Page 18 of Fiendish Delights
‘Innocence,’ Mud hummed. ‘Death. Sorrow. Joy.’
I abandoned my search temporarily and frowned at Hugo. He shook his head in warning, though I wasn’t sure what he was warning me about.
‘Light. Dark. Roots. Flowers.’ Mud’s mouth curved into a wide smile. ‘And the magic final ingredient.’
He reached the other side of the circle, just as the last of Duchess’s toenail was rubbed into the grater. He looked up and his eyes rested on Hugo. ‘Lord Hugo Pemberville will enjoy this.’
As soon as the words left Mud’s mouth, there was a loud, ear-destroying bang and the mysterious magic circle started to fill with blood-red smoke.
Chapter
Six
Ilet out a high-pitched yelp. Hester zoomed towards me, her tiny arms waving frantically in the air. She threw herself into the pocket that she’d so vocally maligned, while Otis burrowed into the folds of Hugo’s suit.
I pulled back my shoulders and prepared to run for the door. I’d only recently been introduced to the horrors and dangers of blood magic – and this looked a hell of a lot like it. I had no desire to experience its effects again.
Before I could get close to the exit, Hugo grabbed me, pulling me towards his body. ‘It’s alright,’ he murmured in my ear. ‘I know what he’s doing. As long as you don’t cross into the circle, it’s safe.’
‘But—’
‘Trust me, Daisy. I wouldn’t put you in unnecessary danger.’
Something about those words made me pause and I stayed where I was. I couldn’t see Mud – he was on the other side of the circle obscured by the smoke. But I could hear him. His humming had been replaced by singing. ‘It’s working,’ he chanted. ‘It’s working, it’s working!’
‘What the fuck is going on, Hugo?’ I asked.
‘I’ll explain later. Watch the circle. You won’t see this sort of thing very often.’
I wasn’t convinced I wanted to see this sort of thingever, but I stayed where I was. If Hugo wasn’t scared then neither was I. I had a reputation as a hard-arse junkie to maintain.
Although the smoke had seemed impenetrable, it didn’t take long to dissipate. It thinned out, wisping away until nothing more than a few scarlet tendrils remained. The circle wasn’t empty; in its centre, lying on the floor, was a rolled-up scroll. In front of it, Mud McAlpine was dancing from foot to foot, his expression filled with pure glee.
‘It’s powerful magic,’ Hugo said. ‘Only a witch of the highest calibre could do this. If McAlpine has done what I think he has, that scroll will provide information about the location of at least one of the thirteen mythical treasures.’
‘It’s about fucking time as well,’ a high-pitched voice said from the doorway. The back of my neck started to itch in earnest yet again. ‘You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this.’
I jerked with shock, yanking myself from Hugo’s grip. ‘Sophia? What are you doing here?’
The young girl crooked a smile in my direction, though it wasn’t a cute, innocent grin; in fact, her expression suggested incredible malice. ‘Thanks for your help,’ she said with a curtsey. ‘I wasn’t sure you’d come through for me but you did what I needed you to do. You’re not as useless as you look.’
I gaped at her. Where had the sweet, grief-stricken kid gone? ‘Wh – what?’
‘This is where you lose,’ she said. ‘And I win.’ Her nasty smile extended to both sides of her face. ‘Sorry. Am I patro – patro – patro – patro – patronising you?’
Mud roared, leapt in front of Sophia and reached for her throat. ‘No! The fiend shall nothave it!’
‘Fiend? You mean—’ Hugo didn’t finish his sentence. He slammed out a burst of air magic and directed it at Sophia’s chest. She was thrown backwards, her spine thudding against the wall and sending several of the pinned papers flying into the air.
Mud’s fingers tightened around her neck. And that was when Sophia started to transform.
Her skin changed colour, deepening from pale freckles to a lustrous sheen, almost as if she were made out of gold. Her arms and legs bulged, muscles appearing in places where before there had only been skinny limbs, while her hair receded and smoothed into her skull until she was entirely bald. She didn’t grow in height but her physical presence was immensely altered, with waves of power emanating from the core of her body. When she blinked, I realised that her eyes had altered in both shape and colour; not only had they narrowed to thin slits that were less than a centimetre wide, but they glowed the same bright red as the smoke that had recently filled Mud’s magic circle.
Cumbubbling bastards. A fiend? What fresh new hell was this?
I sprang forward, unsure what to do but certain that I had to do something. Before I could get close, Sophia wrenched Mud’s fingers from her throat and thrust out the base of her now-clawed hand. Her nails were at least four inches in length and pitch-black.
Mud’s eyes widened and he exhaled a loud oof as he fell.
