‘If you say so. We’re ten minutes’ away. We won’t be long.’
‘Uh-huh.’ He sniffed. ‘You might want to try moving a bit faster.’
‘We’re doing our best.’
‘Your dad is here. He’s waiting for you out front.’
‘Already?’
Lewis was telling the truth; Hugo’s phone was chiming with message alerts and so was Slim’s. Cumbubbling bollocks.
‘Yes,’ he snapped. ‘Already.’
Hugo nudged me and held up his phone, showing me a photo of Athair standing smack bang in the centre of the square. He was leaning casually against the statue of Prince Albert as if he were waiting for a friend. This was no casual social appointment, however.
‘I’m on my way,’ I said. ‘Don’t worry.’
Lewis snorted derisively.
‘Don’t worry?’ Hester asked. ‘Don’t worry?’
Yeah, alright. It wasn’t my most impressive attempt at a stirring speech. I shrugged helplessly. What else was there to say?
I ended the phone call and turned off my phone. The stream of calls wasn’t conducive to calm, and anyway I had nothing useful to offer any of the callers. We were coming. That was all.
The seconds and the minutes ticked by. It helped that most of Edinburgh’s streets were empty and silent; it appeared that most people had learned that something terrible was going down and had taken the wise decision to stay indoors away from the action.
At two minutes to midnight, Slim swung the Jeep onto the city’s main thoroughfare, Princes Street. We were almost there.He twisted the steering wheel and the tyres squealed onto George Street. Charlotte Square was dead ahead – I could see the lights. And I could certainly see the vampires, who were six deep. But Sir Nigel had been right: they’d left a gap so we could get through. How very thoughtful.
The Jeep screeched to a halt. There wasn’t time for any final words and we’d said everything already. I straightened my shoulders, jumped out and started marching past the rows of waiting vamps. Hugo flanked my left and the brownies flew through the air by my shoulder to the right.
But Athair had already started to shout, his voice so loud that I felt the ground vibrating beneath my feet. ‘Where is Daisy? Is she nothing but a coward after all? Has she run away? Is she too afraid to face me? Where the fuck is my daughter?’
If anybody answered I didn’t hear them as I passed through the waiting vampires. Their ranks immediately closed behind me, effectively sealing off the square; there was no turning back now.
Glancing round, I spotted Athair. He was sitting astride Prince Albert’s statue, straddling the horse with his arms around Albert’s bronzed-green waist like a drunk university student looking for attention.
‘I’m right here,’ I said as calmly as I dared.
Athair’s head whipped towards me. ‘You’re late.’
A nearby clock started to chime midnight. I raised my index finger. ‘Nope. I’m bang on time.’ I eyed him. ‘I thought you didn’t like that statue.’
‘I don’t.’ He leapt off and landed on the ground next to it. His gold-skinned, sinewy body was almost cat like. ‘But I was bored and it turns out that old Albie is surprisingly huggable.’ He leered at the statue then returned his attention to me and folded his arms across his chest. ‘So let’s get to it and not waste anytime. What is your decision? Will you join me? Or,’ he licked his lips, ‘will you die?’
Chapter
Twenty-Six
Ididn’t answer him immediately. I was intent on creating a very specific atmosphere and I didn’t want to rush into the denouement. I swivelled around, surveying the scene and taking stock of the hundreds of vampires who were encircling Charlotte Square. There were a lot of fangs on show.
‘You’ve come with an army,’ I said softly.
‘You could call it that, daughter, or you could call it an honour guard. It all depends on you.’
‘Their presence is problematic. There are too many of them and they pose a considerable risk to life.’
Athair shrugged. ‘So?’
