Henry said, ‘Well, I don’t know, do I? I can’t remember any of this!’ He didn’t mean to, but the last few words came out in a wail.
Mr Fogarty waved a hand. ‘You weren’t yourself, and Beleth has a breeding programme.’
It was almost unbearable. He loved Blue so much and all the time he kept getting into stuff like this with her. Jeez, the first time he saw her, she had no clothes on, stepping into a bath. She had to think he was a complete pervert by now. Henry wondered if he shouldn’t just go home and never come back to the Faerie Realm again. If he stayed and this sort of thing kept happening, she’d hate him for sure.
‘Mr Fogarty -’ he began.
But Mr Fogarty cut him short. ‘Nutshell, OK?’ When Henry nodded, he went on, ‘This is flying saucer business, Henry. You study that like I have and you know the demons have a breeding programme -’
‘I thought it was aliens who had flying saucers,’ Henry said, bewildered. ‘You know, from outer space and stuff.’
‘Same thing,’ Fogarty said shortly. ‘Demons… aliens… same thing. Christ, Henry, you were abducted. They do that. They’ve been doing it in our world for years. I’ve told you about this before, if you’d just take your thumb out of your ass and listen. What the hell do you think they abduct people for? All the selfappointed experts will tell you there’s something wrong with their genes and they want to improve the stock, but it’s a lot worse than that. They’re infiltrating us, Henry. They make babies with human women, then put them into positions of power when they grow up. They look like ordinary people, but they’re actually demons in human form.’ He glanced behind him and lowered his voice. ‘Half the Cabinet, Henry, and don’t get me started about the Yanks – they’ve lost most of their Senate.’ He fixed Henry with a gimlet eye. ‘Now they want to do the same in the Realm. They thought they’d start with you and Blue.’
‘Me and Blue?’ Beleth turned him into a demon so he could have a baby with Blue and the baby would grow up to be the next Purple Emperor and Beleth would have a demon on the throne? Henry thought he was about to vomit, but it was as much embarrassment as disgust. He didn’t want to hear the details, but he had to hear them anyway. This was so bad it couldn’t get any worse. ‘And I actually asked Blue to… to… you know…’
‘Yeah, you did,’ said Mr Fogarty.
‘What did she say?’ Henry heard his mouth ask.
Mr Fogarty looked at him without expression. ‘She didn’t tell me.’
After a moment Henry said, ‘But we didn’t do anything?’ If they did anything, he would have to leave the Realm. He could never face Blue again. He could never face himself again. He’d have to join a monastery.
‘Did quite a lot from what I gather,’ Mr Fogarty told him. ‘You killed a demon, for one thing. Wrung its neck or something.’
That was so stupid he didn’t even bother questioning it. ‘We got away.’
‘Oh, yes.’ Mr Fogarty gave him a ridiculous nod and wink. ‘You’re a bit of a hero, Henry.’
But he wasn’t a bit of a hero. He wasn’t any sort of a hero. How could he ever face Blue again after what he’d done to her? Beleth had turned him into a monster.
Henry stopped. When had he turned back? ‘Mr Fogarty,’ he said, frowning, ‘if the implant turned me into a demon, how come I helped Blue escape?’
‘They deactivated it,’ Mr Fogarty said. ‘They reckoned Blue would know it wasn’t you when you tried to jump her bones, so they switched it off.’ His mouth twitched slightly as if he was trying to suppress a smile. ‘Beleth figured the two of you would get it on of your own accord if he just left you alone long enough. Do his dirty work for him.’ The smile actually appeared now. ‘That’s really something, Henry. People must be talking about you and Blue all the way to -’
But Henry was still frowning. ‘Wait a minute, Mr Fogarty.’
‘- Hell!’ Fogarty concluded.
Henry said, ‘There’s something wrong.’
Ninety-two
Pyrgus had never seen a Goblin Guard before. This contingent was the traditional grouping of five – four male, one female, all dressed alike in one-piece silver jumpsuits and thick-soled silver boots. They were demons in their original unshifted form, grey-skinned, large-headed and with enormous jet-black eyes. Not one of them stood much higher than his waist, but they were by far and away the most dangerous creatures on the surface of the planet. They gambolled forward on spindly legs like playful monkeys, chittering with the sound of clacking lobster claws.
‘Don’t look at their eyes!’ Pyrgus screamed. But it was already too late. Nymphalis had set down her weapons and was walking blank-faced towards the demons.
Pyrgus hurled himself forward and struck her at an angle with his shoulder. The blow was so severe it took her off her feet and she fell heavily on the stony ground.
‘Sorry,’ Pyrgus murmured, but the move had the desired effect: Nymph rolled and sprang to her feet again, eyes clear.
And weaponless.
Woodfordi, eyes firmly fixed on the ground, was scrabbling for something in his kit and emerged with a coated short sword, one of the few effective weapons against a Goblin Guard. The blade writhed with military grade offensive spells. As it appeared, the female goblin stopped dead and closed her enormous eyes. Woodfordi began to groan.
‘What’s wrong?’ Pyrgus shouted.
‘CCs… particularly… particularly susceptible,’ Woodfordi gasped. ‘Even without… eye contact. Take… take the sword. Halek…’ He shook his head.
‘Nagel!’ Pyrgus howled, then remembered the Trinians were running away from the planned explosions. They were probably already out of earshot.
The four male goblins were closing in on Nymph. They had tiny pouting mouths and slits for noses, but there was a look of triumph on their faces. Woodfordi was pouring sweat now. The sword in his hand was turning towards his own throat.
‘Help me,’ he said weakly.
But it was Nymph Pyrgus ran to help. He met the goblins and stabbed the nearest with his Halek knife. The blade swept upwards between the creature’s ribs to pierce its heart.
The energy discharge was astonishing. Blue fire enveloped the goblin in a writhing aura so that its body jerked and twitched like a beached fish. For just the barest moment its eyes clouded, then it reached down, gripped the blade and snapped it with a single movement.
Pyrgus had no time for surprise. The backlash of pure energy lifted him off his feet and threw him backwards for several yards. He hit the ground with mind-numbing violence, but at least the pain convinced him he was still alive. Perhaps it was the discharge of energy into the goblin that had saved him. Whatever the reason, he was still in the fight.
Like a flock of birds, all five demons whirled to run towards him.
Woodfordi’s body straightened, but he was trembling so violently that he dropped his sword. Now Nymph was beside him.
‘Take it!’ Woodfordi gasped. ‘I can’t use -’
Nymph swooped on the sword and spun round in a single movement. Moving with that superhuman speed Pyrgus remembered so well from the time he’d fought her himself, she lashed out at the nearest goblin and severed its arm at the shoulder.
The creature set up a howling that issued not just from its mouth but from its mind. Woodfordi slapped his hands over his ears and sank to his knees. Pyrgus, who was climbing to his feet, jerked uncontrollably and staggered. His body felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach. His own shoulder was on fire. Only Nymph seemed unaffected. She was still on her feet, still moving swiftly as she attacked the remaining demons.
But fast as she was, the demons were faster. One ran towards her and, to Pyrgus’s astonishment, jumped like an insect right over her head. The move clearly took Nymph by surprise as well, for she hesitated. The goblin landed, bounced and turned. The other four fanned out. To his horror, Pyrgus saw that the one with the missing arm was still on his feet, moving as a greenish ooze solidified to close up his wound. In an eye blink, Nymph was surrounded.