‘Excuse me?’
‘You heard me.’ He tapped his foot.
‘Because, um, time will tell?’
Sorley’s eyes turned from me to Byron and back again then his face cleared and he let out a loud guffaw.
‘That’s right,’ Byron said silkily. ‘And if it takes us until the end of time, I’m going to make sure that you trust me. You got that?’
‘I’ve got it!’ Shite. ‘I mean, I do trust you. I just … forgot to tell you about the Foinse, that’s all.’
‘That’s fine.’ He stepped away.
Feeling hot and bothered, I rubbed my neck. I had completely lost track of what was going on. It was just as well that Bob took that moment to harangue us. He flashed into the room with a disdainful glance. ‘You’ll be relieved to know that we’re safe. The Sidhe are no longer trying to pursue us.’ He sniffed loudly. ‘You’rewelcome.’
‘Thank you, Bob.’
He zipped up to Byron. ‘I didn’t hear anything from you.’ He wiggled his earlobe. ‘I know you’re broke but manners cost nothing.’
‘Thank you, Bob.’
‘Well,’ the genie demurred, ‘okay then.’ He flew down, hovering at the edge of Byron’s kilt. ‘What do Scotsmen wear under these things? I’ve always wondered…’
Byron grabbed him before he could take a peek. ‘Manners cost nothing,’ he reminded him.
Bob pouted. ‘Yeah, yeah.’ He looked over his shoulder at me. ‘I should tell you that Tipsy is throwing a tantrum up on the deck. Fergus, May and Candy are trying to calm her down but they’re not having much luck.’
I pressed the base of my palms against my temples. ‘Okay,’ I said, ‘okay.’
***
Bob hadn’t been kidding about the tantrum part. Tipsania was marching up and down the slick boards, picking up everything that wasn’t nailed down and throwing it away. ‘I will wring his neck. I will pull out his fingernails one by one.’ She grabbed a lifebelt and hurled it into the grey, churning sea. Mm. We might need those.
Candy stood to one side. ‘It’s better to let her run out of steam,’ he advised.
‘Steam?’ Tipsania shrieked. ‘I’ll show you steam. I will ram a steaming hot poker right up his arse. Then you’ll see steam.’
May shuffled up, Fergus following with a large golf umbrella in a bid to shield from the sun. ‘Ip. Ee!’ she squeaked.
‘Not now, May!’
Byron said, ‘That’s a Fomori demon.’
Ah. ‘Yes. Yes, it is. She’s nice, though. Honest.’
‘If it takes until the end of time, Integrity,’ he reminded me.
‘I wasn’t keeping her a secret! She just never came up!’
He obviously didn’t believe me. I gave up and focused on Tipsania instead. ‘What’s wrong?’
She stopped what she was doing and stared at me. ‘What’s wrong?’ she shrieked. ‘What’s bloody wrong? You imbecile! You poor excuse for a Sidhe! You white-haired cretin!’
‘I tried to warn you,’ Candy rumbled.
‘Tipsania,’ I said, trying again. ‘I know this has been tough on you. I’m really sorry about your dad. It’s important to grieve but I’m not sure this is the best way to go about it.’
She put her hands on her hips and marched up to me. ‘My dad was a wanker,’ she said icily. ‘I’m not happy he’s dead and I’m certainly not happy about how it happened but that’s not why I’m angry.’
