Page 52 of Quiver of Cobras
‘Why?’ I enquired. ‘Because Morgan told me I couldn’t?’ I shrugged. ‘I suppose in the land of the witless, it’s the half-wit who’s king.’
Even Lunaria drew in a breath at that. Perhaps insulting my would-be customer and all her buddies wasn’t the way to win her over. I pasted on a disarming smile but that only seemed to petrify Paeonia even more. ‘Look,’ I said. ‘Several days ago, you asked me for pixie dust and I promised I’d get you some. I’m here to fulfil that promise. It’s high-quality stuff that I’ve got.’
‘I don’t want it.’ The expression in Paeonia’s eyes belied her words.
I held out my hand to Lunaria, who solemnly handed me the bag. Reaching inside, I drew out the bottle containing the pixie dust and held it up. ‘Look,’ I cooed. ‘So pretty.’ I unscrewed the top and dipped my finger in before holding it up to Paeonia’s nose. She was mesmerised by it. I smiled at her. This was where things were going to get tricky. ‘It’s incredibly high quality,’ I said. ‘We’ve never had a batch quite like it. Lunaria will demonstrate.’
At my side, Lunaria stiffened. ‘Will I?’
I nudged her. ‘Just a wee bit to show Paeonia what she’s missing.’
I could see that Lunaria was desperate to refuse. For all that dust might soothe the physical ache of homesickness, she was too intelligent to want to become an addict to the stuff. She was already addicted to Rubus – why would she need a drug at the same time? All the same, she’d know that if she refused Paeonia would have the excuse she needed to do the same. The thought of failure – which would not endear Rubus to her in any way, shape or form – was enough to tip Lunaria over the edge and into reluctant agreement.
Reaching into the jar, she took the tiniest amount on the tip of her index finger then lifted it up to her right nostril. ‘Bottoms up,’ she said shakily. Then she snorted.
Both Paeonia and I leaned forward. I had to admit that I was eager to see what the effects were as much as the librarian was. It took scant seconds. Lunaria’s eyes glazed over and she breathed out. ‘Oh. Oh my.’ Her whole body juddered as if in ecstasy. ‘Man, that’s good.’
I visibly stiffened. ‘Gasbudlikins,’ I muttered. ‘That old woman who was complaining at me is heading over here. She might have seen you snorting. Looney, you need to head to the toilet and freshen up before she gets here and decides to call the police because someone is taking drugs in the middle of her precious library.’
Lunaria started to turn to check. I grabbed her arm. ‘Don’t look! It’ll only make her more suspicious.’ I gave her a nudge. ‘Go on! Go now!’
Fortunately, she did as I asked, stumbling away from us. I had a few minutes at best. I’d have to work quickly.
‘There’s no one there,’ Paeonia said, puzzled. ‘And no one can see us here.’
‘I know that, you jumped-up book shelver!’ I snapped. ‘I needed Lunaria out of the way. She’s in Rubus’s pocket and she’ll report anything I do back to him. Look, you have to take some dust. Throw it away or flush it down the toilet, I don’t really care. But I need it to look like you’re on board and buying it from me.’
I knew deep down that Paeonia wouldn’t be able to resist the pixie dust’s lure once she had it in her possession. That was her look-out, however, not mine. I had more important things to worry about.
‘As soon as we’ve gone,’ I said, ‘you need to get in touch with Artemesia. I have to find her, and find her fast. We’re heading to Begonius at the Travotel next. Tell him to tell me where Artemesia is without Lunaria realising. It’s vitally important that you do this before we reach him. It’ll take us about thirty minutes to get to his hotel so that’s all the time you’ll have. You also need to get in touch with a Fey guy called Vandrake. He’s—’
‘I know who he is.’
‘Good. Tell him to get out of the city. Or to hide. Or to go to Morgan’s place for the time being. I don’t care. He just needs to get out of the way.’
She stared at me. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘I don’t need you to understand, I just need you to follow instructions.’
‘Why are you trusting me with this? You’ve only met me once and you don’t even seem to like me.’
‘I don’t like anyone. And I don’t have anyone else to trust,’ I said simply. ‘Billions of lives might rest on what you choose to do and how you choose to do it, Paeonia. You need to step up to the plate.’
For the first time, she seemed to straighten up and puff out her chest. I knew in that instant that she’d do what I asked. She was even proud that I’d asked her. She would set aside her own desires, if only momentarily, and do what was needed.
Paeonia didn’t know enough to trust me, and she had no real reason to do as I asked, but part of her sensed the truth of my words. Regardless of who we were and what we were like, maybe we all had an inner hero that was waiting to be nudged to come out from the shadows of our deepest souls. At least people like Paeonia did; I couldn’t say the same for myself.
A movement flickered in the corner of my eye. Gasbudlikins. ‘Lunaria is coming back. Can you do this, Paeonia? You can check with Morgan if you want. He’ll tell you to trust me.’ I crossed my fingers. He might. He knew what I was doing and he’d understand what I’d asked her to do was going to help people, not hurt them.
‘I’ll do it,’ she said. She nodded her head and I knew that she would keep her promise. I breathed out. Maybe this day would be successful after all.
‘Are we in the clear?’ Lunaria asked, re-joining us. Her pupils were dilated and she was blinking rapidly. She looked more manic than happy. You gotta do what you gotta do, I told myself.
‘We got rid of the woman,’ Paeonia said. ‘She’s a regular here so it wasn’t too difficult. She trusts me.’ As she said this last part, her eyes were on mine and I was fully aware of who she was really referring to. ‘How do you feel?’ she asked Lunaria.
‘Bloody amazing.’
Paeonia sighed. ‘Fine, then. I’ll take some dust. I don’t have much money, though.’
