Page 78 of Box of Frogs
Jinn’s eyelid twitched. ‘That’s very good of you,’ he said. ‘But we have to point out the obvious.’
Morgan frowned. ‘Which is?’
‘Rubus is your brother.’
He stiffened. ‘In blood only. We have not been brothers in any other sense of the word for a long time.’
‘That may be but the Fey truce means you can’t attack him directly. And the family ties mean that you might not want to.’ He jabbed a squat, hairy finger in my direction. ‘And none of us know abouther. None of us know whether she’ll run back to Rubus as soon as her memory returns. She could betray us all. Evenshedoesn’t know what she’ll do when she remembers.’
‘Ifshe remembers,’ I butted in. ‘And I won’t betray you.’ I met his eyes. ‘I give you my word.’
He didn’t blink. ‘I’ll believe that when I see it.’ He lifted up his chin. ‘Now where is this car? We need to retrieve the dragon’s magic-sucker.’
I sighed. I’d have argued about my integrity but I wasn’t sure I believed in myself any more than anyone else did. And the magic-sucker was indeed what was important. I pointed down the street. ‘It’s that way.’
We set off with me in the lead. I could only begin to imagine what an incongruous group we made: two hulking Redcaps, with overhanging foreheads and bulging ears; two green-eyed faeries – one of whom at least was eminently desirable – and a bottle-blonde soap star who was actually a vampire in hiding. You couldn’t make this shit up.
I stopped thinking about it when Morgan’s fingers repeatedly brushed against mine as we marched. Every time we touched, a delicious tingle ran across my skin. He didn’t look at me and I didn’t look at him but I was almost certain that he was thinking the same. After all, there was a hotel right behind us with plenty of beds. Once the object was safely back in my possession – presuming it was actually more than just an oddly shaped key chain – I’d direct us gently in that direction.
I breathed out when we turned the corner, relieved that the dilapidated old car was still in the same spot. I grinned at the others and darted forward to it, crouching down to try and grab the bundled-up coat. When I couldn’t quite reach it, I got down even lower, my belly on the pavement, then I shuffled underneath the car. I’d done an even better job of hiding the coat than I’d realised.
I’d only just snagged my fingers on the material, grimacing when I spotted the considerable amount of oil that had dripped onto it, when a new set of feet appeared from nowhere and a gruff, male voice spoke. ‘Hand her over.’
My eyes widened and I froze, one hand still clutching the dirty raincoat. Another set of feet appeared, then another – and those were only the ones I could see. Morgan wouldn’t give me up – of that I was almost sure – but I reckoned Jinn, and certainly Finn, wouldn’t hesitate. Gasbudlikins.
‘We’re not going to do that.’
If I’d not already been lying down, I would have fallen down. That was Finn’s voice. My winning personality must have brought him round to my side despite what happened to his brother. I relaxed slightly and grinned. Go me.
‘You don’t know who she really is,’ the disembodied voice continued. ‘Or what she’s capable of. She’s an evil creature of hell.’
That was a bit melodramatic; even Morgan thought I’d changed. Not to mention that I was a faery, not a hellish demon.
‘We know exactly what she is,’ Jinn said. ‘She’s under our protection. You’re not having her.’
I felt touched that he was standing up for me. Shaking myself out of my fugue, I scrabbled in the pocket of the raincoat, my fingers immediately finding the smooth metallic sphere. I drew it out and clutched it tightly in the palm of my hand. The Redcaps wouldn’t give me up and I wouldn’t give up the dragon’s magic-sucker. If that’s what it was.
‘We’ll kill you if we have to. She is unnatural. She doesn’t deserve to live.’
Steady on.
‘Is that what you’re planning to do?’ enquired Morgan’s cool voice. ‘Kill her?’
‘What we are planning to do is keep the rest of the world safe from her kind.’
‘You mean lock her up.’
‘Perhaps.’
‘Torture her?’
The response was mild. ‘Only if it means we can uncover more of her kind and learn more about her capabilities.’
Hang on a minute. There was something about this…
‘You’re no better than I am!’ There was considerable venom in Julie’s voice. ‘I’m not a bad person. And I won’t give up anyone else, no matter what you do to me.’
Ah. So this wasn’t actually about me. Maybe the world didn’t revolve around Madrona the Madhatter after all. The Redcaps had been convinced they’d taken care of the vampire hunters. Apparently they were wrong. Oh well. I shrugged; what was a girl to do? I started to roll in the opposite direction so that I’d emerge on the road away from the vampire hunters rather than next to them.
