Gifted Thief (Highland Magic #1)(34)

He shrugged. ‘We’ll have to agree to distrust each other then. We’ll go to the Clan lands, you’ll help us with the Foinse, then you can go back to your oh-so-wonderful criminal existence.’

I hated him. I really, really hated him. I stood up and, as he moved his head to watch me, his hair fell across his eyes. Damn it. I also still lusted after him. Awkward.

‘First,’ I said, as calmly as I could, ‘I need a shower and a change of clothes. Second, I need to tell Taylor what is going on. Once I have achieved both those things, I will come and meet you.’

‘I’m not letting you out of my sight.’

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘you are. I will present myself at the Sidhe court this evening. Until then, you’ll have to wait.’

And, with that, I stalked out.





Chapter Nine




Taylor couldn’t stop shaking his head. ‘All this time? They’ve been watching you all this time? How could we not have known?’

‘I doubt they’ve been staking me out twenty-four hours a day. They probably just check on me from time to time.’

‘But this is ridiculous! I’m a professional, Tegs. I should know when someone is watching me.’

I walked over to him and held his head in my hands. ‘Stop jiggling your head around like that. It’s making me nauseous.’

‘Sorry. But to keep tabs like that… Do you think they were watching during the Scone job?’

I bit my lip. ‘I don’t know. Maybe. Whether they were watching or not, they didn’t do anything to stop us. They’ve always chosen to take a hands-off approach.’ I frowned. ‘Until now, of course.’

‘Do you think they’ll leave you alone? After you help them reach this Fonzie thing?’

‘Foinse,’ I corrected him absently. ‘And right now, I doubt it. I do this for them and then in a couple of years’ time there’ll be something else, then something else, then something else. I’ll never be free.’ I met his eyes. ‘I’m sorry. It turns out that all this mess is my fault.’

‘If I’d not gambled…’

‘Brochan and Speck would still have been rounded up. They’d still have found another way to get me to do what they want. Maybe it’s better that they’ve forced the issue. The failure of the magic is a big deal and I should help out. It’ll be disastrous for everyone if I don’t. Now I know they’re watching me, however, I’ll do a better job of disappearing once I’ve fixed their problem for them.’

His eyes scoured me. ‘You mean for good, don’t you?’

I gave a helpless shrug. ‘What choice is there?’

He ran his hands through his hair and I suddenly realised how old he looked. There were lines on his face and a pallor to his skin that went beyond grey hair.

‘What if…?’ He swallowed.

‘Yes?’ I prompted.

Taylor sighed. ‘You said that the reason they didn’t get rid of you when you were a kid was probably because they knew that they might need you for something like this. Once the Foinse is accessed, what if they decide that they don’t need you again?’

‘You mean they’ll kill me once I’ve helped them open it?’

He nodded, trouble written all across his face.

‘I’ve considered that,’ I told him truthfully. ‘I’m going to need several exit plans to ensure it doesn’t happen.’

‘Was what your father did really so bad that an entire Clan needed to be exterminated?’

It was a rhetorical question but I answered it anyway. ‘He was responsible for more than a thousand deaths. He exterminated Clan Adair himself. I’m not aware of more than that, though. I was a baby when it all went down and no one ever saw fit to tell me the salient details.’ I smiled, although my smile was tinged with sadness. ‘I was a nobody, remember?’

Taylor reached over and hugged me tight. ‘You’re not a nobody now.’

For a brief moment, I felt safe and secure but it was only temporary. I pulled away. ‘I have to get going. There’s a lot to do before I walk into the lions’ den.’ I met his eyes. ‘Why did the lion lose at poker?’

Taylor didn’t smile. ‘I don’t know.’

‘Because he was playing against a cheetah.’

His eyes crinkled. Relief ran through me. That was more like the Taylor I knew and loved.

‘Tegs, you’re not going to…’

‘I’m going to do whatever’s necessary to keep myself and my family safe,’ I said. ‘No matter what.’

*

Wearing a far more sensible, if boring, black ensemble, I strolled onto the pavement, whistling a merry tune. I glanced up one way and down another. Two Sidhe were sitting in a car directly opposite, and there was a shadow in an alcove about fifty feet away. I pursed my lips. I could handle three of them. This was my territory, after all – not theirs.

I shoved my hands in my pockets and ambled to my left. Keeping my pace measured and my steps short, I didn’t stop anywhere but neither did I rush. Losing a tail was a game of patience and wit more than anything else.

I nodded to a few familiar faces, murmuring greetings. I didn’t let anyone engage me in conversation but I needed my three followers to think I was relaxed and going about my business before handing myself over to them. That’s why I made a beeline for the post office.