Gifted Thief (Highland Magic #1)(44)

‘No!’ He was face down so his answer was muffled.

‘Is it because of the Foinse?’

There was another muffled grunt that sounded like another no. The tentacle round my waist tightened until pain shot through me. If this wasn’t a result of the magic failing then it had to be because someone had conjured it up. Someone who wanted me dead. There was no way I was going to allow that to happen. Death by sea monster while three hundred miles inland was not the way I wanted to go.

Another tentacle whipped out, this time aiming for my throat. I lashed out with my feet, doing everything I could to kick it away. The squeeze around my waist was bad enough but if the worm latched onto my neck it would be adios muchachos. My feet flailed, jabbing at the slimy thing. I managed to keep my body clear of it but that enraged the thing even more.

There was a strange, high-pitched noise. I didn’t speak sea monster but I guessed it was something along the lines of ‘screw you’.

Abandoning me for the time being, the lashing tentacle snaked towards Jamie’s squirming body instead, wrapping itself round his legs and starting to drag him out of my line of sight and towards the window. Panicking, I stretched up to grab the light fitting in the ceiling so I could turn and get a better look. My fingers just managed to curl round the hanging wire so I could spin round. I could already feel the electric cord stretching – it would break in seconds. I had enough time, however, to see what the stoor worm actually was.

Jamie said this was a mere baby; I dreaded to think what the fully grown version looked like. Half of its body hung out of the open window. The other half was a monstrous size, filling the room. I counted six tentacles – but they weren’t what really bothered me. It was the gaping mouth lined with sharp yellow teeth and the vast, dark, sightless eyes which struck terror in my heart. We had no chance.

I swung my legs back and forth, trying to gain some momentum. The worm responded by squeezing harder until my breath was coming in gasps and I felt as if my intestines were about to rise up through my gullet. The pain grew more intense and I was afraid I was going to black out. I forced myself alert. Once I had built up enough energy, I dived down and grabbed one of Jamie’s white-knuckled hands. His head rose and he stared at me in stark fear.

‘Hang on,’ I grunted, adjusting my grip so I wouldn’t lose him. Then I swung back, yanking hard.

Like a toy caught between two toddlers, Jamie’s body was now being pulled in both directions. His mouth opened in a silent scream. The stoor worm let out a strange whine again and loosened its hold slightly. Jamie was no longer being pulled in the direction of its cavernous mouth but it wouldn’t be long before it happened again.

I cast around. There had to be something here I could use as a weapon. Bob’s knife – scimitar – was on the floor but it was well out of reach. If I could grab one of the pillows on the hard bed I could smack the stoor worm round the head – but unless the worm was allergic to feathers, that wasn’t going to help.

Growing more and more angry, the stoor worm threw out another tentacle. It smashed against the side of my head, making my senses reel. There was no way out of this, not without asking for help.

‘What do we do?’ Jamie shrieked.

‘The scimitar,’ I gasped. ‘Throw me the sodding scimitar.’ I couldn’t reach it from up here in the air but if Jamie could grab it I could summon Bob. Yes, there would be dangerous consequences but the alternative right now was either being squashed to death or chomped on.

Jamie was baffled. ‘Scimitar?’

‘Letter opener! Throw me the letter opener!’

His head swung round until his eyes alighted on the little knife. ‘It’s too small. It’s not going to do anything,’ he yelled as the stoor worm’s jaws snapped forward, narrowly missing him.

‘Just do it!’

He stretched out, taking the hilt and flinging it upwards. Unfortunately he timed it badly and the knife bounced into another swiping tentacle. Instead of flying up to me, it went out of the other window.

‘Bob!’ I screamed as the silver flashed in the failing sunlight. The genie didn’t answer.

He had told me that I couldn’t rid myself of him and that, like a bad penny, he’d always turn up again. I had the sneaking suspicion that this would be all over for both Jamie and me by the time that happened. I cursed, just as there was another tug round my waist. The stoor worm had apparently decided I was the tastier one and was pulling me towards its mouth.

I stared down the thing’s throat. Dark saliva glistened from within. I swallowed my fear and tried to reach the light fitting again. This time I was too far away.

The dim recesses of my brain registered how stupid all this was. Who got eaten by a sea monster when they were up a mountain? It’d go down in history. I wondered if the person who’d used magic to bring the damn thing here knew about the Foinse. They had to. But didn’t they realise that by killing me they were damning everyone else too?

The stoor worm whined, then made several clicks. It was probably telling me that I was going to make a bloody tasty snack. Wait a minute…

‘How good is your psychometry?’ My words came out garbled but I think Jamie got the gist.

‘I’m one of the best.’

‘Can you use to it learn the language? To communicate?’ The tentacle round my waist tightened and I winced in pain.