by Holly Martin
‘Where is Persia?’ asked Clementine, looking down towards the main road. ‘She should be here by now.’
Edward smiled at her. ‘She’s probably popped into that burger place to get something to eat.’
‘She’s a vegetarian,’ said Lucas.
‘Oh yes, of course she is. Don’t worry she’ll be here soon.’
He looked back at me. ‘Well that’s all very noble Eve, but with a bounty of five million pounds on your head, you understand why I have to kill you.’
My heart lurched in my chest and I took an involuntary step back. Where the hell had that come from? Edward caught my arm and pulled me back into the Standing Stones.
‘Don’t react Eve,’ He smiled warmly. ‘If you give your Guardians the slightest hint of what’s about to happen I will kill Persia instantly.’
My hands shook, my heart hammering against my chest. ‘Where is she?’
‘In the boot of my car. You know the pathetic little fireballs she can produce, they’re nothing compared to what I can do. I can achieve great swathes of fire. You make a single move, you let anyone know and that car will be turned to ashes in less than a second. I will then quickly follow up with a fireball straight through your brother’s heart, kill as many of your Guardians as I can before I then kill you.’
My fists clenched and I saw Lucas take a step towards me.
‘Smile Eve, I really don’t want your Guardians to suspect anything.’
I glared at him.
‘Smile or Persia will die in three seconds, two…’ He flexed his hand and I quickly forced a smile onto my face.
‘What makes you think I will let you get away with this? I have powers too.’
‘Not within these stones you don’t. Do you think you can run out of these stones before I burn the car to dust? Give it a go, but I doubt you’re that fast.’
The perimeter of the circle was a good ten or twelve metres away.
‘My Guardians will kill you, you won’t see a single penny of the money.’
I saw Izri move slightly towards me out of the corner of my eye. Did she know?
‘Did Persia not tell you, I can slide too. I’ll be out of here a second after I’ve killed you.’
What was he waiting for? Why tell me, why not just kill me as soon as he had me inside the Standing Stones. He looked around the hills, nervously. Then I realised. To claim the money he had to be seen to be the one to kill me. He was waiting for the Putarians to witness it. They clearly should have been here by now and he didn’t want me to kick up a fuss whilst he was waiting. Either that or his guilty conscience for ending someone’s life was eating up at him and he wanted to relieve it by explaining his actions. Could I change his mind?
‘Persia’s your niece, how could you do this to her?’
He shrugged, callously. ‘Five million pounds Eve, that’s how.’
So probably not then.
‘The Putarians will never give you the money. You’re a Donum, they’ll kill you first.’
‘You’re underestimating how much they want you dead. They’ll do anything. I’m just another faceless Donum. They’ll grant me my freedom in return for your death.’
Clementine was getting worried; I could see her looking down the lane anxiously, though Izri had her eyes glued firmly on me.
I chanced a quick glance in her direction and I could see she knew something was going on.
‘Edward, can I show you something,’ she called.
‘Not now darling. Eve is trying to Project.’
I saw a man up on the hill, a lone man dressed all in black. Edward saw him too.
‘Ah show time. I’m sorry about this Eve, but you know how it is. Well, you probably don’t with all the money the Oraculum are throwing at you.’
His eyes flittered to the man on the hill and he nodded at some unspoken signal. Izri saw him look and whirled around to see what had caught his attention.
Edward flexed his hand and in a moment of wild panic I punched him in the nose. I turned and ran to get out the standing stones so I could defend myself, defend Persia. I heard him roar in frustration but before I was halfway to the border a beam of fire lit up the sky directly above my head. I screamed, desperately reaching out with my shield to protect the car but I couldn’t feel my powers at all. I smelt burning flesh and I looked up in horror to see who had been caught by the flames. To my shock I saw the fire had not come from Edward but from Izri; a great ribbon of white heat came from her hand. As I whirled around, to see her target, I saw Edward lying dead on the ground with a hole in his face the size of a fist. I could see the grass through the hole, smouldering with glowing embers.
I stared at the body in shock. No one said a word.
Lucas flittered to my side and took my hand. He had no words either.
Clementine was the first to find her voice. She screamed and threw herself at Izri in a furious rage but before she got near, Caleb threw her to the ground, where she screamed and kicked against him.
I looked up onto the hillside but the Putarian was gone.
‘Where’s Persia?’ asked Izri, her voice, barely a whisper.
‘In the boot of his car.’
Izri swallowed. ‘Dead?’
‘I… don’t know.’
I heard Lucas gasp softly next to me, his hand in mine squeezing so hard I felt my little finger snap. I couldn’t feel the pain; though I was sure it would come. I stared at the car, willing her to be ok.
Izri turned, almost robot like towards the car and walked slowly towards it. I followed her on shaky legs but then I was running for the car and so was Izri. Lucas got there before both of us and with sheer brute force tore the boot lid off the car. I reached the car a second later. Persia was bound and gagged in the boot, her eyes closed, she looked white. Izri reached my side and let out a sob.
‘She’s alive, she’s alive,’ I said. Though I had no evidence to support this, she had to be alive.
Suddenly she opened her eyes, weakly and looked up at us. I nearly wept with relief.
Lucas scooped her up and pulled her out the boot. He ripped the rope from her hands and feet, pulled the gag from her mouth and kissed her hard before she had a chance to breathe. She didn’t seem bothered though. She wrapped her hands round his neck and kissed him back, sobbing and trembling against him, though not taking her mouth off his for a second.
My mouth fell open in shock, though Izri was crying against me and I put my arm around her holding her tight. I couldn’t take my eyes off them. In this world of darkness, anger and hate, there was hope and love.
*
I watched Clementine being driven away sadly. Alexandria had been despatched to take her back to her parents to break the news. How would she begin to explain what had happened here today, that Izri had killed her uncle. Izri hadn’t gone home. Her Dad and Edward were incredibly close and Izri was actually scared of what the reaction would be. If it was anything like Clementine’s reaction it wouldn’t be good. Despite that Clementine had seen Persia come from the boot and I had explained that Edward was planning to kill her and me, Clementine had not stopped crying. Quinn was going to drive Izri in Edward’s car to stay at Seth’s for the night. Though I doubted her family would hate her for it, she would be safe there with his extra protective detail.
I hugged her. ‘I don’t know how I can thank you.’ She had killed her uncle to save me. There were not enough words in the world to convey the feelings I had for this.
‘You don’t need to Eve.’ Her eyes were so sad.
‘Can I say sorry?’
Her jaw set, angrily. ‘For my uncle trying to kill you, don’t you dare. I should be the one apologising to you.’
I hugged her again. There was nothing else I could do or say.
Persia hugged her too. ‘I’ll be along later.’
Quinn squeezed my hand and I winced slightly at the forgotten broken finger.
They got in and drove off.
Lucas caught my hand and looked
at the finger sticking out at an odd angle. ‘What happened here?’
Eli glared at it too.
‘Oh it just sort of broke.’
‘On its own?’ Eli said.
‘I think it was when I punched Edward,’ I lied.
Lucas blushed, immediately knowing it was him. ‘We should get it healed. Jasmine doesn’t live far from here. It’ll be quicker if we walk it.’
Though I was sceptical that what Lucas and I thought was walking distance would be two very different things, we arrived at Jasmine’s house just a few minutes later. The door was open and I presumed that the Guardians had somehow contacted her to say I was coming.
As we approached the door, my heart leapt. The door was hanging off its hinges; it had clearly been forced open. Inside I could see furniture had been knocked over and there was smashed glass on the floor. I stepped forward, suddenly scared for her, but Eli held me back.
Caleb disappeared in a blur back up the dirt track and I guessed he had been tasked with getting the car. Mason and Lucas went into the house but within a few seconds they were back out.
‘The house is empty, looks like it has been for a few hours or more. There’s a meal on the table that’s gone cold.’
‘The Putarians,’ I said. It wasn’t a question. I knew they had taken her.
20. Fight or flight
‘We need to get out of here,’ said Eli, as the noise of Caleb’s car approached us at high speed.
I felt physically sick. Jasmine was going to be sacrificed as part of the end of year celebrations. Tomorrow she was going to be gutted like a fish, just as I was. She was pregnant, about to give birth to her first child and both of them were going to be killed.
‘We have to go after her.’
‘No,’ said Eli, taking my arm and escorting me to the car. I shook his arm off me.
‘It wasn’t a question Eli, I’m not leaving her to die.’
He looked at me.
‘You can all come with me. We slide to her, grab her and slide back out.’
‘And what if the Putarians are with her, what if there are hundreds of them.’
‘There won’t be. The sacrifices aren’t until tomorrow night. They’ll have her locked away somewhere. It’s doubtful they’ll be many of them with her.’
‘But if there is…’
‘If there is, I’ll slide straight back out again. You have my word on that.’
Eli turned away, his jaw set angrily. I needed his permission. We had to trust each other. He just had to make the right decision.
He turned back and nodded. I grabbed Lucas and Eli’s hands. Two was really the maximum I could slide with and even with that amount it felt like I was dragging a massive weight with me. I pictured Jasmine and all those wonderful smells I associated with her. I found her mind easily and slid to her side.
I landed in what looked like a large shed. As soon as I arrived, I was struck with a huge sense of despair and loss. There was maybe thirty people or more all huddled up, many were crying, others just lay or sat with their head in their hands. I guessed they were all Zeki. Of course the Putarians wouldn’t have Donum as part of their sacrifices. Donum could fight back or fight their way out. The Zekis were defenceless. There wasn’t a Putarian in sight. Eli looked at me with desperation. But he knew I had to save them all.
Jasmine was sitting at my feet, her eyes closed as she breathed in and out deeply. She had evidently gone into labour. She was my priority. I’d get her out and come back for the others.
Her eyes snapped open and she looked at me in shock.
‘Eve!’
But this suddenly drew the attention of all the others down on me. Everyone scrambled up and surrounded me. What started off as little murmurings of shock and relief, quickly turned into a deafening celebration.
‘The Sentinel is going to save us,’ someone whooped.
‘Take me first, I have three children.’
‘We’re saved, we’re saved,’ yelled someone else.
‘Please save me!’
I looked towards the door in panic. If the Putarians were standing outside they were bound to hear.
‘SILENCE!’ roared Eli and they all fell quiet at the sheer anger in his voice.
God, if the Putarians hadn’t heard us before, they would certainly have heard that. Lucas moved quickly to the door but no one came in. We were safe for now.
‘I swear, if one of you utters one more word, we will leave all of you to die. Eve is the only one that matters to me and if she is put at risk by your noise, we will leave now. We came for Jasmine and I’m quite happy to grab her and leave and not come back.’
Eli knew I wouldn’t do that but he was right, we had to scare them into shutting up otherwise we would all be slaughtered.
I pulled Jasmine to her feet and looked around at the others.
‘I will take as many as I can, but if the Putarians come to investigate the noise then I can’t come back. Please be quiet and hopefully I can save all of you.’
They all nodded except one woman who moved forward to grab me. ‘Take me, take me with you.’
Eli pushed her back probably a lot harder than was necessary. ‘You will be left to last.’
She burst into tears but the others were silent.
I grabbed a hand of another lady nearby and slid back to Jasmine’s house where, Mason, Caleb and Persia were waiting.
Jasmine sagged as we landed but I wasn’t sure if it was from the labour or from relief.
‘You can’t stay here, they may come looking for you. Do you have somewhere else you can go?’
Jasmine nodded. ‘My friend’s she doesn’t live far from here.’
‘I’ll make sure she gets there,’ said the other lady, wrapping an arm round Jasmine’s shoulders.
Jasmine took my hand, quickly healing my broken finger. ‘Thank you, thank you so much.’
I smiled and as she released me, I quickly slid back to the shed. The others were waiting in stony silence. Even the lady that had cried was now quiet. I grabbed two more and slid back to Jasmine’s house again. This time it was even harder than before. As soon as I released them they ran off down the lane.
I repeated this several times but after I’d freed half of them I felt like I had ran a Marathon. I was exhausted and my head was pounding. As I landed back in the shed, Lucas was by my side.
‘You look awful Eve.’
‘Just a few more minutes. And at least I should have plenty of Zeki to heal me.’
Eli was watching out the small dirty window. ‘We might not have a few more minutes, there’s movement outside. Someone’s coming.’
The remaining Zeki huddled closer, the sense of panic quickly rising from them. But if any of them were going to articulate their fears, they changed their minds at a glare from Eli. I grabbed two hands, a man and a woman. A second lady grabbed the hand of the man. I didn’t know if I could take three people but I closed my eyes and forced myself back to Jasmine’s house. I fell to my knees as I landed and the three Zekis immediately ran.
Caleb helped me back up and I slid straight back and grabbed another two. Catching onto what the other lady had done, two more people grabbed onto the two I was holding. I had to save them. Lucas moved to the door, next to Eli.
‘How long?’ I asked.
Lucas looked back, his eyes filled with worry. ‘Ten seconds, maybe twenty.’
Without another word I slid back to the house, it was like dragging an anchor round my neck. But I still had six more to save. I slid back and I could feel blood trickling from my nose.
‘They’re here,’ hissed Lucas.
I grabbed another two pairs as the door was unlocked and I slid back to the house. My vision blurred as I slid back to the shed. Lucas and Eli were involved in a fight, they were winning but I could see other shadows running towards us from outside. There were loads of them. I grabbed the remaining two but I didn’t have the strength left in me to slide away. Mason and Caleb suddenly joined us a
nd ran straight into the fight. I was going to pass out I could feel it. But if I did, my Guardians, the Zeki and I would all be slaughtered. I closed my eyes and with the last of my strength I slid back to the house for the final time.
I expected my Guardians to slide straight to me but they didn’t. I was safe and they were too busy fighting to the death for me. With my head pounding, with blood pouring from my nose, I reached for them and as they landed safely in front of me, I passed out.
*
I woke in my bed. My head was still throbbing and I could barely move. My mouth was dry and I needed a drink.
I carefully got out of bed. I’d never been drunk before, but I imagined this is what it would feel like. As I stood up, the room span around me and my stomach retched.
I opened the bedroom door. Lucas was standing outside.
‘Do you not sleep,’ I muttered and was surprised by how slurred my voice sounded.
Lucas was evidently surprised as well. ‘Are you ok, you look like crap?’
‘Thanks.’ I felt awful and I was confused by this. I had rescued twenty nine Zeki that night. Was there no one that had stayed to heal me?
‘They all ran as soon as they got back. They were all terrified,’ Lucas said, answering my unasked question.
I leaned heavily against the wall. ‘All of them.’
‘I know. Eli was furious.’
‘It’s fine. I’m fine.’ But I was hurt by this. I had risked my life to save them and when they were safe they didn’t even stay to help me. Lucas looked at me with sympathy. I think he felt hurt on my behalf. ‘I’m ok. I just need to sleep it off.’
‘Which begs the question, what are you doing out of bed?’
‘I need a drink. Did Persia and Quinn get back ok?’
‘Persia is asleep in my bed, Quinn sat with you for several hours and just went to bed himself a short while ago. I’ll get you a drink, you get back to bed.’
‘It’s fine,’ I mumbled, not keen to be waited on like I was some Queen.
