Страница 79 из 84
‘Well, pretty sidhe, what say you?’ The Old Do
I opened my eyes and gave him a wry smile. ‘Nice offer, but I’ve had a better one.’ I released my hold on him, and he winked out of sight.
The grandfather clock rattled and squeaked, then resumed chiming.
Thirteen chimes for the hour, then eleven gongs for the time.
Twenty-four seconds.
I held my hand up and caught the Stun spell Nurse Ratched threw at me and zipped it straight at Nicky just before she stuck her hoof in Helen’s skull, wincing as Nicky dropped like a Stu
Twenty-one seconds.
I caught Nurse Ratched’s next Stun spell and tossed it straight back, gri
Nineteen.
I called a Stun spell from the shackles tied at my waist and, yelling at the nurses there to stay back, flung it gently towards the circle of hospital beds. The spell splashed harmlessly to the floor in a burst of green stars.
Fifteen.
I focusedon the gold chain around Dr Craig’s neck and crackedthe sun-bright magic, rolling awkwardly to the side as he collapsed almost on top of me.
Thirteen.
I scrambled to my feet, grabbed the Old Do
‘Just a short distance,’ I muttered, and the distance obligingly shortened, so much so that I hit the metal beds in a bone-jarring skid just as the first deeper chime sounded.
‘Okay, a bit too helpful maybe,’ I murmured as I shoved myself in among the cover of the beds.
Nine.
I hunkered down and quickly gauged the distance to the circle of Stepfords. They were almost fifty feet away in the far corner now, but still much too close. ‘They need to be so far away that they’re just tiny, tiny figures,’ I murmured.
Seven.
The room started stretching, new wooden beams springing up to support the high ceiling like a line of trees popping out of the ground.
Five.
The room kept growing, and more wooden chandeliers dropped down on ropes from the high roof, their candles springing into flaming light as they did so.
Four.
The figures shrank into the distance.
Three.
I focusedon the Knock-back Wards on the double doors.
Two.
‘Somewhere safe for everyone,’ I prayed.
One.
I crackedthe magic—
—and the world exploded.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Thick, clinging greyness surrounded me. ‘Pretty sidhe,’ crooned a deep, rough voice next to my ear, ‘I will be huffing, and I will be puffing, and I will be blowing your house down, said the vampire to the tasty sidhe.’ The voice changed to a high-pitched squeal. ‘Oh no you won’t, squeaked the tasty sidhe.’ The voice sank back into the deep bass. ‘Oh yes, I will, said the vamp …’ The voice trailed off, leaving a buzzing in my head.
My eyes were open, but the greyness was too thick to see through. I had a horrifying thought that the ton of power I’d used to crack the doors and Knock-Back Wards had destroyed the Old Do
‘I will huff, and I will puff …’
I felt around until my fingers met with long, wiry hair. An orange glow began to penetrate the fog and the huge furry figure of the Old Do
I squinted up at him. ‘What—?’ I coughed up a mouthful of dust, gritted my teeth against the stabbing pain in my shoulder— should’ve asked Jack for another of the Witch-bitch’s Pain-Numbing spells to go—then managed to croak out, ‘What’s with the singing?’
He knocked his hairy knuckles on one long horn. ‘There is a vampire at the door, tasty sidhe, and he says he’s afther entering.’ He leaned closer and whispered, ‘He says he can smellyou.’
Was it Malik?
‘Can you let him in?’ I asked, my voice a little less croaky.
‘I ca
A loud rumbling noise cut him off. It sounded like thunder directly overhead … or falling masonry. My pulse sped. Maybe I’d been a bit hasty in assuming I hadn’t destroyed the place. ‘What was that?’ I said, struggling up onto my good elbow.
‘You have huffed and puffed and now my house is blowing down,’ the Old Do
Fuck. The Stepfords!
‘But you can keep the place stable, can’t you?’ I asked urgently, almost sure he could, otherwise why sing in my ear? ‘And let the vamp in?’
His orange eyes glinted slyly. ‘I might be doing that, if you’d be agreeing to get me a new body and my freedom back?’
Damn aggravating tricky fae, always wanting to bargain when the chips, or rather bricks are down.
‘Let the vamp in and keep the place stable until everyone’s out,’ I said decisively, ‘and I’ll do a deal on the freedom.’ I paused, then added, ‘My terms, not yours.’
‘Not good enough,’ he bellowed.
‘All you’re going to get,’ I said flatly, mentally crossing my fingers. ‘But remember, if the place truly collapses and I fade, then you’ve lost your chance. You might not get another one for … oh, centuries, at least. So take it or leave it.’
‘Obstinate pretty sidhe.’ He stood and stamped his foot, and the floor shook. ‘Very well, then. I invite you in, vampire,’ he finished on a loud roar.
For a second nothing happened, then the bed on my legs went flying and a tawny-haired blur loomed out of the grey fog above me. ‘Ge
Darius. My fang-pet.
‘How did you get here?’ I asked, bemused.
‘This big hole just exploded in the Coffin Club’s wall,’ he said, his excited grin showcasing all four of his fangs. ‘We all crowded round, and as soon as I got near it I caught your scent.’
Somewhere safe.The magic had an odd sense of humour at times—although, with Malik’s protection … well, a faeling possibly couldn’t get safer than a vamp club in Sucker Town just now. Not to mention there’d be no one faster, stronger, or more able to sniff out the Stepfords in the dust than a load of vamps with super-senses.
‘Thank you,’ I murmured, sending my gratitude to the magic.
I told Darius what I needed. ‘So get them all in here, get them hunting, but tell them no fangs, otherwise they’ll be begging for Malik to rip their heads off before I’ve finished with them.’
‘Sure thing, Ge
The hospital beds were made of iron, which thankfully meant the numbness in my legs was temporary, but also meant moving was out of the question, not to mention that my shoulder felt like a dwarf was using it as an anvil, and bouncing hammers off it, so Darius left me propped against the wall amidst the rubble of the entrance I’d made between the Tower and the Coffin Club. The big hole in the wall opened into the i