Hester muttered something and fluttered against my fingers. I opened my hand and she flew upwards, shaking herself off and retreating to a safe distance. ‘Hester?’ I called. ‘Are you alright?’
‘What the fuck do you think?’
I exhaled. ‘Don’t look at her. Don’t look at the will-o’-the-wisp’s face.’
Baudi laughed again. ‘You’re only delaying the inevitable.’
I scowled and bent down to get hold of Gladys again, butBaudi was wise to my plan and ready for it. As soon as I moved, she slammed into me and forced me backwards, further away from Gladys. ‘Look at me,’ she commanded.
I forced my head down.
‘Look at me.’
I clenched my jaw. I wasn’t giving up yet.
‘Look at me!’ she roared.
I made a show of shaking my head and my gaze snagged on a neat pile of leaves, mushrooms and berries that had been arranged into sections. I frowned – then Baudi smacked me again. At this rate, I’d soon be seeing pretty lights dancing in front of my eyes.
My heart was rattling against my ribcage, while the blood that was coursing through my veins seemed to be heating up. My mouth felt painfully dry. I didn’t want to break the law, and I didn’t want to hurt Baudi, but if there was no other option then I would. It wasn’t only my life on the line, it was everyone else’s too.
‘Look at me.’ Baudi’s voice dropped to a silky whisper. ‘Look into my eyes or I will start killing your companions. I’ll do it right in front of you. I won’t wait.’
Something snapped and the heat in my blood became scalding fury as it overtook the spider’s silk in my system. Coherent thought fled.
I raised my hands high into the air and stretched.
‘Uh, Daisy?’ Hester sounded scared but I barely heard her. My hands were twitching now. I’d take Baudi down. I’d do what needed to be done. I’d?—
‘That’s not elf magic,’ Baudi said. The confusion in her voice drew me back to myself. As I glanced up at my hands, I saw tiny flickers of lightning jumping from fingertip to fingertip. In an instant, the heat in my body subsided to a distinct chill.
The only people I’d seen use magic like that werefiends.
Now the will-o’-the-wisp was backing away, putting distance between us. I still didn’t look at her; my focus remained on the sparks at my fingertips. I licked my lips and concentrated. A beat later, a single lightning bolt shot upwards, flashing from my right hand into the sky. Cumbubbling bollocks.
I concentrated harder on dousing the sparks, and one by one they flickered out. I stepped forward and picked up Gladys. A preternatural calm had overtaken my fury.
By now, Baudi was at the edge of the clearing. ‘Do it,’ Hester hissed. ‘You have to do it! Kill her and everyone will be freed. You can make it quick so she doesn’t suffer.’
As I tightened my grip on Gladys’s hilt, I thought about Agatha Smiggleswith at the museum. I’d liked her because I’d understood her motivation.
I glanced at the collection of leaves, berries and fungi and then looked around the quiet little marsh. I thought about everything that Baudi had said and done. Then I lowered Gladys and dropped my shoulders. ‘You talk to yourself,’ I said to the wisp.
Baudi’s answer was swift and defiant. ‘So? I’m not mad.’
‘I wouldn’t suggest anything of the sort. I often talk to myself, too, though I don’t do it so much now that I spend less time on my own.’
‘I’m not always on my own!’
Uh-huh. ‘When did Chuchi last visit?’ She didn’t respond, which gave me all the answer I needed.
‘Baudi,’ I said softly, ‘it’s been twenty years since anyone came here, hasn’t it? You live alone and your usual diet is vegetarian. You asked me several daft questions because you wanted to talk. You were happy about capturing all my friends because you thought it meant that Chuchi would visit, not because you cared about having a few spicy elven meals.’
‘He will visit,’ she muttered. ‘Chuchiwillvisit.’
‘You were happy at the prospect of having me here for months before you killed me. You’re lonely.’ I paused. ‘Aren’t you?’
‘No!’
