Free Shadow Spell by Caro King Page A

there!’
    Skerridge’s heart sank at the name of one of the mostpowerful Fabulous left in the Drift. Lord Greyghast wasn’t a lord. There weren’t any nobles left in the Drift these days, but Greyghast thought his name sounded good with ‘Lord’ in front of it and since nobody was prepared to argue with a Fabulous werewolf, that was what he was called. And he was going to join Strood’s army, Skerridge would bet on it. There was killing involved and werewolves always felt at home where there was killing.
    They crossed the remains of a once-smooth lawn and walked through a tangle of dark trees. Jibbit could see the large folly looming ahead and made ready to jump. He could hang about out here where it was quiet until somebody came looking for him.
    â€˜Look,’ Floyd went on with exaggerated patience. ‘We work fer Strood, an’ that means we follow ’is orders, see? We don’ worry about consequences. If some dumb kid ’as t’ go an’ get up Mr Strood’s nose, then it’s ’er lookout ain’ it? If Mr Strood wants t’ pull the Drift apart bit by bit an ’ave ’is cruel revenge on ev’ry livin’ fing then that’s jus’ ’ow it is. If we don’ do it, someone else will an’ we’ll jus’ end up on the side what suffers an ’orrible fate, or gets eaten or whatever. See? Common sense. Believe me, yer picked the losin’ side.’
    The guard stopped in his tracks, thinking over what he had just said. Seeing Floyd’s face crease up with the effort of working it out, Skerridge gave him a nudge in the right direction.
    â€˜Yer right. It’s only common sense,’ he said cheerfully,patting Floyd on the shoulder as he spoke. ‘On the balance o’ probabilities, the Redstone kid’s gonna croak along wiv all ’er friends, the remains of the Seven an’ an awful lot o’ innocent Quick. So, wanna know why I’m on the ovver side?’ Skerridge leaned close. ‘Yore the ones tha’s gonna live …’ he paused just long enough to give a bit of dramatic effect, ‘…
wiv the consequences
.’
    Then he was gone, leaving a trail of smouldering undergrowth behind him.
    Floyd watched him go. The BM’s words hung about in his head, taking up a lot of room and looking very ominous. Consequences. Floyd didn’t know what the consequences of killing the entire population of the Drift would be, but he had a nasty feeling he wouldn’t like them. He wrestled with his thoughts for a while and then sighed. He couldn’t work out the twists and turns of it all, but one thing he was sure of. His current future, the one where he stayed working for Mr Strood, was full of an awful lot of screaming. Besides, regardless of the consequences, he thought the Redstone kid was OK and somehow it just didn’t seem fair.
    â€˜Enuff is enuff,’ he said firmly.
    Then he dropped his spear, turned his face to the south-west and started to run.
    From the top of the large folly, safely out of the way for the time being, Jibbit watched him go.

9
A Clue
    Nin got slowly to her feet. She had been having a sit-down with her head in her hands wondering what on earth to do next.
    â€˜I should have stayed where I was and let
him
find
me
,’ she said out loud. They could have been just missing each other for ages and the voices weren’t helping. Every time she thought she heard him she wasn’t sure because all the chatter got in the way.
    â€˜And you can be quiet,’ she snapped, feeling both irritable and near tears.
    Something hissed behind her, a slow hiss. Spiteful.
    â€˜
Ava, do you have to?
’ sighed a female voice that Nin recognised as Enid’s.
    â€˜Enid!’ called Nin on impulse. ‘Help me, I’ve lost Jonas.’
    There was a long silence and then more whispering, but no answer. The ghosts weren’t playing – if