Page 76 of Quiver of Cobras
He raised his eyebrows suggestively. ‘It will be my pleasure.’
She turned and went back to her car. Rubus and I watched as she drove off.
‘I have to say, Madrona,’ Rubus murmured, ‘you do have your uses from time to time.’
I curtsied. ‘I’m glad to be of service.’
He smiled absently, his mind clearly on other things, then he turned to head back inside. I followed at a slower pace, trying not to look tense. Maybe if I took my time everyone would assume I really enjoyed the rain, especially when it made my hair all frizzy and dripped down my neck.
Fortunately, Morgan stepped up to the plate and chose the perfect moment to appear. Rubus had only just reached the pavement when his voice boomed out.
‘Maddy!’
I froze, as if stunned into inaction. Rubus whipped round and glared. Like we were playing out some ancient Western film, Morgan was standing in the middle of the road less than fifty feet away with his hands by his sides. I couldn’t prevent a shiver of delight. Planned or not, it really did feel like he was breaching the barricades and risking his life to rescue me from the clutches of the dastardly evil overlord.
I raised my hand to my mouth but made sure that my gasp was still audible. ‘Morgan? What are you doing here?’
Even considering how carefully we’d planned this moment, I still half-expected him to pull out a gun from his non-existent holster so that he could defend my honour properly. What he actually did, of course, was simply stride towards me – and what a masterful stride it was. I was genuinely enjoying myself as I watched him approach.
Rubus wasted no time in stamping his way towards me too. He reached me at the same time as Morgan. ‘Brother,’ he hissed.
Morgan’s lip curled. ‘You’re no brother of mine.’ He looked at me as if dismissing Rubus entirely. ‘Are you alright?’
I nodded. ‘I’m good.’
‘Pleased to hear it,’ Morgan growled. He took my arm. ‘You’re coming with me now.’
Rubus narrowed his eyes. ‘No, she’s not. Madrona is mine. She stays withme.’
‘Not happening.’ Morgan pulled me into him, using his body as a barrier between Rubus and myself. It was a shame this was all just play-acting. I hoped that one of the Fey crowd who’d come out from Rubus’s hide-out and were staring at us from the safety of the pavement would take out a phone and record our little show. I’d enjoy watching it back later.
Rubus sneered. ‘In case you’ve forgotten, little brother, she dumped you.’
‘The old Madrona dumped me,’ Morgan returned. ‘The new Madrona is different. She’s forgotten how you manipulated her. She’s like her old self again.’
‘Is she?’ Rubus asked. ‘Because she’s had plenty of opportunity to scurry back to you. She could have left me for you on any number of occasions but she’s still here. She’s still with me.’ He said this last part suggestively, as if there were far more to our relationship than there actually was.
An angry light appeared in Morgan’s eyes – and one that I didn’t think he was faking. ‘You have enough people, Rubus. You don’t need her as well.’
Rubus smiled nastily. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I don’t need her. But you do. And for that reason alone, she’s staying with me.’ He looked at me. ‘Aren’t you?’
I licked my lips. ‘Um…’
‘Don’t forget,’ Rubus said, ‘there are things I know about you that you don’t want little Morganus here to discover.’
Morgan growled. ‘What things?’
‘Take her,’ Rubus said, ‘and you’ll find out.’ He stepped back and folded his arms across his chest. ‘Go on,Maddy.Let’s see just how much my brother really wants you when he discovers the whole truth.’
Even though I was certain that he was referring to the fact that it was my actions that had trapped us here, I felt a genuine tremor of trepidation. Were there other atrocities I’d committed that I didn’t yet know about? Truth be told, Rubus could probably say anything and we’d have no way of knowing if he was lying or not. Stupid amnesia.
I looked from Morgan to Rubus and back again. ‘I don’t know,’ I whispered. ‘I think I’m better suited to Rubus.’
‘I don’t care what you’ve done, Maddy,’ Morgan said. ‘Whatever it was, it is in the past now. You have nothing to feel guilty about. You have to stop blaming yourself.’
I was no longer sure where the line between acting and reality was. I stared at him and the truth reflected in his eyes. He turned away from Rubus and took my hand, kneeling down in front of me.
‘I’ll prove it to you,’ he said softly. ‘I’ll prove to you how much you mean to me.’ He reached into his pocket and drew out a small box. It wasn’t the same one that we’d acquired from Mendax. This version was even smaller. It was also covered in velvet.
