Page 65 of Box of Frogs
‘Has anyone you’ve met so far suggested anything to the contrary?’
The unfortunate answer to that was no. ‘I’ve obviously not met the right people,’ I said. I looked at him, the shadow of stubble round his jaw and the faint laughter lines at the corners of his emerald green eyes, and I knew I was lying to myself.
I scratched my neck awkwardly and put down the kebab. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said, my words barely audible even to my own ears. ‘It’s clear that I treated you badly before.’ That was a bit of an understatement. ‘Despicably,’ I amended. ‘I want to be better. Maybe,’ my fingers twitched, plucking at the paper napkin, ‘maybe I could spend more time with you and learn how to be better. I’m not angling for anything here, Morgan. I…’ I swallowed. ‘I like being around you. A lot. More than I probably should.’
I avoided looking at him. When I finally peeked, the blazing hope in his expression before he quickly shuttered his emotions filled me with optimism.
‘That might not be so bad,’ he said gruffly. ‘I don’t hate spending time with you either.’
I supposed that was about the best I could hope for right now.
‘You know,’ he continued, ‘you’re pretty cute when you look at me appealingly with your big eyes like that.’
‘Cute?’ I spluttered. ‘I’m not a puppy!’
He let out a bark of laughter. ‘Just checking,’ he said. ‘It’s good to know that the real Madrona is still in there somewhere. I’d hate to think that I beat that sharp tongue out of you. It’s actually rather refreshing to be with someone who says exactly what they think. Children are like that before they reach a certain age, when they’re still innocent enough to tell people exactly what they think.’
‘In that case,’ I said, ‘I think you’re a sexy beast.’
Morgan laughed again, although this time it was tinged with surprise. ‘For all your faults, Maddy, you’re pretty damned sexy yourself.’
We grinned at each other – then something caught Morgan’s eye and he glanced out of the steamed-up window, his whole body stiffening. ‘Well, I’ll be damned,’ he said. ‘It looks like Arty was right after all.’
I frowned and followed his gaze. When I saw what he was looking at, I also tensed. I slowly pushed the kebab away from me and wiped my mouth with the napkin. ‘Unbelievable,’ I murmured.
If I hadn’t had the evidence right in front of my own eyes, I’d never have believed it. Out there in the street, scoping out an upper-floor flat, were two nastily familiar Redcaps, the same two who were part of the trio that had attacked me at the golf course. The same two who had circled round us out on the quiet country road and abducted Julie. Without thinking, I rose to my feet. I was going to smash their ugly faces into the ground.
Morgan placed a warning hand on my arm. ‘Don’t,’ he said.
I gave a deep growl. ‘You already said the truce doesn’t apply to them. I can do what I want.’
‘They’re strong.’
I lifted up my chin. ‘I’ll be stronger.’
‘They’ll have learnt from their mistakes and coated their weapons with rowan. You survived before because your wound was just a tiny nick. If a bullet hit you, the rowan would flood your system.’
‘Then I’ll dodge their damned bullets.’
‘They probably want to kill us more than you want to kill them. We killed their buddy.’
‘Brother, I reckon,’ I answered. ‘They look alike. They have to share the same gene pool. They’re probably freaking triplets.’
‘That doesn’t make this situation any better,’ Morgan pointed out unnecessarily. ‘Remember, they’ve slipped from our grasp before. They could do it again.’
I was growing irritated. ‘This time I won’t let them.’
Morgan’s grip tightened. ‘If you kill them, you might never find your boss again.’
‘She’s my friend,’ I answered softly. ‘I might not have known her for long but I know that she’s a friend.’
His answer, when it came, was equally quiet. ‘I would like to think that over the last hours we’ve become friends again too. And friends don’t let friends make daft mistakes.’
‘Is that what we are?’ I probed, keeping my eyes trained on the Redcaps loitering outside. ‘Friends?’
When he didn’t answer immediately, I allowed myself a quick glance at him. His face was inscrutable. I sighed; it was pointless angling after something that Morgan was unwilling to give. Whether I could remember or not, I’d given up any opportunity to claim more of him when I’d abandoned him for Rubus’s camp.
‘Fine,’ I sighed. ‘What would you suggest? We can’t just let them go.’ I paused. ‘My own consciousness and the latent magic from the amnesia potion led us here in the first place.’ That, and an empty belly. ‘We can’t waste this opportunity.’
