Page 16 of Quiver of Cobras
‘Are we supposed to be grateful that you kept your mouth shut about that?’ From the look on Finn’s face, he was about ready to swipe my head off my shoulders. Pointing out that Julie’s magical blood-enhanced NDA meant I couldn’t say anything about her vampirism even if I wanted to probably wouldn’t help.
‘I wasn’t thinking.’
‘Well, there’s a surprise. Even on a good day, you’re as bright as a fucking black hole.’
Okay, enough now. I’d been prepared to grant him some leeway with his guttural snarls because he was grieving but this was too much. ‘And you’re twice as dense,’ I hissed back. ‘Obviously, I’m not going to bring Julie to Rubus. I was actually thinking that she could give me someone else’s name. Another actor.’ I looked at her. ‘Maybe someone you dislike.’
Her eyebrows flew up, startled. ‘You want me to give you the name of an enemy so you can take them to your evil faery boss in my place? Darling, you’re even more Machiavellian than I realised.’
I shrugged helplessly. ‘Is it such a stupid idea? You’ve got Finn inside the studio with you. When I was your bodyguard, you didn’t want me hanging around while you were working. You’re obviously still worried about any remaining vampire hunters. We can get Rubus to keep a look out for them. It’ll tie up some of his minions, keep them busy for ages and kill two birds with one stone. Truthfully, I couldn’t avoid telling Rubus about you. He was always going to ask questions about what was going on at the Travotel when he killed Jinn. If there’d been another way out, I’d have taken it. This mollifies Rubus and keeps you safe from him.’
‘And potentially kills a co-worker.’
‘They won’t be killed.’ Maybe. ‘And you’re an actor. Surely there’s a lot of rivalry. There must be other actors around here who you wouldn’t mind putting in harm’s way. Not,’ I added hastily, reacting to the disturbed expressions on both Finn and Julie’s faces, ‘that they’d be hurt. Rubus just wants to say hello. I’ll make sure they’re safe.’
The plan I’d come up with had seemed brilliant when I’d mulled it over in my head. Now I was voicing it aloud, it occurred to me that perhaps it had a few flaws.
‘I might work in a soap opera but I don’t live in one.’ Julie shrugged. ‘I don’t hate anyone that much. Neither do I believe that you’re mean enough to put an innocent person at risk like that.’
‘She’s the Madhatter,’ Finn spat. ‘She’s more than capable of it. She’s evil.’
‘Maybe you have to become evil to stop evil,’ I retorted.
Julie put her hands up in a vague protest. ‘Darlings,’ she murmured, ‘enough. I’ll do it myself. I’d quite like to meet this Rubus and see what he’s really like.’
Finn immediately started to complain. ‘You can’t do that! I can’t protect you against him!’
I heaved in a breath. ‘Obviously, you can’t go with her. The thing is,’ I shuffled my feet, ‘as dodgy and dangerous as all this is, it might help. I need Rubus to feel relaxed and happy. Right now, without the sphere he was so desperately searching for, he’s liable to blow up half the city on a mere whim. He’s told me he’s got another plan up his sleeve. We can’t let him succeed. Anything that can be done to massage his ego and calm him down can only be a good thing. He’s putting on a good show of being amenable and happy but under the surface, he’s seething. He likes your soap opera. He’ll feel good about meeting one of its stars and it might just give all of us enough of a break to find out what else he’s planning. It really doesn’t have to be you, Julie. AnySt Thomas Closeactor will do. I can pay them for their time.’
Julie shook her head adamantly. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I’ll do it.’ When Finn opened his mouth to protest again, she turned to him. ‘You did this,’ she said. ‘You and your brothers worked for him in order to stop him. What I’m doing is pathetic in comparison. It’s just one meeting.’
Finn glared. ‘Fine,’ he spat. ‘But the meeting takes place somewhere public. It doesn’t last longer than an hour. And you,’ he jabbed his finger at me, ‘will guarantee her safety.’
I bobbed my head. ‘Done.’
The Redcap was still unhappy. ‘I’ll believe it when I see it,’ he growled.
Chapter Four
I was aware that I was treading a very fine line. I could be a good person who was prepared to do terrible things in order to achieve a greater goal, or I could easily slip into being a terrible person who was kidding herself that she was better than she was.
Magical sphere or no magical sphere, the cold, casual, callous way in which Rubus had ended Jinn’s life convinced me that I had to find a way to stop him in his tracks. I wasn’t entirely sure how far I was prepared to go to achieve that goal but I hadn’t reached my limit yet. The only real truth I’d discovered was that I clearly wasn’t cut out to be a superhero. It was probably just as well; virtually no one looked good in a leotard. Even me.
After arranging a date and time for Rubus to meet Julie, my friendly taxi driver dropped me off at Chen’s building. He was right about one thing, I thought as I gazed at the hollowed-out, scorched building. The whole place was little more than a shell. Coming here was probably a waste of time.
Unwilling to give up on this new lead, however, I walked past the warning signs to stay away and headed through the tumbledown doorway. Fallen bricks and blackened debris were lying everywhere. If I’d breathed too hard, I wouldn’t have been surprised if the entire structure had fallen down on top of my head. I could only assume that Rubus had ordered the place to be torched in case there were clues leading back to him, or other material that could be scavenged and used against him. Whoever and whatever Chen had been, he was obviously a canny bastard to have got hold of the sphere in the first place.
I took my time, edging carefully from one burnt-out room to another. The devastation was almost total. Charred paintings hung lopsidedly on charred walls. The furniture, which had probably been rather grand, was now little more than a collection of four-legged skeletons. I toed various scraps of paper but any writing that had been scrawled on them was now illegible.
I craned my neck upwards, tempted to try and gain access to the first and second floors. There was little left of the staircase but, if I took my time, I could probably manage it. I was planning the safest route when there was the crunch of a footstep behind me. I whirled round, relaxing slightly when I saw it was Morgan.
I waggled my eyebrows at him. ‘At last. I wondered how long it would take you to find me.’
Morgan didn’t blink. ‘I wasn’t looking for you.’
I smiled. Yeah, yeah. ‘I’ll accept your apology if you go down on bended knee. You don’t have to grovel much. Just a little will be acceptable.’
His mouth twitched slightly. ‘Why would I apologise?’
