I looked again at Baby Daisy. ‘What we’re supposed to,’ I said simply. ‘Take me to hospital and leave me there so that I can be adopted by Michael and Alison Carter.’ I lowered myhead and whispered to the baby, ‘I know it’s scary. But they will love you so much. Everything will work out. I promise.’
She reached up a chubby hand and grabbed a fistful of my hair. ‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘You’ll need a lot of expensive conditioner to keep that under control when you’re older.’
‘But your hair will always be beautiful,’ Hugo said to her. ‘And you’ll be a beautiful soul.’ He crouched down until he was face to face with Baby Daisy and gently brushed her cheek with the tip of his finger. ‘When you’re an adult and you finally meet Hugo Pemberville for the first time, remember that he’s also a wonderful, charming man despite your first impression of him.’
I rolled my eyes and Hugo gave me a smirk that was an open challenge. Fine. Two could play this game. ‘Trust your gut when you meet him,’ I told her. ‘He’s not as bad as he first appears. But remember that it won’t take long before you’re a far better treasure hunter than he is.’
A gasp of mock horror escaped Hugo’s lips. ‘Sorry, Baby Daisy,’ he said. ‘That’ll never happen.’
‘Oh, it will,’ I smiled.
Then I inhaled deeply. Fuck it, I was going to say it. I would take that leap. ‘It also won’t be long,’ I said, trying to keep my voice steady, ‘before you fall head over heels in love with him.’
Hugo became very, very still.
I was dimly aware of Otis and Hester clutching each other and staring at me with wide eyes, but I was more aware of Hugo. Painfully aware. ‘Goddamnit,’ he muttered under his breath.
Oh no. I’d made a mistake; I should have kept my big mouth shut.
He shook his head with dismay. ‘You always have to get one up on me, Daisy.’
Huh?
‘I wanted to say the words first.’ He brushed Baby Daisy’s cheek again. ‘Let me say it first next time,’ he whispered to her, ‘because I’m in love with you, and I always will be.’ He lifted his head and we stared at each other.
‘For fuck’s sake,’ Hester said loudly. ‘Really?Really?’ She threw her hands up in exasperation. ‘We’re stuck in 1994. We’ve been abandoned at a petrol station without any transportation. We’re surrounded by petrol fumes and skid marks. We’re fleeing a maniacal fiend. Andthisis when you choose to tell each other that you’re in love?’
Otis added his voice. ‘Who said romance was dead? All we need now is some stirring music.’
As if on cue, a taxi pulled up at the nearest petrol pump, music blaring from its windows: ‘Whatta Man’ by Salt n Pepa. Hugo grinned and took a bow. ‘What a man I am. You know that has to be our song from now on?’
‘That isnotour song.’ Baby Daisy lifted her arms to Hugo and gave a happy gurgle. I frowned at her. ‘Whose side are you on?’
‘We could take our chance now and escape from these two,’ Hester said to Otis. ‘If their parents can run away from them, we can do it too.’
Otis pursed his lips and considered it seriously. ‘Yeah, but if we leave them on their own they’ll only mess everything up. They need us to save them from themselves.’
She sighed. ‘Sad, but true.’
Hugo leaned across and brushed my mouth with his. A wave of light-headedness assailed me and my breath caught in my throat. It wasn’t drug-induced or fiend-induced or anything to do with my magic; this, I realised, was love. Love that gave me the sudden knowledge that everything would work out fine.
I smiled at Hugo, then glanced across and caught the eye ofthe taxi driver. ‘Are you free?’ I called out. He looked surprised but nodded.
‘It’s clearly meant to be,’ Hugo murmured.
I couldn’t argue.
We tookthe taxi back to Edinburgh since there appeared little point now in avoiding the city. We didn’t take any risks or waste any time with diversions but travelled straight to Freemark Hospital, where I knew I’d been left as a baby.
The building loomed large in front of us. Although I was doing the right thing, it still felt awful – and this was only a flavour of what Rose must be feeling. I adjusted the slight weight of Baby Daisy in my arms while Hugo wrote the note.
‘Are you sure that you want me to write that she is – thatyouare – a low elf?’ he asked.
I nodded. ‘Yes. My identity has to stay hidden. It’s the only way I can avoid Athair and keep everyone safe. And you have to include that my mother is dead. The police and my parents will still do a search to begin with, but anything we can add that will keep them at bay in the future will help. Include my first name, though – it’s the only thing of my real self and of Rose that I’ve got. We know it’ll be fine. It will probably never occur to Athair to check on his own doorstep for any babies left in local hospitals.’
Hugo did as I asked. Once he’d finished, he gave me the letter to look over.
I hadn’t expected to start crying. He was alarmed. ‘Daisy? We don’t have to do this. We can think of another way.’
