Five minutes later, everything was silent again. My heart was drumming against my ribcage, my fear still not entirely gone. If it hadn’t been for the water, I probably would have lingered for longer until I was sure it was safe to clamber out, but it was too cold. The chill was penetrating my bones and I realised that I would soon be in danger of severe hypothermia, despite the hot clammy air.
I moved along the bank, looking for a spot where it would be easier to pull myself out. There was a good metre of mud bank between where I was and the street further up where I wanted to be. No spot appeared better than any other so I reached up, thrust my fingers into the sticky mud and dug in my toes. Mustering up all my strength, I flung myself upwards. It was time to get out of here.
I made about five inches before the drag of the thick water was too much. I was still wearing my shoes and carrying the harp on my back but even without them the mud would have been too slimy for me to get sufficient purchase. I tried again but this time was even worse and I fell back into the water with a loud splash. Forcing myself to lie still, I waited in case something had heard me. Fortunately, I seemed to be in the clear ? but I still couldn’t get out of the Clyde.
‘Shite, Integrity,’ I muttered. ‘Think. How can you do this?’
The answer popped into my head: levitate. I snorted. Yeah, right ? then my skin tingled and suddenly I was doing it. My body was pushing upwards of its own accord. The water level moved down to my chest, then my stomach, then my waist and still I continued to float upwards. I waved my arms around, sending drips of dark water flying in all directions. How was this happening? First teleportation, causing the Bull and I to end up tumbling through the sky at the Cruaich. Then aura reading after I took the Bull’s true name from him. Now I was capable of levitation. I had learnt to levitate just by watching that demon. It didn’t seem possible. I’d certainly never heard of anyone else tripping from Gift to Gift like this. I thought of the expression on the demon’s face. Something had happened to him. Had that something been me? Fear and worry flickered at me. It wasn’t normal.Iwasn’t normal. I shook my head and tried to push away my thoughts and focus on getting the hell out of there.
Finally free of the water, I wobbled in mid-air. My clothes felt heavy and their weight was sapping my energy. I bit my tongue as hard as I could and tried to concentrate. All I had to do was reach dry ground. I wobbled again before righting myself and turning to face the street.
‘Come on,’ I whispered. Thankfully my body obeyed and slowly drifted over.
Less than a foot across the street I let go, crashing to the ground with a thud. What I wanted to do was roll over, kiss the hard Fomori earth and then sleep for a few hours. What I did was jump to my feet and run. I couldn’t stay out in the open.
The only positive aspect of my situation, other than still being alive and unharmed, was that I appeared to be taking half the Clyde with me. I was covered from head to toe in a black oily film. It made movement difficult and I was leaving a visible trail of footprints but it did help to camouflage me. I was now a shade darker than the sky and my white hair was a sticky black. All the same, I clung to the side of the buildings and used what cover they offered. There was neither sight nor sound of the hundreds of demons but I could no longer afford to take any chances.
I reached the bridge again and veered round to the main street along which I’d arrived. It was as clear and empty as it had been an hour ago and I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness; I could be back home and dry before teatime. All I had to do was run. I shook my body like a dog, trying to get rid of some of the strange water. And that was when I heard a sudden hiss and looked up to see a demon right in front of me.
Chapter Five
She was smaller than the others I’d seen but she possessed the same glowing red eyes and sharp teeth. Her breasts were criss-crossed with scars; disturbingly, there was what looked like an old bite mark where her right nipple should have been. She cocked her head at me for a moment as if puzzled. Then she lunged.
I couldn’t move fast enough and the demon’s teeth ripped into my forearm, making short work of my jacket before piercing my flesh. I yelped in pain. It seemed that she didn’t appreciate the taste of the Clyde any more than I did, however, because she withdrew quickly, spat on the ground and glared at me as if the bitterness on her tongue was my fault.
I held up my palms, trying to ignore the lancing pain in my arm. ‘Let’s talk about this,’ I said, ignoring the tremor in my voice and trying to stay calm. ‘I don’t want to hurt you. I’mnotgoing to hurt you. I just want to leave quietly and go home.’
The demon was confused. She’d probably expected me to fight, not try and talk my way out of danger. I didn’t even know whether she understood me. I tapped the centre of my chest. ‘I’m Integrity,’ I said helpfully. ‘Integrity.’ I pointed towards her. ‘What’s your name?’
She didn’t like that and she threw herself at me once more. I didn’t even think; I simply rose upwards and levitated away from her grasp. Her fingers were long with cracked, dirty nails; whoever this demon was, she certainly wasn’t living the good life.
Her mouth dropped and she gaped at me. She had no tongue; I couldn’t see whether it had been removed or whether it was some kind of naturally occurring phenomenon but it made my flesh crawl. Her eyes were wild with an edge of vicious insanity. Clearly, she hadn’t expected me to use a Gift. To be fair, I probably looked as far removed from a Sidhe as it was possible to get – if this demon even knew what a Sidhe was or what one looked like.
She swiped upwards but I remained out of reach, wary that she’d use her own Gift against me. Instead she flung back her head and howled, an ear-shattering sound that could probably be heard miles away. Bugger. Dealing with one Fomori demon was one thing; dealing with a thousand would be a different matter.
Unsure about how high I could ago, I kept pushing up through the air. The trouble with levitation was that it was only a distant kin to flying and it felt as if I were moving at a snail’s pace. I rose higher while the demon below grew more frustrated. She jumped up and down, lunging for me even though I was out of reach. A minute later there were some guttural shouts in a language I didn’t recognise, followed by the sound of running feet. I threw myself towards the roof of the pillared church and lay flat on my back, scanning the sky for more of the winged bastards. Fortunately none appeared.
There was an anguished scream from below and I flipped onto my belly and peered over the parapet. Two other demons had joined the female. One had grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and was holding her so that her feet dangled in mid-air. The other spat indistinguishable words in her face, no doubt demanding to know why she’d made all that noise. She pointed upwards, her jaw working uselessly and nothing more than moans coming from her mouth. I pulled back as both Fomori males looked up and then there was another pained scream.
I sneaked another look. The demon in front of her launched a sharp kick to her stomach and she doubled over. The one behind stretched out his claw-like fingers and swiped at her neck; dark blood gushed from the wound, splattering onto the black earth. The first one spat something at her and stalked away in disgust. The second kicked her again and then did the same. She whimpered, curling into a foetal position. I rolled onto my back again, stared up at the clouds and breathed once more.
When I was sure the two demons had gone, I floated back down and started running down the street. I had to get out of the city – and fast. I’d barely gone fifty metres, however, when something tugged deep inside me. I sighed, slowed to a halt and turned around.
The female demon was still lying where the two pricks had left her. The wound she’d received to her neck looked pretty nasty – I didn’t know how much blood a Fomori demon had but unless her Gift was healing, she probably wouldn’t make it until nightfall. I sighed, then gritted my teeth and jogged back to her.
She didn’t even twitch as I approached. ‘I’m not going to hurt you,’ I said softly.
She still didn’t respond so I moved a bit closer and crouched down. Taking a deep breath, I reached out and touched her shoulder to let her know I was there and I wasn’t dangerous. She flinched, cowering on the ground like the beaten thing she was.
I peered at her neck. That demon had bloody sharp claws; blood was still pulsating out and, even with the mess of ripped flesh, I could tell the wound was deep. She was lucky it hadn’t slashed into her jugular. I bit my lip and tried to work out what to do.
Moving back to give myself room – and because an injured animal is the most dangerous of all – I untied the harp and laid it carefully on the ground. Next I unzipped my jacket and took out the bottle of whisky. ‘Sorry, Taylor,’ I murmured.
I pulled off the top and edged back to the demon. She smelt really bad, a combination of wet dog and rotting flesh. Or maybe that was me. Ignoring her trembling recoil, I knelt down and motioned with the bottle. She stared at me with wide red eyes. I moved the bottle towards her and she flinched away.
‘It’s alright,’ I told her. ‘It’ll help.’
To show her, I put the bottle to my own lips and took a quick swig. It was surprisingly mellow. I swallowed and held the bottle out to her again. Her expression seemed resigned to whatever fate I was about to deal her and she tilted back her head. I tipped a small amount of whisky in her mouth; her face screwed up at the taste but she let it slide down her throat. Her lack of tongue didn’t seem to make any difference so I gave her some more. By the second swig, she seemed to be warming to the taste.
