‘I know, I know.’ Faye began pacing again.
‘As we speak, Aisha’s been there how long? Hasn’t Rav been helping you think of ways you could get her back? I mean, I know he’s not a witch, but maybe he has some ideas?’
‘No.’ Faye looked out of the plate glass panels at the front of the shop through the backwards lettering, the simple, traditional font that spelled outFortune’sin gold letters. It was raining now and the strip of grey sky she could glimpse above, between the close terraces on either side of the small street, framed her mood.
No.Rav wanted to forget it all – his own self-preservation was more important.
‘Okay, then. Couldn’t Lyr help you in some way? I mean, heisa faerie king too. He’s as powerful as Finn, right?’ Gabriel asked.
Faye sighed and paced along the far wall of the shop. ‘In the realm of earth, though. I don’t see how he could help in Murias.’
‘But he’s trying to make contact with you.’ Gabriel raised an eyebrow. ‘He appeared to you in the ritual. And you said just now, in the rose garden, you saw the fae creatures. You were drawn there. It wasn’t by accident.’
‘I didn’t ask for any of that,’ Faye muttered, knowing she sounded like a child. ‘He doesn’t care about me. The fae don’t have feelings like us. Lyr wants something from me.’
‘Don’t you think you should at least find out what that is, though? You make a bargain with him. You give something, you get something.’
‘Meaning…he gives me access to Murias? I don’t know if he has the power to do that.’ Faye reached over and rustled a biscuit out of a packet on Gabriel’s desk.
‘Worth a try, right? At least that way you’re not…’ He blushed and looked away. ‘You know.’
Forced to become Finn Beatha’s lover again. Faye filled in the rest of the sentence in her head.Would she do it to save Aisha?
If she submitted to Finn Beatha, she might well die herself. At the very least, she would become too weak to return to the human world, and if she was under his control, then she would lose the independence and power she had started to build by using the faerie magic.
‘You’re right…We should at least ask Lyr if he can help.’ She pushed her doubt to one side; there was fear there, too, but she ignored it. ‘Can you help me?’
‘I would be honoured.’ Gabriel bowed. ‘I am at your service.’
17
‘We could have invited the group, you know. Safety in numbers and all that,’ Gabriel hissed as he held out a hand for Faye, perched precariously at the top of the black iron railings that surrounded Regent’s Park.
Faye reached for Gabriel’s slim, silver-ringed hand and hoisted herself up so she could reach her foot to the top.
‘I’m okay. Jump down,’ she whispered back. She heard a thump as Gabriel fell into a bush on the other side of the railings. More daintily, Faye engineered herself to the top and lowered herself down the other side.
‘I can’t believe you’re making me break into one of the royal parks,’ Gabriel tutted, dusting himself down. Seemingly not possessing any casual clothes, he’d done his best to be anonymous in black trousers, a black polo neck and a black overcoat.
‘You look like a French detective,’ Faye whispered. ‘It’s not my fault the park closes so early at this time of year. Anyway, it’s good. It means we won’t be disturbed.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with being stylish, dear Faye. We’re like magic detectives, anyway.’ Gabriel helped her onto thegravelled pathway, and Faye pointed to where she remembered the garden. ‘Imagine me as a Wiccan Hercule Poirot.’
Faye rolled her eyes at him.
They had waited for a full moon, almost a week after Faye had visited Gabriel’s shop. Full moons were a time of heightened power, and the moonlight lit the park in its blue-white brightness. Unusual shadows suggested themselves at the edges of Faye’s vision; the moon’s reflected light wasn’t enough to cast the sharp shadows she’d walked through before, but its oddly stark glow cast an eerie almost-there lens over everything.
‘It’s this way.’ Faye led Gabriel the way she remembered, keeping to the edges of the pathways in case anyone was patrolling the park. They walked quietly under the close trees, the fallen leaves under their feet. In the dark, with no one else there, the energy of the park was completely different. Gone was the pleasant drone of activity, gone was the busy human story that evolved there every day. Instead, there was a watchfulness, a humming pause in a low, mournful tone. It wasn’t a threat, but something waited for them. Something was alive in the dark.
They reached the concentric circles of rosebushes. With the moonlight on them the leaves looked waxy and artificial; the white flowers Faye had seen previously were petals on the ground, trodden into the mud. But tonight, Faye didn’t even have to close her eyes to detect the fae magic because the mini labyrinth, such as it was, was alive with faeries.
‘Oh, my goodness.’ She let out a breath as a wave of delight pricked her body.
Faye glanced at Gabriel.
‘Are you seeing this?’ she whispered, but the expression on his face was enough to tell her that he was. Gabriel’s eyes were wide with wonder; he met Faye’s eyes with an incredulous grin.
‘I can’t believe it. But yes, I am.’
