Gifted Thief (Highland Magic #1)(61)

I felt a slight twinge. It’d be handy to have people around who jumped to your every demand, even if it was attempted murder. ‘Why are you trying to kill me?’

‘You know why.’

Er, no. ‘If I die,’ I said, circling away in case he decided to take another heavy-handed swipe, ‘then you’ll never be able to open the Foinse.’

His lip curled. ‘The Foinse is already doomed.’

I blinked. He didn’t even think it was worth trying to kickstart it? ‘You’ll lose all your magic. The Sidhe will lose their standing. Not to mention it might mean hundreds of thousands of deaths.’

‘The Scrymgeours are prepared. Any Clan worth its salt is prepared. This has been on the cards for a long time.’

‘You’re rich,’ I said quietly. ‘As rich as Croesus. You’re going to make sure that your Clan survives because you can pay for the protection you’ll need.’ There was a flicker of acknowledgment in his dark eyes. ‘You might even be happy,’ I continued. ‘If other Clans are decimated then you’ll rise up even further in the ranks.’

‘You have no idea what it’s like,’ he hissed. ‘I’ve got bodyguards outside my door because you can never be sure what the others are going to do. You think I was a bastard to you? Well, think again. I’m nothing compared to some of these bloodthirsty pricks.’

I had the odd sensation that he was telling the truth. Or at least that he believed what he was saying. ‘I don’t see your bodyguards right now,’ I pointed out.

‘They’ll be here. Do your worst, Adair.’

I just kept circling. Even if had the skills or the desire, getting into a fight wouldn’t help me. I had to be smarter. If I could keep him talking, perhaps I’d find a weak spot. ‘That’s why you could fling those fireballs at the grove,’ I realised. ‘If the Clans are doomed then it doesn’t matter if the sacred ground is destroyed too.’

His face twisted. ‘I don’t need the other Clans on my back right now. You were going to be alone. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.’

I lifted an eyebrow. ‘Other than me. Why do you hate me? Even as a child, you hated me.’

‘Black,’ he spat.

‘Come again?’

‘Your aura is black. It always has been. Even when you were a babe in arms, it was black.’

‘That’s your gift,’ I breathed. Wow. That was pretty impressive. You’d know as much about your enemy as they did about themselves. Another wave of nausea hit me but I swallowed it down. ‘You read auras. What does black mean?’

He shifted his grip on the sword. Even from here, I could tell that his palms were sweaty. He was as likely to drop it on the ground as he was to strike me with it. ‘Evil. It has to be. No-one else has an aura like yours. I see greens, blues, reds. Every hue under the sun. You’re the only person, Sidhe or troll or damned kookaburra, who’s got black. No wonder you hang around with the dirty Clan-less.’

I was taken aback by the venom in his voice. Was that why I’d been treated so badly when I was his ward? Because everyone thought I was evil? I didn’t feel evil. I was a thief, sure; I wasn’t always on the right side of the law. But pure, unadulterated evil? I was confident that if my soul truly was like that, then I’d know it. Hell, I’d probably revel in it. That’s what evil people did.

‘Your father was evil,’ the Bull spat. ‘And you’re evil.’

‘I thought you said I was the only person you’d ever seen with a black aura?’

‘His was close enough. Dark grey.’

‘Have you seen a lot of those?’ I was genuinely curious.

‘What are you trying to do? Are you going to kill me or talk me to death?’

‘I could tell you a few jokes,’ I suggested.

He stared at me as if I were insane. Right now, he probably wasn’t far off the mark. I was trapped in a room with the man who’d caused virtually every nightmare I’d ever had, and half his Clan were trying to break down the door. If anything was likely to make me crazy, then this would be it.

The continued banging on the door finally had some effect. Whoever was on the other side had kicked hard enough to make some headway. Now there was little more than the table between me and several vicious Scrymgeour goons.

Panicking, I pulled out the letter opener and sprang towards the Bull. He was three times my size – it was no wonder how he’d earned his name. If I could put the blade to his throat, however, the rest of his Clan might back off. It was unlikely but I was desperate.

‘You think that’s going to work?’ he sneered.

No, not really. I kicked upwards, knocking the sword out of his hands. It fell to the ground with a clatter.

‘You made a mistake coming here, girlie. It’s a shame you won’t live long enough to regret it.’

‘Believe me,’ I grunted, shoving the letter opener towards his throat and grabbing him from behind, ‘I’d rather be falling out of the sky than here with you.’

The door burst open and a number of grim-faced Sidhe piled in, a few of whom I recognised. Before I could say so much as boo, however, my body was yanked backwards.

‘Teleporta…’ the Bull started to yell. Except his shout was swallowed up in the billowing wind. We were no longer in his quarters. Sodding hell: we were falling through the sky.