Chapter 3

Chapter

Three

I gnoring the tattered police cordon, I sprinted for the building. I was no Spiderman – I couldn’t scale the stone exterior. A push of carefully directed air magic could help me ascend but I’d be open to Athair’s machinations if I tried that. Instead I took the slow – albeit sensible – approach of ducking inside and mounting the stairs.

The Royal Institute was full of smoke. There was a lot of expensive artwork on the walls, not to mention a large library packed with priceless books, so there would be a hefty restoration bill to pay once all this was over – assuming the building didn’t end up a complete inferno. I ran up each flight of stairs determined to ensure that didn’t happen. Although I didn’t owe the Royal Institute of Elves a damned thing, wanton destruction was not on my playlist.

The smoke grew thicker the higher I went. By the time I reached the top floor, my eyes were streaming and I was gasping for oxygen. I didn’t waste any time on strategy or stealth because Athair already knew I was on my way; I simply turned left into the nearest room and darted for the windows. I hauled one open and breathed in a blessed gulp of fresh air, then I clambered out and clutched onto the window sill to avoid falling.

From the looks of things, Hugo and the others had pulled Boonder to safety at the side of the square. I saw the sorcerer sit up, his hand clutching his chest; he wasn’t dead, then. I exhaled with relief and squinted upwards. There were only two metres from the window to the roof: I could climb that far.

Thanking the long-dead architects for their foresight in creating decorative stonework that provided handy foot and finger holds, I scrambled up until my hands curled around the roof’s edge. All that training and exercise I’d done with the Primes had served me well; I now had much more upper body strength at my disposal than I’d ever had in the past.

I conjured up a burst of air magic from below to give me the final push I needed then heaved myself onto the rooftop, scalding my fingers on the hot tiles in the process. Athair’s figure materialised in front of me on the flat section of the roof.

There was a wall of flames between us – but that didn’t stop him from trying to chat. ‘You know, Daisy,’ he called, ‘if you were a fiend, you’d have managed that far more easily. It took you ages to get up here and now you’re covered in soot!’

Whose fault was that? I grimaced at his paternal tone and steeled myself, then I drew on as much of the remaining moisture in the air as I could to bring forth a swell of water magic and douse the nearest flames. They hissed and spat angrily, but at least they subsided enough to leave a clear path between Athair and me. I started forward, moving slowly to avoid slipping down this angled section of roof.

I didn’t have a plan, which wasn’t like me. This time I’d have to wing it.

Athair stayed where he was, watching me edge towards him. I kept losing my footing, and I was wary of the remaining fire that was still blazing less than five metres away; its blistering heat slowed my progress even further, but I refrained from producing more water magic to extinguish it. I might be able to use those high flames to my advantage. I liked the thought of burning Athair with his own fire.

Eventually he seemed to tire of my snail-like steps, muttered something under his breath and extinguished the fire with a flick of his wrist. He held out his hand to me. Gladys growled at my side but she needn’t have worried; I’d be damned before I’d accept his help.

Athair clicked his tongue as if I were nothing more than a wilful child and withdrew his hand when it became clear I wouldn’t take it. ‘I could have killed half the city – let alone dispatch all your friends down there – in the time it’s taken you to get here,.’

I clambered onto the flat section of roof, came to a shaky halt a few feet in front of him and lifted my chin. ‘Then why haven’t you?’

‘I’m not interested in them. I’m only here for you.’ His face loomed towards me. ‘But I can end their miserable lives now, if you like.’

It was an obvious taunt. I refused to rise to the bait but I did fix him with a hard glare: if looks could kill, I was on a winner. If only. ‘Why are you doing this, Athair? What do you want?’

‘Well, for starters you could call me Dad.’

My scowl deepened.

‘Daddy?’ He tipped his head to one side, his golden skin glittering in the moonlight. ‘Papa? Pop?’

My patience was growing thin. I took another step towards him in order to move away from the sloping edge. It was fortunate there wasn’t much of a breeze because I had enough to deal with without battling the elements as well as my father. The moment I was sure of my footing, I reached across my body and slid Gladys free. She hummed in delight.

Unfortunately, Athair’s red eyes lit with pleasure. ‘So, daughter,’ he drawled, ‘you want to dance.’

I didn’t waste my breath answering him as I hefted Gladys in my hands. I’d come a long way with my sword training; practising with Gladys had helped to empty my mind and focus on something other than my desperate craving for spider’s silk.

I pushed away the tiny voice of doubt deep in my mind that told me that I’d never be strong enough to beat Athair no matter how skilled I became, and I adjusted my stance. He appeared to be weaponless, which was a big tick in my favour, and I knew I could use his confidence against him. I doubted that Athair had ever faced an opponent who could actually kill him but I could – on paper, at least. Whether I could translate that to reality would soon become clear.

My first strike was important. I swung Gladys towards Athair’s chest, pushing as much power behind the movement as I could and yelling loudly, using my voice to add weight to my attack,

Instead of his body, my blade met air. ‘You’re strong,’ Athair said. He’d moved with lightning speed and was now standing a few metres to the side of me. ‘But you’re very slow.’ He reached for his top hat and started to remove it.

Brandishing Gladys again, I roared and ran at him. Before I could get close he threw the hat at me, spinning it through the air like a frisbee. It smacked into my face with such force that I reeled, but I didn’t stop moving forward. Blinking hard, I kept going, slicing the sword forward with fast, jabby movements. If it was speed he wanted, it was speed I’d give him. I slashed left then right.

Athair avoided my blows easily. I feinted to my right before attacking to my left but he was prepared for that. He used a surge of water magic to yank Gladys’s tip away from his body. ‘Careful, daughter,’ he murmured. ‘I like this suit. I’d hate to see it ruined.’

I responded with a blast of my own water magic, conjuring it with enough force to drench him and make him stagger, then took advantage of his momentary vulnerability to leap at him again. But before Gladys could slice into the exposed golden skin of his throat, he launched a kick at me. The heel of his shoe caught my stomach and I doubled over in pain.

‘You snared me with water magic once before,’ Athair said. ‘You won’t manage it again.’ He paused. ‘Speaking of which, how was your trip back to the past? I’d love to know more about how you managed that.’

I pulled myself upright and jerked Gladys’s blade upwards. I intended to slash at his legs but my thrust wasn’t strong enough. Athair kicked again, this time aiming his foot at Gladys and knocking her away before she could cut into his flesh. Despite my best efforts, she was wrenched from my grasp and she clattered as she hit the roof.

Athair rolled his eyes and flicked out a burst of air magic that smacked me in the chest and sent me sprawling inches from the roof’s angled slope. ‘I grow bored with these antics,’ I heard him say.

He appeared over me, raised his foot for a third time and pressed it against my chest, forcing the air from my lungs. ‘We do not have to fight, Daisy. I didn’t come here to provoke an argument, I came to extend an invitation. I can see that you might need a little enticement to listen to me.’

I clenched my jaw and conjured a bolt of electricity that arced upwards and hit him. He barely even blinked; instead, he increased the pressure on my chest, winked and, with a casual smirk, clicked his fingers.

The air sparked and a small fireball appeared. It was less than an inch wide but then it started to grow. While I gasped for air and tried to jerk free from his foot, the fireball became larger and larger. I heard shouts of alarm from below.

The heat was intense. ‘How many of your friends do you think I can take out with this?’ Athair asked, his casual tone making his threat even more chilling. ‘Several at least. I can still see dozens of people down there – they should have run when they had the chance. And I can destroy the surrounding buildings. I wonder if they’ve all been evacuated. To be honest, I’d quite like to destroy that statue of Prince Albert in the middle of the square, too. That man always annoyed me.’

The fireball rose up until it was hovering above his head and it continued to grow. The fucking thing was immense – and so was its destructive power.

Athair grinned nastily. ‘How pretty will that annoying boyfriend of yours be when he has third-degree burns all over his body?’

The fireball started to drop towards the square, growing in size and speed with every inch it travelled. I heard high-pitched screams: people were still down there, though I couldn’t tell who was in danger. I couldn’t see anything beyond the ball of flames, the night sky and Athair’s smug, hateful features. But I could imagine.

‘Stop,’ I croaked.

Athair continued as if hadn’t heard me. ‘I’m told that burning to death is one of the most painful ways to go, so at these temperatures it will be agonising. First your skin blisters, then your flesh starts to melt, your own body fat sizzling as you’re?—’

The fireball dipped out of view. I raised my voice and repeated, ‘Stop!’

Athair paused and looked down at me. ‘Oh,’ he said with faux innocence, ‘you want to watch? You should have said.’ He removed his foot from my chest, grabbed the front of my shirt and hauled me to my feet. As he did, I felt a wave of magic surge up from below. Thank goodness.

I glanced down and saw the small collection of assembled elves, plus Hugo, Miriam, Rizwan and Becky and a smattering of others who had joined them. They’d combined their powers to blast the encroaching fireball with water magic of their own.

A wide grin spread across my face as they doused it, extinguishing its might in one fell swoop. Go, team.

Athair looked neither surprised nor annoyed, and my smile vanished. He’d expected that to happen; if he’d wanted to set alight the group below, he could have done it without a slow-moving fireball. The stark truth was that he could kill anyone at any time. This was about putting on a show and proving a point.

My thoughts must have shown on my face because he nodded. ‘I don’t need to hurt anyone. Being a fiend doesn’t mean I’m compelled to murder – the power I possess is about much more than mere life and death. I don’t take pleasure in killing anyone unnecessarily.’

I jerked my thumb at the building’s fa?ade. ‘Oh really?’ I asked coolly. ‘What about your bloody message? How many unnecessary deaths did it take to create that ?’

‘Perhaps the blood donors were evil. Perhaps they deserved to die. Perhaps it was not me who killed them.’ He tilted his head, dark amusement flashing in his scarlet eyes. ‘Besides, they served a purpose. Would you be here now if I’d used paint? I wanted to talk to you so I sent you a message and here you are.’ He paused. ‘Talking. My plan worked.’

‘You know, there’s a great invention you might have heard about,’ I said sarcastically. ‘It’s called a telephone.’

‘Don’t be facetious, darling, it doesn’t suit you. We both know you would never answer my call.’ He spread his arms wide. ‘I want to get to know you. I want you to get to know me. Is that so very much to ask?’

I turned my head and my eyes landed on Gladys; she was only a few metres away but it might as well have been a mile. Even if I held her in my sweaty hands, I couldn’t beat Athair. I couldn’t even come close – but that didn’t mean I had to yield.

‘You told me once that I had free will,’ I said, surprising myself with how clear and calm my voice was. ‘So I’m exercising that free will. I don’t want anything to do with you, not now, not ever.’

Athair linked his fingers and gazed at me in a fatherly fashion that made my intestines recoil. ‘Your opinion of me has been warped by others. You don’t know the real me, Daisy. Is it so much to ask that you get to know me instead of listening to nasty gossip?’

It was considerably more than gossip. ‘Get out of my life,’ I hissed.

He smiled. ‘No.’ He released his fingers, leaned to the side and pointed down. ‘I’ll take that one,’ he said.

I didn’t know what he meant but I felt a chill through my bones. ‘Athair, don’t do anything rash,’ I said, trying not to allow panic to overtake me. ‘Don’t?—’

‘I told you that I’d like you to call me Dad,’ he said mildly. His words were followed immediately by a sharp scream.

I looked down and saw Detective Inspector O’Hagan twist upwards as she rose through the air as a result of Athair’s magic. The elves tried to counter it but even their combined efforts were no match for Athair.

Sir Nigel leapt upwards, grabbed O’Hagan’s ankle and tried to haul her down. Athair gazed at him for a moment then shrugged. ‘Two for the price of one,’ he said. ‘I guess I’ll take him too.’

I snarled and threw myself at him. Without even glancing in my direction, he slammed out a powerful burst of magic to hold me back. Sir Nigel and O’Hagan continued to rise in the air as I scrambled to my feet, sparks dancing around my fingertips.

I’d throw everything I had at him. Everything . I’d beaten the fiend Baltar by doing that – I hadn’t killed him but I’d certainly stopped him in his tracks. I’d do the same to Athair. I sucked in a breath, preparing to act.

‘You wouldn’t want me to drop your friends in mid-air, would you, Daisy?’ he asked.

Hugo and the others would catch them before they hit the ground so I didn’t have to worry on that score – but then Athair tossed a third burst of magic. There were more yells on the ground as flames erupted across the square. Hugo – and everyone else – suddenly had their hands full avoiding the fires and trying to extinguish them at the same time. Athair smirked.

I released my breath and my shoulders sagged. ‘Please,’ I said. ‘Stop.’

‘Agree to have dinner with me tomorrow night and I will.’

I stared at him. That’s what he wanted? All this for a fucking meal?

‘It’s your choice, Daisy,’ he said softly. ‘You know I could end the existence of everyone here. I don’t want to do that but I will.’ He paused. ‘Give me your word that you’ll have dinner with me tomorrow. Two hours of your company, that’s all I’m asking for. Give me that and I’ll walk away now.’

O’Hagan was screaming as both she and Sir Nigel hovered in mid-air. They’d risen so high that they’d drawn level with us and I turned my head to look at them. Sir Nigel’s lips were moving but I couldn’t tell what he was saying. I’d never seen him look so pale.

I knew that you should never negotiate with terrorists but I was on my own and out of options. ‘Fine,’ I snapped. ‘I’ll have dinner with you. Once.’

‘Fantastic,’ Athair said. ‘I will send a car for you at six o’clock prompt.’

And then, before I could say another word, there was a sudden, blinding flash of light.