Corrigan had them well trained. I moved round so I could see their faces although they kept their stony eyes trained on the portal. At least they took their sentinel posts seriously. There was one time that Tom had been sent out to guard a newly opened portal that opened up near Penzance. He’d fallen asleep and missed several faeries emerging. They’d caused particular havoc that night, and the local police were kept extraordinarily busy stepping in between several faerie induced street brawls. Nick had even been called in from the sticks to provide support. He’d later told me that he’d never seen anything like it before and that the superintendent suspected that some city based drug dealers had infiltrated the town and spiked drinks in pubs and clubs from one end of Penzance to the other. John had put Tom on kitchen duty for a month as punishment, which ended up being punishment for everyone. The food had tasted even worse than it usually did and we were all glad when his penance was up.
“I thought I’d keep you company out here,” I said, again with the cheeriness in my voice.
One of them flicked their eyes at me for just a second then focused back on the purple portal. “Whatever.”
Friendly talkative pair. Deciding that there was no point trying to engage them further, and as they obviously weren’t going to make me leave, I moved a few feet away from them and sat cross-legged on the sand. I stared at the gateway. If I strained my ears, I could just make out a low humming sound emanating from it, like the buzz of electricity. That probably meant that it was still very active. Good. Hopefully I wouldn’t have to wait too long until Iabartu or more of her minions decided to appear again. I planned out defensive and attacking strategies in my mind. I had my throwing daggers attached to my arms, as always, and my curved knife in my backpack. It was a shame that again I’d been forced to leave the silver back at the keep, but wielding it would raise far too many awkward questions. It was still annoying though.
With no information from the Othernet to go on for how to kill Iabartu, I’d just have to settle for good old-fashioned brute strength. The ‘daughter of a sky god’ part might prove tricky, given that if she could fly it would be difficult to catch her. The only way would be to get her unaware when she stepped through the portal.
I looked around. The Brethren guards were in a good position to see the portal opening but it did mean that she herself would be able to see them as soon as she materialized as well. It would make more sense to cut around so I could flank her. When her attention was taken by the Brethren, I’d be able to sneak up behind and slit her throat. And that would mean that I would get my revenge personally. Sweet.
Standing back up, I started to move for the rear of the portal. Although it was virtually transparent from the front, despite the purple shimmers, it was obvious which was front and which was back because from the rear there was nothing to be seen at all. In fact it was as if there was nothing there at all. Before I’d taken more than three steps, however, I heard voices coming from the direction of the trees, the words becoming more distinct as they drew closer.
“What you have to understand, Lucy, is that humans don’t think like us or act like us. Effectively they’re cattle who get in the way and mess things up.”
I immediately stiffened.
“Yeah but the mage is human, isn’t he? And we’re half human.”
“The mage has skills. He’s part of the otherworld. And we might have a human side but we’ll never be that stupid or that vulnerable. You know that joke, right? What do you call a human with a half brain?”
“Errr…”
“Gifted.” The Brethren arsehole began to snort with laughter.
Heat swirled around me. I turned in their direction and assessed them carefully. Lucy’s petite frame was dwarfed by the fuckwit who’d decided that he was superior to the whole of humanity. He looked strong, with ripped biceps and a chunky neck - no doubt I’d discover it was red if I had the wherewithal to check under his collar. I could take him easily. I took a step towards him and dug my