‘They’re fine,’ he said, his voice hoarse.
‘You never did tell me, by the way, how you managed to break us out of the hospital.’
He smiled to himself, ‘I told them that Victor had just bared all.’
‘That he what?’
‘Exposed himself, gave you an eyeful of his magic wand.’
Evie searched his face for evidence he was joking. ‘Are you serious?’
He shrugged in answer. Evie suddenly burst out laughing. It was such an unexpected sound that he couldn’t help but stare at her. It was the first time he’d actually ever seen her laugh – look relaxed and not like she had the burdens of the realms weighing on her shoulders. His heart practically burst in his chest at the sight.
But then it was back. The haunted, hollowed-out expression she usually wore, as though she didn’t really believe life would ever deal her anything other than a bad hand. Her eyes lost their shine. And he wanted nothing more than to reach over to her in that instant, pull her against his side and tell her that everything was going to be OK – that he was going to make it so.
Chapter 43
Evie felt light-headed as she walked down the corridor towards Flic’s front door, her feet dragging. Her whole body was hurting as if she’d been run over by a bulldozer. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever be back to fighting fitness and definitely not by later today.
Cyrus had dropped her at Flic’s and gone on to meet the others at Victor’s, apparently sensing her need to be alone, or possibly – more likely – because he didn’t want to be anywhere near her ever again.
She wished she could take it all back, rewind time. Never kiss him. What had she been thinking? She’d been awake most of the night replaying it over and over in her head. Though this morning Cyrus had seemed back to his normal nonchalant, sardonically smiling self. Maybe she had just been another notch for him after all. Maybe the hurt look in his eyes the night before wasn’t from a bruised heart but from a bruised ego. But, she paused, replaying it yet again. The way he’d kissed her, the tenderness she’d felt in his touch and the intensity in the way he looked at her, suggested otherwise.
Which made things even worse.
She’d been betrayed before – by Tom – so she knew how it felt to be on the receiving end. But Cyrus’s ego had probably never suffered any kind of knocks before. It was titanium plated.
She knocked lightly on Flic’s door, resting her forehead against her fist.
Flic must have felt her coming because the door opened almost immediately. She looked hurriedly over her shoulder as if surprised to see Evie standing there.
‘What is it?’ Evie asked, checking around to see who else Flic might have been expecting.
‘Nothing, nothing,’ Flic said quickly. ‘I just … you didn’t see anybody just now, did you?’
Evie stared at her, puzzled, ‘Like who? The mailman?’
Flic shook her head, ushering her inside. ‘Come in, come on in.’
She followed Evie into the living room. ‘Where did you go last night? You left the hospital.’
Evie swallowed and crossed to the sofa. Let the lies begin.
‘Um, Cyrus took me somewhere. The police were around and …’
‘Yeah, they were asking lots of questions of us too,’ Flic broke in. She seemed agitated, jumpier than normal, though her eyes were shining. Maybe it was just the residual effects of the fight last night.
‘The police were all over that hospital,’ she carried on. ‘The ER could barely keep up. You weren’t the only neck wound that they brought in. Burns too. It’s hard to believe. I mean, there are Mixen and Scorpio walking around in broad daylight. The Times is starting to sound like the National Enquirer.’ She threw a copy at Evie across the coffee table.
Evie scanned the front page, words jumping out at her:
Full-scale panic
Massacre
MONSTERS!
Killing
Green skin creatures
She could barely focus enough to read the article through. Flic jabbed her finger at a smaller block of text at the bottom of the page. Evie read a few lines then looked up, her gut tightening, nausea welling up her throat.
‘RJ? Are they talking about RJ?’ she spluttered. ‘Was it him? Did he die?’
She remembered the scream she’d heard from the street, the noise that had distracted her from whatever Selena had seen on the other side of the wall.
She saw from Flic’s expression that she was right.
‘I thought Cyrus would have told you,’ Flic said.
Evie swore, throwing the paper across the table and standing up, a sob fighting its way up her throat. ‘I told Victor. Goddamn him. I told him they weren’t ready.’
He was dead. He was just a kid. He should never even have been there.
Flic studied her for a second and then walked out of the room. Evie followed her into the kitchen.
Neither of them spoke as Flic made coffee. Evie leant against the counter, watching her, unable to shake the memory of RJ standing on the sidewalk with a look of utter terror on his face. What a way to die.
‘So, you and Cyrus?’ Flic suddenly asked, making Evie startle.
‘Cyrus what?’ Evie asked, her mouth suddenly drier than a desert.
Flic raised her eyebrows suggestively. ‘You and he …?’
‘No! No, what are you talking about?’ Evie burst out. How had Flic known?
Flic’s laser-gaze swept Evie from top to toe. ‘Well, you’re wearing his sweater, and not a whole lot else. It’s kind of a giveaway.’
Evie took a deep breath. ‘It’s not what you think.’
‘So you didn’t kiss him. then?’ Flic asked.
Evie swallowed. She should have tried to get some new clothes before coming here. ‘I … er, yeah, OK, I kissed him. I mean, we kissed.’ She could feel the tears building, the panic fluttering in her chest. She realised it was because standing here in front of Flic felt like standing in front of Lucas, having to justify her betrayal.
‘Do you like him?’ Flic asked.
‘No!’ Evie burst out. ‘I mean, yes, I like him, he’s different now. But that’s not why I kissed him.’
Flic smiled sadly. ‘You know, Evie, it’s OK. You don’t need to feel guilty.’ She turned around and started pouring hot water into mugs.
‘You want to know the truth?’ Evie asked after a beat. ‘I was thinking about Lucas the whole time. That’s why I kissed him. Because I miss Lucas. Because I wanted to feel safe again and protected, and for a moment I got carried away. I wanted it to be him. So, of course I feel guilty. I feel guilty for betraying Lucas.’ She pressed her fists into her thighs. ‘And I feel guilty for hurting Cyrus. It was stupid and I shouldn’t have done it.’
She shook her head and stared at the ground, her voice dropping to a whisper. ‘I can’t give Cyrus what he wants – whatever that is. I’m never going to feel the way I feel about Lucas ever again.’ She took a deep, racking breath, which left her body in a shudder. ‘I just wanted to feel something other than this constant ache that I feel all the goddamn time.’
She looked up expecting to see Flic glaring daggers at her, but instead she found she was grinning at her slyly.
‘I’ll get you some clothes,’ was all she said. Forgetting all about the coffee, she yanked Evie into the hallway. ‘Come on. We need to get to Victor’s.’
Chapter 44
Cyrus stood in the centre of the room, his gaze sweeping the photographs on the wall. The red pins in the map obliterated any street names. Another thirty murders last night. Soon the wall was going to be one big red blot.
No one in the room was talking. The girl Selena was slunk in the corner with her arms wrapped around her knees. Her eyes were red-rimmed. She’d been crying all night over RJ.
Ash and Vero were leaning against the other wall, Ash with his arm around Vero. The two of them looked exhausted.
Victor on the other hand looked like he hadn’t given RJ a seco
nd thought. He appeared well slept and was wearing a cleanly pressed suit and shiny cravat thing around his neck. For a moment Cyrus considered grabbing it and twisting it garrotte style. But he didn’t. He just processed for a little longer what Victor had just said to him.
‘My mum?’ he finally asked. ‘You want my mum to join us?’
‘She’s a Hunter.’ Victor answered, the ripple of a shrug visible beneath his suit.
Cyrus frowned at him. ‘Can she fight? I mean, isn’t she too old?’
Truth be told, it was less about the age factor and more about the mum factor. Even though he was still hazy on the filial bond stuff, she was his mother and what kind of son let his mother fight his battles for him?
‘She was pretty good in the fight at the Bradbury.’ This from Ash.
‘I don’t know,’ Cyrus said, shaking his head. ‘I don’t think we should involve her.’
‘There are six of us now. Jamieson’s out.’
‘I want in.’
He started in surprise. Selena had lifted her head from her knees.
‘I want in,’ she said again.
‘I don’t think so,’ Cyrus told her.
She stood up, shakily, using the wall for support.
‘I ran, I know. But not next time. Next time I’m going to show those things just how we fight in my world.’
He recognised the emotion, the shaky defiance in her voice. This was about regaining face, about proving herself. As if this was some gang and she’d failed the initiation test and was begging for a retry.
‘No,’ Cyrus repeated, even more firmly. ‘I’m not going to be responsible for another untrained Hunter dying.’
‘I’m not asking you to be. And I’m not asking you for permission either.’
Cyrus took a deep breath, meeting her dark eyes for a full ten seconds before looking away with an exasperated sigh.
‘There’s seven of them left, not to mention the Mixen and Scorpio on the streets,’ Ash interrupted. ‘And we forfeited the surprise element. So they’re expecting us.
‘What about all the Thirsters they’ve turned?’ Vero asked, looking between Cyrus and Victor.
‘They can’t go out in daylight. So we attack in daytime,’ Cyrus said.
‘Isn’t it going to be suspicious having a fight with seven supernatural bloodsucking monsters in broad daylight?’
‘Have you seen the papers? I don’t think this would even make the front page any more. But, if you’re worried, we can always rig up a camera and some lights and pretend we’re filming a Twilight remake.’
‘The police are crawling all over the area as well,’ Victor said, crossing to the map strewn with red pins.
‘Aren’t they too busy with all the other homicides they’re having to deal with?’
Everyone fell quiet for a moment, as they all contemplated which of the red pins that Victor had stuck in the wall represented RJ.
Selena was the first to break the silence. ‘What about that great big patch of bling in the garden. What was it?’
Victor turned to her quickly, his eyes narrowing. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Nothing,’ Cyrus interrupted quickly, clearing his throat. ‘Must have been a sword, catching the light.’
‘No,’ Selena said, insistent now. ‘There was a great big wall of light. I saw it, I’m not blind. I saw a wolf too. Are you going to tell me I hallucinated that as well? You were there – all of you!’ She pointed at Cyrus. ‘You must have seen it.’
‘The wolf was Jamieson.’
‘The way through. It sounds like you’re describing the way through.’
Damn it. Cyrus spun towards Victor.
‘It’s open,’ Victor said. ‘That must be what they’re guarding.’ He shook his head in amazement, then his eyes flashed to Cyrus. ‘Did you see it?’
Cyrus was aware of Vero and Ash eyeballing him as well.
He shook his head, held the guy’s bad-cop stare. ‘Nope.’
Victor didn’t buy it. ‘Where’s Evie?’ he demanded.
‘She didn’t see it either.’ He moved to block the doorway.
‘So you did see something?’ Victor smiled victoriously.
Cyrus cursed himself. ‘She’s not the White Light. If that’s what you’re thinking.’
Victor’s eyebrows shot up. ‘How are you so sure? If it’s still open that certainly explains a few things. Like you being alive.’
‘I know she’s not it,’ Cyrus growled, feeling anger swirling electric in his bloodstream. ‘And you can either take my word on it and back the hell off or we can go outside right now and I can kick your ass until you back off.’
He could practically feel Victor’s eyes drilling through his skull and right into his frontal lobe, digging for information. He kept his face blank – trying not to think about what his mum had said about the White Light being his and Evie’s child.
‘They’re looking for her still.’ Victor exhaled, his eyes taking on a maniacal gleam, as if little fires had been lit all along his optical nerves.
‘Let me be clear,’ Cyrus said, stepping right up into Victor’s face. ‘She’s not it. And if you get any idea into that psychotic Hannibal Lecter head of yours of trying something, say something that involves kidnapping Evie again and dragging her off like some lamb to be slaughtered, I will kill you myself.’ He lowered his voice. ‘And I will make what Flic and Evie have planned for you look like a teddy bear’s picnic. Do you hear me?’
Victor made no sign of having heard him.
‘We need to destroy these things,’ Cyrus said, turning away from Victor, ‘before they can do any more damage.’ And before they find Evie. Even if the prophecy was right, he didn’t want to unnecessarily tempt fate.
‘How are we going to destroy them?’ Selena asked. ‘They’re invincible.’
Her defiance seemed to have vanished. She was collapsed on the floor again, leaning up against the wall.
‘No. They’re not invincible. They can die. We got four of them already.’ He twisted to Ash and Vero: ‘Thanks to you guys.’
They stared at him blankly. ‘It wasn’t us. We weren’t even there.’
‘What?’
‘You told us to create a diversion, then get the hell out, so we did.’ Ash pulled a sorry face.
‘But Flic and I only killed one. Someone else took out the other two in the garden. I turned around and they were on fire.’ Cyrus cast around the room, looking for an explanation, but Ash and Vero were just shaking their heads at him, looking just as confused as he was.
Victor frowned. ‘What are you saying?’
‘They spontaneously combusted?’ Vero suggested.
Cyrus shook his head, ‘No. I saw one of you – I saw someone – fighting them …’ He paused, trying to recall what exactly he’d seen but he couldn’t seem to dredge the image from his memory.
Story of his life.
Chapter 45
Evie felt a little more together after showering and eating the food Flic had forced on her. She’d carefully removed the gauze covering the two puncture wounds on her neck. The stitched-up holes had scabbed over already, but there was a livid purple bruise running up her throat, yellowing at the edges, making it look as if someone had tried to strangle her. She had washed her hair and then left it down, to cover both the bruise and her ripped ear.
Flic had lent her some clothes – a sweater dress to be precise, which on Flic was probably just a sweater. As it was, it fell to mid-thigh on Evie and she kept having to hitch it down as she walked to stop it riding up over her underwear, which, silver lining, was no longer the paper kind.
A headache was threatening to break like a storm cloud over her but she’d refused the drugs Flic had offered, not wanting her instincts any more dulled than they were. The sugar and caffeine high from the coffee and the food was spinning her out enough as it was. When they hit the street she felt a rush of light-headedness, and almost ran smack into Flic’s back.
She heard Flic e
xclaim and her hand went straight for her weapon before she realised she was weaponless.
‘Issa!’ Flic shrieked.
Evie stepped out from behind Flic. Issa was standing there on the sidewalk, wearing a hooded sweater and panting hard, as if she’d just run several blocks.
‘Is he here? Am I in time?’ she gasped.
‘Jamieson’s upstairs,’ Flic said in an overly loud voice, squeezing Issa’s arm in a vicious-looking grip. ‘And no, you’re not in time, he’s got a fractured rib and a broken arm.’
Issa shook her head, barely even glancing in Evie’s direction. ‘Come on, we need to go!’ she shouted, and started pulling at Flic’s arm.
‘What? Why?’ Flic started to ask, but Issa was already striding ahead.
‘We need to get to Victor’s. Now!’ she shouted over her shoulder.
‘Why?’ Evie asked, the sluggishness in her veins swept away instantly.
Issa didn’t even glance at her. She spoke to Flic, ‘They’re in trouble.’
She didn’t have time to finish her sentence. Flic was already running towards a beaten-up Ford Cortina parked up the street.
‘Come on!’ she yelled at them both.
Evie threw open the passenger door and slid in beside Flic as she revved the engine and swerved out into oncoming traffic.
‘What did you see?’ Evie asked, leaning over the seat to look at Issa, who was still catching her breath in the back.
‘Mixen and Scorpio – attacking the house – he’s walking right into it.’
‘Who?’ Evie asked. Was she talking about Cyrus?
‘Are we going to make it?’ Flic demanded, cutting Evie off.
Issa’s eyes clouded over. ‘I don’t know. It’s happening too fast. Too many variables.’
Evie almost kicked the dash in frustration. What use were the damn Sybll? She turned to Flic instead. ‘We don’t have any weapons. I don’t have my blade.’