Wraith(75)

Flitting back to my body, I quickly reconnected then jogged round until I could be seen at the main gate. I slowed to a walk and glanced over. True to form, Isabella was still arguing. I stopped, making sure that I chose the right spot so that she had a clear line of vision. After all, I was wearing one of Gabriel’s shirts.

Isabella halted in mid-sentence. She glared at me from behind the guards. ‘Is that her?’

One of them looked over his shoulder, his eyes narrowing when he spotted me. Clearly I wasn’t where I was supposed to be. I froze, looking for all the world like a rabbit trapped in headlights.

‘You!’ Isabella pointed at me with a long, imperious finger.

I glanced behind me, as if expecting someone else to be standing there. Isabella tutted loudly. ‘You, girl! With the white shirt one! Come here!’

I bit my lip and shuffled over. ‘Yes?’ I did my best meek and mild impression.

‘Who are you?’

‘Saiya. Can you help me? Gabriel de Florinville is trapped inside that building and,’ my eyes widened expressively, ‘it’s on fire!’ I wrung my hands. ‘I only came out to get some nibbles that we could enjoy with the wine Lord Ghrashbreg sent up to us and now I can’t get back in.’

All three goblin guards smirked. They obviously knew exactly what was in the wine but as long as they were imagining our impending deaths and not thinking too closely about how daft my story sounded, I didn’t care.

Isabella looked horrified. ‘You left him in there to fry?’

The nearest guard folded his arms, his smirk growing into a grin. He was enjoying the show; I suppose human cat-fighting was better entertainment than worrying about your home being burned to the ground. ‘Tell you what,’ he drawled, ‘why don’t you all head back in. The fire will be under control soon and both of you can check on the Dark Elf and talk to him yourselves.’ He smacked his lips in anticipation of a fight.

I blinked rapidly. ‘Are you friends with him?’ I asked Isabella. ‘I’m sure he’d love to see you! It would be great to celebrate our engagement with someone he knows instead of all these goblins.’

The smile disappeared from the guard’s face but Isabella didn’t even notice. ‘Engagement?’ she barked.

‘Yeah,’ the goblin growled. ‘Why don’t you all go in and celebrate?’ His voice dripped with disdain and he all but pushed Isabella and her three friends in my direction.

‘Uh,’ I scratched my neck, ‘I’ll take you to the building where we’re staying but we should go the long way round. They’re working at the front to put out the fire. Once it’s been taken care of, I’ll take you up to Gabriel.’

‘Fine,’ she snapped, two points of colour high on her cheeks. There was another titter from the twins. This time the other friend, Tilly, joined in.

I walked off in the direction that I’d come from, taking small nervous steps so as not to alert the still-watchful guards.

‘Are you really his Fior Ghal?’ Twin One asked.

‘Shut up, Heather!’ Isabella snapped. Then she glared at me. ‘Well? Are you?’

Relaxed in the knowledge that we were out of the goblins’ sight, I turned to them. ‘Who the fuck cares? There are more important things going on.’ They were stunned into silence. ‘Besides which, you were only ever interested in him because you thought he could help you get out of the city.’

Isabella gaped at me. It wasn’t until her friends started to titter that she recovered and shook herself. ‘How dare you! I don’t know who you think you are but—’

‘Keep your voice down,’ I hissed. ‘This isn’t the time for histrionics. Gabriel de Florinville needs your help.’ I twisted past her and strode towards the dark corner where I’d left him. At first she didn’t seem inclined to follow but, when I looked over my shoulder and raised an irritated eyebrow, she stepped into line. And where Isabella went, her friends followed.

It wasn’t rocket science. She might not know me from Adam and she might not trust me in the slightest but I’d told her that Gabriel needed her help. I’d observed enough of human behaviour during my time in the shadows to know those were the magic words. He needed her help; he’d turned her down in front of an audience but now he couldn’t do without her. Coming to his aid made her feel like the bigger person. She’d happily play the role of saviour, especially with an audience surrounding her, because it would make her feel good about herself. Gabriel didn’t just want Isabella Markbury, he needed Isabella Markbury. It was simple psychology. Whether she actually could help him or not was a different matter.

I led Isabella and her less-than-merry troop the long way round, avoiding any further encounters with goblins. I had to literally shove them along when the fire in the Old Building came into view. Although there was more thick black smoke seeping out from every open window, the flames looked less fierce than they had been ten minutes ago. That didn’t bode well.

Gabriel was still lying in the same position. I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or dismayed. In any case, Isabella’s reaction superseded my emotions. She let out a small cry and ran to his side. ‘What did you do?’

I gritted my teeth. ‘I didn’t do anything. It was the goblins. He learnt more than he should have about what they’re up to so they poisoned him to get him out of the way. Right now they’re occupied by the fire but as soon as it’s been extinguished they’ll come looking for him. And me,’ I added. ‘We have to get him out of the castle before they start searching.’