Page 80 of Skullduggery
It didn’t take long to agree a plan; truth be told, it would have been even faster if Hugo and I hadn’t kept pausing to touch each other. There was nothing kinky in it – we didn’t have time for anything like that – but his fingers repeatedly brushed the back of my hand, and I found several opportunities to touch his knee. We sat as close as we could; the presence of fiends made me itch, but the presence of Hugo made me shiver. Deliciously.
We rested and refuelled our bodies then, as soon as the sun slid down across the Edinburgh rooftops, we started. We would only get one shot at this so we had to make every second count. Athair was stronger, possessed better magic and was much, much more experienced than we were. I couldn’t begin to fathom how old he was – but all those details that made us the obvious underdogs would drive us to success.
‘David beat Goliath,’ I said to Hugo.
He grinned. ‘In 480AD, three hundred Spartans held off thousands of Persian soldiers.’
Otis squinted. ‘Didn’t they all die in the end?’
Hugo shrugged. ‘Yeah, but I’d argue they still won.’
The brownies frowned, clearly still dubious about our plans.
‘What about that cat video?’ I suggested to them. ‘Where the cat fends off an alligator?’
‘Or Liverpool versus AC Milan in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final?’ Hugo added. All three of us turned to stare at him. ‘What?’ he asked. ‘They were the underdogs. They pulled off an amazing victory.’
‘Do you know any football results from 1994?’ Hester asked, speaking in a deliberately casual tone.
Hugo’s brow creased. ‘Brazil won the World Cup.’ He paused. ‘Actually, I think the FA Cup Final is tomorrow.’
‘Who wins?’
‘Manchester United, of course.’
Hester examined his face. ‘Uh-huh.’
‘What about horse racing in 1994?’ Otis asked.
Hugo didn’t hesitate. ‘Miinehoma won the Grand National. Go For Gin won the Kentucky Derby.’
‘And tennis?’ Hester demanded with a side look in my direction.
‘It’s not my sport,’ Hugo admitted. ‘But I’m sure that Pete Sampras and Conchita Martinez won their respective Wimbledon finals.’
Hester folded her arms and glared at me; even Otis looked slightly put out.
‘How on earth do you know all this?’ I asked.
Hugo suddenly seemed faintly embarrassed. ‘I like sport. When I was younger and had more time on my hands, I used to study past sporting events. I wanted to learn about form and history so I could hold my own with the old guys down the pub on a Saturday afternoon. And you know I love competition of any sort.’
Hester shook her head mournfully. ‘What could have been,’she muttered to herself. ‘I wish you’d had a misspent youth, Daisy.’
‘I did,’ I retorted. ‘It’s just that mine involved drugs.’
I looked to the right and spotted an unnatural looking shadow loitering down a side street. Thank goodness: now I could change the subject. ‘There’s one,’ I said with overly bright cheeriness. It was probably the first time anyone had been pleased to see a vampire.
I glanced down at the glassy eyes of the plastic doll in my arms. She was missing an arm and some enterprising child with an artistic bent had drawn all over her face with permanent marker, but that didn’t present a problem to our plans.
‘Wearerunning away, right?’ Hester asked.
‘Yep.’ I swung my head away from the lurking vamp. ‘Act casual. And get ready.’
I cradled the doll. We were all tense, but even if the bloodsucker noticed our simmering anxiety it wouldn’t make a difference. Anyone would be tense in our situation. I licked my lips, tugged at the blanket covering the doll, and snapped irritably and loudly at Hugo. ‘We have to find shelter. It’s already dark – it’s far too risky to stay out here.’
He responded in kind. ‘That damned fiend won’t still be in Edinburgh. He thinks we’ve left, remember? He won’t find us.’
‘It’s not only Athair we have to worry about! There will be vampires all over the place!’
