Page 45 of Skulk of Foxes
In case they were blamed for the end of the world. Surprisingly, that was a sentiment I could get behind. ‘How long have you been here?’ I asked.
‘A couple of hours. We did find reference to a beast who could control fire in one old book—’ Jodie began.
‘I found that,’ Timmons interrupted.
She rolled her eyes. ‘Whatever. It was pointless anyway. It turned out to be nothing more than a salamander transported here by some wandering Crusader in the Middle Ages.’
‘We need help,’ Opulus said flatly.
I stretched out my arms. ‘Never fear! The Madhatter is here!’
This time all of them rolled their eyes. I beamed.
Spotting a small vial sitting on top of a dusty shelf, I edged round Morgan and the teetering piles of paper and grabbed it. ‘Is this the potion?’
Jodie and Timmons nodded. I raised an eyebrow in Morgan’s direction. ‘It’s a calculated risk,’ I said. ‘The army is already starting to evacuate people. I reckon there are only hours – if that – before looting starts. We need to tie up the sphere so that we can focus on other problems. Much longer and there won’t be any city left to save.’
‘I thought the army was only evacuating Burnage,’ Timmons said.
I shrugged. ‘That’s what they said. But they’ll be trying to keep things orderly and prevent a mass panic, so they’ll be doing it in stages to stop the roads from getting clogged up. I bet that by this time tomorrow, Manchester will be a ghost town.’
Timmons looked pained. ‘My hotel guests have already cleared out. I don’t want to have to relocate.’
I smiled at him. ‘That’s why we’re doing this – to stop all faeries from relocating unnecessarily.’ I unstoppered the vial and took a deep sniff. ‘It smells innocuous enough. Shall we?’
Jodie waved a hand around the messy room. ‘Anything’s better than what we’re already doing.’
Morgan looked unhappy. ‘If Arty thinks there’s a chance that using the potion will disperse more magical residue, maybe we should do this the hard way instead.’
‘They’ve been doing this the hard way,’ I pointed out. ‘All it’s got them is at each other’s throats. We don’t have the time to waste.’
‘All the same…’
I ignored him and raised the vial to my lips, glugging it down in one long mouthful.
‘You’re not supposed to drink it, Maddy!’
I made a face. ‘I can see why. It tastes horrible.’
‘It’s supposed to be scattered around the room!’
‘And instead it’s scattered around my body. It will help contain the magic and prevent more residue from leaking out.’ Maybe. What the hell did I know? It had seemed like a good idea at the time.
Jodie tutted loudly. ‘Great,’ she said. ‘Just great. Now we’ve lost the only chance of finding the information we need. We’ll have to go back to Artemesia and get her to make some more. Except that she’s desperately busy trying to stop more magic build-up from destroying the city. She doesn’t have time to take a break to help us save the world.’
There was definitely something incongruous about Jodie’s statements but I couldn’t concentrate. I pursed my lips. My stomach was starting to feel very strange, churning in a most peculiar fashion. My vision was also going blurry at the edges. I was going to be sick; I was definitely going to be sick.
‘Maddy!’ Morgan said, obviously alarmed.
I turned towards him. ‘Wh – what?’ Even to my own ears, my voice sounded slurred and slow.
‘Are you alright?’
‘Fine,’ I mumbled. ‘I’m perfectly fine. I just need to…’
It all came gushing out before I could stop it, a stream of greenish vomit that sprayed from my mouth. Jodie screamed and scrambled to her feet, darting out of the way. Even Opulus seemed alarmed.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and let out a loud burp. ‘That’s better.’ I blinked a few times and my vision returned to normal.
