Last Wish (Highland Magic #4)(55)

Nope, not everything. My blood was still fizzing with Morna’s magic, not to mention the rest that was swirling around my system. If I could get Aifric out of the way, I could steal his. I just had to work out how to do it without his goons shooting everyone first.

‘Steward!’ the MacQuarrie Chieftain bellowed. ‘This is outrageous! You cannot come here and do this. You will answer for your crimes!’

The three gun-toting goons raised their weapons once more. With my heart in my mouth, I yelled, ‘No!’

Aifric was amused. ‘There’s no denying that you have some moves, Chieftain, but I don’t think you can dodge bullets. What’s to stop me from killing everyone right here, right now?’

Morals? Decency? A shred of empathy? None of those was worth mentioning to him. However, the fact that we were still talking and not yet bleeding suggested that Aifric did indeed have something else up his rotten sleeves.

I regarded him calmly. ‘What is it that you want?’

His smile grew. ‘Oh, there are so many things that I want.’ He was determined to eke out this moment.

The bastard was enjoying every minute of this. Well, I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of looking frightened. I pasted on a bored expression and examined my fingernails. ‘Try me,’ I drawled.

His mouth twitched and I realised that my nonchalance was irritating him. Good. ‘You come with me. You will answer for your crimes.’

‘My crimes?’ Was he for real?

‘You have been a naughty, naughty girl.’ His nostrils flared. ‘I have a little gathering planned. My son and heir is getting married on the Isle of Muck in a matter of days.’ He looked at Tipsania coyly and she all but snarled in response. ‘Everyone who’s anyone will be there. And not just Sidhe.’ Aifric licked his lips. ‘I’ve made sure of that.’ He cracked his fingers. ‘You see, you were becoming a folk hero. The young orphan who battled against the evil Sidhe empire and who tragically lost her life in the process. People are talking about you on the streets. There are gatherings using your name to galvanise the sheep into action against us. I can’t have that.’ He made a moue of disgust.

‘You can’t control everyone,’ I told him flatly. ‘You’re not the respected leader you think you are.’

Aifric laughed. ‘Do you think I care about respect? I’m not a school teacher. I’m delivering this country from evil. I’m Scotland’s saviour.’

I stared at him. He was telling the truth; he really believed that about himself. Maybe he wasn’t just psychotic, maybe he was plain insane.

Aifric stepped towards me. ‘Right now you’re a martyr. The world will think differently – the Highlands will know differently – after I tell them the truth. Instead of being the figurehead that encouraged a bloody coup, you’ll be the most reviled name in history. I’ll make sure of it. People will soon know who the true hero is.’

‘You?’ I scoffed.

Aifric didn’t even blink. ‘Me.’ He inhaled deeply and looked around. ‘Everyone knows that Clan MacQuarrie has more than a touch of the moon about it. You will all remain here behind your pointless borders. You will not communicate with anyone. You will not come to the wedding and you will not get in my way.’

‘And why the hell should we do that?’ Chieftain MacQuarrie growled.

Aifric beamed, as if he were delivering wonderful news. ‘If you don’t, I will raze your Clan to the ground. Do this, keep quiet and you might live to see next year.’

‘We’ll do no such thing! We could never trust you anyway.’

I turned round and met his eyes. The MacQuarrie Clan had sworn fealty to me and they would do what I asked. Yes, Aifric was lying; he’d find a way to destroy this Clan one way or another, no matter what we decided today. But if they didn’t give him at least the illusion of passive agreement, he would destroy them right now. There was no choice to make. ‘Agreed,’ I said quietly.

Chieftain MacQuarrie opened his mouth. He would have disagreed but something in my expression gave him pause. ‘I’ve got this,’ I told him. I looked at Angus. He looked almost as sick as I felt. ‘Bob,’ I mouthed silently.

Angus swallowed and nodded slightly to show he understood and I relaxed slightly. I knew Angus: there was no way he’d permit Bob or the others to mount a kind of rescue without him. Even if Aifric killed me right now, Angus would make sure that Bob’s indenture, such as it was, passed to him or someone on our team. If I didn’t live to fight another day, they would.

‘There,’ I said to Aifric, ‘you’ve got what you wanted after all.’

His lip curled. ‘Somehow I don’t feel I can trust you.’ He pointed at Tipsania. ‘I want her too.’

Tipsania was an independent being and I couldn’t tell her what to do, I could only hope that she understood there were other factors in play. We weren’t giving up entirely, not yet. I swallowed and looked at her, expecting her to flatly refuse. Her eyes drifted from Morna’s body to me and then back to Aifric. She tossed her head. ‘It would be my pleasure,’ she said loudly.

I sensed Taylor stiffen. Hell, even I was taken aback and I knew she was lying.

‘I never wanted to be with these dirty outcasts,’ she continued. ‘I want to be the wife of the next Steward. It’s what my father wanted for me.’