Page 31 of Quiver of Cobras
‘You hang up first,’ I said.
‘Technically, it’s a shell. It can’t be hung up.’
I pursed my lips. ‘You know what I mean.’
‘I do. I’m putting it away now.’
I nodded. I could still hear him breathing. I squeezed my eyes shut and cupped my hands over the delicate shell. ‘I’m sorry,’ I whispered. ‘I’m sorry I asked you to marry me and then dumped you. I don’t know what I could have been thinking.’ With my heart in my mouth, I unfurled my fingers. ‘Morgan?’
There was no answer; this time he’d definitely gone. I sighed and shoved the shell into the pocket of my jeans. It was probably for the best.
***
Morgan mustered his troops faster than I’d have thought possible. I was just settling into a curry-flavour Pot Noodle when a breathless Fey appeared in the doorway to the kitchen.
‘Have you seen Rubus?’ he gasped.
I forked a mouthful of salty goodness into my mouth and chewed thoughtfully. He blurted out the question again, tripping over his words in his haste. I held up my finger to indicate he should wait then took my time finishing my mouthful. When I eventually swallowed, I tilted my head and looked at him. ‘Actually,’ I said and paused for a moment, ‘no.’
He hissed out an angry breath and spun round, ready to depart.
‘Can I help with anything?’ I asked.
‘There are faeries all over Chen’s place!’
I raised an eyebrow. ‘Isn’t that where everyone went this afternoon? I told Rubus about the fire so I’m assuming he sent a bunch of us to go and investigate.’
He wrung his hands. ‘Notourfaeries. Morgan’s faeries! They’ve pitched up with shovels and metal detectors. They’re demanding that we get out of the way and allow them access to the site.’ His eyeballs writhed from side to side in a comical fashion. ‘There are more of them than there are of us!’
‘Oh no,’ I murmured. ‘Disaster.’
From out in the corridor there was the sound of a door opening, followed by Rubus’s unmistakable gruff tones. The Fey in front of me sped out. Reluctantly abandoning my Pot Noodle for now, I ambled after him.
‘Sir! Rubus! There are at least twenty of Morganus’s faeries over at Chen’s place. They’re demanding access and causing a real scene!’ The Fey’s bottom lip quivered – I hoped he wasn’t about to cry. We could all do without that embarrassment.
Rubus looked unimpressed. ‘So? Tell the lot of them to get lost. We were there first.’
‘They’ve got some kind of council-sanctioned piece of paper. They’re saying they’ll get the police involved if we don’t vacate the site.’
That was interesting. Morgan clearly had friends in high places who were prepared to jump to his every whim. It paid to be a barman with access to good alcohol, I decided. I squared my shoulders and stepped up, moving past several concerned Fey and planting my feet directly in front of Rubus.
‘I’ll go and sort this out,’ I drawled. ‘I have a history with Morgan. He’ll listen to me.’ I smoothed my hands down over my corset and sashayed my hips for effect.
Rubus’s face suffused with dark anger. ‘He’s my brother. I’ll deal with this.’
I saluted. ‘Lead the way then. I shall follow and back you up to the hilt.’ I allowed the faintest dreamy expression to cross my face. ‘Morgan will—’
‘Morgan will listen to me. You will stay here,’ he snapped.
I did a good job of looking crestfallen. ‘Oh come on, Ruby baby. I can’t just sit around here and twiddle my thumbs. I have a new outfit to show off.’
He glared at me. ‘Then go out and find my fucking pixie dust that you lost! You’re not going anywhere near Morganus. The rest of us will stop him. He has no right to go rooting through Chen’s place. I don’t know what my brother thinks he’s playing at by involving the humans. The man’s a fool.’ He flapped his arms at the cluster of faeries round him. ‘He’ll do anything to stop us getting back home to Mag Mell,’ he spat.
The whole group murmured in shocked agreement. Sheep.
I widened my eyes. ‘Do you think he’s looking for something specific? Is it that magical sphere thingy? Do you think it’s there?’
Rubus muttered something inaudible under his breath. He turned round and started marching out again. I watched him go while the Fey who’d brought the supposedly terrible news looked anxiously at me. ‘I don’t think Morgan is there,’ he confided in a worried whisper. ‘I didn’t see him.’
