Last Wish (Highland Magic #4)(4)

I smiled. ‘I guess not.’

***

Taylor was right about one thing ? dinner was indeed very tasty. It was just a shame I didn’t get to eat more than a few bites before we were interrupted.

Lyle burst through the doors when I was mid-chew. ‘Chieftain!’ he gasped, doubling over, his sweat-sodden hair straggling against his bulbous forehead. ‘The border! Someone’s there!’

I muttered a curse. I’d been sure we’d have another few days before the next Clan contingent arrived. I pushed back my chair and stood up. ‘How many?’

He held up a single finger. I frowned. One? That was unusual enough to merit notice. One interloper was more intimidating than several; it suggested a diversion – or an ambush.

‘The other lookouts?’ I asked.

‘They’ve been alerted. Nothing as yet.’

‘Is our visitor Sidhe?’

Lyle dropped his shoulders. ‘I couldn’t tell.’

I grimaced. Disguised, then. That didn’t do a damned thing to assuage my concern. Someone friendly would have no need to conceal their identity.

Brochan was already on his feet and handing me my jacket. Tipsania waved her hand. ‘Do you want…?’

I nodded. ‘If you wouldn’t mind.’ I hated having to resort to magic all the time but I had to be careful for all our sakes. She flicked her fingers towards me while I squeezed my eyes shut, reminding myself that I didn’t want to steal her Gift. She’d give it all to me if I demanded it.

The only indication that she’d finished was the faintest prickle across my skin. I opened my eyes and glanced down. The strangeness of not being able to see my own body encouraged a rush of nausea. These days I felt sick more often than a pregnant woman in her first trimester. I gave her a hasty thanks and darted for the door. ‘Anyone who’s not a troll stays put,’ I yelled behind me.

Lexie’s plaintive complaint rang out across the dining hall. ‘Aw, Tegs, come on.’

‘The only ones who are supposed to be here are trolls, Lex. Everyone else needs to stay hidden.’ What I didn’t say was that if the border had been breached I’d also need people I could count on to stay back here and hold the mansion. We had to be prepared for every eventuality. Even with his knowledge of my apparent death, I could never be sure what Aifric was planning.

I sensed the blue-haired pixie pouting but she fell quiet. I barrelled out of the door and sped towards the border, doing everything I could to avoid looking down again at my own body. One of these days I was going to get the trolls to build a giant slide from the mansion down to the bottom of the hill. Either that or learn how to roller-skate.

The only light visible by the border was cast by old-fashioned torches which used flame rather than electricity to illuminate the area. The flagpole remained in place but, in order to keep to the fiction that the Adair Clan was finally gone for good, Sorley had taken down the flag. Instead he’d concealed some stitched Adair colours into the flat top of the pole to maintain the border magic but to keep my presence secret from prying eyes.

I scanned the area and spotted a small army of trolls glaring at the lone figure who stood across the border and who was, incongruously, holding a bicycle. The nearest settlement was miles away; it was a long way to cycle, especially in the dark.

Whoever our visitor was, he was wearing a hooded top and keeping his face shadowed. Sorley was closest to him and was gesticulating wildly. ‘Show yourself!’ he hissed.

The hooded man crossed his arms. ‘Not until I see Chieftain Adair.’ His voice was hoarse. I frowned. I recognised the accent.

‘I’ve already told you. She’s dead. We own these lands now.’

‘I don’t believe she’s dead at all,’ the man – or rather the Bauchan ? said huskily.

My eyes narrowed. Fergus might have proved knowledgeable on the few occasions we’d met in the past but that didn’t mean he should not believe I was dead. Had someone talked?

I stepped forward, inadvertently brushing against one of the trolls. He flinched, a movement so brief that I barely caught it.

Irritatingly, Fergus noticed it too. ‘Chieftain Adair!’ he called out. ‘How good of you to come and greet me!’

Sorley spun round, searching for me. ‘You’re seeing things,’ he growled. ‘Because unless Integrity Adair’s ghost is haunting these parts, she’s not here.’

‘It’s alright, Sorley,’ I said softly.

He stiffened, rage at his security measures being discounted lighting up his eyes. He took his job very seriously. I skirted through the trolls until I was by his side. ‘I know this guy,’ I told him in a half whisper. ‘He’s helped us out before and—’

‘And you made me a promise,’ Fergus said. ‘Tell me, did you steal Invisibility from Tipsania Scrymgeour? Or did she give it to you?’

I hissed. He had better sources than the Nile, the Amazon and the damned Mississippi combined. First things first, though. ‘Are you alone?’

He pushed back his hood, displaying his face for the first time. His good looks were marred by several ugly bruises. I couldn’t be sure but it also looked as if his nose was broken. The dark shadows round his neck suggested that his croaky voice wasn’t down to an overly energetic karaoke session. ‘Yes,’ he said pleasantly, ‘I am.’