Page 60 of Fiendish Delights
‘I’ve never heard of them,’ I said.
Hugo’s mouth tightened. ‘That’s not surprising because they’re long gone now. Eighteen years ago they were out on a hunt near Snowdonia when they uncovered a small cache of gold coins. They weren’t particularly valuable but that didn’t seem to matter – those coins were considered to be treasure by one of the three Welsh dragons.’
He looked at me grimly. ‘Supposedly it was the female one with purple scales. She attacked the MacAllens in a bid to get the coins. Witnesses said they tried to leave the treasure and walk away but she didn’t care. Every single member of the family was turned to ash. Not even a scrap of bone remained.’
Slim shook his head. ‘We should have walked away as soonas we found the dragon’s tooth. That chess set was never supposed to be ours.’
‘We weren’t searching for it because we were greedy,’ I argued. ‘We had good reason to look for it.’
‘Well then our venture was a success,’ he said, folding his arms. ‘The mythical magical chess set is safe – that dragon has it. No fiend can get it now.’ He looked at the ground, which was becoming more visible with dawn’s approach. ‘And we’re lucky that we’ve not been barbecued.’
Rizwan shuddered. ‘Incredibly lucky.’
I switched my attention to the area around my feet. Patches of grass were still smouldering and a small bouquet of dried flowers on an old gravestone nearby remained alight. Everything smelled of bonfire. Even the old yew tree displayed signs of fire damage.
A shiver ran down my spine and my fingertips tingled. Hugo turned to me, alarm lighting his face. ‘Daisy?—’
Water magic exploded out of me, icy wet molecules coalescing every scrap of moisture in the air. Becky squeaked. A second later, it wasn’t only Hugo who was soaking wet. We all were.
‘For fuck’s sake!’ Rizwan yelled.
Oh no. I wrapped my arms around my body. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean that to happen.’ My limbs were shaking and there was a churning nausea in the pit of my belly.
Gordon wiped the water from his face and stared at me. Rizwan, Miriam, Slim and Becky looked horrified. Hugo’s expression, however, had transformed into a blank mask. ‘It wasn’t deliberate that time,’ he said.
Chapter
Nineteen
It was a bedraggled, forlorn group that returned to Scotland. It didn’t help that most of the others wouldn’t look at me; I suspected they were now as wary of me as they had been of the damned dragon.
Fortunately, Hester and Otis had recovered from their hangovers and they chattered non-stop during the long journey home. I needed the distraction because Hugo checked on me hourly, as if I were in danger of suddenly bringing forth more water magic and submerging his Jeep from the inside. But I’d already upped my spider’s silk dosage and I was fine. Absolutely, completely fine. Maybe if I kept telling myself that, it would come true.
‘You shouldn’t go home alone,’ he said when we finally drew close to Edinburgh. ‘Come back to Pemberville Castle. We can spend more time working on your meditation skills and controlling your magic so you don’t have another outburst.’
‘You’ve given me the basics,’ I said. ‘I’ll keep practising and come to you when I’ve mastered those techniques. But I’ve got things to do.’ I waved my hands around. ‘People to see. I’m a busy person.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Are you?’ he asked sceptically.
‘Yes.’ On that count, I wasn’t lying: there was some urgent research I needed to carry out, not to mention a visit to see a certain fiend-banishing witch.
Hugo glanced at my face. I knew he wasn’t happy, but I wasn’t his responsibility and I wouldn’t be alone. ‘There’s no shame in admitting you need help, Daisy.’
The only help I needed was some tiny white pills. ‘I’ll be fine.’ My voice was firm. ‘I’d tell you otherwise.’
A muscle throbbed in Hugo’s cheek. ‘You don’t have to take more drugs.’
I did.
‘It’s incredibly dangerous to keep increasing your dose.’
It was.
‘It won’t end well.’
It would not. I smiled. ‘Don’t worry about me, Hugo. I’ve got this.’
I made it to the hospital just before visiting hours ended. Naturally, despite my excellent sense of direction, I managed to get lost on my way to Mud McAlpine’s ward. For some time now I’d suspected that hospitals deliberately made their layout as complicated as possible to distract people from the horrible reasons they had for visiting.
