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  ‘I am your father,’ Amaliel said, so softly that I thought for a moment I must have misheard him.

  I looked from her to Amaliel and back again. Amaliel was her father?

  Persephone stood there glaring at him, her bosom heaving, then her head snapped around, her temper suddenly focusing on me. ‘And she’ – Persephone pointed her finger at me – ‘is my sister, but that’s not going to stop me killing her, is it?’

  My mouth dropped open. Sister?

  Persephone gave me a faux-shocked look. ‘Oh, sweetie – didn’t you know?’

  ‘He is not my father,’ I snapped.

  ‘No, sadly for you, he isn’t,’ Psycho Bitch said, ‘but the loose-knickered Veronica was my mother as well as yours, so, like it or not, we are related, which is another extremely good reason to see you a rotting corpse. So, Jinx, if you would do the honours? You can start with him,’ she said, turning back to the bokor.

  ‘Ah, Persephone,’ Joseph said, putting his arm around her shoulders, ‘do you really think that’s such a good idea?’

  She frowned, still glaring at me, and asked him, ‘Why wouldn’t it be?’

  ‘Don’t get me wrong; I’m looking forward to seeing him gone as much as you are – but burning him to death here in central London? Making a burned-out car disappear is one thing …’ He glanced at me and added, ‘Nice trick blowing up the car by the way.’

  I gave a nonchalant shrug in response, my mind in turmoil. Sister?

  ‘But turning him into a fireball will probably take this house and half the neighbourhood with it. And he does have his uses.’

  Persephone tapped her finger against his cheek. ‘I knew there was a reason for keeping you around apart from your very pretty face.’ She turned to face me. ‘I will lock them down here until we’re ready to leave.’ She rested her head on Joseph’s shoulder. ‘I’ll ponder upon what to do with our African friend and in the meantime think up something exciting for her.’

  ‘You will leave her to me,’ Amaliel said.

  This time she did hear the warning, and a slight frown clouded her forehead. ‘I’m sorry. I was angry; I was—’

  Amaliel raised a hand, stopping her mid-flow. ‘No matter. But you must learn you cannot have everything your own way.’

  She lowered her eyes, suddenly the penitent child. ‘I know.’

  ‘Come, we have work to do.’ Then he glanced around and his eyes lit upon the crystal dust and puddle of gold. He stared at them for a moment. ‘A pity,’ he said, his eyes shifting to me. ‘I was so looking forward to having a full set.’ And the penny dropped; I knew exactly who the final crystal was for. Persephone obviously had her uses for now, but when she was no longer needed …

  His revelation had obviously gone clean over her head. Blissfully unaware of Amaliel’s future plans for her, Persephone was acting as if nothing had happened between her and her equally psychotic father. She strutted to the door, then stopped and ordered, ‘Come, Jinx. I have plans for you.’

  Jinx didn’t move.

  ‘Be a good boy and don’t be difficult.’

  He still didn’t move.

  ‘A bullet through the brain will kill one of your kind, will it not?’ She waved in Vaybian’s direction. ‘That one’s of no importance. Kill him.’

  One of the men by the door stepped towards Vaybian, gun in hand, until Jinx moved between them and the human recoiled.

  ‘Jinx, do not try my patience,’ Persephone said.

  He put his hands on his hips and pulled his coat tight, and his tail snuck out of the vent at the back and jiggled at me: that was enough for me to know he was not under her sway, so I would have to trust him to get Vaybian and me out of this mess.

  His hand dropped to his sides and he hung his head; without looking back he followed Persephone from the room and her men filed out behind them. Joseph was one of the last to go. He gave me an almost friendly smile, then stepped outside and closed the door, sliding the bolt with a solid thud, locking us in with the bokor.

  Twenty

  Vaybian and I sat down in one corner, the bokor in another. We didn’t speak – I didn’t want him hearing our plans. I slept a bit, waking a couple of times to find my head resting against Vaybian’s shoulder. I tried not to think about what Persephone was doing to Jinx. I wondered where the others were; they were taking an awfully long time to get here … And I began to fret about Pyrites, all alone out there. I hoped he had found somewhere safe to hide.

  Then the door opened and Joseph led in a posse of goons and gestured for us to get up and go with them. There was no point refusing, not when Psycho Bitch had made it quite clear Vaybian was expendable, so I followed the rest of them up to the front door and into the second of three limos idling in the street. There was no evidence of an exploded car to be seen. Psycho Bitch was lounging across the back seat of the first car, with Jinx pressed up against the opposite window, as far away from her as he could possibly get. As I was pushed inside, Vaybian and the bokor were marched along the pavement to the third, where Amaliel was waiting. Two of the hired help slid in, one either side me so I was sandwiched between them.

  Amaliel might have been scared of me, but it was clear these two certainly weren’t. Perhaps they were too stupid – though not so stupid that they didn’t have holstered guns inside their jackets. I thought they were both human, although I was beginning to doubt my ability to tell; I had been so sure Persephone and Joseph were from this world.

  ‘A bullet through the head will kill your kind,’ she had said – perhaps she was in denial? Or more likely she just thought herself better than the rest of us. But she had said she was my sister – and that meant my mother must have had sex with Amaliel! How could she? And was that why he’d kept her trapped in the crystal? Perhaps it was unrequited love. Sadly, I would never find out what had really happened.

  I rubbed the bridge of my nose – I was beginning to feel rather queasy. ‘Could you open the window a bit?’ I asked.

  The two goons ignored me.

  ‘If you don’t want me throwing up all over you, I suggest you do as I ask.’

  ‘Daemons don’t throw up,’ one of them said. He looked as if he’d gone a few rounds with Mike Tyson; his nose had been broken one too many times and the ear closest to me was all knobbly.

  ‘How do you know?’ I asked.

  ‘Of course they don’t.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Well—’

  I heaved an exaggerated sigh and tried the other one. He wasn’t as big as Boxer Boy but he still had a hard, chiselled look. He was greying at the temples and his fair hair had been clipped short in a bristle-cut. His light tan accentuated the moon-shaped scar beneath his right eye and the pitted flesh across his cheeks I suspected was more likely caused by shrapnel than a teenaged skin condition. Ex-military, I guessed, and probably the more intelligent of the two men.

  ‘Look, I really do need some fresh air,’ I repeated.

  ‘Tough,’ Blondie sneered.

  ‘Willing to risk that I’m not one of those daemons who puke up molten lava?’

  Blondie laughed, but his boxer friend didn’t appear too sure. ‘Can they do that?’

  ‘She’s messing with your head.’

  ‘If you don’t open the window a crack you’ll be finding out pretty soon.’ Although I was actually beginning to feel a little better, messing with their heads sounded like a fun idea. ‘There’s a daemon at court whose urine is so strong it burns holes in material. His party piece is to piss his initials into the flagstones outside the inn,’ I told them. ‘Then there’s another one who regurgitates his food like a fly – we always have to remember to give him a porcelain plate, otherwise his dinner burns all the way through the table.’

  ‘You’re kidding!’ said Boxer Boy.

  ‘She’s pulling your chain.’

  ‘It wouldn’t hurt to open the window a crack.’

  Blondie chuckled. ‘If it makes you happier, but she’s not gonna puke, and if s
he does it’s not gonna be molten lava.’

  ‘Still …’ My pugilistic friend wound down the window a couple of inches and I favoured him with a smile.

  ‘Thank you.’

  I took a couple of deep breaths, leaned back into the leather seat and closed my eyes, wondering where we were going. Would Persephone dare to return to the mansion in Sussex? Or had she yet another hideaway?

  The car started to slow and we pulled to a stop. I opened my eyes. We had apparently stopped for fuel, as had Persephone’s car. The third limo had pulled over to one side and was waiting for us.

  ‘I suppose getting out to stretch my legs would be out of the question?’

  They didn’t dignify that with a reply.

  While our driver was filling up, Joseph came strolling over to have a word with him, and when he’d finished, he opened the front door and leaned in.

  ‘Everything all right back there?’

  They both gave grunts.

  ‘Good,’ he said and started to withdraw.

  ‘Joseph,’ I said, and he stopped and leaned back in. ‘Where are you taking us?’

  ‘Somewhere private.’

  ‘They will find us – the Guardians will find us.’

  ‘You’d better hope they don’t,’ he drawled, ‘because if they do, their priority won’t be us, it’ll be your ex-boyfriend.’

  ‘Ex?’

  ‘I think he’s had a change of – well, shall we say heart?’

  ‘Yeah, right.’

  ‘Why do you think I’m out here? It’s certainly not to take the air.’ He gave me a grin. ‘You know what they say about two being company.’

  ‘Funnily enough, no,’ I said, forcing my lips into a smile. ‘Jinx, Jamie and I never found three to be a crowd.’

  ‘Good point. I’ll mention that to Persephone; perhaps she’ll invite your Guardian to join them.’

  I suspected my smile was more of a grimace.

  He laughed, showing those very white teeth, then he winked, backed out of the car and strode away. Had Jinx succumbed to Persephone? I should never have let him anywhere near them again; I should have run with him, and kept on running until he was out of their reach – but then what would have happened to Kayla? Christ, Jinx had Kayla!

  I shut my eyes and tried to stop the thoughts; if I didn’t, they’d drive me mad with worry.

  Then the driver climbed in and we were off again. After a few miles I dragged open my eyes; I was exhausted, and in danger of nodding off. We were travelling at a fair lick, the countryside passing in a blur. I kept an eye out for road signs, trying to get an idea of where we were going, although what good it would do me, I had no idea.

  Our car was now last in the cavalcade, but I was still wedged between two gun-toting guards with not even a glimmer of a plan in my head. We slowed as we approached a roundabout and the first car peeled off to the left. The second had to wait for oncoming traffic and as it too went left, we crawled forward and waited for a couple of more cars coming from the right.

  There was a thump on the top of the roof and the car swayed slightly.

  ‘What the fuck?’ Blondie said.

  The driver leaned forward with his head turned to one side, as if trying to look out of his windscreen at the roof, which was pretty dumb – but then, he probably wasn’t employed for his brains.

  ‘I think something hit the roof,’ Boxer Boy said, and wound down his window a bit more, then he undid his seatbelt and leaned out.

  ‘Bonner, get back in here and shut the window.’

  Bonner glanced back. ‘But—’

  ‘I said shut the fucking window.’

  Bonner turned back, grumbling – then there was a whooshing sound and he was gone.

  Blondie instantly reached for his gun, shouting to the driver, ‘Step on it!’

  The driver slammed his foot down on the accelerator and we shot forward into the path of traffic; I heard blasting horns and squealing tyres, then we were careering around the roundabout, the car fishtailing as we swung to the left.

  ‘Where the fuck’s Bonner?’ the driver shouted.

  ‘How the fuck should I know? He was here one minute and then he was gone.’ Blondie pointed his gun at me, and at the open window.

  There was another thud on the roof, this time hard enough to make the car swerve.

  ‘What was that?’ The driver’s wide scared eyes were reflected in the rear-view mirror.

  ‘Shut the window,’ Blondie said to me, his gun still pointed at it.

  ‘You shut the window,’ I said.

  He moved the gun a fraction so the barrel was in line with my head. ‘I said: shut the fucking window.’

  My brain was on high-alert and shouting, Gun! Gun! Gun! but I fought it down. ‘There’s no need to be rude,’ I shouted back. ‘Anyway, you shut the window. You’ve got a button your side, haven’t you?’

  He frowned at me, and as he turned in his seat to fiddle with the switch in the door panel I quickly undid my seatbelt and slid across the seat to where Bonner had been sitting. My hair went whipping out of the window as I pressed myself against the door.

  ‘Hey! What’re you doing? Get back over here—’

  ‘You said to close the window,’ I said, pushing myself up against it.

  ‘Get back here. Now!’

  He lifted his gun again, his anger palpable, and for a moment I thought he was actually going to shoot me, then he started groping for the release button for his seat belt. I leaned back, my head out of the window, and then something grabbed me under my arms and I was hauled out through the window and hoisted up into the sky.

  I heard the car squeal to a halt below me, but it was too late; I was flying across fields then over a line of trees, laughing as I went. ‘Yes! Go, Pyrites!’ I cried, and he puffed a plume of white smoke in response.

  About a mile away from the road he lowered me down and immediately shrank to the size of a pony, and I flung my arms around him the moment I could and covered him with kisses. Heaven alone knew what anyone on the road behind us had thought – but right then I didn’t care; my drakon had saved me yet again, and he deserved all the praise in the world. Then something occurred to me.

  ‘Did Jamie send you?’

  Pyrites rolled his eyes and snorted. Obviously not. Jamie had made his feelings quite clear about my drakon taking to wing in the Overlands.

  ‘Will you be in trouble?’

  He snorted again, flared his nostrils and gave a rumble in his chest. So I guess he didn’t really care. Now all we had to do was get Jinx and Vaybian back – oh, and Kayla. But how?

  I thought about following the cars, but that hadn’t gone too well last time … In the end I realised I had no choice; I’d have to regroup with my guard and hope we could lose the Guardians and get to Jinx before they did. If only I’d been able to work out where Persephone was going, but unfortunately, she hadn’t left any loose ends or clues for me to follow …

  I began to smile … actually, she had.

  *

  Boxer Boy hadn’t got very far; he wasn’t dressed for trudging through fields at the best of times, and after all Persephone’s stormy weather, they were very muddy. As soon as he saw us coming, he dropped to the ground, his arms wrapped around his head. What good he thought that would do, I had no idea. We landed a few yards away and walked over to stand directly in front of him. He lifted himself up briefly to peer out at us from between his arms, and upon seeing Pyrites, curled into a tighter ball.

  ‘Bonner, we’re not going to hurt you,’ I started.

  He somehow managed to huddle even smaller.

  ‘Unless, of course, you don’t tell me what I want to know.’

  ‘Go away,’ he mumbled.

  ‘I’m not going anywhere until you and I have a little chat.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Do you know what my drakon is capable of?’ I asked, laying my hand on Pyrites’ flank. ‘It is said his fire can get to 2000 degrees or more. That’s centigrade, obvio
usly. So he could roast you in an instant or, if he wanted to dial it back, just give you a very painful burn. And I do not have time to waste.’

  Bonner whimpered, and if it hadn’t been for the urgency of the situation I might have felt mean. As it was, I did feel mean, but not in a sympathetic way: I wanted to hurt someone – Persephone – very badly, and I would do whatever it took to make sure I had the opportunity.

  ‘Pyrites,’ I said, ‘get ready to roast—’

  ‘No!’ Bonner cried. ‘What do you want? I’ll tell you whatever you need to know.’

  ‘Where is Persephone going?’

  ‘Naples,’ he said. ‘She’s got a Learjet to take the daemon to Naples.’

  ‘Naples? Why Naples?’

  ‘I don’t know, please, I don’t know—’

  He was just the hired help; I doubted she’d have told him her dastardly plans. I didn’t like the sound of them being in Naples, though – then a memory skittered through my head. I hadn’t been long in the Underlands, and Jamie had been taking me to find my final guard. When I’d asked why he and the others were uneasy, he had stopped mid-stride. ‘You’re about to meet one seriously dangerous individual,’ he’d told me. ‘He’s a bringer of death – literally. Where he walks, death and disaster follow. When he travelled across Europe the Black Death was not far behind him; when he passed through the streets of London the Great Fire kindled; when he left the city of Pompeii it was consumed by molten rock.’

  Pompeii had been destroyed when Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the city under tons of ash. And Vesuvius was still active, and just a short distance along the coast from Naples.

  ‘Oh crap,’ I muttered. ‘Come on, Pyrites, let’s go!’

  We left Bonner in the field and went in search of an airfield in the general direction of where the cars had been taking me. I was hoping they hadn’t left the country yet, but it was a forlorn hope.

  *

  It took far too long to spot the airfield, and when we did, there were no planes standing on the tarmac. Bugger, I thought, but I got Pyrites to take us down anyway. If Amaliel and Persephone were really taking Jinx to Naples, we were in so much trouble I hardly dared think about it. I had no choice: I had to find my guard, but they could be anywhere by now. I wondered for a moment if I tried to change, whether using that power would bring the Guardians, and therefore Jamie, running … except that several times we’d used huge amounts of power and the Guardians had been conspicuous by their absence – why was that? That was a question for another time; I had more important things to worry about – like an erupting volcano.