Mike Shevdon - The Road to Bedlam

"Not from you, Niall. It honoured you. It clothed you in silk and made you welcome. It plucked Debbie from your mind and brought her to you, all willing and naked. Sex is as much food to such a creature as blood is. I don't suppose it would mind either way."

"That's horrible."

"It's no better or worse than any other creature. It wants to survive and it's offering you the chance to benefit from the arrangement. It's offering you a symbiosis."

"Why me? I don't want anything to do with it."

"You were the last person there, apart from Solandre."

"No, I wasn't. She had Jerry Crossland, the Queen's Remembrancer, trapped there. He was there after I was."

"But he's not fey, Niall, and you are. You're wraithkin, as Solandre was. Maybe it was wraithkin too? Maybe as long as you provide some nourishment for it while you're there, it will let you do whatever you want."

"I'm not providing it with nourishment. It's gross."

"Then you're condemning it to death."

"No, I'm not. I don't want anything to do with it."

"It doesn't know anyone else, Niall. Solandre was its link with the world and now she's dead. We have no idea how long she'd been feeding it or how often. She wasn't exactly a spring chicken herself. They could have been living off each other for centuries."

"How do I tell it I don't want it? How do I tell it to find someone else?"

"I'm not sure you can. It may hear you if you speak to it, but such a creature is beyond conversation. In some ways it's more a place, now, than a person. How will you tell a place to find somewhere else to be?"

"Can I ward my dreams against it?"

"Yes. I suppose you could, but it will die without someone."

"I'll introduce it to someone else, then?"

"Who, Niall? Would you want Raffmir to have it? Or Garvin, even? Who would you trust to look after unguarded sleepers? You know what Solandre was doing with it."

"This is awful. I can't feed people to it."

"Then kill it, but don't just let it starve to death."

"How?"

"You're wraithkin. You already know how."

"You want me to use gallowfyre?"

"It's not my choice, Niall. It's attached itself to you and for better or worse you have to deal with it. You're a Warder now. If you can't deal with one ancient fey then you're going to have real problems when they start giving you executions to carry out."

"If I brought you there, could you deal with it?"

"No! If I end up there, it will feed on me and your unborn child. Don't even think about it."

"No, you're right. I have to kill it. It's the only way. What's that racket in the background?"

The sound of sirens echoed around the backs of the flats, one of the unwanted consequences of city living.

"It's a fire engine, or a police car maybe. I think we're OK. They do seem to be slowing down, though." The noise became deafening. A police car drove into the alley below, filling the narrow space with a cacophony.

"What's happening?" Niall's voice was almost drowned out.

The sirens were joined with another noise. A piercing alarm sounded from the flat. "Claire? What's that? What's going on?" She could hear Niall asking the same questions.

Claire appeared in the doorway. She was holding a short piece of black pipe, wrapped with a bunch of red roses, gathered together with a black ribbon with a gift tag dangling from it.

"Where did you get that?" asked Blackbird, taking it from her. The tag had the single letter D.

"It was left by the front door. I went to get the milk in," said Claire.

"I told you not to open the door!"

"I had my horseshoe with me. This was outside on the doormat."

The sound of distorted speech reverberated up between the buildings.

"Blackbird? What's going on?" Niall's voice was barely audible.

"Someone left a piece of pipe outside our door with some flowers. There's a label. It just has the letter D. Niall, I think it's written in blood."

The loudhailer came clearer the second time. "Exit the building as quickly as you can. Extinguish all smoking material. Do not touch any light switches or show any naked flame. Move quietly and quickly. Do not panic. Do not delay to collect personal possessions. Leave now."

"Go? Go where?" asked Claire.

"There is a mains gas leak in the building. Please leave immediately. Do not touch any electrical equipment. Do not use matches or smoking equipment. Extinguish all cigarettes immediately. Leave immediately!"

"Niall? I've got to go!"

"Where to? Deefnir's probably waiting for you!"

"If he is," said Blackbird, "he's going to find out how unreasonable a pregnant woman can truly be."

She snapped the compact shut.

"Get your horseshoe," she said to Claire. "We have to leave."

"Blackbird, what's happening…"

The sound vanished and I lost the connection. I slammed the top of the chest with my fist. I looked up into the mirror; the face there seemed distorted. Slowly, I let the anger fade. A lot of good that would do me, miles away and helpless. I pressed my hand to the mirror.

"Garvin?" The mirror glowed brightly under my hand. "Garvin, dammit! Where are you?"

His voice came through clear after the din from the flat. "Niall. You're not due until tonight. Can you wait two minutes?"

"Not really. Deefnir is trying to blow Blackbird up."

"Say again?"

"You heard me."

"Ten seconds, stay there."

I waited, counting slowly to ten. I had reached thirteen by the time his voice came again.

"He's doing what?"

I told Garvin about Blackbird and Claire and about the gas leak. "I'm sure he's caused it deliberately to flush them out of the building. They need help, and fast."

"I'm thin on the ground here, Niall. I'll send someone as soon as I can, but Fellstamp's laid up, Fionh is preparing for the day's negotiations, Tate's asleep and I'm holding the watch. Amber has gone after Raffmir and Slimgrin is chasing Deefnir. I'll get a message to Slimgrin as soon as I can."

"That won't help if he's waiting to ambush them."

"If she'd stayed here, where we could keep an eye on her…"

"She'd likely be dead by now."

"You don't know that."

"Nor do you."

"I'm trying to help, Niall, but you don't make it easy."

"I'm going to London."

"No! Stay there."

"And do what? This missing-girl thing? It's a shambles."

"Then unshamble it. You're not going to London."

"Why not?"

"Because you'll walk straight into a trap. This is exactly what Deefnir wants. You go running in there to defend Blackbird, and he'll have every excuse to kill you."

"He may find that harder than he thinks."

"He may find it easier than you imagine. He's prepared and you're not. He's laid the bait and now he's dangling it in front of you."

"She's pregnant, Garvin. Any moment now my son could be born. It could be the baby that Deefnir's after, not me."

"Slimgrin is on it. He'll find Deefnir and bring him back here."

"Slimgrin isn't even there."

"You don't know that either."

"If he's there he should be protecting them."

"With the amount of iron they have around them, I don't suppose he can get any nearer than Deefnir can. He's a Warder, Niall. You have to learn to trust the team."

"He's watching them?"

"We each play our part, Niall. Play yours, and let Slimgrin do his job."

"And I'm supposed to sit here and wait for news."

"No. You're supposed to do your job, as I'm doing mine. Altair is complaining that his retinue's deserted him. He's talking about bringing more of his court across."

"More? But they're following his orders. He's the one that told Deefnir to go after Blackbird."

"We both know that. Everyone knows that, but we can't openly acknowledge it."