Gifted Thief (Highland Magic #1)(56)

Oh, you’d be surprised, Jamie.

Byron sighed. ‘Why would she trust me? I blackmailed her into coming here. I escorted her to the grove where someone threw fire at her. What if she’s hurt? If she’s hiding somewhere we might not find her in time.’ His voice was growing in both sound and desperation. That was nice. I could feel myself relaxing.

‘The Foinse isn’t dead yet,’ Jamie answered, obviously doing his best to be reassuring. ‘It could be months before all the magic leaks out. We’ll find her in time.’

I rolled my eyes. Of course. It wasn’t my life that was important; it was making sure the Foinse survived another thousand years that was the issue. I didn’t know why that stung. I didn’t want the magic to fail or gazillions of people to die. Even if someone else apparently did.

‘We’d better,’ came the growly rejoinder. I shivered. I was glad that Byron wasn’t the evil mastermind I’d suspected but I was still disturbed that he had such an effect on me. A husky rasp like that made me think of our encounter in his hotel room, with him underneath my legs, pinned so that I could… I mentally slapped myself. Enough of that.

Jamie coughed. ‘There is something else.’

Silence stretched out. I didn’t think it was possible for the nervous tension to ratchet up any further but I was wrong; I could virtually feel the air crackle. I was half tempted to leap out and grab Jamie by his lapels, shove my nails into his cute little dimples and demand that he get on with it.

‘Go on,’ Byron said grimly.

Yes, Jamie, get on with it.

‘The police were forced to let her two partners in crime go.’

Byron hissed. ‘We knew that was going to happen sooner or later.’

‘Not this soon, though. I still have evidence of that last job they pulled. I could make an anonymous tip.’

I seethed. So much for our night of passion, Jamie. Or hour of passion. Okay, ten minutes of passion. Brochan, Speck and Lexie might be safely tucked away around the corner but they’d want to return to their own world sooner or later. If Byron made that an impossibility, I’d ruin him – whether he was concerned about my wellbeing or not.

‘No,’ Byron answered. ‘We’ve gone past that point now. It was a means to an end. But how did they get out so quickly? I thought we’d have a couple of days at least.’

Jamie coughed again. Uh oh. Here we go. ‘There was a barrister. He petitioned the courts.’

‘Where did the money come from to pay him?’ Jamie didn’t answer. I heard a heavy sigh. ‘Let me guess,’ Byron said tiredly. ‘The Lia Saifire.’

‘It was sold for a considerable amount to a warlock over in Fort William.’

There was another loud thump. ‘Fucking hell.’

I frowned. He was taking the loss very badly. Did the sapphire have powers that I’d not been aware of? But why use it as bait if it were so precious? Surely the Moncrieffe Clan could have rustled up some non-magical gems to use. Something wasn’t adding up.

‘Does my father know?’

‘Not yet,’ Jamie said.

Byron sighed. ‘Come on then. You can watch me be the bearer of yet more bad tidings.’

I stayed where I was until I was certain both of them had left the room. Then I scooted out from underneath the bed. Well, well, well. Byron had been correct: – all was most definitely not as it seemed.

*

I slid out of the room, taking extra care in case anyone spotted me. I didn’t want to be caught sidling out of Byron’s rooms. Thus far, the lower class Sidhe and the servants had appeared to be on my side, but that didn’t mean I was going to take unnecessary risks.

I stayed as low as possible until I was well away from Byron’s wing of the castle. As I walked, I pinched my cheeks; hopefully I could make them red enough to give the illusion of an oncoming fever. The moment I emerged out onto a busier corridor, I straightened my back, allowed my features to form into a hard mask and marched towards the round-tabled room where I’d encountered Aifric and the rest of the Sidhe royal wankers.

Several people gaped at me along the way. I glared at them, satisfied when most of them scuttled away. When I reached the room, I slammed open the door and glowered. The light from behind me was strong, silhouetting my form. Aifric, Byron and Jamie were there and they had to shade their eyes to work out it was me. I rather liked that effect. I’d have to time grand entrances like this more often.

‘What gives?’ I snarled. ‘I thought the grove was supposed to be sacred. Now you’re all trying to kill me instead. I’ve got a banging headache, I don’t feel well and I’m in a really shitty mood. Where did those fireballs come from?’

Aifric recovered his voice first although I noted that both Byron and Jamie looked relieved. Yeah, yeah. I was still around to save all their sorry arses. Hurray.

‘I’m glad you’re alright, Ms Taylor.’

It was a shame he didn’t address me as chieftain; that would have been even more fun. ‘No thanks to any of you. Who is doing this? Who’s trying to murder me? That’s two attacks in less than twenty-four hours!’

Aifric’s expression was grim. ‘I can assure you that we’re working on it.’

‘Working on it? You’re going to have to try a damn sight harder than that. Who has more than one Gift around here? Pyrokinesis and summoning? Who can do both?’