Skulk of Foxes

  I snorted. ‘Only because I got the police involved. Good to know that DC Jones came through.’ I couldn’t deny the sharp relief I felt that the bogles were safe; I had enough crap on my conscience as it was. Then another thought occurred to me. ‘Hang on,’ I said to Timmons. ‘You have a police radio? You?’

  He looked slightly discomfited. ‘I don’t have my own radio. I listen in via the internet. It’s a hobby.’

  ‘A useful one.’ I smiled. ‘Go you.’

  The compliment made Timmons’ cheeks turn pink. Hmmm. It appeared that I could knock people off balance by telling them nice things. Insults weren’t the only way to go.

  I rose up onto my tiptoes and spotted Jodie. ‘I love the way your hair looks!’ I called out to her. Unfortunately it was actually rather messy and looked as if she hadn’t brushed it for a month. She apparently realised this and glared at me. ‘I was trying to be nice,’ I mumbled.

  ‘Keep your fake niceties to yourself,’ she snapped back.

  I shrugged. I couldn’t blame her for her antagonism. ‘If you insist,’ I told her cheerfully. ‘Only nastiness from here on in.’

  Morgan rolled his eyes. ‘We don’t have time for this. We have things to do.’ He looked at Julie. ‘Is there somewhere we can sit down?’

  ‘The kitchen will do,’ she said. ‘There are plenty of chairs round the table in there.’

  We all trooped in, settling ourselves onto a variety of chairs of all shapes and sizes. I made sure to sit close to Morgan on the off-chance he was going to pounce on me again for another snogging session. I didn’t mind if people watched as long as his lips remained on mine. In fact, those people could do whatever they wanted as long as I had my Morgan with me.

  ‘I’m guessing,’ Timmons said, shuffling back into his chair until he was comfortable, ‘that you saw the fire dripping from the sky. It makes me wonder what’s going to come next.’

  Artemesia appeared from an open doorway. ‘There’s no telling,’ she said grimly. ‘We’re entering uncharted territory.’ She slumped onto one of the kitchen chairs opposite me.

  I drummed my fingers against the table top. ‘There must be some kind of pressure-release valve.’

  ‘Well, gee,’ Artemesia said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. ‘Why didn’t I think of that? Why don’t you go look for it? I’m sure you’ll locate one in seconds. After all, this entire demesne is just like a household boiler. It’s probably hiding in one of Julie’s cupboards. While you two have been making out, I’ve been trying to find a solution.’

  ‘We weren’t just making out,’ I said with pursed lips. ‘I took a bath with some ducks too.’

  She tutted. ‘The magic build-up would be a lot easier to solve if I could stay in my lab where all my equipment is.’

  ‘I told you on the shell,’ Morgan said. ‘It’s too dangerous with Rubus searching for us.’

  ‘He’s always been searching for me.’

  ‘Yeah,’ I pointed out, ‘but now he’s particularly motivated. You’re the best geek we have, Arty. We can’t afford to lose you.’

  ‘You’re all heart,’ she muttered. ‘Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that I can’t find anything to stop this magic-induced craziness. The next wave could happen at any moment. It doesn’t help that Rubus and his minions are probably throwing spells and potions around whenever they want. They’re only going to make matters worse. Catastrophically worse.’

  I sighed. ‘Perhaps we should wave a white flag temporarily and get in touch with him. He’s been more adversely affected by all this stuff than we have. He was almost eaten alive by a tsunami of rats. If Carduus hasn’t worked out what’s happening and warned him to avoid magic, maybe we should.’

  Morgan’s shoulders tightened. ‘He’s not going to listen to anything we have to say.’

  My gaze drifted to Julie, who had an odd, dreamy expression on her face. ‘He might listen to her.’

  Finn stiffened. ‘No way. That’s not happening.’

  The Redcap really was over-protective of her. ‘It’s a reasonable suggestion,’ I said. ‘I don’t think he’d hurt her. He’s more enamoured of her than anything.’

  ‘Darlings,’ Julie drawled, ‘it would be my pleasure. I’ll talk to him. Set the meeting up. Tell him to bring some decent gin, though. I might as well enjoy myself at the same time.’

  Finn opened his mouth to argue but Morgan waved him off. ‘It’s risky but we have to do it. If all of the faeries under Rubus are using magic at his behest, goodness knows what might happen. As long as he remains stuck in this demesne, he won’t want to threaten its safety.’

  ‘Speaking of which,’ Jodie said, ‘aren’t we going to get the sphere back from that cleaning lady? What if she accidentally triggers it or something?’

  Artemesia shook her head. ‘It can’t happen. Humans can’t set it off because they don’t have any magic within them.’

  ‘It’s safe for now,’ Morgan agreed. ‘Whilst Rubus’s Fey are out on the streets, we can’t afford to go anywhere near the sphere. It’s as safe now as it can be. It’s only a temporary solution, of course, but Maddy did well to pass it along.’

  I beamed. ‘I’ll retrieve it later when we’re sure the coast is clear,’ I said. ‘It shouldn’t take long. There’s more we need in the meantime, as well.’ I looked at Julie. ‘We need to find a dragon. You’re ancient. You must have heard something about other creatures like Chen.’

  ‘Darling, I wouldn’t have the faintest idea where to start. I didn’t even know you faeries existed until last week. I’ve certainly never come across any dragons.’

  I gestured at the group irritably. ‘How is this possible? How do all these supernatural species not know about each other?’

  ‘You say that like it’s our fault,’ Morgan said drily.

  ‘It is!’

  ‘You’re one of us, Maddy.’

  ‘Yeah,’ I pouted, ‘but I’ve got amnesia. I get a free pass.’ I raised an eyebrow at Finn. ‘I remember you saying that you and your brothers were planning to contact werewolves to help the fight against Rubus. How were you going to do that? Maybe they’ll know something.’

  ‘All I have is a phone number. I think they live up in the wilds of Scotland where they have the space to roam around unchecked and unnoticed.’

  ‘Call them,’ I instructed. ‘Even if they can’t help with finding a dragon, we need all hands on deck. They’ll have heard what’s happening here and they’ll have magic in their veins. What’s happening in Manchester affects them too.’

  Finn shrugged. ‘I’ll do my best to persuade them to head this way.’

  My gaze hardened. ‘Do better than that. We need them.’

  ‘I can’t work you out sometimes,’ Jodie interjected. ‘One minute you’re kissing Morgan, the next you’re being a bitch. Then you’re being flippant. Now you’re ordering everyone around.’

  ‘I kiss Morgan because I’m in a constant state of lust when I’m around him,’ I said. I didn’t fail to notice the sudden gleam lighting his green eyes. ‘I’m being a bitch because I am one. I act flippant because sometimes the only way to deal with disaster is with a sense of humour. I order everyone around because you need a gorgeous general like me to tell you what to do. It’s not rocket science. Personality isn’t an immutable force – we all change and adapt to situations. We all have good and bad parts. Mine are just more obvious because I don’t give a gasbudlikin shit what you lot think of me. I have enough problems judging myself without worrying about other people’s judgments.’ I paused. ‘Apart from Morgan’s anyway.’ That was a given.

  I continued. ‘Now, can we get back to the point? We need to find a way to find a dragon. It’s the only way we can keep the sphere away from Rubus for good. Apparently dragons lead incredibly long lives – they’ve probably been around even longer than vampires. There must be records somewhere of their existence, even if they’re hidden away. If there are records of vampires, which the hunters used to find Julie, there will
be records of dragons somewhere as well.’

  Julie snapped her fingers suddenly. ‘Wait,’ she said.

  We all turned to her. ‘You’ve thought of someone?’ I asked, keeping my fingers tightly crossed.

  ‘No,’ Julie said. ‘But I think I might know where we can look.’

  Everyone straightened their posture and held their breath. We needed a break and we knew it.

  ‘Manchester Cathedral,’ she said. ‘There are old parish records going back five centuries. A group of us broke in during the Blitz in the 1940s and made sure the ones referring to us were destroyed. But the dragons might not have been so circumspect. There might be something there.’

  ‘It sounds like a needle in a haystack,’ Artemesia said. ‘If you give me a couple of hours, I can use essence of rose and falwort and come up with a potion that might help locate the information you need more quickly.’

  ‘The build-up of magic in the atmosphere needs to be your priority, Arty,’ Morgan said. ‘We can’t let the city be destroyed because of it.’

  She raised her hands helplessly. ‘I’m at a loss. I don’t know what to do about that. I think I can mitigate it slightly but not if Rubus and the others are still casting spells. I need my lab and my books.’

  ‘In that case,’ I said, ‘our priority is to get Julie to meet with Rubus and warn him off using magic. After that, we travel to the cathedral and rendezvous with you lot, hopefully with Artemesia’s potion to help us find out about any nearby dragons. We’ll just have to keep our fingers crossed that they really do care about their hoards so much that they’ve not moved house since the sixteenth century. Then I’ll go and get the sphere.’

  ‘Then what?’ Jodie asked. ‘If we can’t find a dragon to help us get rid of the sphere, what do we do?’

  ‘Run away very fast. Preferably to Timbuktu.’ I dusted off my palms and got up. ‘But we won’t need to do that.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Because we can beat Rubus,’ Morgan answered. ‘We can be smarter than him. Right now he’s the monster skulking in the shadows, waiting for his moment. But we’re the cunning foxes who are going to ensure he never gets it.’ He smiled at me. ‘We have no other choice.’

  Chapter Eleven

  Morgan might have described Rubus as the monster skulking in the shadows but, with his newfound ability to circumnavigate the truce, Rubus was no longer in hiding. It only took a few quick calls to discover that he’d returned to the same lair he’d been in when I was spying on him. It was about time something went in our favour.

  Buoyed up with optimism and a semi-decent plan, Morgan, Finn, Julie and I hot-footed in Morgan’s car to that address. Apart from a black helicopter circling overhead, we didn’t spy anyone else. Even daft teenagers with false confidence were now staying indoors. Dusk was falling and, given the events of the day so far, it was hardly surprising that people weren’t venturing out. There weren’t any emergency vehicles on the streets either.

  I spied a cat washing its face with a paw with blithe indifference. Gusts of wind blew fire-scorched rubbish across the road like tumbleweed in some old Western movie. The city definitely had a silent, ghostly feel about it. At least half the street lights had been knocked out, presumably by the fire rain, and the houses we passed whose occupants were brave enough to leave on their lights had their curtains tightly closed as if to ward off whatever might be outside.

  We were trying to avert the apocalypse but it felt as if it were already here.

  Julie applied scarlet lipstick and shook out her hair. ‘I want to wait until it’s completely dark,’ she announced to no one in particular.

  I peered out of the car window. ‘Five minutes, tops,’ I said. ‘Then the last of the daylight will have gone. No-one’s around, though, if you’re worried about any fans spotting you.’

  ‘I’m not worried, darling.’ She patted my hand before reaching into her bag and drawing out a small silver hip-flask. She took a delicate glug and replaced it. ‘But I rather feel that Rubus will be more comfortable under the complete cover of night. After all, those rats you told me about probably damaged his face somewhat with their teeny ratty claws.’

  I smirked. ‘Yeah. It’s almost a shame that we heal so fast. It’d be nice if all those scratch marks he received got infected.’ Let’s face it, he deserved far worse.

  I glanced at Morgan in the driver’s seat. ‘I’m not suggesting we appeal to Rubus’s better nature,’ I said, ‘but how come you’re so wonderful and he’s such a prick? You’re brothers. You look alike. Why are you so different?’

  ‘That’s the million-pound question.’ Morgan arched a look at me over his shoulder. ‘Who knows why anyone is evil?’

  I considered. ‘I was evil for a couple of days because I thought it would be more fun.’

  ‘Was it?’ Finn asked.

  ‘I wasn’t very good at it,’ I confided. ‘I did my best but I didn’t have the follow-through I needed to be truly skilled at it.’

  He let out a mild snort. ‘I find that difficult to believe.’

  ‘I know, right? It’s hard to imagine that there’s anything out there that I’m not the best in the world at. Unfortunately, Rubus has me hands-down at villainy.’

  ‘Don’t worry, darling,’ Julie said. ‘There’s time yet.’ She leaned forward and fiddled with the radio. A moment or two later, it crackled into life.

  ‘A twenty-mile exclusion zone has been set up around the perimeter of Manchester,’ announced the DJ. ‘The government has stated that they have no numbers of those killed but reiterate that the problems are all localised. Army troops are being mobilised and are set to enter the city limits before tomorrow morning to restore peace and maintain order. Phone lines within Manchester remain open and most homes have power and running water. If you are in the city, we urge you to remain indoors for the time being in case of further problems.’

  I swung my gaze up and down the empty street. ‘The army’s coming to restore peace? They won’t have a hard job – I’ve never seen this place so peaceful. They’re coming to destroy the peace, more like.’

  ‘Not if Rubus has anything to do with it,’ Morgan said. ‘Are you ready to get out now, Julie?’

  She craned her neck upwards. The moon was full, its soft white light shining down on us. Only the vaguest glimmer of daylight hovered over the horizon. ‘Yes,’ she said decisively. She smiled at us. ‘Don’t worry. He won’t know what’s hit him once I get started.’

  Finn still looked uncomfortable and was clearly desperate to follow at her heels. Julie gave him a reassuring grin, revealing her sharp white teeth. Then she pushed open the door and, in the white stilettos that she wore as if they were slippers, walked across the road to Rubus’s door.

  She didn’t even knock. We watched, holding our breath, as she simply turned the handle and strolled inside.

  ‘She’s becoming more vampire-like, isn’t she?’ I said to Finn.

  He didn’t answer but I felt his tension increase. ‘I won’t talk about her behind her back,’ he said stiffly.

  ‘She’s my friend too and I want to keep her safe. But the build-up of magic is affecting her more than she’s letting on.’ I ticked off my fingers. ‘She looks paler. More tired. She waited until it was properly dark before she left the car. Even her teeth seem different.’

  ‘She’s exactly the same as she’s always been,’ he said. ‘You’re imagining things.’

  I wasn’t. I truly wasn’t. ‘Finn,’ I began.

  ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’

  I sighed. Since his brothers’ demise, Finn had clung to Julie like a drowning man clings to a life vest. I knew that I could talk until I was blue in the face but he wasn’t going to listen. At least I could count on him to keep a close eye on her; it was the least she deserved. With any luck, she wasn’t currently being ripped apart limb by limb.

  I kept my eyes trained on the door. ‘Ten minutes,’ I said. ‘If she’s not out of there in ten minutes, we go i
n and get her.’

  ‘And how exactly are we going to get her out?’ Finn enquired. ‘Every single Fey in there has the ability to stop me. Rubus has the ability to stop you two. If he decides to keep hold of Julie, there’s nothing we can do about it.’

  ‘He won’t.’

  ‘You don’t know that.’

  ‘I told you before,’ I said. ‘Rubus likes her. I think he genuinely respects her. He’s going to want her to believe that he’s a good guy. Hurting her won’t achieve that.’

  ‘You hope,’ Finn grunted.

  ‘Shh,’ Morgan cautioned. ‘Something’s happening.’

  I immediately tensed. The door to the Fey lair wasn’t budging and I couldn’t see anything through the windows. ‘Where?’

  ‘Not with Rubus,’ he said. ‘With the trees.’ Morgan pointed down the road. There was an ominous note to his voice.

  Squinting, I saw why.

  All along the street, trees were planted at various intervals, sprouting out of carefully dug spots along the pavement. Until a few moments ago, none of the trees had been more than three metres tall and the largest possessed a trunk that was probably of a circumference less than the calf of my leg. I was no tree expert but they’d been pretty enough with their summer foliage. They were still pretty; they still had verdant green leaves. But they were also growing. Visibly.

  I fixed on the tree nearest us, perhaps twenty feet away. As I watched, my knuckles tightening on the arm rest, the tree creaked, groaned and spread itself upwards. One foot, two feet, then three. Within moments, it had stretched above the tallest roof.

  Its trunk was expanding too. It burgeoned outwards, like a bloated stomach. Where the bark couldn’t quite keep up, it cracked and spread, fissures breaking across the rough surface. I almost expected small woodland creatures to appear but if there were any about, they were keeping their distance.

  When the pavement and then the road broke apart from the force of the trees’ roots, I could understand why. So many trees were growing at such a rate that the ground started to shake.