‘Do not … take … her away,’ I pleaded desperately.
She sighed, but nevertheless spoke more reassuringly, ‘I’m not taking her away. I don’t think I could, even if I tried. I’m going to set her apart a bit and talk some sense into you. She was shocked, Nathaniel. She loves you, so don’t you dare give up on her! She needs time, which you do not have tonight. So I’m going to help. You have been trying to compartmentalise. I’m going to kick it into touch. You haven’t had time to learn to manage emotion yet, and managing Rowan’s must be a thing of nightmares!
‘But you aren’t going to be any help to her, if you don’t stop wallowing in guilt and self-pity. If I hadn’t seen it with Seth, I’d never have believed an effing vampire could feel like this! There is still hope. Let that guide you. You will sleep. I’m reckoning it should take three days to get over this, but I’m giving you three minutes. I’m counting on your strength, and your love for Rowan, Nathaniel, to pull you through this; to order yourself to help her. If Simeon succeeds, we will both lose her. When you find her, I need you to ensure she puts her pendant back on, and for you to believe in yourself. His body is weak. Yours is strong.’
Chapter Seventeen
Poison
I was being shaken. Vigorously shaken and I could hear panic, lots and lots of panic. I felt battered and bruised, which I really shouldn’t be feeling. And I hurt. Hurt from deep within.
‘What’s the matter with him? Wake him up! Wake him up!’ It was Elizabeth. She was screaming.
There was an urgent voice in my ear. ‘Nate, it’s James. It’s going to be okay, but we need you here, with us.’
I kept my eyes shut. I was trying to make sense of things. Rowan was still within me. And Christ, it hurt so much. I hurt so much. My heart was still in shreds. But there was a tunnel, a tunnel awash with our combined heartbreak. I was curled up within it, letting myself be submerged by the multitude of sensations that our anguish comprised. But I discovered, if I climbed to my knees and moved forward, I could progress – still touched by those sensations, still feeling them, but I was becoming conscious of some kind of control over them. And then I was at its entrance. And the tunnel disappeared. And she was still there; I was still there. The hurt, Christ the hurt, was still there, but I could see a way through – I had hope.
I gasped. And my heart beat again. I became aware I was on my knees, beside the bed. My forehead was resting on the velvet bed cover.
‘Nate?’ It was James.
I held my left hand up. I needed more time. I took some deep breaths. I had control of my limbs. God! I physically hurt. It reminded me of when, as humans, James and I had nearly killed each other. We had physically fought over— I remember not. I felt like this for days after. But I had some control over my body.
I rolled over and sat with my back against the bed and opened my eyes. Elizabeth, James, Frederick and Madeleine were before me. Spooked was probably the best way to describe them. That word was a regular in my vocabulary now. As for me? Spooked did not begin to go there. What, on this earth, was Heather?
I leapt to my feet. Everything spun for a moment and James steadied me when I wobbled. Alarm reverberated around the room. My guard was down, and I observed their shocked and then incredulous faces for a second as they digested everything that had happened in their absence. And then I was grabbing Rowan’s pendant from the dressing table and was by the door.
I refused to give into my grief, or to be swamped by Rowan’s. I couldn’t afford to – not yet – and Heather had given me a lifeline.
‘I have lost her. But I will not let him hurt her. We need to split up. We need to find Rowan before Frey does.’ My voice sounded as determined as I felt. I would wallow later – do whatever I needed to do to myself then – but only when I knew Rowan was safe from Frey.
As we started the search, it was evident Rowan had wandered around aimlessly. I had tried her mobile phone but, as I expected, she didn’t pick up. I was the last entity she would ever want to talk to again. We were following her scent and picking up trail after trail. The last, and by far the most worrying, led to the taxi rank outside the hotel.
And he had found her. Because as I stood, oblivious to the greetings from party guests that walked by, I felt her fear. I reeled and grabbed hold of a lamp post for support. But instead of surrendering to the sensation, I took a deep breath and found a place for it. It was a bloody big place, and my heart was pounding as my fear combined with hers, but I found I could stand freely. I could more than stand freely. I was going to save her – and I was going to turn Simeon Frey into dog food.
We took to the air in separate directions. Scanning with our eyes, then dropping down to earth at regular intervals, to try and pick up her scent. I could feel something wasn’t right, more than not right. Rowan was confused and she was fading in and out. It was like a bad reception and I kept losing her channel. Rowan, my love – I am coming.
I was receiving reassurances from the others, but they were cancelled out by their thoughts.
Rowan’s confusion was increasing. She was trying to fight whatever it was, but she was struggling. He was hurting her. I knew he was.
‘Nate, they’re on a boat!’ Frederick reported. ‘I’ve picked up her scent and their stench is with it. I’m at the jetty to your north.’
Madeleine perked up. ‘They’re on a boat. Running water … that could be why she’s fading in and out.’
I wanted, with all my heart, to believe that’s what it was. But I couldn’t. Rowan and I had walked on the beach together last night. The waves had been lapping around our bare feet. She had faded slightly, but consistently. Just like turning the volume down a couple of notches – nothing like this.
There were lots of boats on the water tonight and the air was full of the sound of chinking champagne glasses, string quartets and business talk. I had lost count of how many invites I had had to cocktail parties on the yachts below. It was an entirely different world to my own, as was Rowan’s. Who had I been kidding?
And then I heard her. It was always going to be me that heard her first. We were so attuned. I honed in on the purpose of my existence. She was faint. She wasn’t in this group of boats.
‘I don’t want any more.’ Her voice was weak and shaky.
And then I heard him. ‘Don’t be scared. It’s not poison.’
Poison? Oh, dear God!
‘It will help you believe. Don’t resist it. You’ll find yourself and escape all this pain and heartbreak. You will find a better life.’
‘No,’ she whispered back.
‘Just lie back with me. Relax … see, isn’t that better? Your skin is so soft … so pale … so beautiful.’
I will play with my prey, torture him slowly, agonisingly …
‘There, there. Let me kiss all those tears away, my sweet. You’re as beautiful as your mother was. So like her, it’s incredible. I can’t believe I didn’t think to check on you before.’
I will tear out each of his organs in turn, and shred them before his eyes.
‘Mum?’ Her words were getting fainter and she was fading from me. I was losing her.
‘Do you know who you are now, Rowan? Can you feel it? Can you feel the magic … Rosie’s legacy? Your eyes are the exact same hue as hers.’
‘I was … somebody else’s.’ Her voice was so weak.
He tutted. ‘They lied to you. They’ve all lied to you. Your mummy, your daddy, Heather, Nathaniel Gray. You were theirs. You weren’t adopted …’
I heard the others’ gasps and the disbelief in Frederick’s thoughts: ‘Psychopathic crackpot!’
‘Your mother was like me. You are like me … can’t you feel it? Can’t you feel what you are? Surrender to it, Rowan.’
She groaned. ‘I want Nate.’
Oh, Rowan, my love. What could he be doing to her that she could be driven, for a moment, to want the monster that I am?
He laughed bitterly. There was anger there, I could hear it. ‘Have some
more. You will see the light and then everything will become clear. You will find the inner truth and embrace our future.’
‘No … there’s something in it.’
‘You will drink this!’
I could hear her spluttering and coughing, nearly choking. ‘I’m sorry.’ Her voice was barely audible.
‘That’s better.’
‘I’m sorry, Nate.’
No, Rowan – I am sorry, my love – so sorry! I should have told you. You should never have had to find out like this.
I could see the boat. It was a lone yacht, not currently being powered by its sails, but by its motor. And then I heard the bloodcurdling sound of his fist impacting on her fragile form and she cried out.
I let out an anguished roar.
Our connection intensified. The shock of the physical pain must have brought her to fuller consciousness.
Frey was sounding angry and not remotely in control. ‘The monster’s spell seems to have been strong – like mother, like daughter!’
Her words were slurring, but she managed a sentence. ‘He’s more a man than you’ll ever be.’
No, Rowan, do not do this. Do not provoke him. Christ Almighty!
‘A man, Rowan petal. Is that what you think I am? A mere man?’ He sounded incredulous.
‘No, not just a man – a mad man.’
She was choking. I could hear her gasping for breath.
I am coming for you, my love. I am coming.
Frey hissed furiously, ‘You will believe and you will be at my side! I will NOT be thwarted again!’
I could hear a struggle. There was glass shattering and she cried out.
He taunted angrily, ‘There’s nowhere to run!’
I was nearing the boat. The door to the cabins below was open and I could see Rowan on hands and knees, crawling up the steps. Her face was bloodied, her dress torn, her flesh exposed. I could see his grotesque finger marks on the skin of her throat. Her arms had reached the deck. The two creatures from the party were in front of her and she was trying to crawl around them.
Frey emerged to stand behind her, watching her painful progress. ‘Your mother could have been the most powerful of her kind – the most powerful the Fey has ever seen. There is faerie in your blood, and our destiny is shared.’
I could think of nothing but getting to Rowan.
‘Move aside; let her crawl. Let her get that rebellious streak out of her system.’
I aimed for the spot between Frey and Rowan … but passed through something in the air that slowed me down. My skin prickled and the hairs on my body reacted as they would to static electricity. I heard the others curse. ‘There’s something here, I can’t get through and …!’ Elizabeth squealed.
‘I’ve got you!’ Frederick gasped, relief evident in his voice.
‘Shit, that hurt!’ James cried.
Madeleine shouted in my head, ‘Nate! It’s a force field or something. You’re through, but we’re stuck!’
I spun around to see the others hovering in mid-air seventy-five yards or so behind me; Elizabeth was fine. Flipping back around, I met the eyes of Frey below me. So much for the element of surprise …
‘Get her back downstairs,’ I heard him snap to his two goons, whilst he moved to stand in the middle of the deck. His eyes, still fixed on mine, proffered a silent invitation. No matter what I wanted to do to him, my priority was Rowan. I could hardly feel anything from her now and her heartbeat, distinguishable above the sound of the boat’s engine, was slow. My eyes found her. She was curled up on the deck, motionless. As I took in her form one of the two sidekicks reached out and caught hold of her hair.
‘Let’s get the bitch downstairs.’
I reacted with a monster’s roar. Within the blur that was my movement, I was before them, had snapped the wrist of the offending hand and had sent its owner hurtling across the deck with a furious feral swipe. Amidst the roar that was now the inside of my head, I vaguely heard a crack, followed by a thud and then nothing.
The remaining creature backed away, visibly quaking as he took in the full monstrous image before him. My eyes may have appeared like hellish black holes, but it was red I was seeing. I smiled sinisterly, and in less than a step, had my hand around his throat, lifting him off the ground. The sounds resonating from my chest were bloodcurdling; very different to the desperate gurgling sounds coming from his. His arms and legs were flailing aimlessly and his eyes were beginning to bulge.
‘Frey’s approaching Rowan!’ Elizabeth screamed in my head. I cocked my head and with one last squeeze and satisfying snap let my victim drop to the deck, in a lifeless heap.
Spinning around, I took in Frey, who was moving fast, his movements so smooth he could almost be gliding. Nevertheless, I was in front of him before he could get any closer. Rather than stepping back at what appeared before him, he stole closer to sneer, ‘I won’t be so easy, Gray.’
In one rapid fluid movement, I had both palms flat on his chest and he was flying backwards through the air, his back and head crashing into the boat’s wooden mast. I heard the wood fibres creak from deep within. I was at Rowan’s side in a flash, wrapping my body around hers, to form a protective cocoon. My head was held low and protective, but watching from raised eyes, I saw the mast splinter and fracture into two. It started its journey down, smashing open the wooden cabin and decking at intermittent points, wherever its metal components made contact. As it neared our position, I rolled us both so it merely brushed past my right shoulder, before embedding itself in the deck where Rowan had been lying. The boat’s lighting spluttered before it completely fizzled out.
‘Rowan …’ I whispered, feeling the monster cloak himself. I changed my position so I could prop her against my chest, and gently took her head in my hands. ‘It is Nate. I am going to get you out of here. Trust me please.’ I tenderly brushed the wisps of hair from her eyes. There was a pool of blood amidst the bruising already appearing around her left eye. It didn’t tempt, but rather sickened, me. She was so pale and cold. I removed my dinner jacket and placed it around her shoulders and then, in a blink, was in the air with her in my arms.
‘Nate! Watch out!’ The silent warning from Frederick came too late as instantaneously something smashed into my back.
The force of the impact sent me tumbling through the air. I must have been momentarily stunned because I snapped back into the horror that was reality as I felt Rowan slipping through my arms. I desperately grasped hold of her. She was securely in my arms again but I was in free-fall and couldn’t stop. Looking around, I could see we were still above the boat. I twisted mid-air, ignoring the sharp pain that seared through my back, so that when we hit the deck, I could take the full force of the fall.
I was braced for impact, but nothing prepared me for the pain that shot through me as I absorbed the landing; pain that my body should not be feeling. With no pause, but now gritting my teeth against the pain, I rolled us over so I was lying above Rowan, fully covering her body, whilst supporting my weight on my elbows so as not to crush her.
I could hear light footsteps and focused on the feet of Frey, which I could now see moving towards us. He effortlessly avoided the debris covering what was left of the deck and his fluid steps showed no evidence of damage from my earlier assault. ‘His body is weak,’ she had said. Well, just what the hell was it like when it was strong? Jesus! How was I supposed to protect Rowan as well as destroy the bastard?
I could hear the others’ panic. ‘I’m diving down to the sea floor to see if I can get through from below,’ Frederick was saying.
‘Oh, God!’ Elizabeth’s gasp sounded in my head.
‘I’ll do it,’ James stated.
‘I’m the strongest swimmer and by far the best in combat,’ Frederick countered. ‘Give me your sword, James; Nate has nothing.’
No, I didn’t. The plan had been to rip Frey apart with my bare hands.
I suddenly remembered the pendant and used my right hand to root around in t
he pocket of my jacket, now wrapped around the still unconscious Rowan. Once my fingers felt the chain, I grasped hold of it and, withdrawing my hand, gently, but swiftly, lifted Rowan’s head to place the chain and pendant around her neck. When I had carefully lowered her head back to the deck, I kissed her forehead. ‘I am not leaving you. I will still be here, my love.’ I leapt to my feet, and the monster I was stood directly in the path of Frey.
‘So why the interest in Rowan Locke?’ Frey asked, glacially, raising his hands before his face and flexing his long spindly fingers and wrists. I heard his joints crack. ‘Could you not have just—?’
‘Do not ever utter her name …’
I stopped my thunderous words with a hiss. Whilst I had been speaking, Frey had stretched his arms out to the side and turned his palms upwards and something was now falling on the deck around us. It looked like golf balls. As one fell from the suddenly densely clouded sky, I caught it in a flash of movement in my right hand. It was cold and seemed to have the consistency of ice. Giant hail stones? More and more of them were falling around us; the thuds, as they hit the wooden deck and metal fixtures, like a faster and faster beating drum with intermittent clashes of cymbals. Hissing again, I was forced to raise my own arms to protect my head. I was disconcerted; I was feeling the pain of each impact and any that approached Frey were taking a detour and heading towards me. I cowered lower to the deck.
Rowan … If they were hurting me …! But, although I could see they were dropping from the sky all around her, it was a fine misty rain that appeared to be falling over her body.
I roared as one of the giant hail stones hit my shoulder hard. As it bounced off me, I took in the size of the stones now falling; they had evolved to the size of tennis balls and their frequency was ever increasing. There was no distinct drum beats now, just a thunderous crescendo of sound. I was going to be battered black and blue.
No Such Thing As Immortality Page 26
