‘I know.’ He glanced behind him. ‘We can probably still get out the same way we came in. Only this cavern seems to have been damaged.’
As I nodded and turned towards the narrow tunnel, a tentative voice called down from above, ‘Hello? Daisy? Hugo?’
I exhaled with relief. It was Gordon; he was alive and thankfully had escaped Athair’s wrath. I looked up towards the hole in the roof that led to the open sky and squinted. ‘We’re here!’
‘Don’t move!’ he shouted. ‘I’m drawing a rune to pull you out of there.’
Bless his striped sorcerer’s socks. I reached for Hugo’s hand and gripped it tightly, while Hester and Otis managed brief grins and flew upwards of their own accord. A moment later Gordon’s rune started to work and we followed them, our bodies rising through the cavern and the deep folds of the earth. It was an extraordinary way to leave the cave but sadly I was in no mood to enjoy the experience.
‘Thank you, Gordon,’ Hugo told him. ‘You saved us a great deal of time.’
I nodded, though I couldn’t smile. At that moment, I wasn’t sure I’d ever smile again. ‘Yes, thank you.’
The lanky sorcerer dropped his gaze. ‘I don’t deserve your gratitude,’ he said. ‘When I saw Athair, I could have tried to stop him but I didn’t. I hid as soon as I caught sight of him. I’m a coward.’
‘No.’ My voice was harsher than I’d intended and I grimaced when Gordon flinched. I tried to soften my tone. ‘You did the smart thing, Gordon. He’d have killed you stone dead if you’d tried to intervene. You can’t win against him.’ The ache in the centre of my chest deepened; even the Fachan hadn’t been able to win against my father.
Hugo looked around. ‘We’re quite a distance from the entrance to the main cave.’
‘There was a brownie,’ Gordon said. ‘A blonde female. She found me and directed me to this spot. She was here a moment ago.’ He glanced about him. ‘She vanished when I started drawing the rune. I don’t know where she went.’
Hester snarled. ‘Eloise.’
Otis flinched.
‘Leave it, Hester,’ I said tiredly. ‘She’s not the problem here.’
There must have been something in my tone of voice because Hester dropped the subject without an argument. She flew towards me and, with uncharacteristic affection, nuzzled the base of my neck. ‘Three days,’ she whispered. ‘There are only three days. Please, Daisy, tell me you have a plan.’
I didn’t say anything. The only thing filling my head at that moment was the Fachan’s dead body lying in the hidden cave so far below our feet.
Hugo cleared his throat. ‘Give Daisy some time.’
‘We don’t have time,’ Otis whispered.
When Hugo smiled, the ghost of his dimple appeared in his cheek. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘Three days is plenty of time.I’vegot a plan.’
I was convinced he was lying. I gazed at him and he caught my look. ‘Well,’ he amended, ‘the beginnings of a plan.’ He held out his hand. ‘If you’re still willing to fight?’
I snorted. No matter how much I was hurting it was a ridiculous question, and Hugo knew it.
I took his hand. ‘The only person I’ll ever surrender to is you,’ I whispered.
There werea lot of phone calls to make and some people took a lot more convincing than others.
My adopted mum and dad already had their bags packed. They’d known for several months that there would be a day when they would have to run and hide. I cursed Athair another thousand times for doing this to the people I loved, then I got down to business. ‘I’ve been in touch with Rose,’ I told them. ‘She’s made arrangements. All you have to do is get to King’s Cross by ten o’clock tonight.’
‘We’re on our way out of the door as we speak,’ my dad said briskly. ‘Don’t worry about us.’
‘Is Hugo with you?’ Mum enquired. ‘Has he popped the question yet?’
‘Believe me, this is not the time for romance,’ I said firmly.
‘Daisy-Pop, there is always time for romance.’ It was easier not to argue.
Mr McIvanney, my old boss at SDS, took more persuading. ‘What do you mean?’ he demanded. ‘I can’t shut down the business and tell all my employees to go into hiding!’
I kept my patience; it wasn’t his fault he didn’t understand. ‘Anyone connected to me is in serious danger – mortal danger. Send an email to all your customers in the next hour with your apologies and shut everything down until Saturday.’
