stronger than normal.’
‘So?’
‘The last time I encountered the Foinse...’
‘Draoidheachd,’ Bob prompted.
‘Dree...’ I rolled my eyes. ‘I can’t even begin to pronounce that. The last time I encountered the Foinse, being close to it nullified all Gifts. This is different.’ I gave the orb a suspicious look, as if it were some kind of imposter.
Bob’s expression turned serious. ‘You of all people should understand just how powerful freedom can be. Truth, liberty and justice for all.’ He glanced sidelong at me. ‘I helped write the American pledge of allegiance, you know. I wanted it to be truth, liberty and cake for all but they seemed to think justice was better. Ha! Goes to show what they knew.’ He snapped his fingers and produced a cupcake, then buried his face in its icing and made sounds of approval.
‘It’s free,’ I said quietly.
‘I already said that,’ Bob told me through a mouthful of crumbs.
‘It’s happy.’ I reached out a hand, thought better of it and withdrew it. ‘So the magic is stronger.’
‘Freedom,’ Bob agreed. ‘George Michael was right when he sang about it.’
‘Careless,’ I whispered back with a wink.
The Foinse pulled back and started to shake. Bob tossed the remnants of the cake away and hopped off, landing on my shoulder. Still agog at its appearance, I continued to watch it. ‘I wonder if it’s been here all the time since I freed it from the box in the mountains.’
‘None of those Sidhe would have thought to look for it here,’ Bob agreed.
I felt a sudden gnawing worry. ‘Some of them thought I’d stolen it to keep it for myself. Even Chandra thought that.’
‘They didn’t really believe it, though. They just don’t like you. They wanted something they could hang that hatred on to,’ Bob said with surprising insight.
I pointed at the Foinse. ‘It’s here, on my land. If anyone finds out, everyone will think I really did nick it.’ My insides tightened. ‘With Aifric’s assassination attempts failing, he’s going to do the next best thing.’
The genie nodded wisely. ‘Go on a booze cruise in Ibiza.’
‘No, you idiot. He’s going to discredit me.’ The Foinse hummed louder. ‘And if anyone finds out the Foinse is here, he won’t have to try very hard.’
‘You’re being paranoid.’
I shook my head. ‘No. I’m not.’ I bit my bottom lip. ‘There’s a reason it took four Clans to unlock the way to the Foinse in the first place: nobody wants anyone else to have more power than they have. The Foinse is the source of all magic; it provides more power than most people could ever dream of. The Sidhe designed a system to keep it away and keep the Clans honest. If it’s here on these Lands, it will look like I’m trying to grab all that power for myself.’
Bob pondered this. ‘Well,’ he said slowly, ‘there’s probably only one thing you can do.’
‘What?’
He shrugged. ‘Grab all that power for yourself.’ I rolled my eyes and he sighed patiently. ‘Then no one will want to get angry about it because you’ll zap them. It’ll be like you have your own phaser. Instead of setting it to stun though, you’ll use it to kill.’
‘As much fun as it would be to have a phaser if we were on the Starship Enterprise, I can guarantee that right now you and me would be wearing red shirts.’
Bob winced. ‘Red really isn’t your colour.’
As if bored of all this talk, the Foinse shot up into the air, doing a dramatic loop-the-loop and then shooting off back the way it came. It disappeared round the far side of the mansion, its silver shimmer swallowed up by the inky night.
At my feet, Speck stirred. ‘Wha...?’
‘Shh,’ I said. ‘Go back to sleep.’
He murmured something, turned over and his snoring started up again.
‘Out of sight, out of mind?’ Bob asked.
I stared off in the direction the Foinse had flown. More shite to worry about. ‘If only, Bob,’ I sighed. ‘If only. If this sort
‘So?’
‘The last time I encountered the Foinse...’
‘Draoidheachd,’ Bob prompted.
‘Dree...’ I rolled my eyes. ‘I can’t even begin to pronounce that. The last time I encountered the Foinse, being close to it nullified all Gifts. This is different.’ I gave the orb a suspicious look, as if it were some kind of imposter.
Bob’s expression turned serious. ‘You of all people should understand just how powerful freedom can be. Truth, liberty and justice for all.’ He glanced sidelong at me. ‘I helped write the American pledge of allegiance, you know. I wanted it to be truth, liberty and cake for all but they seemed to think justice was better. Ha! Goes to show what they knew.’ He snapped his fingers and produced a cupcake, then buried his face in its icing and made sounds of approval.
‘It’s free,’ I said quietly.
‘I already said that,’ Bob told me through a mouthful of crumbs.
‘It’s happy.’ I reached out a hand, thought better of it and withdrew it. ‘So the magic is stronger.’
‘Freedom,’ Bob agreed. ‘George Michael was right when he sang about it.’
‘Careless,’ I whispered back with a wink.
The Foinse pulled back and started to shake. Bob tossed the remnants of the cake away and hopped off, landing on my shoulder. Still agog at its appearance, I continued to watch it. ‘I wonder if it’s been here all the time since I freed it from the box in the mountains.’
‘None of those Sidhe would have thought to look for it here,’ Bob agreed.
I felt a sudden gnawing worry. ‘Some of them thought I’d stolen it to keep it for myself. Even Chandra thought that.’
‘They didn’t really believe it, though. They just don’t like you. They wanted something they could hang that hatred on to,’ Bob said with surprising insight.
I pointed at the Foinse. ‘It’s here, on my land. If anyone finds out, everyone will think I really did nick it.’ My insides tightened. ‘With Aifric’s assassination attempts failing, he’s going to do the next best thing.’
The genie nodded wisely. ‘Go on a booze cruise in Ibiza.’
‘No, you idiot. He’s going to discredit me.’ The Foinse hummed louder. ‘And if anyone finds out the Foinse is here, he won’t have to try very hard.’
‘You’re being paranoid.’
I shook my head. ‘No. I’m not.’ I bit my bottom lip. ‘There’s a reason it took four Clans to unlock the way to the Foinse in the first place: nobody wants anyone else to have more power than they have. The Foinse is the source of all magic; it provides more power than most people could ever dream of. The Sidhe designed a system to keep it away and keep the Clans honest. If it’s here on these Lands, it will look like I’m trying to grab all that power for myself.’
Bob pondered this. ‘Well,’ he said slowly, ‘there’s probably only one thing you can do.’
‘What?’
He shrugged. ‘Grab all that power for yourself.’ I rolled my eyes and he sighed patiently. ‘Then no one will want to get angry about it because you’ll zap them. It’ll be like you have your own phaser. Instead of setting it to stun though, you’ll use it to kill.’
‘As much fun as it would be to have a phaser if we were on the Starship Enterprise, I can guarantee that right now you and me would be wearing red shirts.’
Bob winced. ‘Red really isn’t your colour.’
As if bored of all this talk, the Foinse shot up into the air, doing a dramatic loop-the-loop and then shooting off back the way it came. It disappeared round the far side of the mansion, its silver shimmer swallowed up by the inky night.
At my feet, Speck stirred. ‘Wha...?’
‘Shh,’ I said. ‘Go back to sleep.’
He murmured something, turned over and his snoring started up again.
‘Out of sight, out of mind?’ Bob asked.
I stared off in the direction the Foinse had flown. More shite to worry about. ‘If only, Bob,’ I sighed. ‘If only. If this sort
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