Page 79 of Quiver of Cobras
‘If he can attack Rubus, he can attack any of us!’ the older faery yelled. ‘We need to get everyone together and get out of here.’
‘Nowhere else is ready,’ Rubus said. ‘And there’s all this stuff to move too.’ He waved a weak hand around, indicating the bottles, dried herbs and nonsensical potions.
‘We can come back for everything when it’s safe.’ Carduus raised a bony finger in my direction. ‘In fact, she can stay here and guard it. Even if Morgan comes back, he’ll leave her in peace.’
‘I don’t know if you were paying any attention,’ I drawled, ‘but I’m pretty sure Morgan is over me. He faked a proposal just to get at Rubus.’
‘All the same, it’s obvious he still has feelings for you.’
Rubus nodded. ‘He’s right. I know now that I can trust you properly, Madrona, so I’m going to trust you to stay here and look after everything. The rest of us will move back to our last place out at the docks. When I give the all-clear, we’ll come back and pick you up, along with our belongings.’ His gaze held mine with a surprising amount of intensity for someone who still looked as if he were on the verge of collapse.
I shrugged. ‘If that’s what you want.’ I could hardly argue. Now that I’d finally managed to sneak my way back into the inner circle, I’d have to act like a loyal minion. It wouldn’t be for much longer; I reckoned I could cope for another day or two.
‘Good.’ A brief gleam crossed Rubus’s eyes. He jerked his thumb at Carduus. ‘Spread the word. We’re moving out.’ His voice hardened. ‘I’ll deal with my brother when I feel better.’
***
All of Rubus’s faeries left with surprising swiftness. I stood at the door, waving them off. Most of them ignored me but one or two, sensing the winds of change, gave me a smile.
Rather than traipsing out with the others, Lunaria paused by my side. ‘Listen, Mads,’ she said. ‘There’s something you should know.’
Amellus appeared. ‘Move.’
For what was possibly the first time in her life, Lunaria squared her shoulders and stood up for herself. ‘I’m talking to Madrona.’
‘No, you in’t.’ He pointed towards the door.
‘Give her a break,’ I told him. ‘She’s only chatting.’ I watched her curiously. Her expression was taut and I sensed that she had something vitally important to tell me.
Amellus stood his ground but he needn’t have bothered. A second later Rubus appeared, still supported by Carduus. He gestured to Lunaria and, eyes wide, she ran to his side. ‘You look terrible!’ she gasped. ‘What did he do?’
‘I’ll explain everything on the way,’ Rubus said. He offered me a crooked smile that was reminiscent of Morgan. The twinge I felt in my chest prevented me from calling Lunaria back and, all too quickly, all three of them were out of the door and stepping into a sleek black car.
Amellus, who still hadn’t moved a muscle, flashed me an ugly smile. ‘We’ll be seein’ you.’
‘That sounds like a threat,’ I told him.
His smile broadened. Then he left too and I was all alone.
I closed the door, double-checked no one was still hanging around and spying on me, then hastily dug out the shell phone. ‘Morgan,’ I hissed. ‘Are you there?’
There was a crackle and then his reassuringly deep voice spoke. ‘I’m here. Are you alright?’
I felt a heart-warming tingle that his first thought was for me and not for whether the oath breaker had worked. ‘I’m fine,’ I told him. I quickly explained all that had occurred since he’d gone. ‘I can’t tell whether the oath breaker worked, but Rubus is certainly not looking good. Maybe I should have tried to hit him or something, just to tell.’
‘No,’ he rumbled. ‘You’d have given yourself away. If he trusts you properly now, we still might able to use you. It won’t be for much longer, I promise you that.’
‘I know.’
There was a pause. ‘I’m sorry that I did that to you, Madrona. With the fake proposal.’
‘It was what we’d planned. And it worked a treat.’
‘Yes, but…’ His voice trailed off.
I immediately understood. ‘There will be time for that later. What’s the next step? Are we going to give Mendax the sphere?’
‘We’re supposed to meet him in the next hour. I think it’s for the best. I’ll send a different team to the warehouse to confront Rubus. It’s good news that he’s backtracking to an old hideout because at least we’ll know where to find him. As soon as we have confirmation that the oath breaker has worked – and assuming Mendax doesn’t try anything stupid – I’ll pass over the sphere. I know you have doubts but we need that thing destroyed. We’ll demand to watch him do it so we know for sure that he’s done what he’s promised. He doesn’t seem to have let us down so far.’
