, slicing through his white shirt and his golden skin until bright-red blood oozed forth.

He hissed and responded with magic, tossing out a casual burst of air that would have flattened me if I hadn’t immediately countered it with my matching power. We pushed at each other, air against air. I knew that Athair’s magic was stronger and so did he, but I wasn’t the underdog I’d always been. It would take more than power to win this fight. Play smarter, Daisy, I reminded myself. Not harder.

As I gritted my teeth and threw out screeds of powerful air magic, a few sweat beads formed on my forehead despite the cool night air. I didn’t test my limits and empty myself of all I had, however; I gauged my energy levels and watched Athair’s expression. When I was certain he was least expecting it, I dropped to the ground and stopped my attack.

Athair’s magic faltered momentarily – perhaps he thought I’d collapsed because of his strength – but he didn’t pause for long. He gathered his air magic and swirled it around my body.

A tornado, I realised: the bastard was conjuring up his own damned tornado.

I ducked my head and, mindful of the tricks that Mud had employed, focused on earth magic. I told the ground to hold me: we were one, we belonged together. The wind screamed and spun around me but I remained in place, rooted to the spot. Just.

I waited, my eyes screwed shut to guard against the whipping wind but my other senses on high alert. As soon as the wind started to drop and Athair’s magic loosened, I tensed.

Glady was ready. I held myself for another beat and then, at the very moment when I knew I wouldn’t be blown away, I rose up and thrust Gladys towards Athair again. I swiped to my right and to my left, cutting into his skin for a second and a third time. More of his blood spilled forth. Even though his wounds were healing in front of my very eyes, my minor success spurred me on. I had this. I could do this.

I swung Gladys towards him again, aiming for his exposed neck but this time he was waiting for me. He lashed out at my stomach with his foot. I pulled back instinctively and, as I did, Athair hit me with fire. Flames engulfed my right hand – the hand that I was using to grip Gladys’s hilt.

The pain was excruciating. I shrieked aloud and automatically dropped the sword before I conjured up ice-cold water to treat the burn. As I did so, Athair casually bent down and picked up Gladys.

No. Oh no.

She buzzed with hatred, making no attempt to disguise how she felt at being handled by a fiend. Sentient or not, though, she couldn’t prevent Athair from using her against me. She altered her buzz to a high-pitched whine but he only chuckled.

‘Killed by your own father with your own sword.’ He clicked his tongue. ‘And to think of all you could have been.’ He raised her blade, angling it towards my chest.

I sucked in a breath as time seemed to stop. Then a loud voice boomed out across Charlotte Square. ‘Wait!’

Hugo. I looked up and saw him standing on the roof of the Royal Elvish Institute in exactly the same spot where I had been when I’d confronted Athair up there. Suddenly a huge grin spread across my face. ‘He’s got it,’ I said. ‘He’s ready.’

‘What?’ Athair asked. ‘What are you babbling on about?’

‘Hugo’s got the ring. The one we took from William Hausman’s corpse in Culcreuch Castle.’

As my words sank in, Athair’s eyes widened a fraction and he lowered Gladys an inch – but he didn’t let go of her. ‘You’ve been to Culcreuch?’

I almost laughed. ‘You think we don’t know where you live? You think we’re stupid?’ I shook my hand free of the remaining water and winced. The skin was already blistering; unfortunately there was only so much the water could do.

‘We didn’t find King John’s crown jewels at Sutton Bridge because we realised we didn’t have to,’ I said. ‘William Hausman had already been there. You punished that poor man for hunting for the treasure that could destroy every fiend in existence, treasure marked with the emblem of three lions to signify the power and might of England, King and country.’

I paused for no reason other than dramatic effect. ‘The ring that was on William Hausman’s finger when you threw him into that dungeon has the same emblem. That’s what I gave to Hugo earlier and that’s what he’s holding aloft right now.’

Athair hawked up a ball of greenish phlegm and spat it on the ground. His disgusting show of defiance didn’t fool me because I’d seen the way his fingers had tightened around Gladys’s hilt. He believed me, believed every word because everything I’d said was the truth. Athair could scent a lie in a heartbeat and I hadn’t lied.

He growled, ‘I don’t know how you learned about King John’s jewels, Daisy, but the item you’re talking about is a sceptre, not a ring.’

I rolled my eyes. ‘Please. You’re six hundred years old. You know better than anyone how fluid language is, how words change shape and meaning. You understand that words become metaphors and vice-versa. According to the stories, it was the sceptre in Bad King John’s crown jewels that possessed the power to get rid of all enemies and kill all fiends. But you also have to think about what a sceptre is and what it symbolises.’

Athair whispered the words. ‘The power of a monarch.’

‘The power of a country ,’ I said in a near shout. ‘You weren’t alive when those jewels were lost and you took the old stories at face value. But don’t beat yourself up for being wrong. You don’t have the time.’

A strange blue light was emanating from Hugo; his hand – and the ring he was holding – were glowing bright blue and lighting up the rooftop. He looked like an ethereal vision from heaven. Hell, Hugo looked like a god .

As if to complete the image, Athair slammed out a fork of magical lightning but it didn’t even get close to hitting Hugo. The ward around the Royal Elvish Institute included the rooftop; we’d made sure of that.

‘What will it be, Daddy Dearest?’ I asked. ‘You can strike me down, you can kill me – we both know you’re capable of that. But if you delay then Hugo will use that ring long before you can get to him and prevent its true power being invoked.’

I affected a brief sigh. ‘If you let me live, you still might not make it to him in time. The ward around that building is strong and it won’t be easy to break, no matter how much magic you fling at it. The choice is yours. Sweet revenge – or complete annihilation?’

Athair’s red eyes flashed. ‘Pathetic,’ he hissed. ‘You’re fucking pathetic.’ He turned away, already gathering his power as he prepared to throw everything he had at the magical barrier.

Something inside me hardened. ‘You do not get to call me that,’ I said icily. I reached into my pocket, found the little knife I’d taken from Amy and leaned forward, then I stabbed it into Athair’s broad, golden neck.

He threw his head back and screeched as his hands scrabbled at the knife that was embedded in his flesh. In the process, he dropped Gladys. I didn’t waste a second. I scooped her up and she offered me a welcoming hum in return.

Athair grunted as he yanked the knife out of his neck. With blood spurting from the wound, he turned and threw it at me. His intent was obviously to hurt me in the same way I’d hurt him but I was ready for him. I raised Gladys up and the knife bounced uselessly off her blade.

‘Hang on, Daisy!’ Hugo cried. ‘It’s almost there. A few more seconds…’

Athair snarled. Still bleeding copiously, he slammed his hands forward and threw everything he had at the Royal Elvish Institute – and Hugo. Fire. Wind. Lightning. Air. Earthquake. Athair tossed each violent blast of magic in quick succession.

The ward around the building was stronger than any other potential barrier except against blood magic, but it wasn’t foolproof. Not against a fiend’s powers and certainly not against Athair’s. A loud crack filled the square and the air in front of the institute glowed bright green. Then there was a wild gust of warm air as the ward finally snapped.

‘It’s happening, Daisy!’ Hugo shouted. ‘Now!’

The bright blue that surrounded him increased in intensity and Athair covered his head with his hands. I tensed, adrenaline shooting through my veins. My bones quivered and my hands trembled. Gladys hummed loudly.

Nothing else happened.

Athair slowly dropped his hands and looked up. ‘It didn’t work!’ He laughed aloud. ‘It didn’t fucking work! Screw you, King John! Screw you, elves! And screw you?—’

I twisted Gladys and thrust her into his back. She pierced his body, sliding through bone and gristle and muscle and heart.

He choked and then he fell to his knees. ‘Daisy,’ he croaked.

I kept my hands on Gladys’s hilt. It was down to her now, but I was right there with her.

‘The ring…’

I crouched down to his ear. ‘The ring is just that,’ I said. ‘It’s a ring, nothing more, nothing less. We did go to Culcreuch Castle and we did take it from William Hausman who had been hunting for King John’s treasure. But that ring is not connected to the sceptre. It’s cheap gold, probably purchased from a market stall. You fell for the oldest trick in the book.’ It wasn’t the first time he’d fallen for an imitation but it would be the last.

He wheezed. ‘You … could … have … had … everything.’

‘I’ve already got everything,’ I told him.

And then I twisted Gladys for a final time and ended it.

My knees had given way and I was sitting in a puddle of something wet. It might have been water or it might have been blood. I was too drained to check.

‘You went off script,’ Hugo’s chided me mildly.

I looked up. He was standing over me; his stance was casual but the look in his eyes was pure concern. I managed a flicker of a smile to indicate that I was alright. He reached down and pulled me up to my feet. ‘Minor improvisation,’ I told him. ‘At best.’

His arms wrapped tightly around me. ‘Improvisation that worked,’ he whispered. ‘You did it.’

‘ We did it. That blue goop from Baudi worked a treat.’ The will-o’-the-wisp I’d met several months before couldn’t abandon her marshland home to join the fight, but even so she’d insisted on helping.

‘It did feel like I was in The Beatles performing a rooftop concert,’ Hugo admitted.

‘Which Beatle?’

He grinned. ‘All of them rolled into one.’

There was a click of footsteps as somebody approached. Hugo released me from his hug but from the way his fingers continued to grip mine, he wasn’t planning on ever letting go again. That suited me.

I pushed back my hair with my free hand and glanced at the two women in front of me.

‘This will be quite the clean-up operation,’ DI O’Hagan said. ‘But I can’t deny that I’m impressed. You’ve done a lot for the city tonight. I had no idea there were still so many vampires lurking around.’

‘I suspect Athair brought a lot of them in from other places.’

‘Then it’s not just Edinburgh that owes you a debt of gratitude, it’s the entire country.’

I shifted uncomfortably. The praise felt misplaced; after all, I had mostly been saving myself.

‘I will make sure that you are not billed for the damage this time,’ the other older woman said.

I felt a squint of confusion and I gazed at her more closely. Then I blinked. ‘WPC Hurst?’ I asked. Was this the fresh-faced police officer who’d tried to help me when I’d time-travelled to 1994?

‘It’s Detective Inspector Hurst these days.’ She smiled. ‘You’ve not changed much, Lady Daisy.’

I swallowed. Uh-huh. ‘Apart from the blood and gore, I suppose.’

‘I suppose.’

Hugo nudged me. ‘She’s not the only face from the past who’d like a word.’

I raised an eyebrow then I spotted Tracey Coles, ex-homeless entrepreneur. The last time I’d seen her had also been in 1994, outside Waverley Station. She might be thirty years older since the last time we’d spoken but she certainly looked good. I didn’t need to ask to know that she’d done well for herself in the intervening decades. She’d been on the cover of Time magazine, for goodness’ sake. ‘Your vamp spray was extraordinary.’

Tracey dipped a little curtsey. ‘It’s a new recipe. I always thought it would be hard to improve upon the original but I’d say it’s working out well.’ She winked at me. ‘The sprinkling of fresh thyme makes a difference.’

I grinned. ‘So I’ve heard.’

There was a loud thud and I flinched, my eyes inadvertently trailing to the body of my own father. He was still dead, however: the thud had come from the overturned armoured car. Several muscled men dressed in tight black clothing were emerging from it and brushing themselves down.

‘Is that…?’ I started.

Hugo nodded. ‘John Thurgood and the rest of his team. When he heard what was happening, he got in touch and asked to be involved. He reckoned, rightly, that he owed you for saving him from Bella the giant snake.’

That felt like a lifetime ago. Hell, it was a lifetime ago. ‘So many people came and helped.’ I shook my head, scarcely believing how many were there. They had all put their lives on the line.

‘One good turn deserves another,’ a familiar voice said and I turned to Sir Nigel. Somehow he was still immaculately dressed in a pristine white shirt and a perfectly knotted bow tie; not a single hair of his waxed moustache was out of place. ‘And you, Lady Daisy, have completed a lot of good turns. You’re a very special person.’

Heat rose in my cheeks; I wasn’t convinced I deserved all this praise. ‘I’m just a junkie,’ I mumbled. Strangely, it had felt easier when everyone disliked me.

Hugo stiffened. ‘No, you’re not. You’re not an addict any more and, even when you were taking spider’s silk you were never just a junkie, Daisy.’ His voice grew quieter. ‘Nobody is.’

‘Indeed,’ Sir Nigel said in an avuncular fashion. ‘Indeed.’ He smiled proudly at me. ‘Now, Eleanor is inside making tea. She and I were not equipped to join the battle, but there’s a lot to be said for those of us who stay behind the scenes making the brew. She has asked if you’d like to come inside and partake of some refreshments.’

‘Is there cake?’ I asked.

‘Of course,’ he answered.

‘That explains where Hester and Otis are,’ I said ruefully. I reached for Gladys. ‘We’ll get you properly cleaned up,’ I told her. Then I lowered my voice. ‘The Fachan would have been so proud of you.’

Her hilt trembled in my hand. I patted her and we all ambled towards the open door of the Royal Elvish Institute. Lewis and James, the two doormen, were already back in their usual spots and a part of me hoped they would refuse me entry but they were falling into line with everyone else. They stepped back and even bowed as I passed by.

‘I don’t like this,’ I muttered to Hugo. ‘I prefer it when everyone glares at me.’

‘Get used to it,’ he said. ‘Your days of being glared at are over. It’s pure adoration from here on in.’

There was a loud snort from behind me. ‘Don’t be too sure about that, girlie,’ Duchess said. ‘I’ll glare at you as often as you like.’

Hugo sighed. ‘There are exceptions to every rule.’

Thank goodness.

I walked across the threshold into the Institute. The place was a mess, although that was hardly surprising given all that had happened not just today but a few weeks earlier too. I felt a nervous twitch. Even if Edinburgh Council didn’t bill me, there was a chance that the Royal Elvish Institute might. Then again, I could always give them Culcreuch Castle as compensation. After all, I was Athair’s sole heir and there were only so many castles and grand buildings a girl could own before she started to look greedy.

I turned left, preparing to turn into the drawing room. Eleanor, however, quickly ducked her head out of the main dining room. ‘In here,’ she said. ‘It’s best if you don’t go in the drawing room right now.’

I frowned. ‘Why not?’

She pulled a face. Curiosity got the better of me and I glanced into the room. Oh. OH.

Hester was at one side of the room. Otis was at the other side. They weren’t alone. Horace was passionately kissing Hester while Otis was gazing adoringly at Eloise.

‘You’re amazing,’ I heard Horace say.

‘Say that to me again with your clothes off,’ Hester told him.

I nodded quickly. ‘You’re right, Eleanor. The dining room is better.’ I changed direction.

The Primes, who had gathered inside, were already cheering.