Shadowed (Fated)

by Sarah Alderson

  Margaret’s voice was calm when she spoke. ‘That’s easy. The way through wasn’t closed, the realms weren’t severed – because you’re not the White Light. You never were.’

  He frowned at her. Hard. ‘So what are you saying? That it was Evie all along? That I sacrificed myself for nothing?’ He couldn’t keep the anger out of his voice.

  ‘No,’ his mum answered quickly. ‘It’s not her either.’

  An immediate rush of relief punctured Cyrus’s anger. He was glad. It wasn’t Evie. That’s all he could think. It wasn’t him either – which was annoying, given he’d gone through all that self-sacrifice and then spent eight weeks in a mental hospital wearing basically what amounted to a dress and paper slippers. But it wasn’t Evie either – that was good.

  He took a deep breath. ‘So who is it, then?’ he demanded, standing suddenly. ‘Are we supposed to wait around for this White Light person to show up, and just hope they know that that’s who they are and hope they also come fully armed with an instruction manual on how to shut this thing?’ He took a few steps backwards. ‘We don’t have the time for that. There are unhumans walking around trying to kill us all off. How long’s it going to take for this White Light to show up? Because the clock’s ticking.’

  ‘A while.’

  ‘How do you know?’

  His mother weighed him up for a second, and then she flipped open the book nearest to her. It fell open as if the page was well read. She turned it around so it was facing him.

  The whole page was covered in what looked like ancient hieroglyphs.

  ‘What is this?’ Cyrus asked, peering closer. ‘It looks like a game of Pictionary.’

  ‘It’s not. It’s the prophecy. The original in its complete form. I only just found it. After you were … gone, I thought that maybe there would be a way to open the gateway again. I had this idea that maybe you were still alive, you see. That you were stuck on the other side. So I started researching. I re-read all the books I had collected over the years.’ She swallowed, her eyes darting nervously to the page.

  Cyrus glanced down again at the squares and triangles and splots covering the paper.

  ‘Is there a CliffsNotes version? Or a translation?’

  His mum thrust something across the table towards him. It was a piece of paper with writing scrawled on it. ‘The funny thing is that the Hunters had the prophecy in its entirety the whole time,’ she said. ‘It’s just the order of the verses that we had wrong.’

  Cyrus frowned at her, not understanding. Then looked down and read.

  Confronting an army drawn from the realms,

  The sun, the giver of life and the light

  Together will stand and together fight

  One sacrificing all to close the way

  Passing through the light and into the dark

  Memories will fade, shadows fall on this day

  Of two who remain a child will be born,

  A purebred warrior, the fated White Light

  Standing alone in the eventual fight

  Severing the realms and closing the way

  Passing through the light and into the dark

  Memories will rise, shadows fade on this day

  ‘That’s you three,’ his mother said, pointing to the first verse, ‘You, Evie and Lucas. The sun, the giver of life and the light. This verse here,’ she pointed to the first verse, ‘we thought it came after the White Light was born. But it doesn’t. It comes before. Evie isn’t the White Light. The White Light is a child that will be born to the two that remain.’

  Cyrus read it again. Then he read it once more just to be sure he was getting it. He looked up finally, meeting his mother’s eye. She was studying him, waiting for him to figure it out.

  ‘Her child. Evie’s child is going to be the White Light. Is that what you’re saying? Is that what it means?’

  Margaret nodded.

  Cyrus took a deep breath in and stared down at the piece of paper in his hand, the ground tilting beneath his feet.

  ‘Of two who remain?’ he asked, hearing the weird strain in his voice. ‘You’re saying …?’

  ‘Yes,’ his mother answered.

  ‘Evie’s the only girl. And Lucas is dead.’

  ‘Which leaves only you.’

  Cyrus shook his head and pressed his hands to his temples, reading it once more.

  Of two who remain a child will be born.

  He sank down into his seat. ‘This is … I’m kind of ...’ He broke off, trying his hardest not to hyperventilate. ‘I need another coffee. Actually,’ he shook his head, ‘scratch that. I need something stronger.’

  Chapter 29

  Evie woke with the sensation that Lucas was in the room with her. Not just in the room – that he was in the bed with her, with his arms wrapped tight around her waist. She stayed absolutely still, keeping her eyes scrunched shut. If she lay just so, with the pillow wedged against her back, she could pretend she was pressed against his chest. A blinding somersault of butterflies took flight in her stomach for a blissful moment, before voices from the other room pricked her waking dream and it burst.

  She swung her legs heavily off the bed and sat up, stretching out her limbs. She didn’t know how to let Lucas go. It was as simple as that. Even if she’d wanted to, she didn’t know how.

  Jamieson and Flic were busy making breakfast when she wandered through into the kitchen. She noticed the time. It was late morning. Damn. She pulled her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans. A dozen missed calls. Eight from Cyrus – most in the last hour. There were several messages too, all from her mother. She opened the last one. An angry demand to know when she was thinking of coming home. She couldn’t think about replying yet. Instead, with a shaking hand she called Cyrus’s phone.

  He picked up on the first ring. ‘Where are you?’ he demanded.

  ‘Are you OK?’ she asked at the same time.

  He hesitated, ‘Kind of. We’re fine. Nothing’s happened. I just … I need to see you. Now.’

  ‘OK,’ Evie said, pausing a second. ‘I’m staying with Lucas’s sister and her boyfriend.’

  There was a brief pause on the end of the phone, then: ‘OK, I’ll come to you.’

  She gave him the address.

  ‘I’ll be there in ten,’ he said before hanging up.

  Cyrus was there in eight minutes. She felt the buzz from him competing with the caffeine in her veins and jumped instantly off the kitchen stool, getting to the front door before he could knock.

  ‘Hey,’ she said, looking up at him. He hadn’t shaved. Darkish blonde stubble was shadowing his jaw.

  ‘Hey,’ he said back, raking a hand through his unkempt hair. His cheeks were flushed.

  ‘You want to come in?’ she asked, stepping aside. This was weird. He seemed embarrassed to see her – awkward – as though he didn’t know where to look.

  ‘Sure,’ Cyrus mumbled, his eyes darting over her shoulder.

  She could sense his reticence, his hyper-alertness as they walked down the hallway towards the living room. His body was responding to Flic and Jamieson’s presence.

  Evie was more accustomed to the sensation, having been around Lucas so long and so intimately, but Cyrus’s instincts were putting him on full alert: his heart was beating faster, his breathing running shallower. He was scanning the hallway, looking for exits, his fingers flying instinctively to his waist, checking his weapon. For an instant Evie wanted to take his hand and tell him to relax, but then again she quite enjoyed seeing Cyrus out of his comfort zone. It happened so rarely.

  Flic and Jamieson fell silent as they walked into the living room.

  Evie took a deep breath. ‘Cyrus,’ she said, ‘this is Flic and Jamieson.’

  ‘Shifter?’ Cyrus asked, looking at Jamieson.

  Evie arched an eyebrow. Good introduction, way to go, she thought. But then, she didn’t know why she was surprised. The old Cyrus hadn’t exactly been a fan of unhumans.

  ‘Yeah,’ Jamieson sai
d, getting up slowly from the sofa and extending a hand towards Cyrus, his expression wary but also half-amused.

  Evie watched carefully, wondering what Cyrus’s reaction would be. Before, his only physical contact with unhumans had been when he ran a sword through one.

  He shook Jamieson’s hand though, appraising him, as though he half expected Jamieson to shift there and then.

  Flic stood up and offered her hand too.

  Cyrus shook it.

  ‘Has Evie told you we’re joining your little army?’ Flic asked.

  An instant frown. ‘No, she’s not said anything,’ Cyrus said, shooting Evie a brief look before turning back to Flic. ‘But if you fight anything like I hear your brother did then I’m glad to have you on our side.’

  Flic smiled, a little taken aback, and Cyrus turned to Evie. He cleared his throat and looked at the ground. ‘I need to talk to you,’ he said, then added quickly, ‘in private.’

  Evie hesitated. Why was he acting so weird? And was he actually blushing? She could feel Flic and Jamieson staring at her, undoubtedly with raised eyebrows. As if she knew what Cyrus wanted. And it wasn’t like that. Hell. As if.

  She took Cyrus by the arm and pulled him out into the corridor. ‘Let’s go outside,’ she muttered. ‘Shadow Warriors have got good hearing.’

  ‘What? What is it?’ Evie asked, the moment they were outside.

  Cyrus swallowed, looked away, exhaled loudly.

  Evie braced herself to hear the worst, for him to tell her something had happened to Vero or Ash.

  ‘Why did I do it?’ Cyrus suddenly asked.

  Evie shook her head, completely thrown. ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘Was I in love with you?’

  ‘What?’ Evie spluttered.

  ‘Why else did I sacrifice myself,’ Cyrus asked, ‘unless I was in love with you?’

  Evie laughed so loud it came out as a snort through her nose. When she’d recovered she straightened her face and tried to figure a way of putting it nicely. ‘The old Cyrus didn’t know what love was.’

  He frowned at her. ‘Then why else did I do it?’

  Why was he asking her? What did she know of Cyrus’s feelings? ‘Chivalry?’ she suggested, hoping he’d accept that and move on.

  He shook his head though. ‘It sounds like I didn’t know what chivalry was either.’

  She didn’t answer, just wrapped her arms tighter around herself.

  He took a half-step towards her. ‘I feel something when I’m around you,’ he said.

  Evie stood fixated for a second by the brown slash across his iris. ‘You feel that around all Hunters – it’s normal,’ she finally managed to say. ‘It’s confusing at first, until you get used to it.’

  Cyrus shook his head defiantly. ‘Well, I don’t feel it around Ash. Or Vero. Or any of the others.’

  And suddenly he was right there, pressing her against the wall and Evie could feel the pressure building, the need for air growing, but she couldn’t look away.

  ‘I know you’re still messed up,’ he said, almost whispering, their faces so close their lips were almost brushing, ‘and I’m not expecting you to give me anything. I’m just trying to understand what my feelings were.’

  She drew in a breath, trying to force her heartbeat back under control. ‘Believe me, you weren’t in love with me. You wanted to sleep with me, yes, but you definitely weren’t in love with me.’

  He fell back as if she’d pushed him, looking at her as if he didn’t fully believe her.

  But seriously. Love? Cyrus? The two words were oxymoronic. She’d had to explain to him what love was. God, she’d practically needed flash cards, the concept was so impossible for him to get his head around.

  ‘Was that it?’ she asked. ‘Was that why you came all the way here? To ask me if you were in love with me?’

  ‘Um, yeah,’ he said, still frowning at the sidewalk.

  ‘But we cleared it up, right?’ she asked, edging around him and heading back to the door. Honestly, this was not a conversation she’d ever expected to have with Cyrus of all people.

  ‘Yeah, we cleared it up,’ he said, raising his head and looking at her. ‘No love. Got it.’

  ‘So, we’re, um, good then?’ she asked, yanking open the door and heading back inside.

  ‘Yeah, we’re good,’ he mumbled to her back.

  Chapter 30

  He might not have been in love with her then – he’d never know for certain – but he sure as hell was in love with her now. He just couldn’t get her out of his mind. Even being within an inch of her was driving him crazy. Not being able to touch her, to reach out, link his fingers through hers and pull her towards him. Not being able to kiss her. And it wasn’t just that. It wasn’t just the desperate, driving desire he had to … well, to do things to her he doubted any man, or Shadow Warrior, had ever done to her before.

  He wasn’t sure whether what his mother had told him was fuelling this crazy surge of possession and obsession that he was feeling, or whether she had revealed it to him, like a piece of dirt washed under water that suddenly glinted and revealed itself to be gold. Maybe he’d always felt this way about Evie and had just never realised.

  He focused. Evie was holding the door open for him, looking at him like she had done back when he’d escaped from the hospital and they’d found him wearing only those green pants and unable to recall who anyone was. She couldn’t wait to get inside and away from him.

  He followed after her, watching her stride up the stairs, taking them two at a time, her dark hair whipping behind her, her arms still coated in goosebumps.

  It was weird. Frankly, if you’d told him a day ago that he’d be having a baby with this girl at some point in the future – because there was a little way to go before she consented to anything resembling baby making – he’d have run screaming for the hills, goddamn the Originals taking over town. But now something – everything in fact – had changed. When he looked at this girl, mainly at her butt it had to be said at this second in time, as she stormed up the stairs ahead of him, he knew there was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect her.

  And their unborn kid.

  OK, that was weird. He appreciated that was weird, even if only spoken in his head. And he hadn’t even fully started to analyse the weirdness of knowing his child was going to be the White Light. Would that be what they wrote on the birth certificate? He shook off the thought – it was a trip, the kind he didn’t want to take right now. The main thing troubling him was why he’d bring a child into the world knowing that that kid would have to face the kind of crap he was having to face. If there was ever an argument for using protection and not getting caught up in the moment …

  He watched as Evie slammed through the fire escape on the landing, her expression set, her cheeks flushed. Hell, he could see how accidents happened.

  Man, how was he supposed to handle this one? He couldn’t tell her, that much he knew for sure. She couldn’t ever find out. Or at least, not now. Not yet. Nor about the fact the way through was still open.

  He needed to focus. His mum had thrown him for a ten-mile loop. But he needed to concentrate on later and the recce they were doing around Beverly Hills with Victor. They needed to figure out how to decimate these things, properly this time, without leaving any alive like they had done a thousand years ago. Good move, Elders.

  If his mum was right and the way through was still open then they were in big trouble. Goddamn it to hell. That was the last time he tried to be a hero. It all made sense. Why he had been found wandering completely out of it in Beverly Hills – of all the places for a portal to other realms to open up. It also explained the spate of killings in the same area. The Originals were staying close, guarding it. He wondered if Victor had discovered it yet. He hoped not. Not given what had happened last time. Evie wouldn’t be safe if he had.

  Cyrus stopped abruptly in his tracks, something that had been niggling at him, slotting into place and making a ripple of laughter rise up
his throat. The prophecy had been right so far, hadn’t it? So that meant the rest of it was also likely to be right. Which meant that no matter what went on in the next week, or even the next nine months plus a bit (though who knew how much of a bit), both he and Evie were going to live long enough to make a baby.

  He was grinning as he pushed open the door.

  Chapter 31

  Evie pulled the hood of her sweater up, sinking into the darkness that shielded her face, wishing that like Lucas or Flic she could fade and become completely invisible. She didn’t much feel like talking. Flic kept shooting her nervous glances out of the corner of her eye as they travelled along in the back seat of the taxi.

  Cyrus’s words kept spinning around her head and she wanted to erase them. Thinking about it made her feel all sorts of complicated things she didn’t want to feel. It was taking her focus away from what she needed to focus on. Now when she closed her eyes, she wasn’t seeing Lucas, she was seeing Cyrus.

  ‘What did Cyrus have to say? What was the big secret?’ Flic asked.

  Evie felt her cheeks flush. ‘Nothing,’ she said, a little too quickly. ‘No secret. He was just letting me know the plan for today.’

  Flic’s eyes – dark mahogany brown today with the natural yellow forming a narrow halo around the edge – narrowed suspiciously.

  ‘So Victor is going to be there?’

  ‘Yes,’ Evie said.

  Flic turned her head and looked out of the side window.

  ‘I know what you’re thinking,’ Evie whispered, so that the driver couldn’t hear, ‘but you can’t. Not tonight.’

  ‘Fine,’ Flic muttered, but Evie noticed the way her hand was caressing the handle of her blade.

  She took her own in her palm and gently slid it out of its sheath. Tonight was just a recce, but better safe than sorry.