Page 25 of Box of Frogs
I wasn’t sure what was harder to believe, that I was supposedly a faery or a bad guy. Either way, emotional self-preservation kicked in and I rounded on him, fists clenched. ‘You arsebadger!’ I spat. ‘What? I’m evil because I didn’t play along with your idea of the perfect girlfriend? Because I don’t think you’re a sex god whose feet I should fall at and worship? Forget scorned women, Morgan. Look at you!’
His eyes narrowed dangerously. ‘I’m not referring to what happened between us, Madrona, although that would be reason enough to designate you a bitch and be done with you. You deal in pixie dust. You’ve created addicts out of hundreds of our kind. You work for Rubus, of all people. If it were up to me, I’d have locked you up years ago.’
‘Oh yeah?’ I sneered. ‘Why didn’t you?’
‘The truce—’ he began stiffly.
‘Truce? Ha! That’s a laugh. When I woke up on that damned golf course, there was the beheaded corpse next to me of someone who’d obviously tried to kill me.’
Morgan stilled. ‘You took someone’s head?’ His voice was low. ‘You killed one of us? But that’s impossible. Was it a human, Madrona? Did you kill an innocent human?’
I threw up my hands. ‘That’s what you’re taking from this? Not how am I, or why was I was targeted for execution, but did I kill someone in self-defence? How the hell should I know what happened? I can’t remember, as I’ve told you far too many times already. I think the fact that three ugly goons appeared moments later and tried to shoot me would prove my innocence – and that they showed up at my hotel this morning, no doubt to try again. But, no,I’mthe evil one.I’mthe bitch.’ I rolled my eyes.
‘So a serious attempt was made on your life,’ Morgan growled. For the first time since we’d left the library he took hold of me, his hand encircling my forearm in a tight grip. At least it wasn’t my other arm; the pain from the cut on my finger was spreading up that limb, sending tentacles of agony through my veins. ‘Tell me about it.’
I wrenched away from him. ‘Like you care. What the gasbudlikins is the stupid truce anyway?’
He didn’t reach for me again. There was no getting away from his expression, however; he was watching me like a hawk. ‘It was formed not long after we realised we were trapped here and unable to return home. The humans who own this demesne can’t find out that we are here. We all knew that if we didn’t re-open the border tempers would flare. There is the potential for … catastrophic chaos if violence between us ensues. It is the one thing that is immutable: no Fey is to seriously attack or kill another. None of us has broken the truce since the day it was declared. In truth, we’re physically incapable of it – no Fey can harm another. We all signed on the dotted line and we are all held by it. There are no exceptions.’ His voice hardened. ‘If someone has found a way to get round the truce, things are far worse than I realised. Were your attackers Fey, Maddie?’
I gestured up at the heavens. ‘How on earth am I supposed to know? They were ugly. They didn’t look human. They were probably related to each other.’ And, I added silently to myself, they were probably working for someone else.
‘Usually it’s easy to tell, just as it should be easy to tell when you are near a border crossing. It’s the rowan. The poison in your system is dampening down your natural instincts and understanding.’ His jaw clenched. ‘Are these attackers the ones who did that? Did they poison you?’
Unwilling to tell him that I’d done it myself, I looked away. ‘Does it really matter?’ I said distantly.
‘Of course it matters.’ His response was harsh. ‘If you killed one of us, whether you remember the act or not, then the consequences cannot be changed. If the truce is broken, I will not be able to help you.’ Hatred laced his words. ‘Don’t think Rubus will either, even if you accomplished your … feat under his orders. But if the reverse is true and they attacked you…’
‘Like you would care,’ I said, stepping away from him to give myself some breathing space. ‘You’ve already damned me. How many – Fey are there?’ I wasn’t going to use the word ‘faery’ if I could help it.
‘One thousand four hundred and seventy-two,’ he answered instantly. ‘Most are in the United Kingdom, although some are abroad. The majority of the border points are located here.’ He continued to watch me. ‘Come with me. I’ll get you the nux you need to counteract the rowan’s poison. Together we can investigate what really happened to you.’
I took yet another step back. ‘And you can ensure justice is served if it turns out I’m the one who’s initiated the attacks and broke your truce. You’ll be delighted then, won’t you, Morgan? Because I’m an evil bitch. I probably deserve it.’
His entire body went ramrod straight at my words. ‘Maddy—’
‘Forget it,’ I said. ‘I don’t need your help. I’ll find some of this nux crap on my own. You can crawl back to your little pub and forget I ever existed.’
‘For Fey’s sake,’ he ground out. ‘Will you just come with me? Stop being so bloody stubborn.’
I glared at him. ‘Apparently I’m a nasty super villain. I don’t need the likes of a goody two shoes like you interfering in my life.’
Then, before he could say another word, I spun away and left him standing. I even managed to resist the temptation to glance back.
Chapter Ten
I’d spent more time with Morgan than I’d realised and it was after seven by the time I let myself into Julie’s house with her own key. The wisdom of accepting this job, given the irritating green-eyed arsebadger’s supposed revelations about me, was diminishing by the second. I was also confused that Julie had permitted access to her home to a virtual stranger. No wonder she was in trouble if she was always this trusting.
The house was surprisingly modest although it was very tastefully done. I pushed aside my concerns about myself and ignored Julie’s décor in favour of examining her security systems. There appeared to be very few. Given how pedantic Bodyguard Mark had been about a sealed bottle of pills, it was hard to believe that she only had a simple Yale lock to keep out potential intruders. At least all the windows were closed and properly locked, although when I located Julie’s bedroom and saw that it was overlooked by yet another Travotel, I wasn’t happy. It wouldn’t take an evil genius like me to spy on her in her own home.
I was halfway down the stairs to the ground floor when I heard the front door open and the clickety-clack of high heels on the parquet flooring. I ran all the way down, reaching Julie just as she hung up her coat.
I began with a scolding. ‘You don’t have any burglar alarms. How can you not have any burglar alarms? Someone could break one of your windows and be inside strangling you before you can reach for the phone. I’ve counted at least five access points where I could gain entrance within seconds. Seconds, Julie! And this location! There are at least fifty hotel guests across the street who are peering into your bedroom right now.’
She unhooked the scarf from round her neck and smiled. ‘Evening, Madrona.’
I frowned. ‘Evening. Now, listen, you…’
Julie dropped the scarf, letting it fall into a puddle on the floor, and continued to smile. ‘You sound just like Mark. Before we do anything,’ she said, ‘I need a large G and T.’ She waltzed past me into the kitchen.
