Page 28 of Quiver of Cobras
‘I’m not your servant.’
I stood up and looked at her assessingly. ‘Come on, Arty,’ I purred. ‘This is fun, isn’t it? Every good spy has a team of crackheads behind her.’
She frowned. ‘Do you mean crackpots?’
I grinned. ‘If the shoe fits…’
‘The only crackpot around here is you,’ Artemesia muttered. ‘And I’m not on your team. I wouldn’t trust you if you were the last faery in this demesne. I certainly wouldn’t work for you.’
I supposed I couldn’t blame her for that. She’d come around, though. I curtsied in her direction and left. After all, I still had a lot of super-spy work to do.
***
Rubus’s lair was eerily deserted when I returned. I’d half expected him to be stomping around the corridors and bellowing but there were only a few harried Fey wandering around, each apparently with their own jobs and tasks to complete.
Rubus had instructed me to locate the pixie dust I’d apparently lost and I supposed I could venture out again and at least pretend to look for it. Maybe I’d dumped it near the golf course where I’d woken up; it wouldn’t hurt to head back there to look for the darned stuff. I didn’t actually want to find it, though. Once I had it back in my possession, Rubus would make me go out and sell it not to make money but to create an even larger army of thralled faeries. I’d delay doing that for as long as I possibly could.
Taking advantage of the lack of people, I ambled around and poked into corners. I was fairly circumspect; I didn’t try to break into Rubus’s bedroom or throne room. I avoided the laboratory and anywhere that might appear important. It was possible that this quiet time had been engineered as another test to catch me out so all I did was wander from room to room and get a good idea of my surroundings so I could map out the place in my head. In any case, the Fey hangers-on who stayed here were remarkably thrifty and possessed very few belongings. You’d think this was a priests’ hangout rather than a villains’. It was all terribly dull.
In one of the larger rooms there were a few squashed sofas and a battered television. I sat down and tried to find the remote control so I could watch the local news and see if there was more information about the fire at Chen’s place.
I was just getting comfortable when there was a scratching at the door. I glanced over just as a note was pushed underneath it. I sprang up, grabbed the note and pulled open the door. There wasn’t a soul to be seen.
Puzzled, I unfolded the paper. In the same handwriting as the sycamore papers was a single sentence.L is looking for video evidence.Well, that made zero sense. Video evidence of what?
The only L I could think of was Lunaria. I stared at the piece of paper before remembering the memory stick I’d seen her with earlier in the day. I hadn’t been all that interested at the time, despite my jokes about porn, but perhaps I should have paid more attention.
The joy of skulduggery aside, I had the feeling that I’d done enough today to encourage my friendship with her and invite her confidence. Who wouldn’t want to be pals with me? I’d given her fashion advice; I’d even stepped back to give her the chance to impress Rubus all on her own. I was virtually a selfless martyr and she was lucky to know me. Hadn’t she said ‘best friends forever’ when we said goodbye? Something nauseatingly ridiculous like that. I reckoned I could prevail upon her to spill the beans. With that thought in mind, I ripped the note into tiny pieces and discarded them before heading off in search of her beanpole figure.
Given how quiet it was, I wasn’t sure she was here but I found her without too much trouble. She was in the kitchen with a gigantic tub of ice cream on her lap and a morose expression on her face. ‘Looney Tunes!’ I beamed.
Lunaria barely even glanced up. She huffed, then delved into the tub again for another heaped spoonful. Ah. ‘Did Rubus not like your new look?’
She shoved the spoon into her mouth and sniffed. ‘Said he was busy. Didn’t even remark on it.’ She gestured down at herself. ‘I’m wearing red leather and he couldn’t even be bothered to comment.’
I almost clapped my hands in delight. The scorned woman – what a perfect bonding opportunity. ‘What an arsebadgering bastard,’ I said.
‘He’s not a bastard, he’s wonderful. It’s me who’s the problem.’ She sniffed. ‘If I looked like you, he’d notice me. If Morgan wanted me too, then Rubus’d notice me.’
My heart leapt. ‘Morgan wants me? How do you know?’
Lunaria’s brow furrowed. Oh yes. This conversation wasn’t supposed to be about me. ‘I mean,’ I said, ‘fuck off.’
‘Wh – what?’
I threw my hands up into the air. ‘You heard me. Fuck. Off. You can’t say that about yourself. First of all, you’re gorgeous. Second of all, this has nothing to do with me and nothing to do with appearances. It’s what’s inside that’s important.’
Lunaria stared at me. ‘You sound like a Hallmark card.’
‘I know. It’s disgusting. I just vomited in my mouth. But it’s also true. Screw Rubus. If he’s not going to see you for the wonderful person you are, he’s not worth it.’
‘This is my only chance, Madrona. Once he’s saved us all and we’re back in Mag Mell, he’ll be a hero. He’ll have women throwing themselves at him. If I don’t get him now, I’ll have no chance later.’
Gods save me. I raised my hand to slap her hard on the cheek but unfortunately the damned truce kicked in. The sharp pain that should have brought her to her senses flashed through me.
Lunaria looked aghast. ‘You were going to hit me!’
‘Not hard,’ I lied. ‘And only because you needed it.’ I pointed at her. ‘You’ll have to hit yourself.’
