Page 72 of Skulk of Foxes
The more time I spent looking at him, the more I knew that Liung was prepared to do everything necessary to vanquish the arsebadgering sphere, regardless of what he said. He really did love Manchester. He certainly spoke about it enough. He didn’t want to risk his beloved city, let alone the rest of the world. His bluster was the same as mine; it concealed his worry about what disastrous potential the little metal ball held within its smooth exterior.
I held it out again. This time, when Liung reached for it I let him take it. Perhaps there was something to be said for Liung’s nudity, after all. His body language was certainly easy to read. Although the light in his expression suggested there was still a part of him that wanted to keep the sphere, the tension in his body suggested that he also wanted to be rid of it as quickly as possible. It was a painful dichotomy – to want something so badly but to know that it was bad. I felt the same about greasy kebabs.
Liung inhaled deeply, raising the sphere to his nostrils before examining it carefully. ‘It truly is a work of art,’ he said softly. ‘It’s supposed to be impossible to create a perfect sphere that is symmetrical down to the last nanometre but Chen did it.’ The dragon shook his head in amazement. ‘He excelled himself. Such a shame that an object of beauty can be so destructive.’
I flicked a quick look at Morgan, who was very still and staring at Liung as if he were ready to snatch the sphere back at a moment’s notice. ‘Is he talking about the sphere now?’ I asked. ‘Or about me?’
Jodie sighed in exasperation but my words did the trick. As if by common consent, everyone relaxed slightly. Julie giggled and even Finn, towering over Liung with his hulking frame, dropped his shoulders and his deeply etched frown smoothed over. Liung appeared vaguely amused; he abandoned his perusal of the sphere and dropped his hand to his side.
‘Do you need to transform back into a dragon to breathe enough fire to destroy it?’ Morgan asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Liung answered honestly. ‘I’ll try as I am now and then transform if I need to.’ He dropped his eyes and a melancholy sadness crossed his face as he gazed at the sphere for one last time. Then he drew in a breath.
A loud crack ripped through the air. At first I thought it was part of Liung’s act but when I saw the confused expression on his face, I realised I was mistaken. A dribble of blood left his lips and trailed down his chin. The sphere dropped from his hands and rolled on the ground as he fell forward into Morgan’s arms. As he collapsed, I saw the massive wound on his naked back. As if they were tied together, Julie and Jodie spun round to see where it had come from.
‘Grab the sphere and get out of here!’ I yelled to them. ‘I’ll get this!’ I shoved them away and strode forward.
Finn sent Julie a terrified glance as she scooped up the sphere. ‘Run! Both of you!’ Then he squared his shoulders and joined me. All for one and one for all. Or something. Julie and Jodie had better run damned fast though.
Rubus appeared from out of the darkness on the other side of the Roman fort. I could see a gun held lightly in one of his hands; he was dragging a bloodstained and barely conscious Monroe with the other.
‘Well, hello there,’ he drawled. ‘Fancy seeing you lot here. We must stop meeting like this.’
Chapter Twenty-One
Rubus laughed, a long and slow sound filled with grating, smug self-satisfaction. ‘What?’ he called. ‘You didn’t really think those faeries you sent to watch me were going to get in my way, did you?’ He shook Monroe. ‘Or this fool of a werewolf and his pack?’
Morgan let Liung’s naked body fall to the ground. His face was white with both the pain from his broken arm and shock at Rubus’s untimely appearance. ‘If you have killed either Artemesia or Begonius, I’ll—’
‘You’ll what?’ his brother sneered. ‘Run away like you did when I ended Viburna?’ He snorted derisively. ‘You can’t do a thing. Artemesia is fine. She has skills that I need and I don’t want her to get hurt. Her Uncle Carduus doesn’t have her extensive knowledge and, despite his loyalty, I want more. As for Begonius, or Timmons as he stupidly insists on being known, he’s out for the count. All it took was a little force-feeding of pixie dust.’
Rubus grinned manically. ‘I’m not a complete despot. I won’t kill people if I can use them – and sooner or later I’ll be able to use Begonius as I wish. When I get him and the rest of us back to Mag Mell, he’ll swear blind that I did well by him. He’ll be too high on dust for anything else. He’ll see the truth, just like everyone else. He’ll recognise that I’m trying to help us, that I’m trying to get us back home. You’re the one who wants us to suffer.’
‘What about the werewolves?’ I asked.
Rubus shrugged. ‘The dogs are dead.’ He sniffed at Monroe, releasing him so that he crumpled into a heap. ‘Apart from this one. I thought I might keep him as a pet. To be honest,’ he said, as if confiding a secret, ‘I was expecting more from their kind. I thought they’d put up more of a fight. They’re almost easier to slaughter than Redcaps.’ He winked at Finn. ‘Blades slide into Redcap flesh remarkably easily.’
There was a sudden howl of anguish as Finn flung himself from behind us and launched himself towards Rubus. I leapt forward to try and help him – or at least to save him from getting shot point-blank in the head.
I wasn’t fast enough. I saw Rubus’s lip curl before he raised his arm and a single jet of magic smacked Finn in the chest and he crumpled like a deck of cards.
Morgan snarled, rushing forward until he was barely a metre past me. His fists clenched and I could see the veins on his neck bulging as he strained to attack his brother. It wasn’t going to do any good; the truce still held for Morgan just like it held for me. Rubus could slaughter every single one of us and we wouldn’t be able to so much as scratch him back.
‘So full of rage,’ Rubus murmured. ‘I keep telling you, Morganus, it doesn’t have to be like this. All I’m trying to do is get us back home.’ He shook his head in mock sadness. ‘I just want us all to be safe in Mag Mell and you seem determined to continue torturing us and forcing us to stay here.’ He sighed. ‘Look at how much you’re hurting right now. I don’t have to hit you for you to feel pain. You’re already hurting yourself.’
He took a step towards Morgan. My heart hammering against my ribcage, I bellowed and jumped in front of him so that I would take the blow.
‘Why are you with him?’ Rubus asked me. ‘I can give you so much more, Madrona.’ He dropped his eyes, sliding them with nausea-inducing lust across my body. It was all for show; he only acted like he wanted me in order to piss off Morgan.
Morgan didn’t know that, though. He growled and stepped out from behind me. ‘Leave her alone, Rubus. This is between you and I.’
‘Morganus,’ Rubus tutted. ‘Oh Morganus. You’re my brother. I’m sorry I hurt you before. I promise I won’t lift another hand against you. But if you insist on getting in my way at every turn then I will destroy everything that you care about.’ He smiled at me. ‘And that means her.’
Morgan’s nostrils flared. I didn’t think I’d ever seen such fury reflected in the depths of his emerald eyes. If only looks could kill.
‘Where is the sphere, Morganus?’ Rubus said. He raised one hand and pointed it at my chest. ‘Tell me where it is or the Madhatter gets it.’
We’d been in this situation before but on that occasion the roles were reversed and I’d refused to hand over the sphere to help Morgan. I could only pray that he would refuse now. I resisted the urge to glance back, trusting that Jodie and Julie had the sphere safe and were already skedaddling back into the bowels of the city with it.
