by Holly Martin
‘It’s OK, Seth, it’s hard for me too.’
We lay down and Seth wrapped his arms around me so tightly I could barely breathe. I closed my eyes against the tears that immediately filled my eyes. After tonight there would only be three more nights where I would lie in his arms. Before the clock struck twelve on the old year I would be dead.
*
I struggled to go to sleep but as soon as I did, Adam was waiting for me, grinning at me as if we were best friends as he sat down next to me on my beach in Mexico. I couldn’t cope with seeing him right now. I didn’t have the energy to talk to him.
I closed my eyes and tried to force myself awake again but before I could, Adam spoke. ‘It doesn’t have to be this way.’
I opened my eyes to look at him. Did he know that I was going to die to save the world? Had he been watching me all this time, listening to my conversations, seeing my utter despair? I bet he got a real kick out of it, seeing my pain and the agony of my husband too.
‘You don’t need to die. That prophecy that Jonah showed you. You die because the Oraculum kill you,’ Adam said.
‘I die because the strength needed to save the world is too much for my body to take.’
Adam shook his head. ‘That’s what Jonah wanted you to see. They kill you Eve and the only way to stop it is by killing them first.’
‘Nathaniel and Leon will be dead before the end of the year.’
‘And who does that leave?’ Adam said, pointedly.
Cain. The strongest of all the Oraculum.
He wouldn’t kill me. Cain cared for me, loved me in his own way.
‘They made a pact that they would kill you once you’d saved the world. Despite what Cain tells you, they can’t risk going back on that decision.’
I shook my head angrily. ‘It’s saving the world that kills me, not Cain. We were supposed to work together Adam. I saw that in a prophecy too. But you’re so hell-bent on hatred and revenge that I can’t see how we could ever work side by side.’
‘Of course I want revenge,’ Adam snapped, his face a picture of pure hatred. He was so volatile. His moods changing faster than I could keep up with. ‘They left me in a cell to rot. Strapped to a table, they brought me food and let me out occasionally. I didn’t see daylight for nearly eight years. I had no one to talk to. I had plenty of time to work out how I would destroy them all. But this isn’t what this is about.’ He rearranged his features, his face suddenly calmer though I knew that wrath still bubbled inside. ‘What they plan to do to you is wrong. If you survive saving the world, they will seek you out and kill you and anyone that tries to stand in your way. Your Guardians, your friends, your brother, Seth. They will kill them all. Where is the gratitude?’
I sighed and looked away over the sea.
‘We could join forces to save the world,’ Adam suggested. ‘As you have seen. We could fight together. You would stand more of chance of surviving it if I were to help you. Help me kill the Oraculum and I will stand with you at the end.’
I stared at him. Is that what it would take to get him to work with me? Sacrifice the three remaining members of the Oraculum in order to save myself? With the Oraculum dead there would be no one to threaten me or my family after the world was saved and with Adam helping me, there was a chance that I would survive, that I could have that future with Seth on my island. But I knew I couldn’t do it. Regardless of their plans for me once I had saved the world, I couldn’t seek them out now and kill them. I could never live with myself in the future knowing I had killed them so I could live.
‘Don’t let them win Eve.’
‘Join with me to save the world,’ I said. ‘That will prove to them that you don’t need to be killed. That you have kindness within you. Join me and if they come to kill you after, I will fight with you against them then.’
‘That’s not the deal I’m offering.’
‘That’s the deal I’m offering,’ I said.
‘Nathaniel kills Seth. I’ve seen it. You’re not the only one to have prophecies you know. Nathaniel destroys him.’
I shook my head, tears forming in my eyes at that thought. ‘I’d never let that happen.’
‘If you’re dead, you won’t be able to stop him. Kill Nathaniel, kill them all and it never will.’
We were going round in circles.
I stood up to leave.
‘Time is running out Eve. It doesn’t have to be this way.’
I closed my eyes and woke up in Seth’s arms where I belonged. Seth soothed me, sensing my distress as he stroked a hand over my shoulders and down my back. This was where I was supposed to be for the rest of my life. Was there really a way round my demise? I was fighting for a world with Seth in and I couldn’t bear the thought that he would die after I’d gone, especially if it was Nathaniel that killed him. I had to do something to protect him but I knew joining forces with Adam to kill the Oraculum was not the way.
Chapter 13
I woke up the next day filled with so much anger and despite that Seth was layering tiny kisses on my cheeks that just ignited my anger even more. It wasn’t fair. None of it was fair. The Oraculum knew I was going to die saving the world, they knew this all along. And just in case I didn’t there was this pact to kill me after my job was done. Did I really owe them any loyalty when they had created me to die?
The worst thing was Persia had predicted it too. All those months before when I had first started my training, she had told me that my body wouldn’t be able to take it, that the strength needed to save the world was more than what my body could take. But for some reason over the last year, as my strength grew to something I had never envisaged it would be, I thought that perhaps I would win this. That maybe I was strong enough to save the world and survive.
There had been many prophecies of me playing with my children on a beach, surrounded by friends and family. Cain had seen this and Persia had seen it too. I had started to believe in them. Or maybe I just wanted to believe. But how could both those prophecies and Jonah’s prophecy of my funeral be true too. I guessed what Persia had said was true, that the prophecies were only one possible future, things could change in the blink of an eye, decisions I made, the decisions of others. Everything could change. And now my beautiful future had vanished without a trace.
I got out of bed and stormed to the window. It was never supposed to be this way. I quickly got washed and changed.
‘I might go and see Zach, I could do with a workout,’ I said to Seth.
‘Take Mason with you.’
Despite that he knew that Zach and I fought, only Mason was so relaxed about the brutal beatings I got. I think Seth knew but turned a blind eye to it. We both knew if he was there he certainly wouldn’t be happy about it.
I left the room and I saw Mason jogging up the stairs towards me, obviously Seth had called him. We walked down the stairs together and round the back of the fort. We didn’t talk. I could sense how upset he was by my forthcoming demise but I didn’t know what I could say to make this any better.
I was surprised to see only Zach and Deacon on the grassy slopes at the back of the fort as I approached. Neither of them was fighting, Deacon was brutally chipping away at a piece of wood with his knife and Zach was just staring off into space. I didn’t think they were even aware I had arrived. I looked at the time, was I too late? The Guardlings normally trained from quite early in the morning, taking an extended lunch to go to Cassidy to repair their wounds and eat and were back out in the afternoon to train until dark. It was odd to see the slopes empty in this way.
Mason went and sat on the slope near the castle wall, he looked completely destroyed.
I nudged Zach with my foot and he blinked and looked up at me.
‘Hey, where are the others?’
Zach shrugged indifferently and turned his attention to the grass, grabbing a handful of blades in his hand and twisting them round his fingers.
I looked at Deacon to silently ask what was the matter with Z
ach but Deacon was now chipping away at the wood more fiercely than he had minutes before, as if my very presence had angered him.
I swallowed, uneasily. ‘Maybe I should go.’
Deacon looked at me angrily. ‘Where do you think they are Eve, what’s the point in training now. We have nothing to fight for anymore, it’s all been for nothing.’
‘That’s not true…’ I started.
‘Seven years I’ve trained, since I was nine, every day, every single day, so I could be strong enough to protect you. What a waste. You will die before I become a fully-fledged Guardian, before I can become one of your Guardians. We thought we had five years before the end of the world, maybe three. Me and Zach would have been full Guardians in February, but you’ll be dead by then, what was the point?’ Deacon snapped. Just then a piece of wood hit him square in the face.
‘Don’t talk to her like that,’ Zach growled.
Deacon blinked in pain for a moment then throwing his knife to one side he launched himself at Zach, punching and kicking everywhere he could reach. Zach punched him back, and the two were rolling round the floor growling and hitting each other moments later.
I looked down at Deacon’s knife that had embedded itself in my calf when he had thrown it. I pulled a face and glanced round at Mason to see if he had noticed but he was staring at the ground. I knelt down to remove it. I slid the knife out carefully and blood spurted from the wound, splattering Zach in the face as he fought.
He froze mid punch, as did Deacon when he saw the blood, both of them realising where the blood had come from.
I held my hand over the cut, and blood quickly seeped through my fingers. Zach quickly scrabbled off Deacon and stood in horror.
I closed my eyes and reached for my healing power, letting it quickly close the gap in my skin. I lifted my hand to check that the wound had healed and wiped the remaining blood off with the sleeve of my hoodie.
I offered the knife back to Deacon as he stood by my side as well.
‘Sorry,’ he muttered, taking the knife and putting it back on his belt.
‘It’s just a scratch,’ I shrugged.
‘Not for that, well yes obviously for that, but for what I said, I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you, I’m sorry.’
Zach punched Deacon on the shoulder, but it was a good natured gesture now, and Deacon smiled, wryly.
‘So… the Guardlings, they aren’t training anymore?’
Zach shook his head. ‘As Deacon so eloquently put it, there seems little point.’
‘But… even if we did have five years or if I survived the end of the world, yours was never going to be a lifelong commitment to me. You were only ever supposed to protect me until the end came, then you would have your own lives to lead after that.’
‘For me…’ Zach kicked the floor with embarrassment. ‘For me it would have been a lifelong commitment. The Putarians would not thank you for stopping the end of the world, you would always need protection from them and I was happy to give it, to stand by your side for the rest of your life.’
Deacon nodded in agreement. ‘Me too.’
I shook my head. ‘I never wanted that. You guys, the other Guardians have given me so much, and once the world was saved, what I wanted more than anything was for you all to lead normal lives, to get married and have children if you so wished, to see the world, or… what is it you guys would like to do.’
‘Protect you,’ Deacon said, obstinately.
I sighed.
‘You see that’s what I’ll be fighting for, for you guys to have a world to live in. I mean really live in, not mourn the loss of me for the rest of your lives, but really begin to live your own lives for you. Is there nothing that you can think of that you would like to do?’
They were both silent, stubbornly so.
‘Zach, you are a great leader for the Guardlings, and you too Deacon, the kids look up to you both. You’d be great as sports coaches, outdoors instructors, teaching kids to abseil or canoe, or even martial arts training, god knows you’d be good at that.’
‘Human kids?’ Deacon was scornful.
I nodded. ‘Yes, you have such a way about you, you’d be brilliant at that. Or Donum and Zeki kids, their powers can’t always protect them, and they certainly will always need protecting from the Putarians and Reapers. You could teach them how to fight, how to defend themselves, you could set up your own school here, when I’m gone.’
Zach smiled slightly. ‘I like the sound of that.’
Deacon frowned, looking off into the distance. ‘It would certainly be good to pass on some of these skills we’ve learned.’
‘Or you could be bodyguards for those too weak to defend themselves from the Putarians. And the other Guardlings could help too, there’s so many jobs out there that could benefit from your skills and strength. Seth first described the Deus to me as beings with super strength and speed. You guys could literally be super heroes. Helping those in need.’
Zach’s grin grew and even Deacon smiled at this.
‘Please, just because this is the end for me, it doesn’t have to be for you. I want to die knowing you will go on to have a life of your own.’
Zach nodded. ‘OK.’
‘Then you still have training to do, besides I need you guys. The next few days are going to be stressful enough and I need to be able to come down here and cheer myself up by kicking both your arses.’
Zach laughed. ‘I don’t think you’ve ever kicked my arse.’
Deacon grinned. ‘Really Zach? You’ve ended up with worse injuries fighting her than any which I or the other Guardlings have given you.’
‘Well that’s because I let her win.’
I arched an eyebrow at him.
‘Zach, I want you to talk to the other Guardlings, persuade them that there is still something worth training for, and tomorrow I’ll be down here to kick your arse. If you like you can work together to stand a chance of beating me.’
Deacon shoved me playfully.
Zach glanced up the hill. ‘Your husband is waiting for you.’
I looked up at Seth and waved. He waved back.
‘I better go. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.’
They both nodded. I called over to Mason that I was going with Seth and ran up the slope towards Seth. He was pacing nervously as I approached but as I got closer he caught me in his arms. I could see sweat beading his brow. He was nervous, scared even. He kissed me briefly on the lips and then on the forehead. I could feel he was shaking.
‘Seth are you OK?’
‘Eve, will you do something for me?’
I nodded. ‘Of course.’
‘Let’s go to Mexico, just for a few hours, just you and me,’ he said, meaningfully.
I hesitated, but then nodded. ‘OK, I’ll just tell Lucas and Eli—’
‘No, Eve, they’ll want to come with us. I just want to be alone with you, where we got married, we’ll be back in a few hours, please,’ his eyes were desperate.
I nodded. ‘OK, but Lucas will know as soon as I slide.’
‘Let me worry about that.’
I wrapped my arms round him and slid us both to a clump of trees near to where we got married, where we had kissed for the first time as husband and wife.
Seth pulled me closer, kissing my neck, softly, though his breathing was still accelerated, nervous. Suddenly, I felt a sharp stabbing sensation in my neck, where Seth’s mouth had been seconds before.
‘Ow, what was that,’ I stepped away from him, rubbing my neck, and that’s when I saw the syringe in his hand. I looked at him in confusion.
Seth stepped forward, grabbing me firmly round the waist, as he pulled another syringe from his pocket and injected me with that also. He held me tight, his eyes fierce now as he watched my face carefully.
As the cloud of drugs settled over my brain, separating me from my powers and my Guardians, I knew I had just done the most stupidest thing I’d ever done before in my life. I struggled against
him, but my body was weak, and his grip was firm. As my legs gave way, and everything swirled into blackness, I knew without doubt that the man that caught me was definitely not my husband.
Chapter 14
I woke in a strange room, my hands tied to the headboard behind my head, my ankles were bound also, but not to anything.
I strained for my powers, for the bond of my Guardians, but there was nothing. I felt groggy and sick.
The shape shifter that had posed as my husband came into my view, still in the form of Seth.
‘Hey you’re awake, you feeling OK?’ he knelt on the bed next to me. I tried to shuffle away from him, but the ropes held me fast.
My husband’s evil twin stroked my face. ‘I’m sorry I had to do it, but I had no choice.’
I flinched away from him. He had brought me here for the Putarians no doubt, to get the bounty. He had probably already called them and they were on their way. I had to get away, the end of the world was going to happen within the few days and I had to be there for it. How had I been so stupid? Seth wasn’t acting himself when he’d asked me to go to Mexico with him, he was nervous. How had I not seen that it wasn’t my husband, that the man next to me now had been nervous because he was about to kidnap me. And I had gone willingly. I couldn’t let the Putarians get to me, I had to escape before they came, they would kill me instantly.
The shape shifter bent his head down to kiss my neck and I froze. He lay down next to me, his hand pulling my waist towards him. I couldn’t move, couldn’t blink, couldn’t breathe.
I was going to die and the last person to touch me was not going to be my husband. The thought of being with someone else, the thought of someone else’s mouth on mine, someone else’s body against mine was enough to make me sick. As the shape shifter moved his hands roughly over my skin, slipping them under my T-shirt, I freaked.
I screamed as loud as I could, not caring who heard, wriggling and struggling every single part of my body that I could, elbowing him in the face, kneeing him in the stomach, before he managed to restrain me, pinning me down with his enormous frame. He looked furious.
