‘Call Gregor,’ Jingo said. ‘We’ll need proper disposal for him. We can’t have the Connection tracing his body back to us.’
Reed nodded and walked out of the room, leaving Jingo alone with Kate and me. I could see why he’d do that. Kate was bound and gagged, and I’d been drop-kicked out of the Other realm. I was magicless and woozy. I shouldn’t have been a threat.
But I was. I always was.
Behind my back, I eased the stopper from the poison.
I needed Jingo closer; there wasn’t much poison in the vial. I couldn’t afford to miss my one shot.
‘Why did you need Troy?’ I asked to distract him as I moved closer. ‘What do you need the mer for?’
‘Smuggling,’ he grunted. ‘The coastguard have amped up their patrols. They’re taking fewer bribes and moreof my damned stock. It’s becoming increasingly inconvenient.’
‘And you wanted the mer to smuggle it under the water for you rather than on top of it,’ I said slowly.
‘Exactly so.’
As he stepped closer to me, ready to deliver his evil villain’s monologue, I seized my chance. With a flick of my wrist I chucked the potion into his face. He reared back, spluttering. He automatically wiped the liquid from his eyes, adding the poison to his hands.
‘You bitch!’ He backhanded me, and I went flying.
My head swam as I collided with a particularly hard piece of wall. I stood and tried to think. Did Jingo get the poison on the back of his hand or the front? Was it on my skin too? I didn’t feel any different, but it was hard to tell with my head swimming and adrenaline doing its thing.
I crawled quickly to Kate and to Witterhall’s body. Like me, he carried a flip blade on him. I grabbed it, flipped it open, and stood by Kate, my ears ringing.
‘That little splash in the face was poison, Jingo. You’re dying. And if you try to leap into me or Kate, I’ll kill us both first.’ I held the knife to Kate’s throat and prayed he wouldn’t call my bluff – that he’d think me as ruthless as him.
This was it. The end of Jude Jingo. He had no one else to leap into, and the poison was fast-acting. Troy’s chest started wheezing, eyes wide with panic.
‘You fucking bitch!’ he spat at me again. ‘REED!’ he screamed. ‘REED!’ His face was growing redder and redder by the second.
His second-in-command burst in and I wanted to curse the idiot.
‘Run!’ I screamed. ‘Run or your boss will possess you next!’
Reed stared for a beat too long, and Troy started to foam at the mouth.
‘RUN!’ I shouted again. Fuck. This wasn’t what I had intended. My stomach sank. I wasn’t going to end Jingo. The thought was bitter. He was going to swan into Reed and Troy was going to die with him, unless he severed his soul like I’d obliquely told him to. Well, I guess now was the time to be as obvious as a prostitute in the red-light district.
‘Troy!’ I shouted. ‘Sever your soul! NOW!’
I could see the instant Jingo leapt: Troy took one last breath and his body crumpled like a puppet whose strings had been cut, his legs falling beneath him.
Even through the gag, Kate screamed.
Reed turned to me - Jingo now - his eyes flashing with a rage so dark it was almost apoplectic, but I held out my flip blade and pulled my lips back in a snarl.
He turned on his heel and stalked out, staggering as he went. Jingo was getting used to a new body. It was good to know there was a learning curve, however little.
I ran to Troy’s collapsed form, reached into my other pocket, and pulled out the antidote. I opened Troy’s mouth, poured it in, and hoped to hell I’d pulled a miracle out of my arse.
‘Troy! If you’re here, sink back into your body and swallow! NOW!’
Hope flared as he swallowed, but he didn’t open his eyes.
I touched his neck but couldn’t feel a pulse. Fuck! I tipped back his head, checked his airways were clear, then prepared to begin CPR.
I hesitated. I wasn’t sure where the contact poison was or how long it’d be efficacious for, but I looked at Kate, tears pouring into her gag, and pressed my lips to his. I pushed air into Troy’s lungs.
