Page 23 of Honour Bound
I paused. ‘That I’d really like to be able to do that,’ I admitted. ‘I also suddenly felt dizzy and sick.’
The merman scratched his chin. ‘And do you remember what you thought when you learnt the Bull could read auras? Did you feel dizzy then as well?’
‘It was the same,’ I said slowly. ‘I thought it was a cool Gift and I felt a bit sick.’ I paused. ‘You don’t think…’
Taylor jumped to his feet. ‘It would be perfect. We thought that you werelearningGifts from others but it’s more than that. You see something you want and you can take it. You see a Gift you want and somehow you leech it into yourself. That’s why the Gifts don’t last. That’s why the demon lost his. You stole it from him.’
I pursed my lips. ‘That doesn’t explain the teleportation. I never met another Sidhe who could do that. Not that I know of anyway.’
Taylor snapped his fingers. ‘But the genie can teleport.’
My mouth dropped open. ‘You’re right.’ I looked round. ‘WhereisBob?’
Brochan gave a long-suffering sigh. ‘I locked him in your bedroom. I just couldn’t listen to him prattle on any longer. And he’s still making me sneeze.’
I pushed back my chair and flung open the door. Bob was standing on my dresser, wearing what looked like a long cocktail dress and a pink feather boa. He was turning this way and that, admiring himself in the mirror. ‘Bob!’ I said sharply.
He froze before slowly moving his head to look at me in comical astonishment. ‘Um, hi, Uh Integrity. I was just, um … never mind.’
‘You look beautiful.’
He curtsied. ‘You don’t. You’re covered in some strange icky black stuff.’
‘Never mind that now.’ The others were crowding round at my back. ‘Bob, you remember yonks ago when I made that first wish and you teleported me to the Bull’s rooms at the Cruaich?’
‘Technically, I didn’t do that. The wish did that.’
‘Whatever. After that happened, I could teleport. Did you…’ I wrinkled my nose. ‘Did you feel any different afterwards?’
He twirled the end of the boa in the air. ‘You mean did I notice that you’d stolen some of my power from me? Sure. Why do you think I spent so long falling through the air with you when you teleported out of the window? It certainly wasn’t through choice.’ He shrugged amicably. ‘There’s no need to worry though. I’m a genie. I have limitless powers which you can only dream of. My teleportation returned quickly enough.’
I folded my arms and stared at him. ‘You didn’t think to mention this before?’ I asked through gritted teeth.
‘You didn’t ask.’ He gave an innocent smile. ‘I thought you already knew.’
Brochan growled. ‘I’m going to take that damn letter opener you live in and…’
Bob wagged his finger. ‘It’s a scimitar.’
‘Bob,’ I said, ‘this is important. After I visited the grove, someone attacked me with fireballs. I saw Byron use pyrokinesis. I couldn’t do that though even though I tried.’
He tsked. ‘Because you didn’t want to. You’re a natural thief. Your subconscious only takes the Gifts that you want.’
‘For a limited time.’
He shrugged. ‘Yup. Depends on the Gift though. You took aura reading and it lasted for ages, probably because you made the Bull your slave first so it was easier to draw more of it from him.’
‘He’s not my slave,’ I snapped.
‘He kind of is,’ Lexie whispered. I glared at her over my shoulder.
‘He didn’t say anything about losing his Gift.’
‘Again,’ Bob said with a weary air, ‘you didn’t ask him. You need to learn the right questions, Uh Integrity.’
‘He was probably afraid of showing you how weak he was,’ Brochan agreed.
‘Or,’ Speck added, ‘he was shitting his pants that he’d lost it completely and he was terrified of you and what you’re capable of.’
