Page 76 of Fiendish Delights
It wasdark by the time we got into the Jeep and started driving. Hugo’s skin was paler than normal and he was sporting a fewbandages, but thankfully he was mostly unscathed. I drove while he drummed his fingers on the dashboard. Otis and Hester had taken up position by the back window, determined to look out for any fiends following us.
When I turned away from the motorway and onto a series of winding country roads, Hugo finally broke the heavy silence. ‘We should talk about the elephant in the room,’ he said.
I swallowed hard and nodded. ‘I don’t know why the fiend seemed to recognise me. If he was capable of taking another form, like Zashtum was, maybe our paths have crossed before without me realising it. And I don’t know why he didn’t kill me because he could have done. It would only have taken a moment. I saw it in his eyes – I should be dead now and I don’t know why I’m not.’
Hugo’s jaw tightened and his drumming increased in speed. ‘That’s not what I’m talking about.’
Oh.
‘Who knows why a fiend does or says anything?’ he continued. ‘We should be grateful that you’re fine and leave it at that.’
I adjusted my grip on the steering wheel. A different elephant, then. ‘I only took a double dose of spider’s silk before we went into that building because it helps me concentrate. It focuses my magic and controls it more effectively. I know it dampens my powers a little, but being able to control what I do is worth it. It’s been useful in fights, too. It helps me not to feel pain.’
Now Hugo looked even more annoyed. ‘I’m not talking about that either,’ he said through gritted teeth.
I was confused. ‘Then I don’t know what you’re talking about. What elephant?’
Hugo muttered something under his breath before turning to me. ‘You kissed me. It wasn’t a big kiss, and I’m confident you can do better, but you still kissed me of your own free will.You weren’t in withdrawal or hallucinating, you weren’t underneath any mistletoe. You kissed me because you wanted to.’
I kept my eyes firmly on the dark road in front of us. I’d barely touched his mouth with mine. ‘You were hurt.’
‘Not badly.’
‘I wanted to prove I cared.’
‘Slim, Miriam, Becky and Rizwan care. None of them would have kissed me.’
‘They might have.’
‘They wouldn’t.’ Hugo suddenly sounded very smug.
‘It was a peck. Nothing more.’
The dimple in his cheek appeared. ‘Next time it’ll be much, much more.’
‘There won’t be a next time.’
‘Yes, there will.’
I spotted a layby up ahead, pulled the Jeep into it and turned off the engine. He wanted to address the elephant? Fine.
The amusement in Hugo’s eyes faded and was replaced by something far more serious, far more intense. ‘I know you’re afraid to act upon your real feelings because of your addiction,’ he said.
‘Your best friend died because of spider’s silk, Hugo. I’m already halfway there.’
‘It won’t kill you. I won’t let it.’
‘You won’t have any choice.’
He watched me carefully. ‘You owe me a favour.’
I recoiled slightly. ‘And you want it to be a sexual favour?’ I thought he was better than that –farbetter than that.
‘No. Bloody hell! What kind of man do you think I am?’
I shrugged awkwardly.
‘Once all this is over,’ he said, ‘once we have the chess set secure in the British Museum and the fiends haveslunk back into whichever holes they usually lurk, you will repay that favour by coming to stay at Pemberville Castle.’
