Page 38 of Quiver of Cobras
It wouldn’t take much to intimidate this bloke into giving us the file. I smiled nastily and raised my fists. ‘Yeah, yeah. If you won’t hand it over, we’ll just have to take it from you.’
‘That’s enough, Maddy,’ Morgan said, moving towards Mendax as if to protect him from my vicious stare. I was about to argue when it occurred to me that this was a strategy. I shrugged. If Morgan wanted to play good cop then I’d happily play bad cop. It was a stretch, sure, but I’d cope. I snarled, like any real dragon should, but let him to take the lead.
‘Why don’t we sit down,’ Morgan suggested, pointing to a small lounge area opposite the reception desk, ‘and talk this out?’
‘No.’ Surprisingly, Mendax seemed determined to hold his ground.
‘There are three of us and there’s only one of you,’ Finn said. ‘Maybe you should do as the man suggests.’
‘I won’t let you beat me! I won’t! I’m not weak like Chen!’
I couldn’t remember a darned thing about Chen but if he’d been even half as shaky and weak as this guy, it was a wonder that he’d hung onto his sphere for so long.
‘I promise that we won’t touch you,’ Morgan murmured. ‘Not while we’re inside this building. I take my promises very seriously.’ His expression was earnest and open. ‘It appears that we’re on the same side here. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’
Mendax swung his black-eyed gaze from me to Morgan to Finn. I was almost certain he was going to spin round and try to high-tail it out of here. I was hoping he would because that would give me the excuse I needed to knock out several of his teeth.
Unfortunately, Morgan appeared to have reassured him just enough. ‘Fine,’ he said. He turned and stomped over to the nearest chair, settling himself into it and crossing his legs.
Morgan, Finn and I exchanged looks then we walked over to join him. I would have settled myself on the arm of Mendax’s chair so that I could loom over him appropriately but Morgan steered me to the sofa opposite. With the three of us seated in a row, facing the blinking dragon in the middle of a silent, darkened golf clubhouse, it suddenly felt like the world’s most bizarre job interview.
‘So,’ I said in a deep voice, ‘tell us about your strengths and weaknesses.’
Everyone looked at me strangely. It was just me that thought this set-up was like a job panel, then.
‘As if I’m going to do that,’ Mendax sniffed. ‘Would you tell me yours?’
I considered. I didn’t see why not. I leaned back in the chair and mirrored his body language, technique one of putting the arsebadger at ease. Technique two was not pulling out his toenails one by one. ‘Well,’ I said, ticking off on my fingers, ‘I’m highly intelligent.’
Finn snorted loudly. I pointedly ignored him.
‘I’m obviously incredibly attractive, not just because I possess beauty but because I have a culturedje ne sais quoiwhich I know is ridiculously alluring.’
This time Morgan turned astonished eyes towards me.
‘I also have fabulous faery magical powers, which I’m able to utilise with both restraint and abandon when the situation calls for it. As for weaknesses, I have an unhealthy penchant for junk food and I enjoy seeing arsebadgers like you get hurt more than I should.’ I bared my teeth in a smile.
‘You’re mad,’ Mendax whispered.
My smile widened. ‘I’m the Madhatter,’ I corrected.
Morgan rolled his eyes. ‘This isn’t getting us anywhere.’ He relaxed his shoulders and focused on Mendax. ‘You ask us a question, we’ll ask you a question.Quid pro quo. You can go first.’
Mendax frowned, obviously still wary, but willing to play along for now. He thought for a moment. ‘Did you take the sphere from Chen?’ he asked finally.
I breathed out. That was a fairly easy question.
‘No,’ Morgan said. ‘We believe it was a bogle called Charrie who did that. We also believe he was under orders from Rubus.’ He linked his fingers and leaned forward. ‘Why were you following Madrona earlier today?’
‘I’ve been keeping an eye on Rubus and his organisation,’ Mendax admitted. ‘She vanished for several days and now she’s acting strangely. Given that her disappearance coincided with both Chen’s death and the loss of his sphere, I thought I’d follow her. I figured that she must have stolen it and I was hoping she would lead me to it.’
So far, so head-bangingly boring. Morgan pointed his index finger at Mendax and indicated it was his turn to ask another question. Mendax’s mouth tightened and he looked directly at me. ‘That bogle is dead,’ he said. ‘Why did you kill him?’
I drew in a sharp breath. Finn threw me a sidelong look. ‘I knew it,’ he muttered.
‘I have amnesia,’ I said. ‘I don’t know if I did kill the bogle. I don’t remember anything.’
‘Oh, you killed him alright.’ Mendax glared at me with a mixture of disgust and fear. ‘I have the video evidence to prove it. You cut off his head with a sword.’
