Gifted Thief (Highland Magic #1)(60)

‘Oh yeah?’ I said, putting my hands on my hips. ‘Well, expect a lot more from now on, darling.’

Bob coughed. ‘Helloooo? I’m still here, you know.’

I turned round. ‘Bob,’ I began.

‘Tegs, don’t.’

I held up my finger. ‘I’ve got this.’

Bob smacked his palms together in glee. ‘Yes, Uh Integrity? I think I’m going to cream my pants in anticipation.’

Speck winced. ‘Don’t. Just … don’t.’

‘I wish…’ Brochan interrupted with three loud successive sneezes. Speck and Lexie jumped nervously but I stayed on track. ‘I wish to know who’s responsible for trying to kill me with the stoor worm and the fireballs.’ I smiled to myself. As wishes went, that was pretty much perfect. I’d kept things as simple and specific as possible.

Bob beamed. He snapped his fingers. ‘Uh Integrity, your wish is granted.’

There was a strange buzzing in the air. My muscles felt tight and tingly, then it was like I was being pulled. Pulled very painfully. Oh shite. ‘No!’ I yelled as I realised what was happening. ‘I want to know! Not see! Bob!’

He shook his head sadly, ‘Sorry Uh Integrity. The wishes do what the wishes want to do.’

I braced myself. As cool as teleportation was, this could be very, very bad. With one final sharp tug on every molecule in my body, my vision went blurry. My stomach lurched and, for a brief second, I was convinced I was going to throw up. Blinking hard to keep as much control of my senses as possible, I clenched my fists. At least I’d know what it felt like to be teleported before I ended up in a bodybag, I thought dully.

When my eyes focused and I saw the stunned face of the Bull staring at me, I groaned. I might have known.

‘You … you…’ he stammered. ‘Your gift is teleportation?’

I squashed down my terror and smiled nastily. It was time to lie for my life. ‘One of them. I have several. I am Clan Adair, after all.’

The Bull swallowed. All I could think was ‘oh shite’.





Chapter Seventeen




It took the Bull less time to recover from my sudden appearance than I anticipated. He flung back his head and roared. It was a deafening sound. If his intention was to scare me, it worked. When his eyes fell on a point beyond my shoulder, however, I realised he’d done it for a different reason. Behind me was a door. He was calling for back up.

Assuming that he had Clan members close by, I wasted no time. To the right there was an oak table. It wasn’t huge but it might buy me some time. I grabbed the edge of it and tipped it so it fell heavily against the door. For good measure, I also gave the lock a hefty kick, splintering it to help jam it. It was a move Taylor had me practise for weeks on end until I’d got it right – goodness knows how many doors we’d gone through. He’d insisted that it was important in case I ever found myself cornered during a heist and needed some breathing space to work out an escape route. At the time, I’d stubbornly declared that I’d never approach a job without having numerous escape routes and I’d never be stupid enough to let myself get cornered. Now I was seriously grateful for that training.

Unfortunately my preoccupation with the door gave the Bull time to attack. He came at me from behind, swinging a heavy sword. I heard the whisper as it flew through the air and just managed to duck in time, leaping away a heartbeat afterwards. He didn’t manage to hit me but there was an odd buzzing in my ear that didn’t sound right. I shook my head in a bid to clear it and focused on the Bull.

‘Now that’s a weapon,’ I said. I showed him my bare palms. ‘I’m not here to fight though. In fact, I’m a pacifist. I don’t do violence.’

‘Oh yeah?’ he sneered. ‘Then what’s that in your pocket?’

Rather than take my eyes off him, I raised one hand to check. It was Bob’s sodding letter opener. No doubt he’d come along for the ride in the hope that the mess created by my first wish would make me ask for a second.

‘This is a letter opener,’ I told the Bull. Screw Bob’s delicate ego. ‘It’s not much good for anything. I keep it handy for urgent letters. I’d forgotten I had it.’

There were several shouts from the other side of the door, followed by a series of loud thumps. The Bull bared his teeth. ‘You’ve got about five minutes before you’re surrounded. Whatever you’re going to do, you’d better do it fast,’ he said.

He swung the sword again, his muscles straining. Sadly for him, he’d clearly fallen out of shape over the last twenty years and those muscles were encased in far too much fat. He’d made the classic error of using a weapon that was too unwieldy for him to manage. It was easy to avoid his blow and scoot to the other side of the room.

I pursed my lips. He’d kept me at such an arm’s length when I was a kid that I’d never known what his Gift was. Judging by the fact that he was obviously biding his time until his Clan came to rescue him, I bet it was something fairly useless. Of course, that knowledge would only help me until his goons arrived.

‘You didn’t do the actual conjuring, did you?’ If he possessed that kind of Gift, he’d already have used it here.

‘Unlike you, I have a loyal Clan bursting at the seams with talented people. They did what I asked.’