Page 9

CHAPTER NINE

G wil waded through the sewers, not his favourite London location, but it was a means to an end, and he needed to find Copperpipe in a hurry. Hunting a sewer dweller wasn’t easy and it would be typical that the little bastard would hide when he needed him the most.

“Copperpipe!” he called, his voice echoing off the walls. He’d been down here longer than he’d wanted and so far, no sign of him. “I have pear drops.”

Still no answer.

He was about to give up and head back to the surface when he heard the scrape of metal. Hyax wasn’t wrong that Copperpipe looked like a potato on legs, and as he landed in front of Gwil there was even a clod of soil on the side of his bulbous head.

“Gwil, my favourite dead man. What you want?”

“I am in need of your special skills. There’s a missing persons case, a very important individual, and the people involved would be grateful for your help.”

He sniffed. “Important to you, is not necessarily important to me.”

“What if I were to say you’d be helping a fae Prince and a future Dark Earl?”

Copperpipe’s eyes bulged, which was saying something as they were prominent to begin with. “You are referring to the Viscount of MacLove?

“Yes.”

“He was only married not long back. To the young Flint boy…” Copperpipe licked his teeth. “He is missing? And if I help, I will be assisting those people?”

Copperpipe usually came with an attitude of not giving a fuck, that he’d get around to helping if he wished as long as he got what he wanted in return. Often it was food-related, he didn’t seem to want for much, but this opportunity was too big for him to miss.

“Yep, and the quicker you help, the happier they’ll be.”

He hopped from one foot to the other. “Tell me and I will see.”

“Hyax did a spell, but we weren’t able to fix an exact point to where we know Prince Simon is being held, but it’s a medical facility, most likely in a stately home with a lake. I’m guessing there’ll be some sort of warding around the place as the thought is the scheme has been masterminded by a lich.”

Copperpipe hissed. “A nasty creature.”

“Yeah, and I guess it’s a big ask, but what do you reckon?”

Copperpipe bobbed his head from side to side, Gwil thinking he might be having an internal conversation. “I have many hands at my disposal. There is some goblin magic I can use and having people everywhere is useful.”

Gwil had suspected Copperpipe was part goblin, but the other bits weren’t obvious. “How long?”

“I can probably track down the who within twelve hours or so, the exact where within forty-eight… for the right price.”

He knew Copperpipe had an incredible network, but this was beyond what he was expecting. “What do you want?”

He grinned and danced on the spot. “You might not be able to pay this price.”

“I might not, but the people I’m working with will.”

He dug around in the sack that he wore as a tunic and pulled out a crumpled photograph of a famous female singer. “Tickets for her.”

Gwil wasn’t sure how a load of potato people turning up at the hottest gig in town would go down, and he wasn’t in the position to make this happen, but he’d bet Solivatus or Robin could. “Deal. I’ll even see if I can get a phone call.”

“Oh, if I get to talk to her then I’ll get everything in twenty-four hours. Guaranteed.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

He left Copperpipe and headed back to the surface. As soon as he had enough reception on his phone he called his sire.

Solivatus answered. “Gwil?”

“This is going to sound bonkers. I can get you the whereabouts of our missing prince, but you might have to call in a few favours…”

Gwil walked home, he didn’t want to draw attention to himself by subjecting the Tube to the pong, but hopefully Hyax would be home and could do a quick sluicing spell to take the edge off until he’d had a shower.

He was debating getting a kebab when he was grabbed and pulled into an alleyway. Usually, he could handle a mugger with his above-average strength, but his attacker was strong.

“For fuck’s sake, Gwil. It’s me.”

He stared at the pretty copper-haired fae and realised she was Cikla, Hyax’s best fae friend—they’d known each other since childhood.

“Cikla? What are you playing at?”

“I needed to speak to you.” Her nose wrinkled and she gagged. “What the fuck is that smell?”

“I’ve been in the sewers, it’s literally shit.”

She mumbled something and a wave of magic raced across him, and he thought he now knew what a frying pan felt like when subjected to a scouring pad, still, he had to admit, he smelt a lot better.

“Right, now you don’t stink like an arsehole, I can talk to you about Sitial.”

“Sitial, Metra’s friend?”

“Yes, which is why I need to talk to you when Hyax’s not around.”

“You do realise I’m going to tell him I saw you. I don’t believe in lying to my partner, it just leads to a load of mistrust and angst, and I’m not into that sort of pain.”

She snorted. “I expect you to tell him, what I don’t want is this getting back to our people that it’s me who’s been talking about this. As far as Hyax’s parents are concerned, his marriage to Metra is the best thing to happen in a long time and no one will be allowed to prevent it.”

While not being able to prevent the wedding was true, Gwil didn’t think it was going ahead because it was the best for all involved. “So, what’s this got to do with Sitial? He was trying to convince Hyax that Metra wasn’t unfaithful.”

“Exactly, to make Hyax less resistant to the wedding. If he stops fighting, then it will be seen that he’s being a good fae.”

This wasn’t adding up. “But Hyax’s parents don’t know about his relationship with Metra.”

“I think we can safely say Metra’s parents now know. They are pushing for this wedding too, and I think they’ve asked Sitial to lie about what happened to try and make nice.”

“Metra and Sitial were fucking?”

“Still are if my source is correct.” She sneered. “But Sitial is a great actor.”

“I have to admit I wasn’t sure. He came across as being sincere.”

“He’s sincere that he doesn’t want to lose the position of Metra’s favourite—that gives him an edge he won’t get elsewhere.”

“But Hyax won’t care, he’s been saying I’m his favourite.”

“Come on, Gwil, use your brain. He won’t want to accept that the fae who his ex cheated with will be in his husband’s harem.”

“Sitial said he was married to a woman and didn’t have any interest in men.”

She scoffed. “You believed him? I went digging. He’s definitely more than friends with Metra.”

“But he has a wife.” His wife was the reason he’d given as to why he was just friends with Metra.

“What of it? Hyax will have a husband, but he’ll still have you. Fae marriages are pretty open, there’s no real lockdown, and it’s not like him and his wife are bonded.”

He’d heard this expression before and knew there was a distinction, not just in the case of the missing prince. “What’s the significance of being bonded? Extra big cake at the wedding?”

She gave him a look that was hard to interpret. He guessed her initial thought was he was an idiot, but then it changed to understanding. “It’s not something vampires have. Usually, it’s a magical bond, and so at least one side of the couple has to have a bit of sparkly oomph about them. Imagine a deeper connection, beyond love and devotion, like you’d die if you never saw them again.”

“Since vampires are technically dead, I’m not sure that analogy works.”

“You get the drift.”

He did, the idea was nice, and he wondered if this was a predetermined fixture. Vampires did have the concept of finding their Eternal. The one person they’d want to spend forever with, might not be a magical link, but it was close enough. “So, are you predestined, born to be bonded to someone?”

“Oh no, I mean it does happen, but that’s extremely rare. A bond can form between a couple at any time. My parents have one, they’d been married sixty years when it manifested and since then, there’s not been anyone else for them.”

“What? They just sort of grew into monogamy?”

“Not quite. And it doesn’t always happen that way.” She seemed annoyed. “I’m getting side-tracked. I came here to warn you about Sitial, not talk about mating ceremonies.”

“I…”

“Just don’t go falling for the lies of pretty men. Metra isn’t next in line for his mother’s throne, so he needs her blessing to have any political clout, sending Sitial smacks of an attempt to try and manipulate Hyax. Keep your eyes open and look after him.”

She opened a portal and was gone.

“Fucking fae,” he muttered and began the trudge back home.