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‘Malliss!’
The word was out before I could stop it, and Malliss beamed at me. He was a small, wiry man, nothing like I’d imagined. I’d almost say he was puny. Yet this creature had killed Zephyr Ambrose.
‘I think your reputation has gone before you, Malliss,’ the first man said with a grin.
‘He killed Zephyr,’ I managed.
‘He did! Got quite a bonus for that, didn’t you, Malliss? Of course,’ he added with a sneer, ‘he’d have got a bigger one if he’d managed to kill Linnet Pendragon too, the way he was supposed to.’
Malliss looked abashed and Siofra gave him a gleeful look.
‘Then we have Hawdon and Greywood,’ the man finished, indicating the final two men as if he’d already lost interest in them.
‘And I gather you must be Havok Pendragon,’ I said.
‘Not as stupid as you look.’ Havok held out his hand. ‘Pleased to meet you, dear nephew.’
I didn’t move, but somehow managed to hold his gaze. Eventually he shrugged and stepped back. ‘I must say, your manners are as bad as your sister’s. She wasn’t exactly polite when I, er, bumped into her recently.’
My heart leapt into my throat. ‘Trinity! What have you done to her?’
He wagged a finger at me. ‘Wouldn’t you like to know? Of course, she wasn’t alone. She had two witches with her. Not that they were much use either. Mouthy little things. Clearly had a terrible upbringing.’
Two witches? Not Keely and Harley? If the three of them had encountered Havok and his crew they’d have stood no chance. What had I come home to? I should have been here, protecting them. What if it was too late?
‘There’s no point looking like that,’ Havok said. ‘Witches are disposable. The fewer of them in this world the better. You know, it could have been so different. If your father had just married a fae none of this would have happened. To fall in love with a witch! The disgrace of it! And now he’s saddled the world with a Great Guardian who seriously believes he can stop this war.’
He jabbed his finger in my chest. ‘Nothing can stop it now. We killed the leader of the High Council. Do you think we don’t know that witches are making plans to attack the fae? And once they do there’ll be nothing you can do to end it.’
‘How did you know?’ I asked, aware that my voice sounded croaky and cursing myself for being so feeble. ‘About Zephyr and Trinity, I mean. How did you know they were in Whitby? It was Marco Golightly, wasn’t it? He told you. You see? We’ve got our own methods of finding things out. It’s not just you.’
Havok turned to look at the others, and to my discomfort they burst out laughing.
‘Oh nephew, how you disappoint me.’
He prowled around me like one of his dogs, his eyes never leaving me. I could only stand there, frozen to the spot, wondering exactly how long it would be before he inflicted the same death upon me as he had upon Zephyr.
‘Are you really that stupid?’ He shook his head. ‘You’re boring me now. I can’t be bothered with this. Siofra! You tell him. Explain to your dim cousin what really happened.’
Siofra shrugged. ‘It’s pretty simple. It was that buffoon from the High Council who told us where Zephyr and Linnet would be.’
‘What buffoon?’ I gasped.
‘You might well ask,’ Spite drawled. ‘They’re all buffoons, if you ask me.’
‘Bob,’ Siofra said. ‘That’s his name. Bob told us.’
My jaw dropped. ‘I don’t believe you,’ I said at last. ‘Bob adored Zephyr. He would never do anything to betray him.’
‘Suit yourself,’ Siofra said. ‘Believe me or don’t. Why should I care?’
‘You’re quite correct,’ Havok said. ‘Bob did adore Zephyr. It was quite sickening really. But he didn’t adore the St Clairs. Far from it. And he was furious that they were, as he saw it, putting Zephyr in danger. He was sick of the fact that Zephyr was forever, as he put it, “running around clearing up their messes”. We knew Excalibur had been handed over to the next Great Guardian and things were moving towards the final prophecy. We’d been watching the members of the High Council for some time, and quickly identified Bob as the weak link. We—how shall I put this—made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.’
‘What sort of offer?’ I asked suspiciously.
‘He’d give us information about the children of Ashen and Laragh, and we’d let him and his beloved wife live.’ He laughed. ‘He was all too eager to spill what he knew.’
‘Except he didn’t, did he?’ Siofra said.
