Gifted Thief (Highland Magic #1)(42)

She gazed at me like I was a total idiot. ‘Good? Good? How can everything be good?’

I winced. ‘Keep your voice down. You need to keep a low profile, remember?’

She subsided into a series of blue-tinged grumbles.

‘That’s better,’ I said, like a disapproving teacher. ‘How many of those have you had?’

She tapped her glass. ‘These? I dunno. Half a dozen maybe.’

I eyed the drink with distaste. ‘What’s in it?’

‘Crème de menthe, vodka and Amaretto. Want to try?’

Eurgh. ‘No thanks.’ I caught the attention of the bartender. ‘Jug of coffee, please. And make it strong.’

‘You’re no fun. I’m drowning my sorrows. You should join me.’

‘I have things to do. And so do you.’

‘Yeah? Like what?’

I took out the velvet bag and threw it on the table. It clunked heavily against the wood. Lexie looked at it and then at me. She took another sip of her green monster before curiosity got the better of her. She picked up the bag and peered inside it.

I waited. When her jaw dropped and her eyes went wide, I grinned.

‘How…?’ she breathed.

‘Long story. Taylor can fill you in on the details later.’

She shook her head with incredible vehemence. ‘No way. You can ply me with all the coffee you like and give me as many priceless jewels as you can find but I’m not venturing out there again. I’m not going to prison, Tegs.’

About this, at least, I was confident. ‘You’re not going to go to prison,’ I told her. ‘They’re no longer looking for you.’

‘Yeah?’ She did a good impression of one of those disbelieving women you get on daytime chat shows when they’re told their husbands have been cheating on them.

‘Yes,’ I replied firmly. ‘It was me they were after and they’ve got me.’

Lexie blinked. ‘Eh?’

‘Like I said, Taylor will fill you in. What you two need to do is to get hold of the buyer and get rid of that.’ I nodded towards the Lia Saifire. Recovering it had opened up a whole host of options. ‘With the money, hire the meanest, nastiest lawyer in town. Get Speck and Brochan released, even if it’s only on bail. Once that’s done, you need to talk to Charlie.’

‘Who?’

‘My neighbour. He deals in a lot of black-market stuff. One of things which he professes to have is a device that will temporarily negate the barrier spells the Sidhe have put around the Clan areas. All four of you have to get to the Cruaich.’

Lexie’s face paled. ‘That’s where the Sidhe court is.’

‘Yup. Get there. Find somewhere to hide. Every night at midnight, set off our signal. I’ll come and find you. If five nights pass and I don’t come for you then get the hell out of there and don’t look back.’

She stared at me. The bartender appeared out of nowhere and slammed the coffee jug down on the table between us. We both jumped.

‘Got it?’ I asked her softly.

She nodded. ‘I’m not dreaming, am I? I don’t think there’s absinthe my drink but I could be mistaken. It’s happened before…’

I pointed at the coffee and stood up. ‘Drink that before you leave,’ I instructed. ‘All of it.’



*



Less than two hours later, I was standing in front of the gates leading to the Cruaich with a small pink suitcase in tow. As with many places in Scotland, it hadn’t been easy to get here. So much for the joys of living in a rural location; not for the first time, I wished someone had invented the Star Trek transporters for real. Public transport was a pain in the arse.

I tugged at my case. I was hoping it wouldn’t take long to do this Foinse business but it never hurt to come prepared. There weren’t any guards on duty although, with the magical barrier in place, there really didn’t need to be. I guessed that although the Sidhe knew the magic was failing, they weren’t expecting it to happen today.

I took off my hat and ran my fingers through my hair, getting rid of any tangles. I’d swapped my trainers for a pair of high stiletto boots. I’d paid a cobbler to paint over the soles for me in lacquered hot pink. They weren’t Christian Louboutin - they were better. Dressing to kill always made me more confident and I was going to need all the confidence I could muster. I’d even managed to paint my nails on the way here in the taxi and it took a steady hand to achieve that sort of art. The colour matched the shoes. Naturally. I was going to show all those Sidhe wankers ‒ Byron included ‒ that I wasn’t afraid of them.

Just in case someone was watching, I tossed my hair disdainfully. The wind caught it and a halo of white flew up around my head. Even I had to admit it was impressive. Still looking like an avenging angel, with Mother Nature herself at my beck and call, I stepped through.