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‘How about if I take it on the boat with me?’ Harley suggested.
‘Forget it! You might drop it in the water and then where would we be?’
‘We could open it now, all together,’ I said hopefully.
The twins stared at me as if they’d forgotten I was there.
‘We need to get you home, fast,’ Keely said, slipping the envelope in her coat pocket. ‘Never mind this. Harley, you go and tell Killian what’s happened, and I’ll get Trinity back to the island before—’
She broke off as a man stepped in front of us. I hadn’t even noticed him in the alley.
‘Good day, ladies.’
He had jet black hair and pale green eyes and was wearing a suit that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the nineteen-forties. I wouldn’t have been at all surprised if he’d offered us cheap nylons and chocolate. The word spiv was made for him.
‘Excuse me,’ Harley said politely, ‘we need to go.’
‘Go where?’ the man asked. ‘Back to that island by any chance?’
Goosebumps broke out on my arms. I risked a sideways glance at the twins and saw they looked frozen.
‘Who are you?’ Keely managed.
‘Don’t worry, I’m not interested in you, witch,’ he drawled. He turned to me and gave me an oily grin. ‘Now you, you’re a different matter entirely. It’s you I’m interested in, naturally. Say hello to your old uncle, Trinity.’
I felt sick with terror.
‘Havok Pendragon!’ Keely gasped.
‘I’m flattered you know my name,’ he said, giving her a slight bow.
‘I know your name all right,’ she said, through gritted teeth. ‘You’re responsible for the death of my father.’
‘And my parents,’ I said, having finally somehow managed to find my voice. I was shaking like a leaf and knew I had to focus. I needed to get back to the island. It was me he was after, not the twins. I had to get away, fast.
No matter how I tried, though, all I could see were his pale green eyes, staring insolently at me.
‘Your parents,’ he said, shaking his head slightly. ‘I don’t know what my brother expected. I mean, what did he think I’d do? He left me with no alternative when he married that witch.’ His lip curled as he said the word. ‘And then when I found out there were children. A Great Guardian! How could someone as pathetic as Ashen produce one of those? I’ve been very patient; you can’t say I haven’t. But you must know, Linnet Pendragon, that I can’t let you live. I can’t let any of you live.’
‘All this,’ Harley said, ‘just to stop witches and fae living in peace. What’s your problem? I mean, apart from your dreadful fashion sense, obviously. You do realise that if you’re trying to blend in with humans you really ought to stop wearing clothes that are eighty years out of date.’
A clearly livid Havok pushed his face too close to hers for comfort. ‘My problem is that witches are scum. Traitors. We had it all! We were the Shining Ones, the Gentry! Then witches and humans teamed up and drove us out of our land, into the woods, beneath the ground, and under the sea. We became fae. Have you any idea how humiliating that is? We were gods! We were worshipped! Now we hide away like criminals.’
‘If you behave like criminals, what do you expect?’ I snapped, terrified, but unable to stomach his ranting any longer. ‘Time has moved on. Witches and fae have lived in peace since Arthur’s day. Humans have forgotten we exist. Let it go.’
‘Since Arthur’s day? You clearly don’t know your history,’ Havok sneered.
‘Oh, we do,’ Keely said. ‘We know how the Pendragons tried to stir up war back in the seventeenth century, but it didn’t work, did it?’
‘Thanks to that nephew of mine,’ Havok growled. ‘Great Guardian! Guardian of who, eh? Not the fae. Traitor. If he was on our side he’d be slaughtering the witches. What do you expect when he’s half witch himself? But I’ll tell you this much, girlies, we came close. We came so close. And now we’re closer still. The witches are in turmoil, demanding retribution for the death of their beloved leader, Zephyr Ambrose, and the fae are in a state of fear, dreading what they will do in revenge.’
He stepped back, suddenly smiling. ‘I love fear,’ he admitted. ‘It leads to so much hatred. Give people something to be afraid of and the job is almost done. It’s only a matter of time until the witches attack innocent fae, and then…’ He gave a sigh of satisfaction. ‘No one will be able to stop it.’
I eyed Keely nervously, and she reached for my hand. It was clear to both of us that we had to zap out of here. Fast. We tried to catch Harley’s eye, but she was too focused on Havok. Her arms were folded, and she had a challenging look in her eyes. I wondered what had gotten into her. Harley wasn’t the confrontational type, but right now she looked fearless.
‘That’s what you think,’ she said. ‘Clearly you’re not as sure of that as you’re making out. If you were, you wouldn’t be so terrified of your own nieces and nephew. Deep down you know they’re going to stop you, don’t you? Tell me, that day in Whitby, was it Zephyr or Trinity you sent Malliss to kill?
That seemed to hit a nerve. Havok’s eyes narrowed, and he looked as if he’d like to kill her, the way he’d killed poor Zephyr.
