Page 34 of Tattered Huntress
They exchanged glances, then the first twin pushed back her chair and got to her feet clearly prepared to storm across and tell me what an evil being I was. Before she could move, however, a murmur rippled across the rest of the room.
I turned my head as Hugo and the rest of the Primes walked in. The other treasure hunters got to their feet as well, obviously acknowledging Hugo cumbubbling Pemberville’s success.
When they started to applaud, I rolled my eyes. Nobody was glad that he’d found the first key part – I could practically smell the jealousy emanating from every corner of the room. Obviously, I didn’t give him a standing ovation; I took a sip of my coffee and let my arse stay firmly on the chair where it belonged.
The cluster of Primes moved like an amorphous group tothe centre table, smiling, waving and acknowledging the others’ adulation. You’d have thought Hugo and co had saved the world from an apocalyptic disaster instead of simply digging up an old key part.
Hugo glanced around the room as if searching for something. When his eyes landed on me, I stiffened. Instead of joining his cronies, he marched over to my table. Here we go again, I thought, and prepared for another argument.
‘Is this seat taken?’ he enquired, gesturing at the chair opposite my own.
I blinked stupidly. ‘Huh?’
He smiled patiently. ‘May I sit here?’
I was too taken aback to refuse. ‘It’s a free country. Knock yourself out.’ I paused. ‘Actually, if you could knock yourself out, that would be awesome.’
He smirked, pulled out the chair and sat down. ‘I’m not going to do that,’ he said. He reached for the napkin, unfolded it and placed it primly in his lap, while I – and everyone else in the room – stared at him. ‘Where are your two companions?’ he asked.
I couldn’t begin to fathom what was going on. ‘Why do you want to know? Do you want to knockthemout?’ I added pointedly,
‘I’m only making conversation.’ His tone was disconcertingly pleasant.
‘They’re still sleeping. If you want to attack me again for trying to murder four men, you can do so without their interference.’
Hugo didn’t miss a beat. ‘I’m sorry about that. I didn’t have all the facts and I jumped to conclusions.’ He smiled again and the dimple in his cheek was disarming. ‘My sincere apologies.’
My skin twitched. This had to be a trap of some kind but I couldn’t quite work out what it was.
The waiter placed my breakfast in front of me and I murmured a quick thank you before tucking in. The quicker I ate my food and left, the less chance Hugo would have to belittle me.
I glanced up and saw that the twins were gazing at Hugo with fascination. ‘Did we get it wrong?’ one of them whispered in a voice still loud enough to carry. ‘Did shenottry to get them killed?’
I shovelled sausage into my mouth. Yep; the faster I got out of here, the better.
‘You seem hungry,’ Hugo commented.
‘Uh-huh.’
‘I’m not surprised. It must be hard work taking part in the hunt without a team behind you.’
I swallowed and shrugged. ‘At least I don’t sound like I’m leading a seventies’ pop group.’ Hugo gave me a quizzical look. ‘Hugo Pemberville and the Primes,’ I said. ‘Appearing live at a stadium near you!’
He barked an unexpected laugh. ‘That’s fair.’ He leaned across the table. ‘We can perform a medley of our greatest hits for you later, if you like.’
I furiously cut up my bacon. ‘I’m good. But thanks.’
He pulled back. ‘As you wish.’
His eyes were on me but I kept my head down and concentrated on my plate. Eat and run, that was my plan.
‘Listen, Daisy,’ Hugo said. ‘I want to?—’
‘Good morning! May we join you?’
Thank God: two people who genuinely seemed to like me. I waved an enthusiastic hand towards Humphrey and Eleanor. ‘Yes! Please do!’
They offered identical smiles and took the two remaining empty chairs. ‘I hear congratulations are in order, Hugs,’ Humphrey said. ‘First key part in the bag! I’m afraid Eleanorand I missed all the action because we didn’t get here until late last night. We didn’t know this was where we were supposed to be until the news came over the satellite phone.’
