He removed his hand.
Still an eerie silence.
They both watched the front of the house.
After a moment, a figure appeared around the side of it. He was wearing a hood over his head and walking very slowly.
“Do you know who that is?” Cheryl asked.
“Not from this distance,” Reiko replied.
The figure peeled round to approach the gate from the other end of the drive. He appeared to be walking with a cane to assist him.
“Must be a servant or something,” Reiko muttered.
As the figure came closer though, they saw it was not a servant.
The hood was pulled back to reveal Rafe himself.
“What are you doing here?” Rafe asked in a tired, worn out voice.
“We’re here to see you,” Reiko said.
“I don’t see anyone anymore,” Rafe replied. “You weren’t invited here.”
“We need to talk about Synrith,” Cheryl said. “You must release him at once.”
Rafe rolled his eyes. “Do you want to speak to the Master then?”
“The Master…?” Reiko said slowly.
“Yes, the Master,” Rafe repeated. “I’m not in charge anymore.”
Cheryl and Reiko nodded.
Rafe looked up to the camera and waved to it. The iron gates then parted.
“Follow me,” Rafe said.
Cheryl and Reiko looked at each other uncertain, but followed Rafe without argument.
He led them not into the house, but around the side of it. As the approached the land mass at the back of the manor, Cheryl could hear the sound of swords clashing into each other and armor being pinned.
Warriors were training out here.
Sure enough around the corner there was a sea of two hundred plus men in various stages of combat with one another.
“Wait here,” Rafe said, before hobbling into the crowd.
“What do you think this is all about?” Cheryl asked Reiko.
“Maybe Jet’s in charge of things after all,” Reiko said.
“That’s not good for us,” Cheryl replied.
“No it’s not.”
Then they saw him.
Emerging from the crowd, the great warrior, dragon master and king, a man of enormous size wearing shiny green armor and carrying an emerald encrusted sword. Upon his head he wore a golden crown and accompanying him was a young woman wearing a crown that matched his.
Sophie.
Once he was only a few feet away from them, there was a chilling moment where they all made eye contact with one another. Then the dragon master looked down to Rafe and uttered the words that shattered Cheryl’s world.
“Kill them,” Synrith said.
PART SIX
CHAPTER ONE
It began on the brightest of days. The warmest of afternoons. The grass was so fresh you could smell it in the air. Sophie Thames’s bags were packed and she was standing outside the rehabilitation centre for substance abusers, where she had been for the past three months. She spotted her older sister Cheryl driving into the car park, slowly maneuvering the car around towards her. It was no secret. Cheryl had saved her life. The whole family had in a way. Their support had been overwhelming.
But it was Cheryl who found her.
Passed out, overdosed, and on the brink of death. Sophie had been sitting with her junkie boyfriend at the back of a mall behind some dumpsters. Sticking needles in their arms. It was all she remembered until she woke up in the rehabilitation centre. But still the story had come down. The boyfriend had tried to call every single person in Sophie’s cell phone after he realized something wasn’t right. He left dozens of messages.
But the only person who had turned up was Cheryl.
Even the boyfriend was long gone by then.
So this was Sophie’s new beginning. A chance for a life free of abuse and pain.
Was it possible…?
Was it?
Cheryl pulled up adjacent to her, and pushed open the passenger door.
Sophie hesitated. She froze on the spot.
“Come on,” Cheryl said cheerily. “Let’s go home.”
And Sophie obeyed.
She never expected it. Not from how Cheryl behaved in the car. She didn’t try to pep talk her. No flowery advice. No lectures. She acted as though Sophie had been on an overseas holiday, and nothing more than that. As she journey continued, Sophie became more relaxed. She wasn’t being judged. She wasn’t being treated like someone who didn’t know how to take care of themselves.
It was as though it had been Sophie’s decision.
Sophie had chosen to get better.
She had done it on her own terms.
Cheryl and Sophie had had their falling outs before. But at this precise moment, Sophie was ready to put all that behind them. This really was a chance for a fresh start. A new beginning.
For everyone.
But all that changed soon after they arrived home.
There were balloons in the front garden. Children running around. Chasing one another. Inside their mother’s house, were adults talking and laughing and drinking. Streamers floating through the air. Banners hanging from the walls.
But this wasn’t a welcome home for Sophie.
It was Cheryl’s birthday. In progress.
Like picking Sophie up to come here was just an afterthought.
Like telling Sophie that there was a birthday party going on here, was never thought of at all.
She stood facing all of them. Their unstable, waving eyes.
They said hello, but they wouldn’t look at her. Not her cousins, not her grandparents. Not even her own mother.
Sophie turned, and looked back to her sister.
And Cheryl was just smiling at her.
As if nothing was wrong.
“What?” she mumbled. “We’re all here. We’re together now.”
Sophie smiled back.
A teeth-grating, vein-popping smile.
Someone took a photo of the two sisters standing there. Smiling together.
“What is it?” Cheryl tried again.
“Nothing,” Sophie replied. “I was just thinking about what a wonderful photo that’s going to make someday.”
Cheryl nodded. “You’re on your own now.”
Sophie nodded in reply.
I always was, she thought.
Later, she was sitting outside in the garden, with an untouched piece of cake on a paper plate. The cream melted in the sun.
Children ran by her, occasionally waving hi, but to the adults she was a ghost again.
Swept under the carpet.
Invisible.
Alone.
But footsteps soon approached.
Sophie looked up and saw she had been singled out by a woman with grey hair wearing a purple gown. She looked familiar. But Sophie couldn’t place her.
When she was standing right in front of Sophie, Sophie got to her feet.
“Who are you?” she asked. “What do you want?”
“My name is Lady Glowshark,” the woman replied. “And I wanted to tell you, you don’t have to be alone…”
CHAPTER TWO
A little bird told her.
A little bird told her how she could win at life.
Glowshark had seen Sophie’s future, and saw how she had failed badly. How she became the prized servant of the neanderthal wolf-shifter Rafe – a creature as foolish as he was insane. As a little bird told her, Rafe would never love her. He would only appear to until he got what he wanted.
Sophie’s path was shown to her. The map was unraveled and spread out. There were many directions she could take. But there was only one path to what she wanted. Revenge. Against both her brutal master the wolf –
And of course her spoiled sister Cheryl.
How Sophie hated her. If it weren’t for Glowshark watching out for her, she might have frightened herself for the hatred she felt.
At first it was just the hu
rt. That horrible humiliating feeling she felt when she saw how much their family loved her. Appreciated her. She saved Sophie’s life after all. All Sophie had done was try and kill herself. They expected Sophie to get better on her own – they expected to be somehow reimbursed for their anguish now she’d been through recovery. A long road ahead. To pleasing them.
But that was not the path Sophie was destined to take.
The world was much bigger than she first understood. The vampires, the shifters, the witch’s spells and magics – ah. Dark clouds had gathered over eventuating present.
And now here she was, facing off with the man who was to help her take them both down.
Cheryl.
And Rafe.
Only he didn’t know it yet.
“A little bird told me,” Sophie whispered, answering the master dragon’s question.
As he walked towards her on the roof of his skyscraper, Sophie continued to face away from him. Ahead of her, she watched the darkness gather over the city lights. Cheryl and Rafe were down there somewhere. In both their past selves, and their present.
“She had a crazy story when she came here,” Synrith said, speaking of Cheryl. “I didn’t let her tell it, but I knew it was there. For a moment it was as though I knew her. Then I thought maybe it was just because she reminded me of you. And then, I wasn’t sure. You girls can muddle my mind at times.”
“You’ll see her again soon,” Sophie said. “Jet will bring her here.”
“Really? Tonight?”
“Tonight.”
“And what’s the significance?”
“She won’t be the same. As you’ll soon see.”
Synrith didn’t answer right away. Sophie heard his feet shift on the pavement.
The night’s wind howled behind him.
“Are you going to help me make sense of this?” Synrith demanded. “Or are you going to keep speaking in riddles?”
“I know what you want,” Sophie whispered. “I also know what Cheryl wants. I even … have an idea of what’s going to happen.”
“What do I want?” Synrith asked.
“The same thing your enemy, Rafe, wants. Complete and absolute control of the city.”
“My job is to protect the city,” Synrith said.
“Your job is one thing, what you want another.” Sophie turned towards him slowly. “You’re the bad dragon.”
“I’m what?”
“She thinks you’re good, my sister. But I know you. Your heart is black. It’s filthy. It’s disgusting.”
“How quaint.”
“Cheryl doesn’t see it. Everyone’s told her who you are, but she doesn’t believe them. She’s come now, from the future to save you. That’s who you’ve met tonight. But the truth is she can’t save you. Because what she wants with you is something you’ll never want.”
“What does she want?”
Sophie took a step towards him. Her eyes moved from the bottom of his shoes, to the top of his shoulders.
“She loves you,” Sophie said. “She’s going to come back with Rafe and try to get you to leave earth. She wants you to hand over your rule here to him, and go live with her in the otherworld. Happily ever after. For eternity.”
Synrith opened his mouth to speak, but Sophie stopped him with a finger to his lips.
“You don’t have to lie to me,” she said. “If you give me what I want, then I’ll make sure you get exactly what you truly want.”
“And what is that again?” he asked.
Sophie blinked. “I’ll give you Rafe. Broken. Bleating. Begging to serve you.”
“And what do you want in return for that?”
Sophie grinned.
She grinned a teeth-grating, vein-popping smile.
“I want my sister’s heart.”
CHAPTER THREE
Echoes. Echoes of truth.
Cheryl couldn’t hear the words yet. Only that they’d been said. In some other time. Some other place.
Synrith’s eyes were still unreadable. It was almost as though there was nothing behind them. No emotion. No feeling.
No thought.
He looked at Rafe now, who was standing between him and Cheryl and Reiko. “Did you hear what I said?” he demanded. “I said kill them!”
From behind Synrith, Sophie reached out to touch the master dragon’s shoulder. She was moving forward. Her eyes locking with Cheryl’s.
“What is this?” Cheryl exclaimed. “What is happening?”
“How I longed for this moment,” Sophie whispered. “To watch you fall apart this like this.”
Rafe unbuttoned his coat to produce an ordinary steel dagger.
Sophie placed her other hand upon him and he stopped too.
“This can’t be real,” Cheryl said. “You guys are pulling my leg.”
“Sophie…” Reiko murmured behind her.”What have you done?”
“What have I done?” Sophie scowled. “You’re a fool Reiko. How will Cassandra react when she finds out you betrayed her for this miserable creature?”
“Are you talking about me?” Cheryl cried.
“Yes,” Sophie stated. “You.”
“What did I ever do to you? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You were better than me,” Sophie said. “You weren’t smarter, or more beautiful or anything like that, even though you were treated that way. You were just a better person. You did the right thing. People adored you. You gave them love and they loved you in return.”
“How is any of that bad?” Cheryl shot back.
“You don’t understand what it was like to be me. To have you for a sister. You always got what you wanted. I never did. I was miserable. I should have died in that alleyway. At least that would have been my choice. But you had to take that away from me too. You had to be my hero. Well, now you know what it is to be me. Now you know what betrayal feels like.”
Sophie put her hands around Synrith’s waist and interlocked them.
“You want him, don’t you?” Sophie said. “You wanted him to be good.”
Synrith was breathing, but that was the only evidence that he was alive.
“Bend your knees, Master,” Sophie said.
Synrith, unflinching, complied with her wish.
Now Sophie’s face was high above his shoulder. She was still staring intently at Cheryl. Hoping it would sink in.
“You see?” Sophie challenged. “He loves me now. And I’m going to make him be the one who kills you. So I can see you die all over. Not just your body. But your spirit as well. I want to see you, Cheryl Thames, be erased from existence.”
Cheryl looked over her shoulder to Reiko.
She wanted to know whether he was about to run.
Or if he would stand and fight with her.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Master Synrith,” Reiko began, stepping in front of Cheryl. “Because of your allegiance to the vampires and your dependence on their cooperation in the coming times, you cannot afford to kill either of us. Cassandra will not accept my blood on your hands. And Cado would be quite enraged that you have taken his bride from him.”
It took a moment for Cheryl to figure out who he was talking about.
“Don’t listen to him, Syn,” Sophie cooed. “You know your debt to me.”
Synrith’s eyes slanted upward, looking at her. He then removed her hands and stood to his full height towering over them.
“My debt was to give you your sister’s heart,” Synrith murmured. “I think I have done that.”
Cheryl and Synrith locked eyes for a moment before Sophie stepped between them.
“You’re not actually listening to them,” she cried angrily. “They’re just manipulating you!”
“And you’re not?” Synrith remarked.
He brushed her aside and approached Cheryl and Reiko.
“Why?” Cheryl demanded of him.
“Pardon me?” Synrith replied.
Tears flowed down Cheryl’s cheeks. She stompe
d her foot on the ground. “I want to know why you’ve done this to me. To us.”
Synrith smiled thinly. “There never was an us. It was all in your mind.”
“No,” Cheryl sobbed. “That’s not true. It was real.”
“Maybe it was then,” he said slowly. “But now is a different time.” He turned to Reiko. “I will be informing Cassandra and Cado of your disturbance here. I’ll also make it clear that should either of you attempt to interfere with myself, Sophie, or our cause, then repercussions will be swift and merciless.”
He signaled to Rafe, and his servant hobbled over as Synrith turned his back to them.
Cheryl watched her sisters eyes, the anger inside of them still bitter and fixated. Even with Synrith’s arm around her, she didn’t stop staring.
Still unsatisfied.
“Come on,” Rafe said, urging them to step back. “You’re not welcome here.”
Reiko’s hand fell on Cheryl’s shoulder.
She looked up to him.
“We can’t fight them,” Reiko said. “Not here.”
Cheryl shook her head. “She’s done something to him. He’s not himself.”
Rafe hit both of them with his cane. “Get,” he growled.
They continued walking backwards a moment, and then eventually turned back towards the gate.
“I have the feeling it’s something else,” Reiko said.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Look at him,” Reiko said, glancing back. “Just look.”
Cheryl stopped and turned back.
There he was, standing with his sword unsheathed, wielding it into the air.
His army crouched and kneeling before him.
Sophie was kneeling at his feet too.
“So what?” Cheryl muttered.
She caught up with Reiko who hadn’t stopped with her.
“So what?” she said again.
“This is what Synrith wanted all along,” Reiko said. “He doesn’t need you.”
Cheryl let out an exasperated sigh. Reiko’s words were starting to sink in after all.
“You don’t know what we had,” she protested. “How close we were.”
They made it to the front gate and paused, waiting for Rafe to catch up with them.
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