‘You still want to go ahead with planning the wedding? I thought you didn’t have the evidence against Aifric to pull off your plan.’

‘Even with this Fomori letter, I don’t think I have. But the stag night was scheduled for tonight so there would be enough time for Plan B if I needed it. There’s a fortnight to go before the ceremony. You might not be dead but my father’s still a monster who needs to be stopped. You won’t be safe until he’s dealt with.’ He brushed a lock of hair away from my face. ‘You wouldn’t trust me before but you can trust me on this.’

Worry gnawed at me. Aifric had been prepared to abandon his only son to the Fomori demons beyond the Veil. I dreaded to imagine what he might do if he discovered just how far Byron would go to betray him. But he wasn’t my father and I had to let Byron do this. ‘Okay,’ I whispered. ‘Okay. I’ll get Tipsania. I’ll tell her the plan and take her to her father’s to get ready.’

He relaxed and pulled me towards him, one arm wrapped round me while the other cupped the back of my head. ‘Despite everything, this might have been the best night of my life,’ he said.

He hadn’t lied to me; I couldn’t lie to him. ‘Mine too.’

His head dipped. Bob, still caught in between my hands, zapped me with an electric shock. ‘I’m still here!’ he yelled. ‘And you won’t be saying that soppy stuff tomorrow when you realise you have itchy pants!’

I kissed Byron and pulled back, releasing Bob. He spun up into the air, still indignant. Then he stared behind me. ‘Fire! There’s a fire up there!’

‘We should go,’ I told Byron.

‘Yeah,’ he nodded. ‘We should.’

Neither of us moved.

‘Make a wish, Uh Integrity!’ Bob yelled. ‘I can put the fire out if you just wish for it!’

I watched Byron. ‘I’m not sure this fire will ever go out,’ I said quietly. Then I kissed him once more and turned away to my car.

Chapter Eleven

‘He wasn’t angry?’ Speck asked. ‘When he realised you were alive?’

‘Oh, he was raging,’ I said happily. ‘He got past it though.’

‘He was so furious that he set his own castle on fire,’ Bob added with a knowing waggle of his eyebrows. ‘But that’s confidential. Don’t tell anyone.’

Lexie threw herself at me. ‘I’m so thrilled for you!’ she squealed, wrapping her arms round my chest. ‘He’s been working against his own father all this time! That’s brilliant!’

‘I’m not sure that encouraging patricide is a cause for celebration,’ Brochan said.

I glared at him. ‘Byron’s not going to kill Aifric.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Of course I am.’ I folded my arms. Then I remembered the coldness in Byron’s expression whenever he mentioned his father and the way he’d said the words ‘collateral damage’. I dropped my arms. ‘I think I am.’