Last Wish (Highland Magic #4)(6)

‘He needs to sleep,’ Taylor said.

Tipsania gave a frustrated growl. May, who’d been watching the proceedings wide-eyed, shuffled over and put her head on Tipsania’s shoulder. It was a measure of how far my old adversary had come that she didn’t shake off the demon and start throwing things.

‘It could be,’ Brochan rumbled, his gills twitching with the tension, ‘that it’s just smoke and mirrors and the wedding will be cancelled at the last moment.’

I scratched my head. ‘But to what end? The marriage is supposed to cement the alliance between the Moncrieffes and the Scrymgeours. Leaving Byron standing at the altar isn’t going to achieve that. In fact, it’ll do the opposite.’ What I didn’t ask was why Byron was apparently going ahead with the charade. I shouldn’t feel hurt – after all, he thought I was dead. And even if I wasn’t dead, I had no claim on him. But rationality has no place when it comes to affairs of the heart; I could still feel a dull ache in the centre of my chest.

Lexie piped up. ‘Maybe they think the wedding is still going ahead.’

‘It can’t go ahead without the bride,’ Speck said. He paused. ‘Can it?’

‘Of course not,’ I dismissed. A niggle of worry gnawed away at me. I wouldn’t put anything past Aifric Moncrieffe; he might change the law to suit his own purposes, although I couldn’t imagine that he’d get away with marrying someone off in absentia. Even he wasn’t that crazy. But the Moncrieffes were still in debt and they’d been counting on the Scrymgeour gold.

Morna laughed without much humour. ‘The other Clans would never let him do that. We’re living in the twenty-first century, not the first. And Byron is a decent boy. He wouldn’t permit it.’

‘He hasn’t seen or heard from his supposed fiancée in weeks and yet he’s apparently letting the wedding proceed,’ I pointed out, disgust in my voice.

‘He knows I’m here,’ Tipsania said dully. ‘My father knows I’m here and he’s going to force me to leave.’

Taylor shook his head. ‘He can’t. He couldn’t get past the border.’

I swung my head towards her. ‘Does he know you’re here?’ I asked sharply.

She sank down, her shoulders dropping in defeat. ‘I don’t know. It’s not like I left a note. I wasn’t followed here, I made sure of that.’

‘Did you tell anyone you were coming?’

Her face was completely miserable. ‘Only Candy. And Byron knew as well, of course, because he brought me.’

I exchanged glances with the others. ‘When was the last time you spoke to Candy?’

‘Last month.’ She gave me an icy glare. ‘If the phone signal was better…’

Exasperated, I pushed back my hair. I couldn’t solve all the problems in the world, regardless of what everyone thought. If all we had to worry about was the lack of a mobile phone mast, we’d be laughing. ‘Would Candy have confided in anyone else?’

She scowled. ‘If you’re asking whether he’d betray me then the answer is no.’

I hoped she was right. ‘Who else knows that the pair of you are together?’

‘Only Byron.’

I blinked in surprise. ‘Really?’

‘Byron wouldn’t know but for the fact that he walked in on us a while back. He didn’t care. He wasn’t interested in me in the first place and, unlike most Sidhe, he’s not against inter-species relationships.’

My heartstrings twanged with joy. It had been a long time since I’d believed that his relationship with Tipsania was anything but a farce but knowing for certain still made me feel like dancing on the ceiling. Lexie gave me a knowing glance and I immediately sobered up.

‘We should find out what’s going on,’ I said decisively. ‘I’ll investigate.’ I rather liked the idea of being Hercule Poirot; maybe I could invest in a moustache to twirl at appropriate moments. Hot pink, of course.

Taylor blew air through pursed lips. ‘It’s far too dangerous. What if someone sees you?’

It probably wouldn’t be wise to suggest my Poirot disguise idea. I pointed at Tipsania. ‘Hello? Invisibility?’

‘It won’t last for more than a few hours. That won’t even get you past Perth.’

Tipsania’s mouth flattened. ‘She can take my Gift from me. As much as she needs.’

‘You might regret that later,’ Brochan rumbled. He had a point. I didn’t want to draw on Tipsania’s Gift unless it was absolutely necessary. I’d already taken more from her than I probably should have when I ventured across the Veil to retrieve Matthew MacBain’s bones. ‘Besides,’ he continued, ‘a wedding is not that big a deal. It’s certainly not worth risking discovery over.’

‘You green-skinned oaf! It’s my wedding we’re talking about here! My life!’ Tipsania yelled.

‘But you’re here,’ he said calmly. ‘You can’t marry Byron Moncrieffe if you’re not at your own ceremony.’ His heavy shoulders rolled in a shrug. ‘So who cares?’

Even without the narrow glance he shot me, Brochan’s meaning was clear. I cared – whether anyone else wanted me to or not.

‘It’s not going to be difficult. All I have to do is get far enough north to get a signal and call the Bull. He’ll tell me what’s what.’ I smiled at Tipsania. ‘I can make sure he cancels the wedding.’ I had his true name, after all; I could make him dance the merengue with a stoor worm if I so wished.