Page 7 of Bleeding for the Prince
“It could be a malicious sprite,” Hyax said, but he didn’t sound convinced. “They can be a bit tricky to track, so thatmightexplain why your consultant didn’t find them.”
“But sprites tend to leave rainbow dust, and there was nothing, not even a smattering of glitter,” Daniel said. “It’s frustrating. As you can imagine, Mr Squire wants answers.”
Gwil thought Daniel was genuinely annoyed alongside his boss, but that could mean he wasn’t one of the select few who might be in on the explanation if this was all a scheme of Howard’s. “Where do you think it might be best to start?”
“The toy department. We’d rather not have a repeat of that little situation. Multiple items were affected. Although they’re no longer on display, others of their type are.”
Hyax nodded. “Seems reasonable. Do you still have any of the toys that were impacted?”
“Yes. I assumed you’d want to see a couple of pieces of evidence.”
Daniel went over to a sideboard in the corner, unlocked a door and removed a giant pink rabbit. “This is one of them. It tried to take a bite out of a toddler. As you can see, nothing that screams demonic possession or rampaging ghost.”
Hyax held the rabbit, its long ears were comically floppy as Hyax turned it around and upside down. “Are you sure this was affected?” Hyax said.
“Yes.” Daniel held out a rubber duck. “As was this.”
Hyax took the bright yellow toy in one hand and had the rabbit in the other. Gwil had to pretend to cough to hide his snigger at how ridiculous the sight was.
“I imagine, Your Highness, you’re as confused as our consultant. We even sent a third toy off to the Warlock Ruling Committee for testing, and they sent back a rude letter about wasting their time.”
“I can’t get anything off these, and in normal situations, when an object’s been cast against, even when they’ve been wiped clean, there’s always something.” Hyax glowered at the duck. “Have you considered they were switched?”
“We’re not ruling it out, but that would lead to the question of who would go to the trouble of magically corrupting a selection of toys and then stealing them?” Daniel took the duck and bunny and locked them away. Gwil made a mental note to buy copies because Hyax needed to be reminded of how daft he looked lobbing a pink fluffy bunny about. “Shall we head to the fourth floor?”
Hyax was on his feet and ready to go. Gwil wasn’t surprised at the change of urgency on Hyax’s part because Hyax was nothing if not nosy, and he’d been given a lead to an interesting mystery to solve. Gwil had to admit he was intrigued, but he thought he wasn’t getting all the nuances. He’d like the chance to talk to Hyax alone, sooner rather than later, to make sure they didn’t go off at different tangents.
They followed Daniel out back into the main area of the shop towards the rear and the customer lift and past the cosmetics counters, where Hyax cast a deflection spell to ward off stray perfume clouds as several members of staff appeared ready to attack. A lift operator, complete with top hat and livery, was waiting. Gwil hadn’t seen one of those in years; he was so charmed he was even able to look past him being a ghoul. He had fond memories of the early days of London’s department stores, where he might not have been able to buy everything he wanted, but could wander around pretending he could and not be treated as if he might nick something.
The lift had retained an Art Deco feel, although it must have modern innards, as there were no weird clicks or clunks as they ascended smoothly to the fourth floor. Gwil hadn’t seen many other shoppers; there were a couple of people about, but it was still early in the evening and a Monday, so not likely to be too busy. The doors opened onto the toy department, and Gwil was nostalgic for a childhood he’d never got to have.
His Victorian upbringing, or rather his mother’s lack of funds, meant there hadn’t been many options for toys. A lot of those on display wouldn’t have been available back then. He spotted a set of wooden trains he’d have sold a kidney for when he was a child, but doubted the average kid today would be interested. Apart from a couple of notable exceptions, vampires didn’t have children; they created the next generation by using their thrall and turning potential candidates, so there wouldn’t be a ‘toys for vampires’ section. He heard Hyax’s breath hitch, and he headed over to where he was standing next to a pile of glowing balls. “You have moon lights!”
“We have a range of fae toys, they are very popular. We almost had a stampede when the last batch came in.” Daniel picked up a purple vibrating hairball. “No doubt this is familiar too?”
Hyax took it. “Oh, I had one of these. I loved it bald.”
“What is it?” Gwil asked.
“As fae grow up, our magic is erratic, and pets are not a good idea until we’re a bit more settled, so we have these. They’re called bipbeeps, and you can pet them and look after them, but they’re not alive. A bit like an interactive teddy bear.”
“They look like something Midnight might play with,” Gwil said. “Although not for long, as I think she’d probably try and eat it.”
Hyax tutted. “It’s not a cat’s toy, Gwil. Maybe we can get you a cuddly bat?”
Daniel cleared his throat, and Gwil remembered he was a member of the House that could turn into a squeaky mouse with wings. “Or I could play with Mr Moreton.”
Hyax’s scowl was too funny not to react to. Gwil walked away on the pretence of being interested in a display of board games.
“Where was the incident?” he heard Hyax ask.
“Just by where Gwil is standing. We’ve moved things around since. These board games were originally on the far wall, but that’s where the toy soldiers are now.”
As far as Gwil could tell, there was nothing about where he was standing worthy of note. While he wouldn’t necessarily pick up specific magic, his vampire sense would have alerted him if there was something; he’d had more interesting tingles from being frisked when entering a nightclub.
Hyax wandered over to the toy soldiers, and Gwil came to stand next to him. He was amused to see different species of soldiers, so a kid could pit an elf against a wizard or a squad of guard trolls. Pretty cool, and he would’ve loved a set as a kid.
“Picking up anything?” he asked.
