They kissed again while I cringed. He started fumbling with her dress, his large fingers surprisingly nimble, as if he was in the mood to shag her right here. I motioned to Brochan. We really didn’t need to see this. He nodded enthusiastically and we tiptoed back to the cabin. It was just as well it was the merman who ventured out with me; if it had been Taylor or Speck, they’d have wanted to stay and watch.

When we got back inside, Bob was awake and flitting from bed to bed. ‘I wanna kiss you,’ he sang. ‘I wanna fu…’

‘Enough.’

He faltered. ‘You’re no fun, Uh Integrity.’ He arched an eyebrow in my direction. ‘Is it because you’re too cold-hearted to understand the language of l’amour?’

I threw him a dirty look. He just grinned.

‘The genie’s right?’ Taylor asked.

I sat down heavily on the nearest bed and nodded. I still couldn’t believe it; the Tipsania I knew would never stoop to a dalliance with a non-Sidhe especially when she had Byron, the Steward’s son, in her sights. Was this some kind of ruse? Did she know more about the Games than she was supposed to and was she using the Wild Man so she could earn an advantage?

‘The look in her eyes,’ I mumbled.

Brochan nodded. ‘She’s head over heels in love. It sounds like she’s entering the Games so that if she wins she can ask for the Clans’ approval for her relationship with the Wild Man as her prize.’

He was probably right and I felt affronted on Byron’s behalf. Sure, I knew he was using her because of his Clan’s financial situation but she didn’t know that. What if he was also in love with her? She was waltzing around behind his back, canoodling with a Wild Man … and a Wild Man who worked for Byron, at that.

‘Uh Integrity,’ Bob piped up. ‘Your face has gone a most curious shade of purple.’

There was a sharp knock from the far side of the cabin. ‘Lexie is still out there,’ I said, glad of the diversion.

‘I’ll go and get her,’ Speck said.

I gave him a tight smile of acknowledgment. Unbelievable. I couldn’t even muster an appropriate joke.

*

A couple of hours later, still reeling from the revelation that Tipsania was tiptoeing around behind Byron’s back, I met with Chieftain MacBain. She still maintained the taut pout of disapproval but curiosity no longer lingered behind those sharp eyes. I felt a faint trickle of foreboding down my spine which was confirmed when her first words had nothing to do with her missing uncle.

‘Was it you?’ she demanded. ‘Because if there is any evidence that it was, you will be thrown out of here before you can so much as say Clan Adair.’

I blinked. ‘Excuse me?’

‘You know exactly what I’m talking about.’

I took a step back and folded my arms. ‘No,’ I said coolly. ‘I don’t.’