Page 62 of Skulk of Foxes
The werewolf didn’t need any further telling. He ran towards Carduus and knocked him off his feet, sending the bottle smashing to the ground. Glass and green liquid went everywhere. I dreaded to think what the concoction was but at least Monroe was keeping Carduus busy for now.
Morgan, Rubus and I were alone in the centre of the flaming circle. Unfortunately, the sphere was also with us. I suspected it wouldn’t take long for Rubus to work that out.
Rubus drew his gaze up and down Morgan’s body then his eyes flicked to me. When he spotted the bulge at my chest, his mouth curved into a nasty smile. ‘Well, well, well. Either you have an unsightly growth, Madrona, or I’ve just found my sphere.’
He wasted no more time and leapt towards me with outstretched hands. I tried to move away but the force of the flames at my back prevented me from going far.
Morgan pushed me to one side, acting as a barrier between Rubus and myself. ‘Leave her alone.’
Rubus smiled even more broadly. ‘I will if she gives me my sphere.’ He moved forward again. When Morgan continued to block his way, Rubus shrugged. ‘This is very tiresome.’ He drew back his fist and, with all the force he could muster, slammed it into Morgan’s face. ‘See how you like that, pretty boy,’ he snarled.
Morgan staggered. Blood dripped from him nose but he raised his head and met Rubus’s eyes. ‘It doesn’t matter what you do to me but you can’t hurt Maddy and you can’t get the sphere. We won’t let you.’
Rubus tsked. ‘You aren’t very bright, are you, dear brother? I’m the one with all the power. Not you.’ He regarded Morgan slyly. ‘If you’re going to keep getting in my way, you’re leaving me with no choice.’
He grabbed Morgan by the throat and spun him round, tightening his hold. Morgan was no more able to fight back than a kitten could fly. His fingers scrabbled at Rubus’s arm but the truce meant that he couldn’t retaliate. And neither could I.
Rubus grinned at me. ‘Whatcha going to do now, Maddy?’
‘Would you kill your own brother?’ I asked. ‘Is that really who you are, Rubus?’
His smile disappeared. ‘If he worked with me instead of against me, I wouldn’t have to hurt him.’ He loosened his grip on Morgan’s neck and for a second I relaxed. I should have known better. Rubus moved his hand to Morgan’s arm and, in one swift movement, bent it backwards. Morgan’s mouth opened in a silent howl of agony as the bone snapped.
I leapt forward, prepared to do everything I could to save Morgan but the truce held me in mid-leap. Pain flashed through my body. There was nothing I could do. Short of talking Rubus into being a good guy, I was powerless to stop him. At this point, we all were.
‘Give me the sphere and I’ll stop this,’ Rubus purred. ‘Or don’t give me it and I’ll kill him in front of your eyes. Then I’ll kill you.’
There was no way out. The fire beat against us from all sides. Morgan was barely clinging to consciousness. All the power was in Rubus’s hands.
I hated not being on the winning side.
I licked my lips. It occurred to me that things went better for me when I stopped trying to be good and gave in to my wicked side. When I was an evil bitch life smiled down on me. I’d been right before: kittens couldn’t fly – but I could still pick one up, fling it into the air and give it a damned good try at flight.
I tilted back my head and moved my hands, as if reaching into my bra to pull out the sphere. I pretended not to notice the gleeful expression on Rubus’s face.
‘No,’ Morgan croaked.
I wished he’d stop worrying. At the last moment, I reversed my course and stretched my hands upwards instead of inwards. I grabbed all the magic inside me that I could muster and sent it flying up into the atmosphere. Bolt after bolt of flaming colours stretched upwards in a kaleidoscopic rainbow.
Rubus frowned. ‘What are you doing?’
‘You started it,’ I said, as I continued to pelt magic into the sky. ‘You’ve got your Fey using spells, even though we know the consequences of that. I’m just helping out.’ I concentrated harder. Hopefully, this would be enough.
Rubus dropped Morgan and jumped towards me. I sidestepped, singeing my hair as it swung towards the fiery barrier that was holding us in, but I didn’t stop releasing magic. Sooner or later, something would happen. It had to.
‘I don’t know what you think you’re playing at,’ Rubus growled. ‘But—’
A strange sound came through the air. I didn’t know what it was but I knew as soon as I heard it that my plan had worked. By adding to the magic in the atmosphere, I’d made another magical event occur. Yes, more people might die as a result, and yes, that made me an evil bitch. But faced with total annihilation or another magically-induced plague, what was the choice.
Unfortunately, plague was the right word. A gigantic black cloud appeared over the horizon, blotting out the remaining sunlight as it stretched from one end of the city to the other. Even Rubus stopped his snarls to stare. ‘What the fuck is that?’ he breathed.
The noise got louder. It was almost electric in tone, like a buzzing. It wasn’t until it was almost upon us that I realised what it was.
‘Locusts,’ I whispered, half to myself, half to Morgan, who was staggering up to his feet and cradling his broken arm. ‘A plague of arsebadgering locusts.’
I’d barely finished my sentence when they were upon us. I shrieked and threw my arms over my head to protect myself. I ducked down, taking Morgan with me.
I felt the locusts crawling over my scalp and my back, getting into my clothes and biting my skin. I was sure that the others were screaming too but I couldn’t hear them over the swarm’s cacophony. Hundreds of them sizzled as they flew into Rubus’s magic fire.
