‘You care about nothing but yourself and your power,’ I said.
‘Au contraire, my dove.’ He raised his glass. ‘I care about you.’
‘If that were true, you’d leave me in peace.’
‘Why would I do that when I could give you so much?’ Athair asked. ‘When you could become so great if you only allow the scales to fall from your eyes? Together, Daisy, we could become a true force. Our family will be the stuff of legends.’
‘Don’t listen to him!’ Otis hissed in my ear.
He didn’t need to worry. I lifted my glass of water and eyed Athair. ‘Except I’m already a legend in my own right,’ I said simply. ‘I don’t need you. I’llneverneed you.’
I caught the briefest glimpse of anger in his eyes. ‘You will if I kill the other one, the gimp who pretends to be your father but who could never,evercompete with me,’ he said. I knew from the quiet force behind every word that it wasn’t an idle threat: Athair was genuinely considering it.
Horror lit through me. I’d gone too far. I couldn’t provoke Athair, couldn’t make him any more angry because if I did there was no telling what he would do in return. I tried my best to act casually so he didn’t realise how much his words terrified me. To keep my real dad – and the rest of my family – safe, I had to be clever in my response.
‘It might have escaped your notice,’ I said, ‘but I’m now an adult. My adoptive parents are in England – we’re not even in the same country any more. I am my own person and I make my own decisions. You can’t sway me to your side with violence or bribes.’
‘We shall see, daughter. We shall see.’ He smiled, which I hoped meant the danger had passed. He looked away from me. ‘Ah, I believe our meals are on their way.’ He patted his stomach. ‘Excellent. I’m starving.’
I didn’t say a word. Unsurprisingly, I didn’t have an appetite.
Chapter
Six
Ipicked at my food and spent most of my time moving it around my plate. I couldn’t finish too quickly because I’d promised Athair two hours – and I had to allow Hugo enough time to sneak around Culcreuch Castle. So I continued to push the pasta from one side of the plate to another and occasionally nibbled on a mushroom. Every second was excruciating.
Athair felt no such compunction about eating his dinner although he did attack his burger with a knife and fork, which baffled the brownies as much as it did me.
‘Never trust anyone who eats a burger with cutlery,’ Hester said in an overly loud voice.
Fortunately, Athair chose not to take offence. ‘It’s hard to break a habit that has been formed over several hundred years.’
Otis was growing bolder. ‘We lost over a hundred years when we were ensorcelled into a locket. We have adapted.’
‘That’s probably because you’ve had the help of my wonderful daughter.’ Athair looked at me. ‘Despite the old saying, you can actually teach an old dog new tricks. Just think what you could teach me, Daisy. With your influence, I could become a completely different person.’
Adapting your habits in order to hold a burger in your hands was slightly different to learning not to kill anyone who got in your way. ‘You are free to eat your food however you desire,’ I said icily.
He bared his teeth in a grin, put down his knife and fork and picked up the remainder of his burger with his hands. He took a huge bite, chewed, swallowed and smacked his lips. ‘Mmm. Look! I can learn. In fact, to prove it’s not a one-off, and because it seems to bother you so much, I will abstain from killing anyone for the next forty days.’
Forty days, I thought sarcastically. Woo-hoo.
‘I’ll even leave those two elves outside alone,’ Athair continued without missing a beat. I looked up, startled. ‘You know, the ones who followed you all the way here. The old woman and her male sidekick. I was going to ask my man to take care of them while we had dessert, but your presence has encouraged me towards benevolence.’
‘Stab him, Daisy!’ Hester hissed. ‘Cut off his head and let’s get out of here.’
Athair whistled. ‘Such violence – and yet you castigate me for far less.’
‘If you harm a hair on either Slim or Miriam’s head…’ I said, unable to stop myself.
‘Then you’ll do what?’ He seemed genuinely curious. ‘You know that you can’t beat me. Unless you choose to become a fiend yourself, you will never be strong enough to match me.’ He raised his index finger. ‘Now there’s a thought you should consider. Become a fiend and you might have a chance against me.’
I stared at him. ‘You’re crazy.’
‘No, I’m not. I meant it when I said I care about you, Daisy. I’ve waited a long time for a child of my own. If your rise means my demise, so be it. I can finally go to my grave knowing that Ihave created something wonderful. You have so much untapped potential – you can’t begin to imagine what you’re truly capable of.’
I assumed that he believed that if I became a fiend I would want to join him, not kill him. He was prepared to use any argument to encourage me.
