Suzanne McLeod - The Shifting Price of Prey

The Arabian phoenix flew past with a grateful dip of its wings then joined her coin-holder, the chipped concrete troll with his fast-food cart. The bird landed on the cart’s burner, scoffed down a fireproof bun as the troll turned the flames up, and, whistling off-tune, pushed the cart towards the rest of the Others.

A fae male in a strange pirate outfit approached. He’d been hanging around the giant squid’s tank. Gold Cat licked her lips at the enticing scent of fish drifting from him then gave a small growl of disappointment. The male – Ricou, dressed in his Captain Jack Sparrow Glamour – lived with Genny as a . . . flatmate? – Ah, part of her pride – It disappointed Gold Cat that she wouldn’t be able to eat Ricou either in this guise or the male’s true naiad form. He smelled like he’d taste delicious.

‘Hello, luv, how’s tricks?’ the pirate said cheerfully. ‘Hear you’ve had a busy time of it.’

‘Hey, Ricou.’ She twisted her mouth in a grin. ‘Didn’t expect to see you here.’

Ricou pointed at the giant squid madly waving three of its tentacles. ‘That’s Gustaf, he’s Bertha’s pal.’

The name Bertha produced an image of a huge angry eel in Gold Cat’s mind. An angry eel with very sharp teeth that delighted in terrorising Genny. ‘Bertha’s got a pal?’

Ricou twirled his beard. ‘Bertha got a bit upset when old Gustaf didn’t turn up the other night, so I’ve been out looking for him. Wasn’t till she spat out a gold coin that it clicked what had gone on. She couldn’t come herself, obviously, so I did the honours. Thanks for saving him, luv.’

‘No worries,’ she replied. ‘Maybe Bertha will stop trying to take chunks out of me now.’ And if not, the eel would make a tasty meal in place of the naiad.

He made a high clicking sound: laughter . ‘She might, luv, you never know. I’ll get him home and see you later. Sylvia’s looking forward to catching up on the gossip.’

‘Sure,’ Gold Cat agreed, thinking gossip was not something she was accustomed to. Or overly interested in. Nor was she interested in talking to Sylvia, the other flatmate. Dryads were only useful when it came to sharpening one’s claws.

The kelpie sauntered towards her, the small faeling dog nipping playfully at his heels. Trailing after them was a small black Labrador-like puppy. As they neared, the Black Dog puppy lifted its head and fixed Gold Cat with its red eyes. Fear slammed into her and she almost shifted and killed it before she remembered she wasn’t herself; she’d deal with the Black Dog later. It was still a puppy so there was time to reverse its Prophecy of Death.

The kelpie indicated the tarot card Gold Cat held. ‘I’m thinking that card holds our answer, doll,’ he said, the beads on his dreads flashing an eager green.

Gold Cat forced her attention away from the Black Dog and looked down at the card. Against a blue velvet background it showed two images. The top image was of a Fabergé egg encrusted with sapphires and diamonds. The image below showed the same egg, but open, and nestled inside it was the sapphire pendant that contained the fae’s trapped fertility. The sliver of Genny recognised it as the Fabergé egg the sorcerer had used to trap souls last Hallowe’en, and was surprised and frustrated that she’d let it slip through her fingers more than once.

‘Yep, this is what we’re looking for.’ Gold Cat held the card up to show the kelpie, twisting her face with worry. ‘But it was lost in the demon attack. It’s in the River Thames somewhere.’ The kelpie’s eyes swirled black with satisfaction. ‘If ’tis in the river then ’tis as good as found.’

‘Good to know.’ Gold Cat handed him the card. And the problem. The only fertility she was interested in was that of her pride.

As if on cue, Finn wrapped an arm around her shoulders. ‘That’s everyone safe and sound, Gen. And Hugh says he’ll catch up with us tomorrow. Ready to go to the party and celebrate with the rest?’

Gold Cat smiled. She had a lot to celebrate, not least the satyr. ‘How about we have our own party at home?’

He dropped a butterfly-light kiss on her mouth. ‘If you’re sure that’s what you want, Gen?’

Gold Cat glanced over her shoulder to where the real Genny stared from the lee of the stage, anger and the urge to kill radiating from her. Gold Cat stiffened subtly, her hackles rising as the Death she’d seen in the Black Dog’s eyes flashed before her. She readied to defend herself, then as Genny slowly stepped back into the shadows, Gold Cat relaxed and turned to the satyr.

She smiled and cupped Finn’s cheek. ‘Oh, I’m very sure that us together is what I want.’ Mate.

The evil, life-stealing cat had her hands on Finn!

Rage and fear exploded in me, Ascalon leaped into my hand, and I ran—

Straight into an invisible wall. I bounced off, landing painfully on my tailbone, and belatedly looked . The blue curtain of a Ward shimmered like a heatwave, the grey drops of a Look-away veil distorting it like sheeting rain.

I focused , ready to crack the Ward and Look-away, then froze as Bastien spoke. ‘Before you go racing off to demand satisfaction, my lovely sidhe, there is one small matter we need to discuss.’

I turned to find him with a gleeful smile on his sadistic teenage face. ‘What?’

‘I believe you have a set of tarot cards. Now would be an excellent time to consult them.’

I stared at him for a long moment, wanting nothing more than to plunge Ascalon into his heart as I’d done in the Dreamscape, then do the same to Gold Cat. Instead, I forced myself to stay calm, to play this out to the end. I let Ascalon slip back into the ring, slowly got up, and fished the cards from my back pocket. A gust of jasmine-scented wind blasted my hair back as one card flew to hover in front of my face.

The last tarot card.

The last tarot card didn’t need my blood, it already depicted an image. A male and female stood side by side, a plump cherub floating on a sunny cloud above and the Rod of Asclepius with its entwined serpent between them. The female figure was Sylvia, hands protectively spread over her pregnant belly and the sapphire fertility pendant nestled between her ‘Hello Boys’ breasts. The male figure was Bastien, crowned with his new imperial laurel wreath and (thankfully, since he was naked too) holding a misty grey disc about the size of a dinner plate strategically in front of him.

Of course, the last card would be The Lovers. The sadistic prick would revel in the irony of it. Especially as this was no doubt where the smarmy smiling psycho asked for my blood-bond and my body in exchange for telling me the answer to my question. Trouble was, I hadn’t a clue how I was going to get out of saying yes.

I curled my lip in disgust, hiding the dread icing my spine and flicked the card. ‘Hurry it up.’

Sylvia on the card gave me a tremulous smile I’d never seen on her in person. ‘You have a choice to make, Genny. It has to be made now, and if you make the wrong decision, then what has gone before will not matter; the fae’s fertility will never be recovered, it will be lost for ever and the fae will die.’ Her hands clutched at her bump.

I glared at Real Life Bastien. ‘Do you really think I’m going to believe that bullshit? When I know you and Viv have been in league since the beginning?’

He shrugged and tapped the card. Sylvia vanished to be replaced by Viviane, twirling her parasol with an affronted expression on her face. ‘The cards are sidhe-made, bean sidhe, so speak the truth. I can influence them to show less, but I cannot make them lie. You would do well to listen to them.’