Then I quickly dressed, put on my coat and shoes and slipped out of the hotel room.
Chapter
Twenty-One
Imight have managed to persuade Hugo to stay behind at the hotel but I had no such luck with Hester or Otis. They’d taken up position in the hotel lounge and they immediately spotted me when I tried to sneak past and go outside.
‘Brilliant!’ Hester zipped towards me with a beaming grin. ‘This is the kind of Plan B I’m talking about!’
I gave her a blank look. ‘Huh?’
‘Running away,’ she said. ‘Fleeing the country and leaving Hugo and the Primes to deal with Athair.’
My jaw dropped as I stared at her.
‘You’re finally going to take your revenge on him for being a better treasure hunter than you are,’ she crowed.
Otis joined her and glared angrily. ‘Hes! That’s not what Daisy is doing!’
‘And he isnota better treasure hunter than me,’ I muttered before I stalked outside. Unfortunately, both brownies followed.
‘There’s Amy!’ Hester waved vigorously at the teenager, who was leaning against the hotel wall with a vape in one hand and her phone in the other. ‘Amy!’ she called. ‘Come join us! We’re running away!’
I rolled my eyes. ‘Nobody is bloody running away. I’m going to a meeting.’
Amy pushed herself away from the wall and joined us. ‘Meeting?’
I felt a twitch of discomfort. ‘I’m a recovering drug addict,’ I said. ‘It helps me to go to support meetings, even when I’m away from home.’ I hesitated. ‘Especiallywhen I’m away from home.’
She stared at me and my discomfort grew. ‘Youwere a drug addict?’
‘Technically I still am. It never goes away, no matter how long it’s been.’
‘But you’re so … so … so…’
‘Annoying?’ Hester asked. Otis glowered at her.
Amy’s nose wrinkled. ‘Sotogether. You’re a Lady. You’ve got screeds of magic at your fingertips. You’re rich and smart and confident.’ She pointed to the brownies. ‘You’ve got underlings. Hugo freaking Pemberville worships the ground you walk on.’
It was quite extraordinary to see yourself through someone else’s eyes. ‘Anyone can be a drug addict, Amy.’
‘I’m beginning to get that.’ She examined me more carefully. ‘What kind of drugs? Heroin? Meth?’
‘Spider’s silk.’
She recoiled and her expression changed. ‘What’s wrong with you?’
‘That’s what we keep asking,’ Hester said.
‘I hate spiders,’ Amy hissed.
I shuffled awkwardly. ‘We know. Anyway, I ought to?—’
‘Can I come with you? Not to the meeting,’ she said hastily. ‘I don’t mean that. I’m too amped to sleep and I could do with a walk if you don’t mind me tagging along.’
‘We’re thrilled to have you,’ Hester said.
‘We are,’ Otis agreed.
