Page 21 of Quiver of Cobras
‘Where is our self-styled king?’ I enquired.
‘In his room,’ she told me. ‘Down the corridor, last door on the left.’
‘Thanks.’ I suddenly remembered who I was supposed to be and gave her a critical look up and down. ‘Are you wearingthat?’
Lunaria blinked, her skin paling. ‘What’s wrong with it?’
I shrugged. ‘Nothing. Don’t mind me.’ I smiled prettily. ‘It’s perfectly … nice.’
Lunaria’s fingers twitched at the fabric of her rose-sprigged dress. She looked utterly crestfallen. Unfortunately, my bid to be mean and nasty also filled me with an irritating wave of guilt. ‘We should go shopping,’ I told her. ‘The clothes I’ve been given, and which I presume my old self rather liked, are nothing more than “nice” too. We work for Rubus. We should dress like we do.’
Lunaria’s eyes suddenly shone. ‘That’d be brilliant.’
‘I wouldn’t go that far,’ I said. ‘Let me talk to Rubus first then I’ll come find you. Okay?’
She nodded vigorously. ‘Okay, yes. Thank you, Mads! You’re amazing.’
I wrinkled my nose as I walked away. While it was a good idea to keep Fey like Lunaria on my side so that I could hear the gossip, I wasn’t sure that becoming bosom buddies with his minions would encourage Rubus to trust me. But Lunaria had looked so hurt…
‘Evil Madrona,’ I muttered again under my breath. If I couldn’t convince myself that I was evil, I wasn’t sure I’d convince anyone else. I’d have to try harder. I considered punching the wall next to me for no other reason than because I was the Madhatter but decided I liked the skin on my knuckles where it was.
Hmmm.
A stocky-looking Fey who I vaguely recognised was standing outside Rubus’s bedroom. His expression didn’t change when I approached but I noticed that his chest expanded slightly, puffing out as if he were trying to make himself look larger and more imposing than he really was. I paid him no attention and moved towards the door handle. I’d barely touched it when he placed his hand on my arm.
‘Boss in’t be disturbed.’
In’t? What kind of word was that supposed to be? ‘The boss is not to be disturbed, you mean.’
He gazed at me unblinkingly. ‘Thass what I said.’
I didn’t have the time, the patience or the vaguest inclination to continue this conversation. As I shook off his hand and sniffed, the Fey wasted no time in thrusting out his arm to bar my approach. This was one of those occasions when I could wholeheartedly agree with Rubus that the truce was a pain in the proverbial arse. If it didn’t exist, I could have beat this arsebadger to the ground or maybe even killed him with my thumbs if I felt like it. Then he’d be sorry. Unfortunately the truce prevented violence of any sort, so the only thing I could do was resort to my other wiles.
I darted out my tongue and slowly licked my lips then I widened my eyes slightly. I did everything apart from grab my breasts and plump them up in front of the Fey’s face. ‘I’m sure he’d like to see me,’ I purred.
He didn’t even react. ‘No dice.’
I threw up my hands. ‘Oh, come on!’
He shook his head. ‘Nope.’
‘It’s important.’
‘Don’ care.’
I gritted my teeth. Why was this so difficult? ‘Rubus!’ I bellowed. ‘I need to see you!’
Crickets, I cursed to myself. ‘I saw my soap-star friend! She’s agreed to meet with you!’ I called
I waited a beat. Still nothing. Gasbudlikins. I had no choice but to resort to the truth. What a shambles. ‘I have information about Chen too!’
There was still no sound and Rubus’s door remained tightly closed. A glimmer of a smile played around the Fey bouncer’s lips. I pushed myself onto my tiptoes so that my eyes were level with his. ‘You have no idea who you’re dealing with,’ I hissed.
‘I heard you got umnesia. You don’ know who you’re dealing with either. You don’ even know who you are.’
Touché. ‘It’s amnesia, you tool.’
He shrugged. ‘Whatever.’
