AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Manners strode towards me. ‘What’s up?’
‘I need to talk to the unicorn so it doesn’t kill us when I open the gate, but I can’t do that and keep control of the troll. At least, I don’t think I can.’
‘No problem,’ he said calmly. He hefted the smaller boulder that had been on top of the tank and slammed it into the back of the troll’s head. The troll dropped like a sack of potatoes.
‘Did you kill him?’ I asked accusingly.
‘Do you care?’ he countered, raising that sexy eyebrow of his. He relented. ‘No. It takes more than one little bash in the skull to kill a troll. He’s down and out, but not dead.’
I focused on Ares and gathered my magic, but he was too far away to touch. I let out a soft sigh and felt my magic being expelled with the sound. That’s right! The Pied Piper was called that because he played a pipe! I was such an idiot.
I gathered the magic again and this time I hummed ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’, all the while willing Ares to talk to me. I could feel my magic reaching towards him, like floating fingers. When It touched him, I felt the connection between us, tenuous and weak but there all the same.
I want to free you,I said to him.
In response, an image exploded in my brain: a field, a wood, a carriage.
Yes.I agreed.Free. Home.Unbidden, an image of the mansion rose in my mind. Yes, for good or ill itwasmy home now.If I free you, you can’t hurt any of us.I pictured Manners, the merman, the selkie and myself.And no one in Common, I added, picturing a commuting crowd in London.
I felt Ares’ agreement and his impatience. He wanted to be free.Now. As I took the key from the fallen troll’s fingers and unlocked the crate, he surged out. He met my blue eyes with his red ones. He held my gaze for so long that the moment hummed withsomething,but I couldn’t say what. He threw his head back and whickered, stepping forward to nuzzle me gently before plunging though the open roller door and into the night.
I glanced around the room. It was empty, bar Manners and the unconscious troll. ‘Where did the merman go?’ I asked.
‘Out.’ He pointed to the exit.
I wanted to leave too, but we’d arrived with a mission to find out about Mark and I’d discovered diddly squat. I was also curious what the gargoyle had meant about a kerfuffle.
I eased closer to the door and looked out. Shit. The Connection had arrived, and it looked like they were readying themselves to carry out a full raid.
Chapter 28
‘Timetogo,’Mannersadvised.
‘No shit, Sherlock,’ I agreed. Hopefully Bastion had secured some intel from Ghost. ‘This way?’ I pointed though the roller doors.
‘Yeah.’ Manners reached up and untied his mask. I followed suit. Without his tuxedo, he didn’t stand out so much in his trousers and shirt. He eyed my dress with regret. ‘It’s a crying shame,’ he muttered. Before I could work out what he was going to do, he pulled a dagger from an ankle holster and attacked the fishtail of my dress, hacking away at it until I was left in an immodest LBD – little black dress. Without the fishtail and the mask, my outfit was far more hooker than ball.
I glared. ‘You owe me a new dress.’
‘Legs, I’ll buy you three.’
I let the new nickname slide; besides, my legs were currently very much out. ‘Three dresses, just as good as this one,’ I bartered.
‘Better,’ he promised.
I was stalling because I was nervous. ‘All right, what do we do here?’ I gestured towards the Connection, who were gathering around the front. Any minute now, they’d spread out and find us.
‘We walk out quickly and casually. If we get near the Connection detectives, we act drunk. Can you act drunk?’
I snorted. ‘I invented drunk. Of course I can.’
‘If we get separated, try and get the train back. If you get into any trouble, wolf up and let Esme out for a ride. Just make sure when you swap back to human there are some clothes nearby that you can steal.’
‘It’s a cold night. It’s not like there are loads of clothes hanging on the washing line,’ I pointed out.
‘You’ll figure out something. Let’s move.’ On the word ‘move’, he slipped his arm around my waist and we moseyed casually out of the warehouse. The scent of him filled my nostrils; it was a relief after having that damned candle invading my senses for so long.
Manners smelled delicious. Esme let out a contented noise, almost like a purr, in my head. Wearing next to nothing and being pulled against his taut body was just the tiniest bit distracting. I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.
