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Surprise winged through me. ‘Helen Crane’s gone missing?’
‘That’s what I said, love,’ he said bitterly, his Happy-as-Larry mask slipping momentarily, ‘and if you’re interested in finding her, you’ll have to chase up my black-feathered son.’ Then he did his own disappearing trick and vanished, leaving a sad-sounding plea in my mind. ‘When you see Ana, tell her to stay away … and stay safe.’
Chapter Fifty-Six
Sunset painted the sky with red, orange and yellow as I walked into the Tower Hill Memorial Garden. A thirty-foot-high fountain shot straight up from the bronze pool in the centre, and the place was crowded with folk: the buzz of their conversation sounded like the overloud birthing-hum of a goblin queen’s nest. Surreally, everyone seemed to be holding a glass or tankard, as if they were at some sort of celebratory party. I clocked some dryads from their assorted hats and swaying bodies, and here and there a naiad headcrest stuck up above the crush, while what looked like the whole herd of satyrs were laughing next to an impromptu bar in one corner. And in among them all a horde of about twenty Gatherer goblins were stomping about, the lights in their trainers flashing as they alternatively picked up rubbish and offered nibbles, all while trying to avoid the large, fluffy green-haired puppy who was having fun nipping at their heels.
I stopped in shock, hardly noticing Hugh until he appeared in front of me and blocked my view.
‘What the hell’s going on, Hugh?’ I said, anxiety tightening my gut. ‘I’ve got an appointment with the Morrígan, I need to—’
‘You don’t need to do anything, Ge
I knocked the drink back—vodka, I discovered, pleased—and half a dozen others handed to me by an attentive goblin while Hugh explained. After the Stepfords had been rescued, Hugh’s anonymous tipster had come forward to reveal that the Morrígan was taking the Stepfords to the Fair Lands until they and their babies were out of danger. The tipster had also delivered details of the biological wizard fathers, many of whom had already offered their future sons’ surrogate mothers a place alongside their children, as the boys’ na
‘That’s great news,’ I said. ‘So who’s the anonymous tipster?’
‘Ana,’ Hugh said, confirming my suspicion. ‘She’s claiming Craig was blackmailing her into complying with his plans, but now he’s dead from an … unfortunate … accident that occurred during your explosive exit from the Tower’s Between’
— Hugh gave me a searching look, which I ignored—‘she’s come forward openly. We’re still investigating, but if she’s telling the truth, that will go some way to mitigating any charges brought against her. She says Craig had Witch Harrier and the faelings under some sort of mind-compulsion.’
‘He did,’ I confirmed, and told Hugh all about the Old Do
After we’d finished talking, Hugh pointed me towards the bronze pool at the centre of the garden. I made my way through the crowd to find a woman waiting next to the thirty-foot-high fountain.
She smiled shyly as I joined her, and I didn’t need her hip-length waterfall of pale blonde hair or the baby-bump beneath the long silver evening dress to know she was Ana, my niece/ cousin. And I realised it had been she who had freely given me her power when I’d needed it inside the Tower: the co
‘Thanks for the help, Ana,’ I said, truly grateful and also, suddenly, unaccountably, awkward in the face of yet more family I hadn’t known about—and also feeling ridiculously underdressed in the plain black T-shirt and jeans I’d borrowed from a helpful vamp at the Coffin Club.
‘No. Thank you,’ she said softly as she smoothed her hands over her bump. ‘I couldn’t stop Craig on my own, so I prayed to The Mother to help all of them, and us too, and she sent you.’
The Disney Heaven pe
Her face brightened with love and she gave a soft whistle. The green fluff-ball puppy pricked up its ears and bounded over to us with a sharp-toothed doggy grin. ‘Say hello to your Aunty Ge
Aunty Ge
The puppy shook like it was shedding water, magic prickled over my skin, and then a stick-thin girl of about eight dressed in jeans and a ‘Hello Kitty’ top and sporting a spiky green Mohican appeared. ‘Hello, Aunthy Ge
‘Andrea!’ Her mother gave a shocked gasp, and a large watery hand whipped out of the fountain and swatted Andy on the backside.
Andy jumped and stuck her tongue out at the fountain. ‘Watch it, Great-Grandpops,’ she said, ‘otherwithe I’ll cock my leg—’
Ana clapped a mortified hand over Andy’s mouth and whispered frantically in her ear, during which the kid treated me to an exaggerated eye-roll.
I pressed my lips together to stop from laughing and shot Andy my best ‘not-impressed’ look, which earned me another eye-roll, and then she shimmered back into the large green fluff-ball puppy, squirmed out of her mother’s hold and went back to tormenting the goblins.
So that was who Mad Max had been giving my blood to.
‘I’m so sorry, Genevieve,’ Ana said, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. ‘She’s going through a difficult stage.’
I smiled. ‘Hey, no worries—’
‘Clíona says we’re tainted,’ Ana rushed on, driving all the laughter out of me. ‘When she found out about me and Andy, she wanted to …’ She stopped and took a deep breath, and I filled in her unspoken words: kill us. Which was Clíona’s original plan for me too, of course. So it looked like my sidhe grandmother really was the bigoted wicked faerie queen. Ana gestured at the partying fae around us with a slightly awed look. ‘I thought they would feel the same as Clíona. It’s why I’ve hidden us away all these years, and why I did what Craig wanted—’ Her hands clutched at her bump. ‘He said he wouldn’t protect us if I didn’t comply, not just from the Autarch, but from the rest of them. But then I heard your father was also a vamp, and that the fae had accepted you, so I hoped they’d accept me and Andy now too.’
I knew how she must’ve felt, all those years of hiding out, thinking the fae would reject her for her tainted blood, since I’d thought exactly the same thing … except I’d only had myself to worry about.
‘I’m sure they’ll accept you both,’ I said, swallowing back the angry lump in my throat. And if they didn’t, I’d make them. ‘Oh, and don’t worry about Andy’s blood problem,’ I said, ‘we’ll sort it out.’
She gave a tremulous smile. ‘Thank you, Genevieve.’
‘Oh, call me Ge
‘Oh, she’s a Norwegian Elkhound,’ Ana said happily.
I blinked. ‘Sorry?’
‘Oh!’ More embarrassed heat rose in Ana’s cheeks. ‘Sorry, I get so used to people asking me when I take her for walks.’ She laughed nervously. ‘I don’t know what she is exactly. The nearest I’ve been able to work out is she’s a dhampir, but I’m not sure if that’s entirely right.’ She gave another tremulous smile.