Page 75 of Skulk of Foxes
‘Darling,’ Rubus drawled, ‘I told you. I don’t want my brother dead. Anyway, you can’t kill him because the truce still holds.’
The crazed light in Lunaria’s eyes intensified. ‘I have to help you,’ she muttered. ‘You need help.’
‘I’m perfectly capable of managing without you.’ Rubus grinned at the sphere, its smooth metal surface gleaming in the dull moonlight. ‘I have everything I need right here.’
I pushed myself up to a sitting position. Lunaria didn’t glance in my direction.
The only other person who seemed to appreciate what the lovesick Fey was planning was Julie. ‘Wait,’ she began. ‘I think…’
Her words were drowned by the inarticulate sob that ripped from Lunaria’s mouth. She sprang forward, bringing the dagger down with heavy force onto Rubus’s exposed chest. His glee was replaced with an expression of surprise.
‘What?’ he asked. ‘What just happened?’
A moment later, he keeled over on top of Morgan, his fingers curling round the sphere as he fell. Even in his death throes, he couldn’t let go of it. Lunaria’s dagger was buried in the centre of his chest, right up to its hilt.
The air around us froze. Lunaria seemed astonished by what she’d done. She fell to her knees beside Rubus and stroked his hair. ‘It was for you,’ she murmured. ‘It was all for you.’
Julie, whose face had been a blank mask of shock, started to shriek. ‘You stupid bitch!’ she yelled. ‘What have you done?’ She lunged forward, scrabbling around Rubus’s fallen body to get to the sphere.
I staggered to my feet, swaying and unsteady. I took a step forward and stumbled, while Julie prised Rubus’s fingers away from the sphere, peeling them off one by one until the object was returned to her own grasp.
‘What do I do?’ she shouted. ‘How do I make it work?’
Rubus didn’t answer. It didn’t take a genius of my proportions to realise that he would never answer anyone again, even though Lunaria pulled his head into her lap and continued to coo at him.
Julie swivelled and kicked his leg. ‘Rubus!’ she screamed. ‘How do I get it to work?’
I moved slowly towards her. I couldn’t hurt Rubus but I could hurt Julie. Whether she was my friend or not, and whether she was having a temporary bout of insanity or not, I’d kill her if it prevented her from using the sphere and flooding this demesne with magic. I threw my arms out and grabbed her wrists in a bid to yank her towards me.
She pulled away. ‘Fuck off, Madrona! I have to do this!’
I shook my head. ‘No, you don’t. You know what will happen to this world – your world – if you do.’
‘I don’t care!’ But she was shaking her head as she spoke.
‘You do care. Using that arsebadgering sphere will kill every human on this planet and probably kill you too. Magic doesn’t belong here. You know that.’
Julie’s eyes held mine. ‘But I can feel it inside me. I can feel it surging through my blood. The power, Mads. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before.’
‘That doesn’t make it right.’ I held out my palm. ‘Give me the sphere, Julie.’
A single tear rolled down her cheek. ‘I’m just so tired of being afraid all the time. I don’t just act on set, I act every single minute of every day. Why the hell do you think I drink so much? It’s the only way I can cope. With this little sphere, I can make those feelings go away.’
I kept my own gaze steady. ‘You’ll make every feeling go away, Julie. You’ll make everyone go away. For good. I understand you feel like shit but this isn’t the answer.’
Her voice dropped to a whisper. ‘Rubus said it would be fine.’
‘Rubus was a psychotic maniac who didn’t care about anyone or anything other than his own glory. Give me the sphere. It doesn’t have to be like this.’
From the ground, Morgan let out a soft moan and my heart wrenched. He moved slightly. With one eye on Julie, I stepped over and helped him up.
‘Maddy’s right,’ he whispered. ‘This isn’t the way. You’re not going to solve any problems by using the sphere. We’ll find another way to help you and make you strong so you don’t have to be afraid. Destroying your own world won’t help anyone.’
Julie choked. For the first time, it seemed as if the layers were peeling away and the real Julie was being exposed. She wasn’t a glamorous actress or an all-powerful vampire, she was just scared. Gasbudlikins. She wasn’t the only one.
I didn’t waste a second. Taking full advantage of her wavering, I leapt forward. I’d over-estimated my own recovery from Rubus’s magic bolt, however, and ended up colliding with her. Both of us crashed to the ground, narrowly avoiding landing on Rubus and Lunaria.
Sprawled underneath me, Julie yelped loudly.
