Artemis Fowl and the Dawn Pursuit

Chapter 34: Eventual Madness

Aurora didn't give any of the occupants of the shuttle a second glance as she took a seat and let out a sigh, tearing the handcuffs from her wrists, crumpling them in her hands as if they were made of tinfoil and throwing them on the ground. The pile of paperwork that the LEP had given her joined the cuffs. She had kept the paperwork with the intention to burn the files, film them burning, and send the footage down to Kelp.

Artemis heard the clink as the cuffs hit the metal floor of the LEP shuttle, and raised an eyebrow. "You enjoy raising hell, don't you?" he asked as he sat beside her, watching her heave another sigh and twist her body so she could stare at him.

"It's what I do best," she replied, grinning tiredly, listening to the engines start up as Holly manoeuvred them into the chute.

"You did well," he said quietly, using a volume that only she could hear. She looked at him in surprise, and he chuckled at her expression. "Yes, a compliment did just leave my lips, and yes, it was genuine."

"I guess it's a good thing that I didn't have to use any of these," she said, gesturing to the weapons that were strategically placed on her body to be in easy reach at all times. "Although I kind of wish that I could have shot Kilmore."

"You and me both," Holly remarked from the cockpit- which was only a few metres from where the two teens were sitting. "I was hoping he would try to pull something."

A smile ghosted over Artemis's lips as he remembered the look on Kilmore's face when he had produced the Sleeper.

"The man was a puppet. A dangerous puppet, but a puppet nonetheless."

Holly's face twisted up, remembering the motive of the former head of Internal Affairs. "I don't understand why Koboi would want you dead."

Aurora grimaced, looking up at the people in the shuttle. "I saw some things in her head that she really wouldn't want the LEP to know. Plans, the faces of the people she's had murdered, the delusions she suffers in which she will imagine the most interesting way to kill you." Her gaze settled on Artemis. "You feature quite prominently in there, actually."

Artemis smirked. "I do not doubt that I do."

Aurora lay back into the seat. "So yeah, that's why she wants me dead," she said lamely, as a way of ending her explanation.

Artemis took in her tired expression, realising that the last time she had slept was when she had low-level radiation flowing through her veins. He then recalled what day it was- knowing that Aurora was in for an extremely long day.

"We can pick over it tomorrow," he said gently. "You should try and sleep while you have time."

"An hour?" Aurora said, looking incredibly confused before her eyes widened. "Oh no."

"Yes, unfortunately," he said, laughing at her. "I am under strict instructions to make sure that you are back home before three, as my mother has a schedule we all need to follow."

"You don't fall far from the tree," Holly muttered, banking a hard left as the chute split into two, throwing Aurora into Artemis's lap.

"And I'm falling on top of people," Aurora grumbled, shifting her weight from where she was practically lying on Artemis. "So if you could cease flying like a maniac that would be fantastic."

"Are you complaining about my flying?" Holly said, mock angry.

"Yes," Aurora said matter-of-factly, blushing profusely as she tried to right herself and ended up practically sitting on top of the man seated beside her.

Artemis chuckled softly. "I'm not complaining," he murmured loud enough for only Aurora to hear, watching with satisfaction as her blush deepened.

Butler heard the interaction. He broke his stoic demeanour for a brief second to allow a flicker of a smile on his face before he returned to do an accurate impression of a mountain.