Page 14 of Skulk of Foxes
I didn’t believe for a second that he was bluffing – but that didn’t mean thatIcouldn’t bluff. I sighed. ‘Jeez, Ruby baby. Kill the humans. I don’t care. I’m only trying to stop you from taking the sphere because it’s what Morgan wants me to do. I don’t give a fig about whether anyone other than him lives or dies. But I really don’t have the sphere.’
I reached into my pockets and tossed out my wallet then pulled out the linings so he could see they were empty. ‘I’ll strip naked if you need me to but I genuinely don’t have it.’
Rubus stared at me. So did Morgan. I could only assume that the pair of them were indeed hoping that I performed a striptease right there and then.
‘Everyone get down on the ground with your hands behind your heads!’ roared another voice. Apparently the police were stepping things up. Go them. But they were far too late to this party, even though it was happening on their doorstep.
‘I’ll kill anyone who gets in my way,’ Rubus said to me. ‘This is your last chance.’
‘You can’t do it, Maddy,’ Morgan said in a strained voice.
I ignored him. ‘Let Morgan go and I’ll come with you, Rubus. That way the police no longer have to be involved and things don’t get any messier than they already are.’
Rubus sighed. ‘But Iwantthings to be messy. Don’t you see that?’
Gasbudlikins. I was running out of options. ‘I…’
Suddenly, and without any warning, the sky darkened. There was a dull boom and the ground juddered. I lost my footing, stumbling forwards onto the pavement – and I wasn’t the only one. Every single person did the same. I didn’t have the faintest idea what was happening but I couldn’t let this moment pass.
Rolling in a manner that a gymnastics teacher would have been proud of, I got hold of Morgan and yanked at his leg. Rubus could probably have stopped me if it weren’t for the strange skittering sound over his head. A second later, an undulating brown mass appeared from the top of the wall, cascading downwards on top of him. It was only the odd whisker and dragging tail that made me realise what the strange wave was. Rats. Hundreds of them.
Rubus shrieked, cowering into a foetal ball and covering his face. He released his grip on Morgan. The mass of rats swarmed over him and reached Morgan’s feet at the same time as I pulled him towards me. I yanked him upwards and we both took to our heels.
Shrieks and shouts were filling the air, not just from this street but from the ones beyond as well. The horrific stench of sewage filled the air. I glanced to my right and spotted dirty water bubbling up from all the nearby drains.
‘Car,’ Morgan gasped. ‘Get to the car.’
Luckily he’d left it in the middle of the road. One or two of Rubus’s loyal arsebadgers made half-hearted attempts to stop us but most of them had their own problems. There was a keening in the air and, as if to help the still-advancing army of rats, a mass of ravens appeared, swooping and diving at anyone who was daft enough to be in the open.
I shoved Morgan into the passenger seat, dashed round and jumped into the driver’s side. I slammed the door shut just before the tidal wave of rats reached us. There were several clunks on the car roof as the ravens continued to dive bomb us.
I didn’t waste any time questioning the provenance of these unearthly creatures and unnatural happenings. I just thrust the car into gear and sped off.
Chapter Five
Ignoring the double yellow lines, I pulled up directly outside the Metropolitan Bar and turned off the engine. Morgan was gripping the armrest so hard I virtually had to prise his fingers off and help him unclip his seatbelt.
‘I’m sorry about Viburna. I know Rubus killed Finn’s brother, Jinn, just as callously but somehow I didn’t think he’d do it to another faery. She was your friend and for that I’m sorry.’ I surprised myself with my words. I sounded sincere. Gasbudlikins, Ifeltsincere.
Morgan nodded, although it didn’t seem that he could bring himself to speak about her. He jerked his head up towards the sky. ‘It’s clearing up.’ His voice was hoarse.
I peered out. He was right; there was the faintest glimmer of sunlight and it seemed that things were returning to normal. Admittedly, there were no people on the streets but there weren’t any surging rats or crazy raven bombs to deal with either.
‘Let’s get inside,’ I urged. ‘It might not be any safer in the bar but at least there will be vodka. I could do with a stiff drink.’
He glanced at me. ‘On the count of three.’
‘Three. Two.’ I opened the door. ‘One.’ We sprang out. There was a strange lingering smell in the air that was almost sulphurous. Other than that, there was nothing remarkable. I wasn’t taking any chances, though; I hotfooted it to the door of the pub and pulled it open for Morgan before following him in.
There were more people inside than I expected. At least forty pairs of eyes swivelled in my direction and the television, which had been blaring full blast, was immediately muted. With the exception of Jodie, the human bartender who worked for Morgan, and Julie, my soap-star vampire friend, every eye was moss green.
Every single one of them sagged in relief. Under any other circumstances, I’d have expected a standing ovation and at least a dozen rousing choruses of ‘hip, hip, hooray’ but somehow, at this point, my heart wasn’t in it – even if it did make a change to have people happy to see me instead of recoiling.
‘You made it!’ Jodie exclaimed, rushing forward to hug Morgan. ‘Where’s the sphere?’
Morgan glanced at me and I shrugged. I noticed Paeonia, Timmons and Vandrake at the back of the crowd, but there were at least thirty-seven other Fey people in here that I didn’t know. ‘I don’t have it,’ I said.
Another vaguely familiar man pushed his way forward. ‘Where’s Viburna?’ he demanded. ‘Why isn’t she with you?’
