Page 77 of Box of Frogs
Morgan passed a hand over his eyes. ‘Why are we all still here? Let’s get to that hotel and get hold of that coat.’ He was obviously still unhappy with me. ‘It would have helped if you’d mentioned this before, Madrona.’
Yeah, yeah. I pointed at his wrist. ‘Are you wearing Jinn’s Rolex?’ I asked. ‘The one you took from me, which I took from him?’
Jinn, Finn and Morgan bristled. Julie looked entertained; I knew I could count on her. ‘It’s back at the Metropolitan Bar,’ Morgan said, glaring at me. ‘I’ll return it to Jinn as soon as I can.’
I thumped him on the shoulder and smiled broadly. ‘Good for you!’ I tripped over to the door. ‘Now that it’s agreed that I’m not the only one around here who’s made catastrophic errors of judgment, let’s vamoose.’ I spun round like every good superhero should and headed out. The others would follow.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Despite my blithe superhero styling and sauntering, I couldn’t prevent the constant niggles gnawing away at me, like those spa fish that nibble away dead skin from your feet. Except these metaphorical fish weren’t just nibbling; they were chomping at both my inner calm and my soul.
Despite everything, I found it hard to believe that I could have killed anyone but there wasn’t anyone else who could have lopped off the bogle’s head. For all their faults, I didn’t believe that Finn or Winn were lying about their story. Neither, it appeared, did Morgan. So, either my former self had been working behind the scenes, just like the Redcaps, and doing everything she could to undermine Rubus and save the day – or she’d been working for Rubus all along and was as nasty and evil as he was. I tried to imagine myself being responsible for the end of the whole world. I’d go down in history. Except history would no longer exist. Gasbudlikins.
When we reached a set of traffic lights and Morgan was forced to bring his motorbike to a stop behind the Redcaps’ van as we waited for the green, he turned his head towards me. ‘Stop it,’ he murmured. ‘You’re thinking too hard.’
I grimaced. ‘I can’t help it.’
‘We’re on the right track, Maddy. We know exactly what Rubus is up to, so now we can work with the Redcaps to stop him.’
‘The Redcaps whose brother we killed, you mean.’
‘That was an accident,’ he pointed out, although his eyes looked pained.
‘Sure,’ I said, ‘thatwas an accident. But it’s the second death I’m responsible for.’ I turned baleful. ‘What if I did kill Charrie the bogle? What if my former self was fully aware that Rubus is looking to destroy this demesne and I was helping him?’ I swallowed, making a weak attempt at keeping the atmosphere light. ‘If he achieves his goal then there will be no moreSt Thomas Close. No more gin. No more Pot Noodles!’ A car pulled up behind us. I glanced at the sleepy-looking people inside and my stomach dropped. ‘No more families on the school run,’ I added in a strained whisper. ‘What if that’s the world I’m seeking to create, Morgan?’
‘Maybe itwaswhat you were seeking.’ A muscle throbbed in his cheek. ‘Hell, Maddy, I’d have had no trouble believing it of you a week ago. But even if that was the case, I don’t believe it is now. You’re not the same person you were then.’
I dropped my eyes. ‘You don’t know that for sure.’
‘Yes, I do.’ His voice was quiet but his expression didn’t flicker. He held my gaze steadily.
The car behind us beeped its horn loudly and Morgan and I both jumped. The traffic lights had turned green and the Redcaps, with Julie beside them, had already accelerated away. Rather than rushing, however, Morgan leaned his head towards mine and with a feather-light touch brushed his lips against my cheek. Only then did he turn back around and rev the engine to move on.
***
For convenience’s sake, both Morgan and the Redcaps parked in the Travotel car park. The beige blinds on the window of Timmons’ office twitched. For old times’ sake, I gave him a little wave. He didn’t wave back.
Julie got out of the van and frowned at the hotel. ‘I don’t understand, darlings,’ she murmured. ‘Why would a faery be a manager of a hotel? And a hotel like this, to boot? Surely you’re all more fabulous than this?’ She waved a hand and I had to admit she had a point. Everything around us was dull and nondescript.
‘We try to keep a low profile,’ Morgan told her. ‘We don’t want humans learning of our existence.’
She sniffed. ‘Darling, I’m a vampire with a high profile but you still didn’t know aboutmyexistence. Secrecy is no excuse for drabness.’
I tried to muffle a giggle and glanced at the Redcap brothers. ‘I understand that you both want as many supernatural creatures on your side as possible but, vampire or not, Julie doesn’t have that many special abilities. How is she going to help bring Rubus down?’
Jinn shrugged. ‘It’s less what she can offer and morewhoshe can offer. She can bring other vampires to us. We obviously can’t involve humans. We don’t know which faeries to trust and there aren’t many of us Redcaps. But there are quite a few vampires around. If we can take care of idiots like the vampire hunters in exchange for their help in taking care of Rubus, we all win.’
Julie coughed delicately. ‘I did try to tell them that there aren’t many of us. And that it’s been quite a while since I’ve been in contact with the others.’
‘Let’s not forget your age,’ Finn said, failing to notice Julie’s grimace. ‘That gives you a great deal of knowledge, wisdom and experience that we can put to good use.’
Jinn nodded enthusiastically. ‘Once we get the werewolves on our side, we’ll have all the fighting power we need.’
‘What about the dragons?’ I asked, utterly fascinated.
‘They’re terrible fighters,’ he said. ‘But as well as the ability to create world-ending magical objects, they also have lots and lots and lots of gold. Rubus is minted – we’ll need considerable funds of our own if we’re going to match him.’
‘Obviously there will be plenty of faeries involved too,’ Morgan said. ‘Together we’ll easily overpower Rubus.’
