Page 25 of Searching for the Prince
He sniffed. “Important to you, is not necessarily important to me.”
“What if I were to say you’d be helping a fae Prince and a future Dark Earl?”
Copperpipe’s eyes bulged, which was saying something as they were prominent to begin with. “You are referring to the Viscount of MacLove?
“Yes.”
“He was only married not long back. To the young Flint boy…” Copperpipe licked his teeth. “He is missing? And if I help, I will be assisting those people?”
Copperpipe usually came with an attitude of not giving a fuck, that he’d get around to helping if he wished as long as he got what he wanted in return. Often it was food-related, he didn’t seem to want for much, but this opportunity was too big for him to miss.
“Yep, and the quicker you help, the happier they’ll be.”
He hopped from one foot to the other. “Tell me and I will see.”
“Hyax did a spell, but we weren’t able to fix an exact point to where we know Prince Simon is being held, but it’s a medical facility, most likely in a stately home with a lake. I’m guessing there’ll be some sort of warding around the place as the thought is the scheme has been masterminded by a lich.”
Copperpipe hissed. “A nasty creature.”
“Yeah, and I guess it’s a big ask, but what do you reckon?”
Copperpipe bobbed his head from side to side, Gwil thinking he might be having an internal conversation. “I have many hands at my disposal. There is some goblin magic I can use and having people everywhere is useful.”
Gwil had suspected Copperpipe was part goblin, but the other bits weren’t obvious. “How long?”
“I can probably track down the who within twelve hours or so, the exact where within forty-eight… for the right price.”
He knew Copperpipe had an incredible network, but this was beyond what he was expecting. “What do you want?”
He grinned and danced on the spot. “You might not be able to pay this price.”
“I might not, but the people I’m working with will.”
He dug around in the sack that he wore as a tunic and pulled out a crumpled photograph of a famous female singer. “Tickets for her.”
Gwil wasn’t sure how a load of potato people turning up at the hottest gig in town would go down, and he wasn’t in the position to make this happen, but he’d bet Solivatus or Robin could. “Deal. I’ll even see if I can get a phone call.”
“Oh, if I get to talk to her then I’ll get everything in twenty-four hours. Guaranteed.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
He left Copperpipe and headed back to the surface. As soon as he had enough reception on his phone he called his sire.
Solivatus answered. “Gwil?”
“This is going to sound bonkers. I can get you the whereabouts of our missing prince, but you might have to call in a few favours…”
Gwil walked home, he didn’t want to draw attention to himself by subjecting the Tube to the pong, but hopefully Hyax would be home and could do a quick sluicing spell to take the edge off until he’d had a shower.
He was debating getting a kebab when he was grabbed and pulled into an alleyway. Usually, he could handle a mugger with his above-average strength, but his attacker was strong.
“For fuck’s sake, Gwil. It’s me.”
He stared at the pretty copper-haired fae and realised she was Cikla, Hyax’s best fae friend—they’d known each other since childhood.
“Cikla? What are you playing at?”
“I needed to speak to you.” Her nose wrinkled and she gagged. “What the fuck is that smell?”
