Page 24 of Searching for the Prince
They left, heading downstairs, anywhere away from Solivatus was acceptable to Hyax. Gwil squeezed Hyax’s hand and he received a small smile for his trouble. “What do we do now?”
“I was expecting a car to take us back to London so you can go and chase a potato around the sewers. I’m not sure what our further involvement after that will be.”
Karl materialized at the foot of the main staircase. Standing next to him was an elf in Armani. “Gentlemen, I was hoping before you left, myself and Alex could have a word,” Karl said gesturing to the elf. “After which I’ll have a car called to take you home.”
Hyax had been fascinated by Alex, elves weren’t known for being subservient to anyone, so for him to be Lord Crofton’s secretary was a real enigma. He wasn’t used to being made demands of by servants, but he was far too intrigued to say no. “Very well.”
“Thank you, Your Highness,” Alex said. “Please follow me.”
They were shown into a pleasant reception room. Gwil seemed more bemused than anything and Hyax got the sense that Gwil wasn’t the one they wanted to talk to.
“Go on then, what do you want?”
Alex cleared his throat. “This is a sensitive matter and one I hope addressing you directly with will help. There is some thought that once Prince Simon is located, it will be a simple matter of extracting him.”
Hyax could see Alex wasn’t comfortable with this topic, in theory he was talking behind his master’s back, but he must be concerned if he felt the need to do so. “That would be a somewhat naïve assumption given the amount of effort that has been put into keeping Simon in the first place.”
“Quite.” Alex’s gaze darted to Gwil. “I would say it was less naivety and more bravado, the senior vampires involved are not what you’d call humble regarding their capabilities.”
Gwil snorted. “No shit. Look, they’re going to think that once they have an address, they’ll be able to rush the place and the jobs done. But that’s a fantasy.”
Alex looked relieved at Gwil’s agreement. “So, to that end, I think this will need to be a highly coordinated magical operation. And I was hoping we could call on Your Highness and Mr Hilt to support.”
“Gwil’s not magical.” Hyax didn’t want Gwil more involved than he had to be, he was happy to help in whatever fashion, but Gwil was a different story.
“I realise that, but I think we may need to find a way to infiltrate the facility when we find it, and your magical signature would be nigh on impossible to mask, but your magic would be incredibly useful to have a different flavour in any spell work.”
“It would make more sense for me to go in,” Gwil said. “I’ve done undercover work before.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Hyax said.
Gwil rolled his eyes. “It might not come to anything, but if needed I’m willing. I suspect if this is going to be magic-led, you’ll need to square things with the Warlock Ruling Committee as well.”
Hyax was aware of them, they tended to leave the fae alone when it came to matters in their own realm but were sticklers for all magical creatures adhering to the rules here. “Yes, if you don’t involve them, they’ll be super pissed off and annoying.”
“Lord Crofton’s partner is a member of the WRC. He’s already aware, and he suggested we all talk to you. His Lordship can be… a little led by his peers, so to speak.”
Hyax laughed. “Right, I understand. The vampires are cocky bastards and we’re going to need to give them a dose of reality without sounding like we are.”
Alex grinned. “I am so glad we are aligned.”
“I’m willing to do whatever is needed to bring Simon home, I have my own reasons for doing so, but you can count on my support.” He glanced at Gwil who was staring at him defiantly. “And of course Gwil’s.”
They would have to discuss some boundaries, but he knew there was no way Gwil wouldn’t help if the senior blood suckers asked. But if anything happened to him, he would make the pointy-toothed fuckers pay in the worse possible way.
CHAPTER NINE
Gwil waded through the sewers, not his favourite London location, but it was a means to an end, and he needed to find Copperpipe in a hurry. Hunting a sewer dweller wasn’t easy and it would be typical that the little bastard would hide when he needed him the most.
“Copperpipe!” he called, his voice echoing off the walls. He’d been down here longer than he’d wanted and so far, no sign of him. “I have pear drops.”
Still no answer.
He was about to give up and head back to the surface when he heard the scrape of metal. Hyax wasn’t wrong that Copperpipe looked like a potato on legs, and as he landed in front of Gwil there was even a clod of soil on the side of his bulbous head.
“Gwil, my favourite dead man. What you want?”
“I am in need of your special skills. There’s a missing persons case, a very important individual, and the people involved would be grateful for your help.”
