‘You’ll come in last if you do this,’ Bob warned.
I rather thought that Kirsty would come in last but I took his point. ‘I won’t be last if I’m smart,’ I said.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
I smirked and twisted to my left, plunging into the trees and leaving the footsteps and the path behind.
‘Uh Integrity!’ Bob shrieked. ‘What are you doing?’
‘It was a long shot to think I’d catch up with the others,’ I said. ‘The map only leads to the first clue. There’s nothing that says I can’t skip it and find the flags instead.’
‘How will you find the flags without directions?’
‘Lady Luck, Bob.’
‘You’re a freaking idiot,’ he muttered.
I grinned, shifting Kirsty’s weight to make her easier to carry. ‘I know.’
Chapter Fifteen
There was more method to my madness than Bob realised. I’d planned all along to avoid the trail left by the others; I was just doing it earlier than expected. I never trusted solely to luck ‒ I wasn’t that stupid ‒ but Bob didn’t need to know that. It would be fun to see his expression when he realised my shortcut was working.
I’d noticed that Kirsty doubled back before she threw herself at me. She’d already been to at least one other clue before apparently deciding she couldn’t win so she might as well go after me instead. I fumbled as I walked, eventually finding the folded paper in her coat pocket. I scanned it carefully: it was the third clue. I wriggled in delight before adjusting my direction. Despite Kirsty’s weight, her attack was proving to be a boon. Now I knew exactly where to go.
With the time I’d lost from being dropped in the wrong place, as well as my slower pace now I was carrying Kirsty, this new route was exactly what I needed. I could avoid what looked like a giant loop designed to irritate the competitors. Nipping through the woods would take me to the end point faster than wending my way through all the marked clues and, because of the tree cover, the drone couldn’t follow me.
I picked my way through the trees, moving north-east to where the end point should be. From time to time, Kirsty stirred, mumbled something under her breath and then collapsed again. If I needed proof that my inadvertent theft of Sidhe Gifts could cause problems, this was it – although I was pretty excited at the thought of trying out Truth Seeking on Aifric. It could get me the answers to all my questions – and then some.
Despite the cold air, sweat was pooling uncomfortably between the tight fabric of my bra and my breasts, but even with this mild discomfort and my worry about Kirsty the challenge so far wasn’t unpleasant. Occasionally there was a chirp from a passing bird or a scuttle from something in the undergrowth. The thick pine trees gave off a heady scent unlike the sharp freshness that I was used to at higher altitudes with mountain rescue. As someone who’d spent most of her life among urban dwellers, I was rapidly beginning to appreciate more rural surroundings. That didn’t mean that I wouldn’t enjoy sitting in a pub with a hot toddy and a roaring fire though. A skilled masseuse would be equally welcome because my back was aching from lugging around Kirsty. Unfortunately I doubted I’d find one around here.
I’d been on the move for a good two hours when I spotted the first tracks. My heart leapt in my chest because they weren’t from any Sidhe competitors. These tracks were far too small – and whatever had made them was three-legged.
I propped Kirsty against a nearby tree and checked her over. There was a faint bloom to her cheeks but she’d not yet come around; I really hoped I’d not done her any permanent damage. Reassured that she wasn’t in any immediate danger, I went back to the tracks and knelt down to examine them.
They were definitely the same as the ones I’d seen up on the mountain when I was with the rescue team but I wasn’t any closer to working out what had made them. Some kind of winter creature? If I knew, I might have been able to work out whether they led deeper into the forest or would take me back out.
I hissed to Bob. ‘Hey! Take a look at this.’ There was a faint snore, obviously faked. ‘Bob, stop being annoying. I need your help.’
He snorted. ‘Well, blow me down with a peacock feather,’ he muttered. ‘You walk off into the creepy woods and then you need my help. Big surprise.’ His head popped out from under my scarf. ‘What is it?’
‘What made these tracks?’
He looked down. ‘How the hell should I know? Probably some kind of bird.’
‘Bob,’ I sighed. ‘How many birds do you know with three legs?’ There wasn’t any answer. ‘Bob?’
‘What? I’m waiting for the punchline.’
‘That’s not a joke, it’s a real question. You’re a magnificent being who knows everything, right?’
‘I never said I knew everything. I just know most things, that’s all.’
I reminded myself that patience was a virtue. ‘So do you know what made those tracks?’
‘Nope.’
I considered them for a moment. ‘Wait here,’ I said decisively. ‘Keep an eye on Kirsty.’
‘What? Where are you going?’
‘I’m going to follow the tracks.’
‘Uh Integrity! You can’t do that!’
‘Bob, sweetie, I can do whatever I want to. Besides, I won’t be long.’ I pinched him between my thumb and forefinger and dropped him on Kirsty’s head. She didn’t even twitch. Then, enjoying the freedom to run, I took off.
I followed the tracks for five minutes, curiosity fighting against the desire to keep going in the challenge. I didn’t want to expend too much energy on this but maybe the tracks would lead somewhere helpful.
Whatever had made the trail was on its own; there were no other tracks to indicate a family of three-legged creatures. In the end I gave up and went back. My three-legged friend wasn’t going to show itself and I couldn’t count on it to lead me anywhere useful. I probably only had an hour or two left of daylight and I couldn’t afford to waste it on foolish errands, tempting as they were.
When I reached Bob and Kirsty again, he was poking her cheek with a stick and she was swatting at him with her hand as if he were a fly. She hadn’t opened her eyes yet but she was definitely coming around.
‘Kirsty?’
‘Mmph?’
I gestured to Bob to get out of the way. He stuck out his tongue but did as I requested. Kirsty opened one eye, fixing it on me. It took a moment or two for recognition to set in and, as soon as it did, her expression hardened. ‘You.’
‘Me,’ I said cheerfully. ‘Good to see you’re awake again.’ I peered at her. ‘How do you feel?’
‘Okay, I guess,’ she said grudgingly, pushing herself away from the tree. ‘Where the hell are we?’
I grinned.
She opened her other eye and looked around. As she glanced from tree to tree, I saw awareness set in as she realised how isolated we were. ‘We’re in the forest.’
‘That’s why there are trees. What did the little tree say to the big tree?’ Kirsty blinked at me as if I were mad. ‘Leaf me alone!’
She got to her feet and began to back away.
‘It was a joke,’ I tried to explain. ‘Not an order.’
‘What are you going to do to me?’
I frowned. ‘Er … nothing.’
‘If you hurt me, people will find out about it!’
I put my hands on my hips. ‘Kirsty,’ I sighed. ‘You’ve been unconscious for hours. If I wanted to hurt you, don’t you think I’d have already done so?’ I ignored the fact that I had hurt her by stealing her Gift but Bob raised his eyebrows. He wasn’t going to forget it.
Kirsty rubbed her forehead and continued to back away. ‘Something’s wrong,’ she whispered. ‘I don’t feel right. What have you done to me?’
My insides tightened. ‘Besides carry you here so you didn’t die of hypothermia? Nothing,’ I said, crossing my fingers. ‘You’re the one who tried to attack me, remember?’ Then, because my first attempt at a joke had fallen so
flat and I needed to get her to relax so we could get going again, I said, ‘What did the lipstick say to the mascara when it tried to pick a fight?’ I paused. ‘Let’s make-up!’
Unfortunately my words seemed to have the opposite effect and Kirsty completely freaked. She spun round, narrowing avoiding smacking into Bob. Luckily she was so panicked that she didn’t see him. Then she started running, streaking through the trees with admirable speed considering she’d only just woken up.
‘She’s smarter than I gave her credit for,’ Bob said as we watched her. ‘Your jokes make me want to run away screaming too.’
‘She’s not screaming,’ I pointed out.
There was a sudden high-pitched shriek. ‘She is now,’ Bob said.
‘Shite.’ I took off after her. The forests of Scotland, even in Sidhe country, rarely contained dangerous creatures but I’d already come across one set of strange tracks. It was possible there was something else out there. I pelted forward, ready to rescue Kirsty once again.
However, it wasn’t a dangerous sharp-toothed, three-legged monster that had Kirsty in its clutches: it was Byron and Tipsania.
‘She’s trying to kill me!’ Kirsty howled. ‘Help me!’ She clutched at Byron, wrapping her arms round him in a way that made even Tipsania raise her eyebrows.
I came to a stop as Byron looked over Kirsty’s head. He didn’t seem surprised to see me. ‘I might have known you’d catch up,’ he grinned.
My stomach did an odd twist as Tipsania rolled her eyes. ‘Honestly. Integrity is obviously trying to hurt her competition and take us out one by one. Look at the Kincaid girl,’ she snapped.
‘Help me!’ Kirsty moaned.
Exasperation overtook me. ‘Oh for goodness’ sake, I’m not trying to hurt you! I helped you. Use your damned Gift to find out.’
Kirsty twisted round, her back firmly against Byron’s chest. She took a deep breath as she tried to compose herself. She really was terrified.
‘It’s alright, Kirsty,’ Byron murmured, with a questioning glance at me.
‘Are you going to hurt me?’ she demanded.
I tilted up my chin. ‘No.’
Kirsty’s legs seemed to give way; if Byron hadn’t been holding her, she’d have sunk down to the ground. ‘It’s gone,’ she whispered.
Byron frowned. ‘What’s gone?’
A trickle of dread ran down my spine.
‘The girl is hysterical. Leave her be,’ Tipsania interrupted.
‘My Gift,’ Kirsty whispered. ‘It’s completely vanished. I can’t feel it any more.’ She raised her eyes to mine. ‘What did you do to me?’
‘She couldn’t have done anything,’ Byron said. ‘Your Gift won’t have gone anywhere.’ Something dark crossed his face. ‘It’ll just be the stress or something.’
Or something indeed. Had I really taken it all from her? I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek.
‘It’s gone,’ Kirsty repeated. ‘It’s really gone.’ And then she smiled.
I did a double-take. She was happy?
‘I can’t believe it,’ she said, shaking her head in awed disbelief.
Byron’s expression turned grimmer. ‘What happened?’ he asked me. ‘Why are you two together?’
I drew in a breath. ‘She was waiting in the trees for me. She tried to attack me then she, er, collapsed.’ It was sort of what had happened, I’d just omitted a few significant details.
‘I wanted answers,’ Kirsty mumbled. She was still beaming from ear to ear.
‘Are you sure your Gift has disappeared?’ I asked cautiously.
She nodded. ‘I think so.’ She pulled away from Byron and twirled round in the snow. ‘This is fantastic!’
‘You don’t seem upset.’
Kirsty continued to dance. ‘Do you have any idea how tiring it is to know when people are lying?’ she said in between spins. ‘It’s a shitty Gift.’
Tipsania folded her arms. ‘Whatever do you mean?’
‘When my mother told me she didn’t have a favourite child, I knew she was lying. When my fiancé told me he loved me, I knew he was lying. Ignorance is bliss.’ Kirsty looked at Byron. ‘Do you remember the Christmas ball? When you told me I looked pretty?’ Her mouth flattened. ‘I knew you were lying.’
Byron winced. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘It’s not your fault. You were just trying to be nice. And I was wearing a rather garish form of pink.’ I frowned. Garish pink was the best kind.
Kirsty didn’t pay any attention to me as she gazed meaningfully at Byron. ‘That’s the trouble with my Gift. I can tell when someone’s lying but I don’t know the reason behind the lie. And sometimes people don’t tell the truth because the truth hurts. People lie for all sorts of reasons. It’s not necessarily a bad thing.’
I pondered over Kirsty’s words. I could see what she meant. If she was going to be so thrilled at losing her Gift, I wasn’t going to feel any guilt about using it.
Kirsty turned to Tipsania. ‘Lie to me,’ she begged. ‘Say anything you like as long as it’s untrue.’ Tipsania looked at her like she was insane.
‘Go ahead, Tipsy,’ Byron murmured.
She sighed dramatically. ‘I have blue skin.’
Something deep within my veins buzzed. Lie. Duh. As I tried to absorb what I’d experienced, Kirsty gave a peal of laughter. ‘Brilliant! I felt nothing!’ She reached over and hugged Tipsania who stiffened, her arms remaining rigid by her sides. Kirsty tossed her hair. ‘I’m out of here, losers!’ She turned on her heel and marched away, a bounce to her step.
‘Er … Kirsty?’ I called. ‘Where are you going?’
‘There were only two reasons I had to compete,’ she replied over her shoulder. ‘One was to try and win so I could ask the Chieftains to put money into research for ways to stop our Gifts. But I was too far behind so it wasn’t going to happen. And it doesn’t matter because I don’t need to win any more to stop my Gift.’
Byron looked puzzled. ‘What was the second reason?’
‘To attack me for killing William Kincaid,’ I muttered.
‘But you didn’t kill him. His death was an accident,’ he said
I threw up my arms. ‘I know!’ Kirsty’s shape disappeared among the trees. ‘I should go after her. She’s just spent half the day in a coma. She has no idea where she is or where she’s going.’
‘She’ll be fine,’ Tipsania said dismissively. ‘There’s a clue point about a half a mile away. All she has to do is wait there and someone will pick her up.’
I gave a sidelong glance. ‘Really? Or will the Carnegies just leave her to freeze to death?’
‘They wouldn’t do that.’
I wouldn’t bet on it. I reckoned that they were bloodthirsty enough to do just that – and not only to me. Kirsty wasn’t important enough in Sidhe hierarchy to merit a rescue. Judging by the expression on Byron’s face, he thought the same. I shook my head. ‘I suppose you guys are out in front?’
‘Of course.’
That was something; by taking a risk, I’d found the leaders. In fact, because I was in the last group to depart I was in now in first place. I could take time out to make sure Kirsty was alright.
‘Great. Good to see you both. It’s, um, nice that you’re working together.’
Tipsania’s eyes narrowed. ‘What does that mean?’
‘Exactly what I said.’ I grinned. ‘Toodle pip.’
I started to jog after Kirsty, following her tracks. There was the crunch of footsteps behind me, then Byron was by my shoulder. ‘What are you doing?’
He shrugged. ‘Coming with you. Kirsty’s more likely to listen to me than to you.’
That was true. ‘But I’m in the lead,’ I pointed out, while striding forward once more. ‘Sort of anyway. You need the extra time to get ahead of me. Don’t you want to win?’
‘There’ll be time enough to beat you.’
No chance. Rather than rise to the bait, I reminded him we weren’t alone. ‘Can you beat Tipsania???
?
‘I can catch up to Tipsy later. I am working with her, after all.’ He sent me a sly glance.
‘Why?’ I asked.
‘Why am I working with her? Let’s just say our desires currently converge.’
What did that mean? I decided I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of asking.
‘You know,’ he commented, ‘your cheeks are almost as pink as the colour of your tartan. It’s rather adorable.’ Adorable? What was I? A puppy? He continued in the same tone of voice. ‘Did you have anything to do with Kirsty losing her Gift?’
The easiest way to reply to a question you don’t want to answer is to ask another question. ‘How could I have done that?’ I asked flatly. ‘I don’t even have a Gift of my own.’
He scanned my face. ‘I’m starting to think that’s not true. The Bull seems to think you have one.’
My mouth pursed. The Bull was meant to be keeping quiet about that. He’d probably found some irritating way to work around the command I’d placed on him. He and I would have words later. ‘I wouldn’t tell the Bull what toothpaste I use,’ I replied, ‘let alone my supposedly secret Gift.’
‘You can trust me, Integrity.’
There was another buzz in my veins and instinctively I knew he was telling the truth. Thank you, Kirsty. ‘Okay then. You’re right, I do have a Gift.’
Byron smirked. ‘I knew it.’
I leaned in towards him and licked my lips. ‘I’m very, very gifted,’ I breathed.
Something flared in his eyes. ‘Go on.’
‘I have lots of presence.’
He stared at me. ‘Very funny.’
Lie. I pulled back and shrugged. ‘I thought so,’ I said aloud. Perhaps it was time to give Byron a test while Kirsty’s Truth Seeking still swirled in my veins. I switched tactics to throw him off balance. ‘Why is your father trying to kill me?’
‘What?’ he blinked, obviously taken aback. ‘He’s not. He likes you. Why on earth would you think that?’
Truth again. I was surprised by how happy that knowledge made me and I beamed at him. ‘For that reaction,’ I said airily, ‘I’m not even going to tell you the punchline.’
He frowned. ‘That was another joke? Do you ever take anything seriously?’