He dropped the bag of baby things and ran outside with me following on his heels. As soon as I saw the car with Charles, Tash and Rose inside it driving across the forecourt and out of the service station, I cried out, ‘No!’
Hugo cursed loudly. ‘I cannot fucking believe they’re doing this!’ He drew in a breath, preparing to throw magic after them and somehow stop them in their tracks.
‘Don’t, Hugo,’ Otis said in a tiny, sad voice. He and Hester were hovering anxiously a few metres away. ‘They don’t want you to stop them.’
Hester sniffed tearfully. ‘They’ve given us a message for you that we have to deliver word for word.’
Hugo growled as I stared at the brownies in growing horror.
‘“You don’t know what it’s like to be a parent”,’ Otis recited. ‘“You’d do anything for your child. You’d move heaven and earth to keep them safe. We are leaving. We will draw Athair away in the hope that he follows us and not you. You know what you have to do for Baby Daisy. You know what has to happen. We will find somewhere safe for Roseto stay. When Athair realises she no longer has Daisy, he might leave her alone”.’
I clenched my teeth in a vain bid to stop my tears from falling.
Hester took up the thread. ‘This message is from Rose.’ She swallowed hard. ‘“My darling Daisy. We both know this is for the best. I can’t stop myself from using blood magic when Athair is near, and I can’t protect you if I keep using it. If I stay, I could cost you everything. You will be loved and you will have a happy childhood with wonderful parents. You will grow into an amazing woman with more heart and bravery than I could ever hope for. I will always love you, and I will think of you, every single day”.’ Hester’s voice shook. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she mumbled. ‘We couldn’t stop them.’
I stared down the busy road and thought about some of the last words Rose had said to me:I’m so sorry. There’s no choice.She’d been speaking in the present tense. She had already known she would do this.
Hugo cursed loudly. ‘Fuck!’
The car was no longer in sight. My shoulders dropped. ‘They’ve gone. They’ve really gone.’
And we’d been left holding the baby. Literally.
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
Ididn’t know what to feel. In the space of a few minutes, I ran through the full gamut of emotions from shock to burning rage, which didn’t do my drug-addled body any favours. My hands shook and my heart missed several beats.
Then desperation took over and my mind flitted to panicked ideas about how we could steal a car and catch up with our departing parents. Once I got my breathing under control, I felt myself yielding to deep sadness. We were supposed to save Rose, not cause her disappearance.
I dropped my head and stared at my shoes, while Hester sniffed, Otis hugged himself, and Hugo paced up and down the forecourt.
Several vehicles had arrived, filled their tanks and left by the time I realised that my turbulent emotions were twisting into something more positive. A flicker of pride was spreading through me, and there was admiration, too. Rose had analysed the problem, considered all the facts and chosen the path she believed was best. Despite the ongoing churning in my belly, I suspected that I’d have made the same decision.
I sighed and looked up. ‘They trust us,’ I said finally.
Hugo stopped his furious pacing. ‘What?’
‘Our parents trust us,’ I repeated and drew in a shuddering breath. ‘That’s pretty amazing when you think that we’ve arrived from the future, waged a bloody battle on their doorstep and presented ourselves as their adult children, all in the space of a couple of days.’
I rocked Baby Daisy in my arms. Her cries had subsided and she was now producing little more than an occasional hiccupping sob. ‘Rose gave me herchild.’
‘Youareher child,’ Hugo said pointedly.
‘You know what I mean.’ I kept my gaze on him. ‘It’s the same with your mum and dad. They trust both of us to do the right thing by Baby Daisy and Older Daisy.’
‘We’re not children,’ he muttered. ‘We’re older than them.’
‘But we’re stilltheirchildren. Could we do the same if this happened to us? If our children appeared out of the blue as adults?’
A muscle jerked in his cheek, then something flared deep in his blue eyes and I caught a glimpse of old, arrogant Hugo. ‘Well, Daisy, there’s one way to find out,’ he drawled. He stepped towards me. ‘Let’s have a baby of our own and see what happens. In fact,’ he said, ‘let’s have several babies.’
I didn’t get the impression that he was joking, not in the least. With no immediate response to offer, I pretended he’d not said that last part. Yeah: that was the sort of kick-ass, ball-busting, brave heroine I was. Go me.
‘Let’s find a way to get out of here,’ I told him.
‘And do what?’ he asked.
