Suzanne McLeod - The Cold Kiss of Death

‘Aye doll,’ he nodded, ‘that’s as maybe, but it’s nae the sort o’ thing one jumps intae when one’s courting. Better tae test the water first.’

Okay, so telling a girl on the first date you wanted her to play ‘mummy’ to your ‘daddy’ might be coming on a bit strong, but when it comes to pregnancy, by the time you get round to testing the water it’s usually too late.

‘And I get that the pair of you have been watching out for me with this prohibition,’ I carried on in the same reasonable tone. ‘And don’t think I don’t appreciate it, or that I’m not grateful’— or that I don’t know you’ve both got your own reasons for doing it— ‘but the longer you keep me in the dark, the more everything seems to get screwed up around me. So I’m going to meet the phouka, get whatever info she’s found out about the murdering sidhe’— and ask her some pertinent questions about the prohibition —‘then we can all have a chat about what to do next, okay?’ I glanced up at the paler circle of the skylight, although not ‘all’ of us would still be awake.

Tavish looked at Malik as if to say ‘up to you’.

Malik was still watching me from half-lidded eyes, but all the amusement and seduction was gone. ‘Genevieve—’

‘I know the phouka’s dangerous, Malik,’ I said, firmly. ‘I don’t need convincing of that.’ And she’s not the only one , I thought, looking from one to the other, hoping they weren’t going to make this a fight ... one I’d probably lose ...

‘Have a care.’ He inclined his head in what I took for acceptance, as opposed to something more irritating, like consent.

‘Great, glad we’ve got that sorted’—I stood, pulling the sheet with me—‘so any chance of some clothes?’ I smiled at them both. ‘Naked’s so not the best way to walk around London unnoticed.’

And the sun would be rising soon and the phouka would be waiting for me.

Tavish’s magic beachfront door expelled me under London Bridge this time. I walked out of an open doorway near the entrance of the London Bridge Experience, the very one where I’d spent an uncomfortable time surveying ghosts with Finn a few days past—right now it felt like a particularly long lifetime ago. The green and blue lights twinkled in the pavement, and a couple of the exhibition actors—two women in ankle-length woollen robes made up to look like mediaeval plague victims—were organising the visitors waiting to go in. It might be Sunday morning, but scary tourist shows were definitely the in-thing for Hallowe’en.

I headed past the chattering queue, many of them stamping their feet and breathing into their hands against the cold wind that whistled off the nearby Thames. As I reached the bottom of Nancy’s Steps, I stopped and looked up, recalling my escape up them the previous night from the turban-headed dryads. The phouka, in her doggy guise, a faint silver sheen to her silky short-haired coat, gazed sphinx-like from the top. She angled her head to one side, ears pricking forward, then, giving me a tongue-lolling smile, she bounded down to meet me.

‘Hello Grianne,’ I said drily as she shook herself, casually scattering raindrops over me, and just as casually casting an Unseen spell. The magic settled round us like a cocoon, blocking out the noise of the excited tourists and the traffic rumbling across the bridge above.

‘How’s my faerie dogmother this morning?’ I asked. ‘Did you get enough exercise chasing sticks last night?’

‘Please do not refer to me by that ridiculous mortal name, child,’ the dog snapped; any human listening would hear just a low growl. ‘I am a phouka. And the dryads caused me no more problems after you had departed.’

‘Great to hear it.’ I shoved my hands into my jacket pockets and started along the street. After some discussion—during which Malik had disappeared to wherever—Tavish had finally come up with some clothes—the jacket, trainers, jeans and T-shirt all thankfully real—in exchange for me heading straight back after meeting the phouka, something I’d been planning to do anyway.

‘So,’ I said, as the phouka fell in beside me, ‘have you managed to find any info on the sidhe who’s decided to visit London yet?’

‘None in the Fair Lands has opened any of the three gates.’ Her black-tipped claws clicked sharply on the pavement. ‘Clíona, my queen, has forbidden any from doing so.’

‘Because of the droch guidhe .’ I bent down and looked the phouka in her pale grey eyes. ‘Of which there is a detail you forgot to mention to me: like, the lesser fae who can’t have full-blood children?’

Her ears flattened against her head. ‘It was not your concern.’

I straightened and gave the phouka a ‘don’t bullshit me’ look. ‘ Of course it’s my concern, Grianne! I’m running round Sucker Town on your rescue missions, picking up any stray faelings that end up trapped there because you keep telling me your queen can’t break the curse and feels guilty about them. Now I find out not only is there an additional problem with the curse, but that she’s been refusing to speak to any of the fae here about it. I take it you do know what their solution is, don’t you?’

‘Enough, child.’ She growled at me for real this time, baring long black fangs. ‘I am aware of the situation. But regardless of what I might have wished, I was, like all others, constrained by the prohibition.’

‘Which is another thing.’ I tilted my head to look at her. ‘Everyone else was “prohibited” from coming near me, but you just got told to keep the secret. What makes you so different?’

‘The curse does not afflict me’—the hairs along her spine rose in a stiff ridge—‘nor am I a vampire who wishes to enslave you.’ She padded a couple of steps forward and the air blurred around her. Grianne stood before me in her more human form, her usual haughty expression on her long, narrow face. A swathe of fine silver fabric was caught in a clasp at one shoulder and fell to pool around her feet, clinging like silk to her tall, slender body. It gave her an oddly ethereal air that belied her strength. Her ash-grey hair was feathered against her scalp, parting around the pointed tips of her ears, and her skin shone the same faint silver-grey as the dog’s. Anyone seeing her would know her at once for a fae—not that anyone would see her with her magic hiding us.

‘Fair enough.’ I stopped, giving her a wary look. ‘But they’re not the only reasons, are they?’

‘Of course not, child.’ She smiled, her teeth as black and sharp as the dog’s. ‘As I have told you before, I abhor what you are; even were you not infected with salaich sìol you have your father’s taint in your blood, and I intended to end your life at first.’ She might have been discussing the weather for all the emotion in her voice. ‘But you proved yourself to be resourceful, courageous and stubborn that night, and I owed you a debt.’

Yeah, it wasn’t me the vamp sunk his fangs in, was it? I said to myself. The stupid sucker had been so excited at catching a phouka that he completely missed the fourteen-year-old sidhe right under his nose. Not that I’d missed him. And Grianne’s feelings for me were nothing new. But it was nice to know I’d impressed her; at least that was something.

‘So I agreed to the prohibition,’ she carried on calmly. ‘I would not attempt to remove you from London, either by death or any other means, so long as you were no hindrance to my queen.’ Her mouth turned down. ‘Although at the time I was not aware that the vampires were part of the same agreement. ’