‘Let me guess,’ I said, ‘you need access to this magical Foinse to solve the problem. The four Clans with these special keys are Moncrieffe, Kincaid, Darroch and,’ I paused, ‘drum roll, please, ladies and gentlemen…’

Byron nodded. ‘Adair. And you are the sole remaining member of the Adair Clan.’

No wonder they’d been keeping tabs on me. I wondered what they’d have done if I had inadvertently walked out in front of a bus. It would have been adios muchachos and not just for me. Then my humour fled. No doubt this was the reason why I was shoved into the Bull’s care, such as it was, instead of simply being smothered as a baby.

‘So you’re going to blackmail me into helping you open the Foinse. Like I give a shit whether the magic fails or not. In fact, seeing the Clans brought down might be worth my friends spending a bit of time in the slammer.’ I tipped my head. ‘Long term goals versus short term gains.’

Byron regarded me with a flat, emotionless expression. ‘I was warned you’d be like this,’ he said finally. ‘Bitchy and uncaring. Last night I thought they’d got it wrong and you were actually a nice person. Clearly, I was wrong.’

I raised my eyebrows. ‘They?’

‘The Clan Chieftains. They don’t normally agree on much but they agreed on you.’

‘I haven’t spoken to a single Sidhe in fifteen years. Whether your lot have been keeping tabs on me or not, none of you know anything about me. Don’t presume that you know what I’m like or who I am,’ I hissed. ‘You have no idea.’

‘And don’t presume that keeping the magic stable in the Clan lands is purely to benefit the Sidhe,’ he shot back. ‘That magic does many things which the Clan-less also benefit from.’

‘Oh yeah?’ I sneered. ‘Like what?’

‘That magic controls the Veil,’ he said. ‘The barrier that prevents the Fomori from entering the Highlands.’

I scowled at him. Okay, the Fomori were pretty scary demons who were better kept well away from us.

‘That same magic keeps nature in check,’ Byron continued in the patient, patronising tone you’d use when explaining something to a particularly stupid child. ‘You want to build a factory? The magic adjusts itself so the environment isn’t irreparably harmed.’

I didn’t want to build a factory but I got his point.

Byron wasn’t finished. ‘You want more disasters like the Dee surge? Only on a far greater scale?’ He folded his arms. ‘Then be my guest. Let your friends rot in jail. Let your mentor pay his debts by losing part of his soul. You’ll also be letting all of Scotland suffer.’

Alright. Jeez, he’d made his point. ‘You could have told me all this in the first place. The Lia Saifire ruse was unnecessary.’

‘Would you have listened?’