Fiendish Delights (Thrill of the Hunt Book 2), page 1
Fiendish Delights
THE THRILL OF THE HUNT
BOOK TWO
HELEN HARPER
Contents
Recap of Book One
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Author’s note
Acknowledgments
Also by Helen Harper
Recap of Book One
Recap of Tattered Huntress, Book One of The Thrill of the Hunt
Daisy Carter is a low elf living in Edinburgh and eking out a living as a delivery driver. She is dispatched to Neidpath Castle to deliver a parcel to Hugo Pemberville, a celebrated high elf who is famous for treasure hunting. When she hands him his parcel and waits for his signature, he recognises the silver ring in her eyes that indicates she is a user of spider’s silk, a dangerously addictive drug that Daisy takes to control the wild magic inside her. Hugo’s demeanour changes instantly and, with considerable rudeness, he tells Daisy to leave. Before she does so, she spots some notes about the location of a special, long-lost locket necklace.
Upset at Hugo’s attitude, Daisy suggests to a belligerent troll named Duchess that she leave her current habitat in favour of a more pleasant one under the bridge at Hugo’s ancestral home. When Hugo discovers that Duchess has taken up residence there, he calls Daisy’s boss and ensures she is fired because of her drug addiction. To retaliate, Daisy uses the information she spied on the notes to find the necklace before Hugo does.
Daisy takes it to a man called Sir Nigel. He is impressed that she found it and offers her a place in a treasure-hunting competition to find some chests of Jacobean gold. Daisy later realises that the locket on the necklace was enchanted; having opened it before she handed it over, she is now supposedly the boss of two very annoying brownies, Hester and Otis.
Daisy and the brownies join Sir Nigel’s treasure hunt to find three parts to a magical key which, when combined, will reveal the location of the treasure chests. There are numerous other competitors, including Humphrey and Eleanor, a friendly couple who are somewhat lackadaisical about the hunt.
The first key part is located in northern England. Daisy would have found it first, but she is delayed when another team is attacked by a giant snake. She saves them, but in the meantime Hugo and his team of Primes find the key part. Hugo initially thinks Daisy engineered the snake attack in a deliberate attempt to harm her competitors, but he soon realises the truth.
The second key part is located in the north of Scotland, in a concealed chamber behind an underground cavern called Smoo Cave. The entrance to the chamber is unlocked by another competitor – Gordon, a sorcerer who appears to have an uncomfortable history with Hugo.
Daisy discovers she is claustrophobic and panics when she is underground. Unable to continue searching for the key part, she falls through the ground in the cave and is knocked unconscious. When she awakes, she is challenged to a fight to the death by a one-eyed creature known as the Fachan. The Fachan eventually decides that she is not a worthy competitor, but he gifts her a sentient sword called Gladys and shows her the way out of the cave.
Suffering from spider’s silk withdrawal symptoms, Daisy starts hallucinating. Hugo finds her and helps her recover. His attitude towards her softens considerably. She re-joins the treasure hunt for the third key part located in one of many houses owned by a rich man known for his unpleasant behaviour. With the help of Hester and Otis, Daisy discovers that the man has been keeping magical creatures captive. She releases them, sneaks into the house and finds the key part. Before she can retrieve it, though, Humphrey appears and takes it.
With no key part, Daisy can no longer participate in the treasure hunt, and only Humphrey and Hugo remain in the competition. She is suspicious about Humphrey, so she secretly spies on the moment when all three key parts are put together and the location of the treasure chests is revealed. They are on the tidal island of Cramond, near Edinburgh, and Daisy quickly heads there to wait.
She witnesses Humphrey attacking Hugo with a terrible power known as blood magic and steps in to save him. Humphrey escapes while Hugo and Daisy are trapped on the island as the tide comes in. They are forced to shelter there for hours, during which time Hugo reveals that his best friend died as a result of a spider’s silk addiction and Daisy confesses that she takes the drugs because otherwise her magic will overwhelm her.
Eventually they make it safely back to the mainland where they recover the treasure and ensure that Humphrey is arrested. Daisy is offered her old job back as a delivery driver – but she decides to become a full-time treasure hunter instead.
Chapter
One
It’s one thing declaring to the world that you’re a treasure hunter but it’s something else being one, especially when you possess few connections, little experience and limited resources.
Dogged determination and a LinkedIn profile were all well and good, but I was becoming the living embodiment of Catch-22. I couldn’t get any decent treasure hunting commissions until I successfully found some treasure – and I couldn’t successfully find any treasure until I had some commissions. That’s not to say that I hadn’t found work; it just wasn’t the kind of work I’d envisaged when I’d started down this path a few months earlier.
‘The tide will be coming in soon,’ Otis informed me, buzzing in my left ear.
Hester flicked the lobe of my right ear. ‘It’s also starting to rain.’ Her tone was disgruntled. ‘And it’s not the sort of refreshing rain that makes you glad to be alive. It’s the sort of Scottish December rain that is grey and icy and seeps not only under your collar and into your bones, but also into your soul to make you wish you’d never been born.’
‘It’s only rain,’ I muttered. I scuffed the sand at my feet, telling myself that I was having fun. I’d found a lot of broken shells, pretty sea glass and bits of rubbish, but I hadn’t found Trish York’s wedding ring.
‘That’s easy for you to say. Some of those raindrops are the size of my head,’ she complained.
I crouched down and turned over a seaweed-covered rock to check underneath it. ‘You can stay in my pocket. You’ll be dry there.’
‘Dry,’ Hester argued, ‘but musty and smelly. When was the last time you washed this coat?’
Otis sighed. ‘Stop being rude, Hes.’
‘I’m not being rude, I’m being truthful. Are you trying to tell me that you don’t think Daisy’s pocket smells like the rotting intestines of a rat’s corpse?’
He didn’t answer his sister, suggesting that her description was wholly accurate. Instead, he addressed me. ‘I don’t think you’re going to find Mrs York’s ring, Daisy. It’s probably already been swallowed up by the sea. You’ve tried earth magic. You’ve tried a metal detector. You’ve walked up and down this beach eighty-four times. The ring is gone.’
‘This isn’t proper treasure hunting,’ Hester added. ‘It’s lost and found. Where’s the glory? Where’s the fun? Where are the damned dragons?’
‘Do you want to meet a dragon?’ I asked.
‘Anything would be better than this.’
The only dragons left in the British Isles were in Wales. While I thought it would be beyond cool to meet one, I doubted Hester actually wanted to come face to face with a curmudgeonly beast with fangs the size of a Mini Cooper. Dragons were dangerous. And they usually stayed well out of sight. Hester was right about one thing, though: this wasn’t treasure hunting. Not really.
I pulled my bag off my shoulder, unzipped it and rummaged inside. I didn’t need to look at either brownie to know that their expressions would display disapproval but they knew better than to say anything. I’d heard it all before and it wouldn’t make a difference.
I located the small bag containing my supply of spider’s silk and plucked out a pill. Without hesitating, I tossed it into my mouth. It fizzed on my tongue, the familiar bitter taste making my lips pucker before I swallowed it whole. Immediately my skin tingled and my muscles tightened. I raised my chin and, ignoring the rain, made a last-ditch effort to find the stupid ring by sending out a blast of air magic towards the damp sand.
My intention had been to blow away the top inch or so to reveal what lay underneath, but as I pushed the magic forth I stumbled, losing both my footing and my grip on the spell. The resulting burst of wind slammed into the beach with a deafening crash – and I was thrown backwards by at least several metres, landing with a painful thud on my back.
‘Mmmmf!’ That had really hurt.
I struggled up to a sitting position, blinking through the cold rain at the newly formed crater in front of me. Oops. That certainly wasn’t what I’d intended.
‘What the fuck was that about?’ Hester screeched,
I glanced around and my eyes widened in alarm when I saw him. Shit. He was some distance away, having been turned upside down. The top half of his body was buried by sand and only his legs were visible, kicking uselessly in the air.
I scrambled towards him to pinch his feet and pull him free. He coughed and spluttered. His head, arms and torso were covered in soggy sand. I gently used the tip of my finger to brush it away while Hester continued to admonish me. ‘You could have killed him!’
‘I’m fine, Hes.’ Otis coughed.
‘He could have suffocated!’
‘Honestly, it’s not a problem.’ He rubbed his eyes and blinked, trying to smile.
She didn’t listen. ‘How could you lose control like that, Daisy? He might have died!’
Guilt washed through me. She was right: it should never have happened. It had been years since I’d allowed my magic to get the better of me like that. ‘I’m sorry, Otis,’ I whispered. ‘I’m so sorry.’
He blinked again and shook away the last of the sand. ‘It’s fine. Honestly. And look.’ He pointed at the sand crater. ‘Look at that.’
I followed his finger. In the very centre of the hole there was the glint of gold. I peered more closely. Yep, that was a ring. Triumph flooded me.
‘Well done, Daisy,’ Otis wheezed. ‘You found it after all.’
Hester scowled. ‘Big deal.’
I pumped the air with my fist, strode towards the ring and scooped it up. It was a minor success but I’d absolutely take it. ‘Come on,’ I said, grinning widely at the brownies. ‘Let’s get out of here.’
‘We’re not going to get rich from jobs like this.’ Hester was still intent on complaining when we finally arrived home with a very small reward from Trish York safely in my back pocket.
‘We’ve been through this, Hester. The financial reward wasn’t why I took that job. Mrs York was ridiculously happy to get her ring back, and if she leaves a review it’ll be more than worth the hours spent on Longniddry beach.’
It was true. The more reviews and testimonials I garnered, the more chance I had of being hired for a real treasure hunt by someone with a lot of money behind them. Frankly, reviews were worth their weight in gold – no pun intended.
One day I hoped to have enough resources and access to establish my own treasure hunts, but for now I was relying on the information and requests provided by other people. I couldn’t afford to spend the better part of a year researching dusty archives for details of potential lost treasure. But in the future anything was possible and, bottom rung of the ladder or not, I wouldn’t allow myself to be anything other than optimistic about what lay ahead.
‘You should write to Sir Nigel again. He might give us some real work,’ Hester instructed me.
‘He’s out of the country.’ I started to peel off my damp – and, yes, smelly – coat. I’d be finding grains of sand in my clothes for weeks if not months, no matter how many times I washed them. Sand was sneaky like that.
‘You could approach Hugo—’
I interrupted her. ‘No.’
‘But—’
‘No.’
Otis smiled nervously. ‘I think Hester is right. You could give him a call and see if—’
‘No!’
He flinched. I drew in a deep breath. ‘I’m sorry, that was harsher than I intended. We don’t need help from the likes of Hugo Pemberville. We’re freelance. We’re not beholden to anyone else and we’re not going to be.’
The last thing I wanted was for Hugo to know how much I was struggling in my new career. While I appreciated every single success, no matter how minor, I was certain he’d laugh at my meagre accomplishments. And for complex reasons I didn’t fully understand and couldn’t articulate, I didn’t want him to see me as a failure. Besides, I hadn’t spoken to him for weeks and our paths might never cross again – we didn’t exactly move in the same circles. ‘We can do this ourselves.’
Otis nodded. ‘Yes, Daisy. Of course we can. You’re right.’
Hester rolled her eyes. ‘No, Daisy. We can’t. You’re wrong.’
I wet my lips. Cumbubbling bollocks. Perhaps I should listen to her.
‘Okay,’ I conceded, prepared to compromise. ‘I promise I won’t take on any more small lost-and-found jobs for the time being. I’ve saved enough to tide us over for a few weeks, so we won’t undertake any hunts unless both the reward and the treasure are substantial. I’ll extend my advertising to the classifieds in at least one national newspaper, and I’ll see who else I can contact at the British Museum for leads.’ I paused and eyed both brownies. ‘Is that good enough?’
Otis looked relieved while Hester blew out air loudly. ‘Finally. No more selling yourself short, Daisy. You’re a skilled treasure hunter who should be searching for extraordinary items. From now on, we seek nothing less than a chest full of precious jewels and shiny gold,’ she said firmly.
Chance would be a fine thing. Fortunately, for the sake of my sanity and Hester’s mood, there was a knock at the door which prevented me suggesting there was a world of difference between optimism and fantasy.
I kicked off my wet trainers, ignored the damp discomfort of my socks, ambled down the corridor and opened the front door. Then I stared. Oh. While I hadn’t been expecting anyone in particular, I certainly hadn’t anticipated the caller being a child. In my experience, people under the age of twelve were strange and unpredictable and it was wise to avoid them whenever possible.
‘Hi.’ I tried not stare too obviously at the girl. Her limpid brown eyes were astonishingly large, and she was swamped by the huge puffer jacket she was wearing. I glanced beyond her for any sign of a parent or guardian, but she appeared to be alone.
‘Are you the hunter elf lady?’ she asked with a faint, audible wobble.
There was an odd prickle on the back of my neck. ‘Yes,’ I said cautiously. ‘Who are you?’
‘Sophia.’
I gazed at her and she gazed at me. The silence stretched out for several seconds while the prickle turned into an itch. ‘Do you need some help, Sophia?’ I asked finally.
‘I live down the street.’ She waved vaguely to the right. ‘I want to hire you. I have a job that needs doing.’ She might be no more than four-feet high but she sounded like a Mafia boss ordering a hit.
I smiled. ‘How old are you?’
‘Nine.’
‘Do your parents know you’re here?’
‘There’s only my dad, and no, he doesn’t know. He wouldn’t like it. He thinks you’re weird and he told me to stay away from you.’ She delivered the information in a matter-of-fact voice.
‘Your dad is right,’ I said cheerfully. I scratched the back of my neck with my nails. Did brownies get fleas? Was that why I felt so itchy? ‘I am weird and you should stay away from me. Nice to meet you though, Sophia.’ I started to close the door.
‘Wait!’
I hesitated.
‘I still want to hire you.’ She swallowed. ‘I need to hire you. I need a treasure hunter.’
Oh, man. ‘That’s very kind of you, Sophia, but I’m afraid I’m busy.’
Although she was obviously nervous, her response was instant. ‘No, you’re not. You finished that job for Mrs York and I’ve seen your advert in the shop window down the street that says you’ll hunt for any sort of treasure, so you can’t be that busy.’
Was this kid keeping tabs on me? I should have known that forking over a whole twenty quid to advertise my skills in the corner-shop window would bite me in the arse sooner or later.
She held out a crumpled five-pound note. ‘I can pay you.’
‘I can’t take your money, Sophia.’ I tried to sound as gentle as possible. ‘You should go home to your dad and ask him for help.’
Her cheeks turned scarlet. ‘Stop! Stop patro – patro– patro—’
‘Patronising you?’
Her jaw tightened. ‘Yeah. That. I want to hire you to get my treasure back. You’re a treasure hunter.’ She glared. ‘So hunt for my treasure.’
‘What treasure is it?’
‘My doll.’
Help. I scanned the street again. It was devoid of people. ‘Um…’
