Last Wish (Highland Magic #4)(26)

When I eventually edged out of the cupboard, the large hall was as busy as before. Fortunately there was no longer any sign of Byron and no one paid me any further attention. The giggly Sidhe girls from whom I’d stolen were still hovering around, no longer looking worse for wear. As long as I hadn’t done any permanent damage, I could ignore my temporary loss of control.

My eyes landed on another door that was almost identical to the one to the cupboard. Hoping that this time I’d found the correct route to the dungeons, I slipped over and turned the knob. When I saw a narrow stone staircase leading downwards, I expelled the air I’d been holding and quickly entered, making sure to close the door behind me.

‘Now we’re getting somewhere!’ Bob squeaked, freeing himself from his hiding spot and flying in front of my face. ‘But if it turns out these dungeons are empty and Sweetie isn’t here, you’re going to feel pretty foolish.’

‘His name is Candy, as I keep telling you. And keep your voice down. We’re not out of the woods yet.’

‘Yes, we are. We left the woods ages ago. Now we’re in the castle.’

I tutted. ‘Come on, let’s find out if I’m right and Candy is here.’ Part of me hoped he wasn’t then I could still pretend that Byron wasn’t culpable.

Apart from the dilapidated staff quarters, the parts of the Cruaich I’d seen had all been well maintained. Here, however, the air was stale and there was more than one cobweb looping across the cracked ceiling. I wound my way downwards. Apart from the occasional clunk of hot-water pipes, there was nothing to be heard. I felt as if I were descending into the very belly of the beast itself, as if the Cruaich were a living, breathing monster rather than an ancient castle made out of nothing more dangerous than stone.

By the time we reached the bottom, I’d counted almost two hundred steps. That placed us at least five floors underground. Despite the fusty odour and the depth, the basement level was well lit. I guessed there was nothing like fluorescent strip lights for highlighting every facet of fear on your captives’ faces.

A long corridor stretched out, with branches off in various directions. I started walking down it, resisting the temptation to whistle to fill the silence. The first few turns seemed to lead to dead-ends. I peered round each one, using my SAS-style navigational skills from my thieving days. My caution seemed to be unwarranted; this place was dead.

Just as I was wondering if I’d been mistaken about Candy’s whereabouts, Bob flapped his arms and gesticulated wildly to the right. I peered across. The light down there was dimmer – and there was a Sidhe woman leaning against the wall, gnawing at her fingernails.

I pulled back out of sight and considered. I had numerous options and I didn’t want to rush into doing the wrong thing. Neither did I want to hurt her, even if her job was some sort of black-ops guard duty. If I played my cards right, I could turn this into a fact-finding mission as well as a covert rescue. I grinned.

Because I’d been high on magic and not worried about the consequences, I’d stolen more of the last Gift than any of the others so there was a fair amount of Illusion swirling around inside me. Concentrating hard, I pulled on it, letting the Gift envelop me completely. When I saw Bob’s look of horror, I knew that it had worked.

‘What do you think?’ I asked quietly. I pirouetted. ‘Close enough to the real thing?’

He stared then jabbed a finger at me. ‘Steward Moncrieffe?’ he asked, his voice wavering.

I smirked. ‘Call me Aifric.’

Bob shook his head in a mixture of giddy fear and delight. ‘Awesome,’ he breathed.

‘Glad you like it.’

He pointed at my newly acquired paunch. ‘How does it feel to carry around that extra weight?’

‘It’s an illusion. I’m not actually Aifric Moncrieffe.’

‘You certainly look like him.’ His gaze turned wary. ‘How do I know you’re still Uh Integrity under all that?’

‘I might look like him but I don’t sound like him, do I?’

Bob still seemed doubtful. ‘What’s your favourite colour?’

‘Hot pink.’

‘Ha! Everyone knows that’s your favourite colour.’

There was a shuffling noise round the corner; the Sidhe guard had probably heard something and was coming to investigate. I glared in warning but the genie wasn’t done yet. ‘Who is the smartest person you know?’ he asked.

‘Fergus.’

He glared. I grinned. There was no further time for Bob to interrogate me as the guard was upon us. ‘Who …’ her voice faltered. ‘Steward. I apologise. I didn’t realise it was you.’

I reminded myself that Aifric presented a benign, kindly face to the world and twinkled at the Sidhe. I coughed to disguise my voice. ‘No problem.’

Luckily she was still surprised by my appearance or she might have questioned why ‘Aifric’ sounded so strange. I would have to limit my words if I wanted to pull this off. I jerked my head in the direction of the corridor, a question in my eyes. The Sidhe understood. ‘He’s sleeping,’ she said. ‘He had some food at midday.’

‘Hm,’ I nodded. I waited, still looking at her expectantly and hoping my silence would encourage her to fill the void with helpful chatter.

‘It’s good he’s sleeping,’ she said anxiously, as if desperate to please. ‘It means that when you get him down to the Adair Lands, he’ll be more alert.’ I pursed my lips to encourage her to continue. ‘I still can’t believe that a Wild Man is working with those trolls. Traitors,’ she spat. ‘And abducting Byron’s fiancée.’ She shook her head. ‘It beggars belief. He deserves to be hung, drawn and quartered.’ I frowned and she quickly backtracked. ‘I know you’re trying to be lenient, Steward, because of the pressure everyone’s been under. It’s not a criticism. Obviously you have the full picture and I’m just a lowly guard.’