‘Fine,’ I said, as if acceding to his will. ‘That’s a good idea.’
Marrock smiled grimly and snapped his fingers. A few moments later, another minion ran over with a map. Marrick rolled it out on a table and jabbed at the northeast corner. ‘Here,’ he said. ‘I have a tunnel under the walls which is accessed via an old school building. It takes you out beyond Stirling. You’ll come out close to an old church in the east. It’s not too far from the Gneiss encampment so you’ll need to be careful but it’s not impossible. For someone like Saiya, it will be a piece of cake.’
Gabriel de Florinville’s eyes grew sharp at that comment but he didn’t say anything. I nodded and checked my watch. ‘Three hours,’ I said. ‘That’ll give Ange and I enough time to retrieve Becky and get to the school. That should you give you two chance to get to the goblins and plant the necessary seeds to help our escape.’ I felt goose bumps of anticipation rising up across my skin. The next few hours might prove to be the most important of my life. ‘How do we get out of here without being noticed?’ I asked Marrock. I knew I could manage it on my own but, with Ange in tow, it would be far harder.
‘There’s a lane which leads out along the river. It’s rarely used by the goblins. The Elf can leave first. He’ll stall any goblins heading in this direction and divert them. Then you take the Horrocks woman and go. After that, I’ll head off and do what I can to delay Ghrashbreg and his bastards further.’ There was a note of macabre satisfaction in Marrock’s words, as if this were something he’d been waiting to do for a long time.
‘What do you get out of this, Marrock?’ I asked. I knew my motivation and Ange’s, I even understood de Florinville’s, but Marrock had no reason to jeopardise his life in this fashion. He was sitting pretty.
He flashed me a sudden smile. ‘Immortality, of course. That’s worth risking everything for. Instead of a dodgy black-market racketeer, history will remember me as the man who saved Scotland from goblin rule.’ My brow furrowed and Marrock grinned wryly. ‘Me and a few others.’ He patted my arm. ‘Wait here. I’ve got supplies I can pass over.’ He glanced at Ange. ‘I have some more appropriate clothes you can change into as well.’ He took her arm and marched her off in the direction of the bowling alley kitchen.
De Florinville didn’t even wait until Marrock was out of sight. ‘Can he be trusted?’
I bit back the answer that I knew Marrock a damn sight better than I knew him and tried to smile. ‘I believe so.’
The Dark Elf drew nearer to me, until our bodies were almost touching. I resisted the urge to step away. ‘What is he to you?’ His voice was a low, dangerous growl.
It was none of his damned business. ‘An old friend,’ I said shortly.
‘Friend?’ De Florinville’s eyes sparked.
It was on the tip of my tongue to say something flippant, challenging and entirely untrue about the wonderful sex I had with Marrock. I could even have said that I was carrying his child – but this wasn’t the time. The idea of being Gabriel de Florinville’s brood mare might turn my stomach but it meant he’d move hell and high water to keep me safe. I could use that.
‘Okay,’ I conceded, deciding to tell the truth. ‘Perhaps friend is stretching the truth. Marrock is self-serving and selfish but he’s not a liar and when he says he’s going to help us, I believe him. He has no more love for the goblins than the rest of us.’
‘He could have left Stirling years ago but he chose to stay.’
I sighed. ‘Lots of people chose to stay, de Florinville. This is our home.’
Something akin to anger flashed across his face. ‘Gabriel.’
I blinked. ‘Excuse me?’
He dipped his head towards mine. ‘My name is Gabriel. I’d like it very much if you’d call me by it.’ His voice lowered. ‘I want to hear it on your lips.’
My mouth suddenly felt very dry. This was beyond weird. Suddenly, though, I wanted to please him and to see the darkness reflected in his gaze replaced by something warmer. My tongue darted out and I wet my lips. His eyes followed the movement. ‘Gabriel,’ I whispered. I shook myself. What the hell was wrong with me?
He smiled, displaying even white teeth. My stomach did an odd flip that made no sense whatsoever. ‘That’s better.’ He scanned my face, drawing even closer. A strange, distant part of me noted that his hair looked very soft. ‘Once we are safely out of Stirling, Saiya, you and I have a great deal to talk about. I’m going to look forward to getting to know you a whole lot better.’ His expression grew tender. He was probably thinking about his future babies. He could piss off.
I drew in a breath and finally managed to move away. Gabriel – or rather de Florinville – looked disappointed. It was probably fortunate that Marrock returned with Ange, who was now dressed in an oversized boiler suit. At least it was a dark colour; it would help her stay hidden if we had to conceal ourselves in a hurry.
‘We shouldn’t waste any more time,’ I said, trying to be brisk and business-like. ‘The school in three hours.’
‘It’s a date,’ Gabriel murmured, with the sort of husky promise that almost made me believe it was.
I didn’t dare look back at him. Instead I took Ange’s hand and, seconds later, we were outside and running for our lives.
Chapter Thirteen
I vaguely knew the lane that Marrock had directed us towards. As far as I remembered, I had only ever used it on a few occasions; when I needed to be subtle, I used the shadows. At other times the tarmacked roads and pavements were far more useful than the swampy mud track which Ange and I found ourselves on. Our feet squelched as we walked and our speed was severely hampered by the fact that, when we weren’t getting our shoes stuck in thick brown gloop, we were sliding all over the place. At this rate, I estimated that it would take us around an hour to reach Sally’s house then another hour or so to get to the school. I prayed that Sally hadn’t chosen to do anything daft like take Becky out for the day. There wasn’t a lot of time to spare if I had to go searching for them.
Initially Ange and I walked in silence. It was important that she conserved her strength and I needed to hear if anyone, especially any goblins, were drawing close. The only sounds for a long time were the squelches of our feet tramping in the mud and the river slowly lapping against the bank to our left. My nose tickled with the smell of smoke that still clung to the air from the Gneiss’ bombardment. Frankly, it was a relief to have the reek of sewage from the dirty river as well – it was an improvement on burning flesh.
We’d gone some distance and not seen or heard a soul when Ange murmured something. I glanced at her sharply, thinking it was a warning of some kind, then realised she’d said something else. ‘It’s very good of you to help us, Saiya,’ she repeated. ‘I know how much you’re risking by doing this. You usually keep yourself far from any trouble.’
I gave a soft laugh. ‘I could say the same about you.’
Ange shrugged helplessly. ‘It would still be true if it weren’t for arsing Bernard. He’s caused even more trouble in death than he did in life.’ She grimaced. ‘And that’s saying something. When I was in that cell, I started to wonder if he’d left me that stupid box deliberately because he knew how much trouble it would cause.’
I gestured. ‘It’s about this size? With a lacquered covering and seemingly impossible to open?’
Ange started. ‘You’ve seen it?’ Panic flared in her eyes.
‘Becky showed it to me. I told her to hide it somewhere safe. I don’t know where it is now.’ I hesitated. ‘Have you opened it?’
‘I don’t know how.’ She shivered. ‘If Becky is the only one who knows where it is…’
‘Don’t worry. I won’t let the goblins get to her. I won’t let anyone get to her.’
Ange bit her bottom lip. I wasn’t sure whether she believed me but I reckoned that she needed to believe in something. ‘I’ve not opened it,’ she whispered. ‘And I don’t know how to.’ I felt an odd prickle on the back of my neck. At the corner of my eye, something flickered. ‘Bernard mentioned it once and said that—’
I grabbed her arm. ‘Be quiet.’
Her eyes widened in alarm. ‘What is it?’
If I told her, she’d freak out and she’d already undergone enough trauma. Ange was doing a good job of holding things together but everyone had their limits; I had no desire to test Ange’s.
‘I’m not sure,’ I said, keeping my voice low. ‘It might be nothing.’ I scanned the path ahead, spotting an old lock-up that had probably been used by fishermen when there were fish in the river. ‘You see that shed up ahead?’
Ange nodded.
‘I want you to get inside it. I just want to check that nothing’s following us. We’re probably in the clear but it doesn’t hurt to be careful.’ The shed was ramshackle and the door was falling off its hinges so it wouldn’t protect her but it would keep her in one place so I could deal with what was behind us.