He tilted his head. ‘I’m one of the good guys.’ His implication was clear. Enough already.
I leapt forward at precisely the same moment as Byron, my hands outstretched towards the giant button. I was almost there when there was a faint rattle and a shadow appeared across Byron’s determined face. Debbie’s massive jaws lunged down, inches away from his head.
Byron realised the danger at the same time that I did. He jerked his thumb to the right and, doing as he bade, I flung myself against the smoky mirrored wall. Debbie hissed, the hairs on her gigantic legs quivering.
‘There’s your spider,’ Byron grunted. ‘Pretty little thing.’
She rose up on her hind legs, then sent a jet of silk towards me. It encircled my arm, pinning me back. ‘Little?’ I snarled, as I extricated myself, using my free hand to rip away the sticky strands. ‘Compared to what?’
Byron bunched his muscles and dived for the floor, rolling until he was behind Debbie’s massive frame. ‘Your ego,’ he said.
I scowled in annoyance while Debbie lumbered round to face him, the sound of his voice leading her away from me. I glanced at the button. It was really close; I could probably reach out from here. Instead I turned back to Debbie.
‘Go for her belly,’ Byron suggested, breathing heavily as he dodged her snapping jaws.
‘I don’t want to hurt her.’ I took a step back and considered. ‘It’s not her fault she’s here.’
‘You need to get your priorities in order.’
I thought of the red button behind me. The man had a point. ‘Hey,’ I said softly. I reached out and prodded Debbie’s arse. Her body tightened and she swung towards me. ‘Remember me? We’ve met before. I’m not a bad person.’
Her eyes glittered with hatred; clearly Debbie didn’t have much of a memory for faces. I touched my forehead, using my index finger to wipe away a drop of sweat. It dangled on the tip. ‘Sorry about this, Debbie,’ I apologised, then I flicked my finger, arcing the droplet upwards. It splashed onto Debbie above her gaping mouth. She let out a strange howl and leapt upwards, disappearing out of sight.
Byron gaped. ‘What the hell?’
‘Giant spiders don’t like salt,’ I informed him. I smiled. ‘Now it really is just you and me.’
I jumped up, somersaulting backwards until I was right behind the dais and the button. He stared at me expressionlessly as I made my move.
There was a loud rattle. The salt of my sweat had only been a temporary setback for Debbie. She appeared above Byron’s head once more but this time the look in her many eyes was rage. Her mouth opened again and she snapped.
I didn’t think. I veered off course, missing the dais completely and crashing into Byron. He staggered.
‘What the fuck!’ he yelled.
Debbie hissed, annoyed that she’d temporarily lost her prey again. She flicked a hesitant leg at me but I dodged it easily. She was scared that I might bombard her with more salty sweat and she was keeping her distance but Byron was still in her sights. I scrambled to my feet as she reared up and snapped towards him again. This time, as I pushed him out of the way once more, he fell backwards, his arms reaching out behind his body to brace himself for impact. Quite by accident, his elbow hit the button and a loud gong sounded, along with a burst of fireworks. Shite.
Byron blinked, stunned, while Debbie pulled back and scuttled away,the sound throwing her off balance. I curved round him and slammed down my own hand to register my position in second place. The gong boomed again but there were no fireworks this time. The winner had already been announced – and it wasn’t me.
Chapter Twenty
I received a warm, tight group hug in commiseration. Several well-dressed Sidhe tutted loudly at the blatant show of friendly contact but we ignored them.
‘You came so close,’ Lexie sniffed. ‘It’s not fair.’
‘It is what it is. In the end, Byron was better.’ I was being overly generous but for some reason I didn’t want my friends to think badly of him.
Brochan growled, ‘A Sidhe would never be better than you.’
I gave him a watery grin. ‘I’m a Sidhe.’
‘You know what I mean.’
‘If you’d just…’ Speck started.
‘Speck, leave it,’ Lexie said. ‘Tegs doesn’t need to know the permutations of what might have happened if she’d let Debbie go for Byron.’
‘Sorry,’ he mumbled.
