I grabbed his arm, intending to make sure he understood my position. But at the first brush of my palm on his skin, a montage of images flashed into my head, so sharp, so perfect, but so narrow, it was like peering through the wrong end of a telescope and seeing only part of a close scene, without context or sound.
Darkness. A lamp. A flash of electricity. The thud of something heavy falling. Darkness…The glint of light on metal; a gun held in my outstretched hand. A bracelet on my wrist: emeralds and gold. A muzzle flash. A spray of blood. Logan, lying on artificial turf, eyes closed; lifeless. Darkness…A pillar of light within me, reaching out, destroying everything it touched, draining every life it encountered, growing stronger with each moment. Destruction. Death. Power.
I snatched my hand back, staring in bewildered horror at Logan. The words tried to spill free. I held them in my throat, behind clenched teeth.
He frowned at me. ‘What is it?’
The image faded into dreamlike surreality. I scrubbed a palm over my face. ‘I’m... no...it’s nothing. Let’s meet them.’ I managed a smile and gestured for him to lead on.
I’d never had so sharp an image before. No, three images. Separate visions. Two about Logan. But the third image was different – more like I was watching through the eyes of someone else. It frightened me more than the other two combined, for it felt solid with the weight of inevitability.
I followed him to the front door in silence. He checked the camera image, disengaged the security and opened the door.
On the verandah, her arms full of grocery bags, stood a girl of about ten or so, willow-slender with raven black hair, honey skin and dove-grey, black-rimmed eyes. She wasn’t beautiful in the classic sense, for her face was thin and angular, but she was certainly arresting.
‘Mum, she’s here!’ she called, smiling cheerfully at me as she offloaded half the bags to Logan.
An exclamation from further along the verandah hailed the appearance of a tall woman elegantly dressed in flowing white linen pants and a gossamer green silk blouse. As she emerged into the porch light, I took an involuntary step back. Like her daughter, she had grey eyes, but her hair was auburn coffee, her skin nut brown and her face so narrow and sharp, I could only stare at her, speechless. There was a familiarity about her, too. I knew her, but also didn’t know her. Exactly as Logan had described.
‘Rowan.’ Her smile was serene. ‘I’m so pleased you arrived safely. Let’s not stand in the doorway, though. Do, please, return inside.’
‘You’re Logan’s aunt?’ I asked the obvious as I backed away to let them enter.
Even if I hadn’t heard the whole “elves” idea, I’d still have thought there was something odd about Maeve. I couldn’t decide if it was the sharply angular cheekbones or the wide-set, large eyes, but Maeve was both beautiful and strange. I tried to discreetly check for points on her ears, but her long hair covered them. How on earth did she walk abroad without causing a sensation?
‘I cast what, in the old stories, is called a “glamour”. An illusion in other people’s minds in which I appear very ordinarily human,’ Maeve replied, answering my unspoken question. ‘So much easier than wigs and contact lenses. My dear, I know you’re mistrustful of Logan but the truth is that you need to be here.’
‘Oh really?’ Unnerved, I couldn’t help the sarcasm lacing my reply. ‘Why? So you can drag me into your fight? No thanks.’
The older woman eyed me with a gentle half-smile as Logan returned from the kitchen and relieved her of the bags.
‘What…what do you mean? Of course he was.’
She seemed amused. ‘Perhaps we could discuss this inside? Our eyes are more adapted to lower lighting, so I find the brilliance of the sun a little distressing.’ Her pupils were the tiniest pinpoints.
I followed her into the cool, dark interior.
Maeve waved a graceful hand at the surroundings. ‘Relax for a moment while I confer with Logan. I’ll send Jennifer out, with refreshments, to keep you company. Oh, and Logan, would you kindly fetch Rowan’s things from boot of the car? I’ve put her in the front bedroom.’
I was not in the mood for company and light refreshments. It was irritating to have my conversation with Logan interrupted.
Jennifer seated herself opposite with unconscious grace and teenage self-consciousness. She appeared to be around ten, but given her heritage, she could be older. After a minute of slightly stiff conversation about inconsequential things, in which she revealed she was thirteen, Jennifer looked at me ingenuously.
‘Wanna see something cool I learned a couple of years ago?’
‘Uh.’ I paused, collecting my thoughts. ‘Sure.’
‘I’m not very good at it yet, but Mum says I’ll get better with practice.’ She screwed up her nose. ‘I don’t practice enough. Boring as. Anyway. Watch that.’ The girl pointed at a broken branch, about as thick as her arm, lying partially in the pool.
The branch shook, then lifted from the ground and drifted off the pool before settling gently onto the leaf-strewn garden bed. Jennifer beamed with pride.
‘It’s harder than it looks. The first time I tried I almost broke a window trying to move a little pebble. The trick is in how much force to use. It’s different depending on the weight of the object.’ She sounded too serious for such an outrageous demonstration. ‘Plus you kinda have to push backward at the same time to stop yourself falling over. Something to do with Newton, I think.
‘Of course,’ I replied absently, still eyeing the branch in wonder. ‘Newton’s Third Law: every action has an equal and opposite reaction.’
‘Probably.’
Still stunned, I grinned. ‘The Force is strong with this one, Obi-Wan.’
‘Huh?’ Jennifer eyed me like I was insane, which wasn’t unreasonable.
‘Star Wars.’ I chuckled at her blank expression. ‘You haven’t seen it? Your education is sadly lacking. What you can do – it’s practically the Force. Awesome!’
She gave a puzzled, pleased little smile. ‘Wanna try?’
‘I can’t do that.’ My reply was automatic. I reconsidered. The image of me as a Jedi was deeply appealing. ‘Can I?’
‘Sure.’ Jennifer tilted her head. ‘Well, maybe. Dunno. It’s the most common skill girls have, after telepathy. About one in fifty or something have the gene. Runs in families, though, so I guess it depends on who you are.’
‘How do I find out if I have the gene?’ I interrupted the chatter.
‘What? Oh, like this.’ Jennifer touched my temple.
The knowledge flared in my mind, tearing into my thoughts with precise, exquisite agony. I clawed at my head. Stripped-bare, brain-wrenching pain obliterated lucidity. Shadows strained against their bonds, deep in my mind. No. No!
‘Jennifer!’ Logan’s angry cry, speared through me. ‘What were you thinking?’
‘I just taught her telekinesis.’ The girl sounded frightened.
‘Dammit, Jen, you can’t interfere with this. Maeve specifically told you not to. You could have killed her!’
‘I didn’t know! Why are you always so mean to me? I can’t do anything right!’ Sobbing, Jennifer retreated.
Logan gathered me close. ‘Hang on. Maeve’s coming.’
I struggled against his hold. The darkness emerged and stretched through me, reaching for him. I fought for control. My hand brushed his arm. Power flowed into me, brilliant, green-white, stronger than anything I’d felt before.
He gasped and thrust me away. Our connection broke. Pain arced behind my eyes again and I collapsed to the floor.
‘Ah, Red, I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry. Hold on just a little longer. She’s coming.’
There was a scuff and the light fall of feet. Then cool fingers stoked my temples and the pain drained away like water under Maeve’s touch. Within seconds it vanished. The darkness withdrew. Shakily, I climbed to my feet; embarrassed, weak. How
could it be over so quickly; so easily? The others gathered around: Maeve thoughtful, Logan angry and Jennifer, peering around the corner, resentful and afraid.
‘How did you do that?’ I turned an amazed gaze on Maeve.
The older woman exchanged a look with Logan and nodded.
‘We have a few things to discuss but I’ll leave you in Logan’s care for a moment. Jennifer, you will come with me, please.’ Her tone brooked no argument and the girl followed her mother back into the kitchen. Jen’s voice rose in protest as she argued with Maeve.
‘Come outside and sit down,’ Logan said. ‘You’ll need to recharge.’
I watched Jennifer through the glass as she raged against the rock of her mother’s calm. The girl burst into tears and stormed off into the house. A door slammed.
‘Don’t mind Jen,’ Logan said. ‘She’s just a kid. She’ll get over it.’
I turned away, uneasy over her outburst for no reason I could determine.
Logan hesitated, then took my wrist and led me out to a bench tucked away in the garden, past the end of the pool. From there we were hidden in the greenery and close to a small waterfall that gurgled pleasantly into the pool. I sank onto the bench, still reeling from the onset and release of the headache. I patted my head in disbelief.
‘How did Maeve do that?’
Logan shrugged one shoulder. ‘Years of practice. She’s the most skilled technician I’ve ever met.’ His mouth twisted. ‘Not that I’ve met all that many, to be honest. She also has several degrees in psychology, neurology and cell biology. She’s determined to understand our psychic abilities from a purely scientific point of view.’
‘Psychic...’ I sat up straight, staring blankly into the waterfall. ‘So....the taxi driver…all the people in the shopping centre...I was really hearing their thoughts not their conversations? That’s what Maeve meant? I can hear anyone’s thoughts now, not just yours?’
He nodded, leaning back casually on the bench, elbows hitched over the back, legs outstretched. He’d changed into clean, loose linen pants. He allowed the silence to extend as I pondered. What did I do next? I’d have to learn this shielding thing or I’d go mad listening to people like that driver and those idiots at the mall. If Jennifer’s demonstration was any indication, I had a hell of a lot to learn.
15
Ah. She believes now. Be careful what else you say, though. She’s still hiding something.>
We all are, aren’t we?
Just an uncontrolled power transfer. She didn’t do it on purpose. Instinctive attempt to heal herself, I’d say. I broke the connection before she hurt me.
I sent Logan a quick, apologetic smile and picked up a dead leaf, folding it over and over. ‘Sorry I ditched you.’
He snorted. ‘Fat chance. I was never far away. There’s too much at stake here.’
I considered him. ‘So what, you’re going to keep me prisoner? What do you need me for? What’s at stake? I already said I’m not fighting your war for you.’
‘Hardly keeping you prisoner. Leave if you want.’ He leaned back and folded his arms, putting distance between us again. ‘I heard what you said. But the truth is: we could use your help. You’d already decided it was time to stop running. This is what you were running from. Not just some random people, the Mors Ferrum. It is your war, too, whether you like it or not. And we can help you in return. Assuming you want to know more about your heritage, that is. And how to get rid of those headaches and control your gifts.’
‘Do you really think Maeve can help me?’ I touched my head.
‘She already has, hasn’t she?’ Indifference coloured his tone. ‘After dinner she wants to have a closer look into that block in your mind. Ok with you?’
I turned away from the coolness in his eyes. It had been a crazy day. I still wasn’t sure what to think. The prospect was tempting, but not if it hurt as much as Jennifer’s experiment, and not if it meant being sucked into a world that sounded like the product of a half-crazed film writer. I wanted to trust them, but it had to go both ways. Why did Logan seem to dislike me so much?
‘I...don’t know.’ I flicked the much-abused leaf away and wiped damp fingertips on my shorts. I tucked my fingers under my legs and hunched forward, staring at the pattern of paving stones and pebbles at my feet. ‘Letting someone I barely know mess around in my mind is a little daunting. Especially after what just happened. Let me think about it.’
‘I’m glad you’re here, Red.’ Logan leaned forward, hands relaxed between his knees. His expression was calm, with nothing in it to support his statement. ‘I didn’t like letting you go today, but you’re smart and talented and stubborn when you want to be.’ He sent me a wry smile.
I ignored that jibe, since it was inarguable anyway.
‘But you don’t have to be so alone anymore,’ he finished. ‘Let us help you.’
My heart stuttered. I drew and released a long, slow breath, trying to calm my mind. He’d hit me where it hurt but, if he heard my thoughts, he’d know that. I shut down my emotional reaction. I needed to think about this, about him, logically.
Silence fell between us as I contemplated the day; what he’d said; what had happened; trying to make sense of it all; trying to decide what was best. It was just too ridiculous to be believable. Had I felt the forest before? Maybe it’d just been my imagination after all. It wasn’t possible to talk to a tree. Was it? I was tempted to try but the potential onslaught of agony, and the darker possibility that might be set free, deterred me.
In the long silence between us a now-familiar prickling of uneasiness intruded. Restless, I shifted on the bench. Tension twisted tighter, winding and prickling through my whole body until I couldn’t sit still. I shot to my feet and took two hasty steps away, only to turn back to Logan when movement didn’t resolve the feeling.
‘What’s wrong?’ He rose, frowning.
I grimaced, turning to pace again. I moved towards the house and the feeling increased. ‘I don’t know. There’s…there’s something not right. Can’t you feel it? I had the same feeling, at the other house. Before you came back to the creek.’ I touched my lips. ‘And I taste the connection.’
Logan’s eyes took on an abstraction I now associated with telepathy.
‘Maeve can’t …No, wait.’ He snapped his mouth shut. When he turned on me again his eyes were hard. ‘Get your things, we’re leaving.’
When I didn’t move, out of confusion, he growled. ‘Go! No! Hang on.’ He snatched at my arm. ‘What do you have that could contain a tracker – either on you or in your bag?’
‘Someone’s still tracking me? How? You drowned my phone and I haven’t even used the new one. Everything I have on is brand new today!’
He shook my arm. ‘What else do you have? Something you’ve been given by someone in the last few days or weeks?’
‘Stop a second! Let me think.’ I pressed two fingers into the centre of my forehead in an attempt think straight through the tension that built like the thunderstorm on the horizon.
I groaned. ‘A hairclip. But my mother gave it to me Friday morning. Oh man! It’s in my gym bag. That’s how they knew I was at the gym Friday night.’
Even as I finished the sentence I ran, Logan close behind. He pointed out the room I’d been given. I dumped out my gym bag on the bed. I scrabbled amongst the jumble of towels, deodorant and socks, grabbing the ornate, silver-metal hairclip.
‘This.’ I passed it to Logan, who inspected it closely. ‘But who gave it to my mother? And why should they only track it now? I’ve had it…No, I guess Maeve had it today with her. Why didn’t they find her?’
‘Right, yep, that’s it.’ He levered it open with a thumbnail to reveal a small chip glued inside. ‘They couldn’t track it because all our cars and houses have EM-proof areas – to prevent wireless hacking of any of our gear. The boot of Maeve’s car; the sa
fe room here and in the other house. The signal must have started when I put your bag in here. They’re still a fair way off, though. I’ll take this and lead them away from the house. You go with Maeve and Jen to the next safe house.’ He pulled keys out of his pocket.
‘No way!’ I grabbed the smaller backpack and stuffed the curved karambit blade and a few other items from the gym bag into it. On impulse, I threw in the scrap of paper on which Paul Eisen had written his number. The last couple of items went into my pockets. The rest I could abandon without regret. ‘This is my mistake, not yours. Give the clip to me. Lend me your bike. I can lead them away. They’re looking for me, not you.’ I held out my hand.
He pursed his lips and stared into the distance for a brief second. A frown flickered across his face. He tucked the hairclip into a pocket.
‘This is bigger than just you, Red, and more than just the people chasing this clip. Whether you like it or not, we’re in this too. They know you’re not operating alone. You can either go with Maeve to the safehouse, or you can come with me, but I can’t let you run this time. There’s too much at stake.’
I snatched the keys from him and glared. ‘I had no goddamned intention of running. I need your help to fix whatever screwed up crap is in my brain, and to get Anna to safety. I do this, you help me with that. Pretty sure if you hang around me long enough, the Mors you’re after will fall right into your hands. So then we’re even.’
After that, I was done. When Anna was safe and I’d taught the Mors to leave me alone, I would get on the next plane. They could kill each other all they liked and leave me out of it.
I caught a glimpse of Logan’s compressed mouth and scornful expression.
I slung the pack over my shoulder. ‘Once this is done, the first thing I’m learning is how to shield my thoughts from people like you.’ If he was right, then any damned “Dark” sidhe I came near would know everything I thought. It was already hard enough to hide my differences.
His eyes glittered. ‘I am not of the Dark. The only—’ He snapped his teeth together on the word. ‘Fine. Let’s go. If we can get away fast enough we may be able to keep this place instead of burning it to the ground!’ He flashed me a quick, humourless smile. ‘We lose a lot of houses that way. Hides DNA trace.’
Relics and Runes Anthology Page 74
