I seethed. So much for our night of passion, Jamie. Or hour of passion. Okay, ten minutes of passion. Brochan, Speck and Lexie might be safely tucked away around the corner but they’d want to return to their own world sooner or later. If Byron made that an impossibility, I’d ruin him – whether he was concerned about my wellbeing or not.

‘No,’ Byron answered. ‘We’ve gone past that point now. It was a means to an end. But how did they get out so quickly? I thought we’d have a couple of days at least.’

Jamie coughed again. Uh oh. Here we go. ‘There was a barrister. He petitioned the courts.’

‘Where did the money come from to pay him?’ Jamie didn’t answer. I heard a heavy sigh. ‘Let me guess,’ Byron said tiredly. ‘The Lia Saifire.’

‘It was sold for a considerable amount to a warlock over in Fort William.’

There was another loud thump. ‘Fucking hell.’

I frowned. He was taking the loss very badly. Did the sapphire have powers that I’d not been aware of? But why use it as bait if it were so precious? Surely the Moncrieffe Clan could have rustled up some non-magical gems to use. Something wasn’t adding up.

‘Does my father know?’

‘Not yet,’ Jamie said.

Byron sighed. ‘Come on then. You can watch me be the bearer of yet more bad tidings.’

I stayed where I was until I was certain both of them had left the room. Then I scooted out from underneath the bed. Well, well, well. Byron had been correct: – all was most definitely not as it seemed.

*

I slid out of the room, taking extra care in case anyone spotted me. I didn’t want to be caught sidling out of Byron’s rooms. Thus far, the lower class Sidhe and the servants had appeared to be on my side, but that didn’t mean I was going to take unnecessary risks.

I stayed as low as possible until I was well away from Byron’s wing of the castle. As I walked, I pinched my cheeks; hopefully I could make them red enough to give the illusion of an oncoming fever. The moment I emerged out onto a busier corridor, I straightened my back, allowed my features to form into a hard mask and marched towards the round-tabled room where I’d encountered Aifric and the rest of the Sidhe royal wankers.

Several people gaped at me along the way. I glared at them, satisfied when most of them scuttled away. When I reached the room, I slammed open the door and glowered. The light from behind me was strong, silhouetting my form. Aifric, Byron and Jamie were there and they had to shade their eyes to work out it was me. I rather liked that effect. I’d have to time grand entrances like this more often.