Page 70 of Pining for the Prince
He knew this hadn’t been Gwil’s preferred option, but they’d hit a brick wall and accepting further help from the vampires was better than dealing with Goya.
“All right. I’ll meet you at home.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Gwil hadn’t expected to hear from Flume so fast. But a goblin appeared at the door to his office within an hour of him sending Flume a message. “Gwilym Hilt?” he asked, at least he assumed it was male as he’d never met a female since the goblins kept their womenfolk at home.
“Yes.”
“Mr Flume is waiting to receive you and Prince Hyax at his private residency at your earliest convenience.”
“His Highness isn’t here at the moment.” Hyax had left to return the stone, but as far as he knew he’d be back as soon as possible. “Once he arrives we can call on Mr Flume.”
The goblin sniffed. He was dressed in a bespoke three-piece suit that was probably from the goblin equivalent of Savile Row, which from memory was somewhere around the back of Southwark Cathedral. From the inside pocket of his expensively-tailored jacket, he removed a business card. “This is Mr Flume’s address. You should not dawdle.”
His experience with goblins was limited, for a reason, as they were terrifying little buggers, some of whom had a taste for undead human flesh. “We’ll be as fast as we can.”
An orange circle began to form, and it looked like Hyax had finally turned up on time for something, not that he knew it. “Gwil!” Hyax stepped through and stopped. “Oh, who’s he?”
“Mr Flume’s associate. He came personally to let us know we are expected.”
“Right.” Hyax’s view on goblins was similar to his own. Goblins had songs about pulling the wings off fairies. “I take it we are expected now?”
The goblin cleared his throat. “If it is not an inconvenience to His Highness.”
“Not inconvenient at all,” Hyax replied, raising an eyebrow in Gwil’s direction.
“Excellent I have a car waiting for us outside. I would humbly suggest, that said, we make haste, Mr Flume has some important engagements this evening and he is keen not to be late.”
They followed the goblin out of the front door to where a car was waiting for them. It was the sort of car film stars and celebrities would be seen getting in and out of and, while Gwil assumed Hyax would be used to this level of luxury, it was far from his own usual method of transport. As predicted, Hyax slid into the back of the car as if he owned it, and Gwil clambered in beside him.
It dawned on him that he had no idea where Flume lived. In all his dealings with him over the last century, Gwil had always met him at his club. He realised they were heading north out of the city and was surprised to find they had stopped in a less salubrious area of Camden, not the sort of place he’d expected a vampire of Flume’s wealth and reputation to live. Having said that, the car came to a halt outside a small mansion, relatively modern and, again somewhat surprising for a vampire who had been undead for three centuries to choose such a style of architecture.
Hyax appeared as confused. “Are you sure this is where Flume lives?” He asked getting out of the car.
The goblin gave him a most dismissive stare. “I amquitesure, Your Highness. I have been working for Mr Flume for many years and for the last five he has taken up residency here. He decided he wanted something more modern that would not require constant upkeep. And had much better blackout capabilities. His last property had an unfortunate south-facing aspect that was something of a sun trap at times.”
That explained it. The last thing Flume would have wanted was to risk being turned into crispy bacon. The goblin trotted ahead, leaving Gwil and Hyax to hurry after him. The interior was a little bit more as he expected, with deep rich colourings in the drapes and furnishings, and a definite feel of Victoriana.
They were escorted to the back of the property and to Flume’s office, which looked like something from the 1870s, Gwil felt a lot more comfortable, as if the normal balance of the universe had been restored.
“Thank you for coming, Your Highness, and Gwil,” Flume said from behind his monstrosity of a desk. “And at such short notice.”
Hyax sat without permission but Gwil knew his place in the vampire hierarchy and waited for Flume to waft his hand in the general direction of a chair before sitting. “Actually, I want to thank you for replying to Gwil’s message with such expediency,” Hyax said. “I have a delicate matter relating to my family to discuss.”
Flume stared at Hyax. “You have retrieved the Stone of Ljin, I take it. Or were you unable to find it at the museum?”
“The stone is safely back in the fae realm, but it does beg the question of how you knew,” Gwil said. “My sister said the Council was involved on the periphery, but Penelope didn’tmention you by name, and if you were involved and she’d known that, she would have said.”
Flume laughed. “Your sister might be a well-connected woman but she doesn’t know everything, and not everything is Vampire Council business.”
“So you’re admitting you were aware and knew where the stone was?” pressed Hyax.
“Of course I did, do you really think I was so bothered by an old watch to gift a house in such a well-placed location? Since when are vampires sentimental?” He smirked. “Or when have I been sentimental? Gwil has known me long enough to know better.”
“I thought you were just being bloody-minded over the watch and knew it would take something special to get Hyax on board.”
“To be fair that is one of my most dominant traits.”
