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I gingerly got to my feet and hauled the chain over to the sofa. Luckily it just about reached, allowing me to sit down in comfort at last. My back ached.
‘How long have I been here?’ I asked.
‘Oh, I couldn’t really say,’ she said. ‘Does it matter?’
I frowned. ‘Well, yeah, it kinda does.’
‘You’re not from around here are you?’ she said suspiciously. ‘Your accent—it’s most peculiar.’
‘I’m American,’ I explained. Well, it wasn’t exactly a lie. I’d grown up there, after all, and I’d honestly believed I’d been born there until recently.
She folded her arms. ‘Hmm. So perhaps you’ll be good enough to explain to me what you’re doing in Streaneshalch, and why you’ve been going around asking all and sundry who Sister Agnes is and where you can find her?’
Streon what now?I had no idea what she was talking about, but I seized on the fact that she was familiar with Sister Agnes’s name.
‘Are you Sister Agnes?’ I asked eagerly.
‘Certainly not!’ She drew herself up as best she could manage and glared at me. ‘And I’m the one asking the questions. I want to know who you are. What’s your name and why are you here? What do you want with Sister Agnes?’
‘So you do know who she is?’
‘What did I just say? I’m the one asking the questions.’ She rolled her eyes and sat next to me on the sofa. ‘I’ll ask you again, what’s your name?’
‘If I tell you my name you have to tell me something,’ I said. ‘Do you know Sister Agnes?’
‘I don’t make bargains with prisoners,’ she said haughtily.
‘Was that a line from a movie too?’ I asked.
‘Are you going to tell me who you are?’
‘I don’t think so,’ I said, feeling more confident by the second. ‘So if I were you I’d cut my losses and let me go. I’ve got things to do.’
I really wasn’t prepared for what happened next. She lunged at me, her face just inches from mine, and hissed. Her face changed, just for a second. The wrinkles smoothed away, the eyes grew even bigger, even rounder, and her pupils grew so large her pale eyes suddenly looked completely black.
I reared back, alarmed. Okay, so maybe she wasn’t the harmless old lady I’d assumed her to be. I should have known better. She’d managed to put me to sleep and bring me here after all. I shouldn’t antagonise her when I knew nothing about her.
Dumb move, Trinity!
‘Tell me why you are looking for Sister Agnes,’ she said, thankfully returning to her former state almost immediately, and smoothing down her skirt as if she hadn’t just transformed into some hideous creature.
She was fae. There was no doubt about it in my mind, and given the way she’d treated me, I doubted very much that she was on my side.
I shivered as I wondered what she might do to me if she knew who I really was. Bad enough that I’d dared to ask around for this mysterious nun, or nurse, or whatever she was, but if this creature knew I was a Pendragon…
I swallowed. I couldn’t tell her. Telling her might lead her to Lowen, and he had to be protected at all costs. The future of peace between the fae and witches depended on him.
She watched me closely then sighed. ‘I won’t hurt you,’ she said. ‘You don’t have to be afraid of me.’
It was a bit too late to tell me that. I was already petrified.
‘Are you hungry?’
I wanted to say no, but as soon as she said the word I realised I was. Very much so. I’d had nothing to eat since I left Middlesbrough, however long ago that was.
‘If you tell me who you are and why you’re looking for Sister Agnes I’ll bring you some lunch,’ she said, giving me a warm smile that I didn’t believe for an instant.
I folded my arms. ‘Then I guess I’ll just have to go hungry a bit longer,’ I said defiantly.
