I didn’t get chance to finish my sentence. Behind me, there was a faint creak as the door opened and I turned my head just in time to see a hand lashing out towards me. Fingers latched around my forearm with a vice-like grip, I wasyanked into the house – and the door was slammed shut after me.
Before I could say or do anything, a heavy wave of air magic pinned me against the now-closed door. The face of a young woman with wild eyes swam in front of me. ‘Who thefuckareyou? And how did you get past my ward?’
I tried to speak, but the air magic made it impossible for me to form any coherent syllables. It didn’t help that my eyes were streaming with tears, which made the woman’s face blurry; even so, there was no doubt about her anger and her fear.
I reached inside myself, searching for my own power and a way to use it without harming her. The best I could do was to conjure up a bucketful of water and send it blindly forward. A second later, when I heard a splash and her sharp cry, I knew I’d hit my target.
The air magic vanished and I dropped with a thud to the kitchen flagstones. I could hear Hugo yelling my name on the other side of the door. I raised my fist and thumped three times on it before shouting as loudly as I could, ‘I’m fine! Don’t worry!’
The woman gave an unladylike snort. ‘You’renotfine and youshouldworry!’
I heaved myself upright, wiped the tears from my eyes and blinked rapidly until my vision was restored. I was certain this was Lady Rose, although her red hair was messy and her features, which had been glowing in the painting, were grubby and tear stained. Somehow that made her look younger. Her clothes were far from what I expected from an elf in her position: she was wearing a shapeless gown that hung like a sack.
I gazed at her face and felt an odd twinge inside me. Huh. ‘You don’t look much like your portrait,’ I blurted without thinking.
It was clearly the wrong thing to say. Lady Rose’s scowldeepened into a vicious snarl. She picked up an object from the kitchen island and pointed it threateningly at me.
I stared at the shotgun in her hands; I had the distinct impression that she would be more than happy to shoot me in the head and worry about the consequences later. I resisted the temptation to reach for Gladys; I needed to de-escalate this situation, not make it worse.
I raised my palms. ‘Please,’ I said. ‘I need you to listen to me. My name is Daisy?—’
Lady Rose flinched. That wasn’t a good start. I tried again. ‘My name is Daisy and I have been magically transported here from the year 2024.’ I tucked my hair behind my ears. ‘Strange as it might sound, I’m from the future. As you can see, I’m an elf.’ I gestured to my eyes. ‘If you look at my irises, they have a ring of silver around them because I’m a spider’s silk user. I think the drugs in my system helped me to get past your ward.’
Lady Rose didn’t say anything; neither did she lower the shotgun or alter her expression.
‘I’ve seen your portrait,’ I said, ‘because in thirty years’ time, I will break into this house to look around. I do that because in a few days you are going to disappear and you will never be seen again.’
The shotgun jerked slightly. ‘Don’t threaten me,’ Lady Rose whispered. Her bottom lip trembled; I really wasn’t sure whether she was about to shoot me or dissolve into a puddle of tears.
‘I’m not threatening you, I promise I’m not. I know it sounds far-fetched but it’s the truth. I don’t know what happens, or why you vanish – nobody does. But I’ve been here in 1994 for a few days and I know that the fiend called Athair is after you.’ I drew in a breath. ‘My companion out there worked out that your ward is blood magic. If you’re using that kind of power, that might be why?—’
‘I’m using blood magic because I’m desperate,’ she snapped. ‘Not that it’s any business of someone who decides to break into my home.’ She glanced out of the kitchen window. ‘When you were outside, you said that Hugo Pemberville was with you. Hugo Pemberville is two years old and an annoying brat.’
‘The version outside has time travelled from the future, too.’ I hesitated. ‘But sometimes he’s still an annoying brat.’ I tried – failed – to sound light-hearted.
Lady Rose looked me up and down and I felt like an insect under a microscope. She examined me for several long seconds and her expression tightened still more.
‘I know what you’re going to say next,’ I said.
She raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh, really?’
‘You’ll ask me to prove that I’m from the future. There are some world events that will happen soon that I can describe to you.’ Probably: I was a bit hazy on some of the dates. ‘The trouble is that you might have to wait a few months – uh – years before those events happen. However, I have a phone in my pocket which is from 2024. That should help my case.’
Careful not to make any sudden movements, I reached for it and held it up for Lady Rose to see. There was no signal and certainly no internet access, but I hadn’t touched it for a while so it still had some charge. I hoped she would see enough on the screen to believe me.
Unfortunately, she didn’t even look at it. ‘That’s not what I was about to say.’ A tear trickled down her cheek, but she didn’t remove her hands from the shotgun to brush it away. ‘I was going to say that you can trot back to that bastard and tell him that this will not work. Even if you are not a trick, I will not be swayed. Get the fuck out of my house and don’t ever return.’
Confusion overtook me. ‘Lady Rose?—’
She lifted the gun and squeezed the trigger. I ducked instinctively, although that wouldn’t have helped if she’d reallybeen aiming at me. The sudden loud crack was followed by a cloud of dust and plaster; she’d shot the wall above the kitchen door.
Hugo, Hester and Otis started yelling from outside again as I turned my head to see the hole the shotgun shell had created. It was exactly the same as the one I would notice when I broke in in thirty years’ time.
‘Get the fuck out,’ Lady Rose said to me, more in sadness than in anger.
I stared at her, then I did exactly as she asked.
The only oneof us who seemed happy was Hester. ‘She didn’t shoot you in the head,’ she said. ‘I’d take that as a win.’
