‘I will do my best.’
My earlier rudeness apparently forgotten, Bob leapt onto the palm of my hand, belly-flopping and linking his fingers underneath his chin. ‘So, why are we here?’
‘Something to do with the Foinse and the flow of magic. It’s running out or broken. I’m going to help open it so it can be…’ I hesitated. Actually, I was bit unclear about what was going to happen once it had been accessed. Rebooted, perhaps?
‘What?’ He sprang up, the very picture of alarm. ‘The Foinse is failing? Uh Integrity, that can’t happen! You can’t let it happen!’
I regarded him thoughtfully. It hadn’t occurred to me that the Foinse would regulate Bob’s magic too. I supposed it really did affect everyone after all. ‘I’m certainly going to do my best,’ I told him, meaning it. ‘The thing is, before I can help the other Sidhe to open it up, I need to receive my true name. I left the Clans and the Sidhe before I was thirteen so I never went through the ceremony and I have no idea what to expect.’
‘You don’t know?’ He rolled his eyes. ‘Everyone knows what happens during the naming ceremony. You get your true name. And usually a magical Gift too.’
‘Yes, that part I’m aware of. But how does the ceremony work?’
‘You’re the Sidhe,’ he blustered. ‘You should know.’
I sighed. ‘You don’t know anything about it either, do you?’
His shoulders drooped. ‘No,’ he admitted. ‘Not a scooby.’
Shite. ‘There was something about a fever,’ I said, worried at the thought that I might get sick. ‘I’m going to need you to stick close,’ I told him. ‘I might need to use one of those wishes after all.’
‘Don’t tease me, Uh Integrity,’ he moaned. ‘I know you’re one of those stubborn types.’
There was a sharp knock at the door. I looked meaningfully at Bob and he snapped off a salute, hopping back into the blade with another blinding flash. He gave me a little wave from inside then vanished.
Cautiously opening the door a fraction, I gazed out. Well, well, well. It was none other than Dimples himself.
‘Hey!’ I said cheerfully. ‘Good to see you again!’
He threw me a look that was dirtier than the magazine picture I had shoved into the envelope and pretended to post. Okay, he was going to hold a grudge. That was a shame.
‘I’m here to ask if everything is to your satisfaction.’
He wouldn’t even look me in the eyes. He was probably being made to do this as a punishment for losing the Lia Saifire. I should feel guilty but he shouldn’t have been so naïve as to carry it around with him in the seediest part of Aberdeen.
‘The bed’s going to feel like I’m doing penance for my sins,’ I said cheerfully. ‘But other than that, I’m all good.’
‘Great.’ His expression wasn’t thrilled. ‘I’ll leave you in peace then.’
‘So I can rest?’ I punned. ‘But I’m too young to die!’ He gazed at me blankly. ‘Rest in peace,’ I tried to explain.
‘Is that supposed to be a joke?’
‘Obviously not a very good one,’ I muttered. ‘What’s your name, anyway?’ I didn’t think he’d warm to me very much if I went around calling him Dimples.
He grunted in response. ‘Jamie.’
‘I’m Integrity.’ I stuck out my hand for him to shake. He eyed it like it was a venomous snake. ‘Maybe we could start over, Jamie. I feel like we got off on the wrong foot.’
‘I got into a lot of trouble because of you. You stole from me.’
‘You mean the Lia Saifire? Byron mentioned something about that. What makes you think that was me?’
He threw me a doleful glance. ‘I’m not a complete idiot.’
I bit my tongue, waving my hand instead. He took it reluctantly, his grip tight and painful. I squeaked and pulled away. ‘While you’re here, Jamie, do you think you could tell me a little about this true name ceremony thing?’
His lip curled. ‘You don’t know?’
Would I be asking if I did? ‘No,’ I replied pleasantly.
Jamie sighed as if a huge burden had been placed on his shoulders. The sigh was followed by a strange burble. I blinked at him. ‘Are you feeling alright?’
The burble deepened. Jamie’s eyes widened and he stared at something behind my shoulder. Ha. I wasn’t going to fall for the old ‘look behind you’ trick. I was smarter than that. Or at least I thought I was until something coiled round my waist and dragged me backwards.