Page 83 of Honour Bound
Carnegie sniffed. ‘I shall take this information to the judges to consider. Final places will be announced tomorrow.’ He pulled back his shoulders and marched off.
‘Were you really dropped off in the wrong place?’ Byron asked.
I opened my mouth to answer but Angus walked over looking troubled. ‘You should never have let me win, Integrity,’ he said miserably.
‘It’s done now. Let’s get back to the Cruaich.’ My clothes were still dripping wet and I could feel a deep chill settling in my bones. ‘I really need a hot bath.’
*
‘It’s absolutely ridiculous,’ Brochan blustered the next day when the final decision was handed down. ‘Ten points deducted! That means you’re placed fifth on the league table when you should be first!’
‘I suppose we should be grateful I’ve not been thrown out of the competition,’ I said. No doubt Byron’s intervention had something to do with that. I’d have to thank him later. ‘At least they took the mitigating circumstances that Bob didn’t help me win into consideration.’
‘Pffft!’ Lexie said. ‘And after all that trouble I went to with the drones.’
I raised my eyebrows. ‘You mean when they lit up the ice for me?’
She nodded. ‘We knew something was up when you weren’t filmed starting like everyone else. I got to know the control room guys well enough to point out that the drones shouldn’t miss any of the action when you went under the loch.’
‘Thank you,’ I said fervently. ‘Without that intervention I’m not sure I would have made it out of there.’
The pixie blushed slightly. ‘You’re welcome. It wasn’t much of a hardship, they’re a fun bunch of guys. Even if they are Sidhe.’
Speck scowled. ‘Let’s focus on the matter in hand. Integrity can still win the Games.’ He glanced at me. ‘I’ve been through all the permutations. It helped a lot that Angus MacQuarrie won that last challenge. He did too poorly in Artistry to win overall so we don’t have to worry about him. All you have to do is beat Byron Moncrieffe and Tipsania Scrymgeour and you’ll come out on top.’
A mental image of the last time I was on top of Byron floated into my mind. I coughed. ‘That’s great.’
‘What happened out there?’ Taylor asked. ‘There was a lot the drones didn’t capture.’
I took a breath and ran through the details, including Kirsty but omitting what happened in the forest with Byron. Taylor rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ‘So you took her entire Gift? She doesn’t have it any more?’
‘Nope.’
Speck brightened. ‘Maybe that’s the way to stop the Gifts you steal from running out. Take away every last trace from their original owner.’
I didn’t like the thought of that. ‘She could have died,’ I pointed out. ‘For a while I thought she was going to.’
‘But you can still tell when someone’s lying?’
I nodded. ‘It’s like my blood hums or something and I just … know.’
Speck whistled. ‘Cool. Lie detectors can be beaten but Truth Seeking as a Sidhe Gift? Just think about the applications it could have.’
‘Mm,’ I murmured non-committally.
‘For now, I’m more interested in this prophecy business,’ Taylor said.
I grimaced. ‘I was hoping you’d know something about it.’
He shook his head. ‘I’ve never heard of such a thing.’
‘I’ll have to talk to Angus about it,’ I mused. ‘I still can’t believe he swore fealty like that.’
Speck deepened his voice. ‘Clan Adair. The return of the Sidhe.’
‘I always preferredThe Empire Strikes Back.’ We shared a grin.
‘As nerdy as that might be, you’ll have to watch for the Sidhe striking back,’ Brochan said. ‘They’ll be trying even harder now to make sure you don’t win.’
