by Nina Croft
But in some ways, she was.
“Well, that’s something I’ll have to remedy. Now can we go?”
He ushered her up the steps in front of him. The pilot stepped aside, allowing them to enter, and then introduced the copilot and the two cabin staff.
“Can I bring you anything?” one of flight attendants asked as they took their seats and fastened the seat belts.
“Champagne for me,” Kaitlin said.
“I’ll have water.”
“That stewardess fancies you, you know. And she doesn’t have a clue who I am, or what I am to you, but apparently, I’m seriously going to cramp her style.”
He raised a brow, looked after the hostess in her fitted uniform. He supposed she was beautiful, but he wasn’t interested.
“That’s because you’re in love with Sadie,” Kaitlin said matter-of-factly. “That shows good taste, but maybe not a lot of common sense.”
“Why not? I thought you liked Sadie.”
“I do, but she’s totally screwed up. And while she’s super brave in a lot of ways, she’s a coward in others. When she lost Josie, she sort of shut herself off.”
He knew that. He also knew that the reasons made no difference. He couldn’t get through to her.
Kaitlin reached across and patted his leg. “I wouldn’t give up hope.”
The stewardess came back at that moment with Kaitlin’s champagne and his glass of water. She swallowed it in one gulp and held out the glass for more. It was refilled. “You might as well leave the bottle,” Kaitlin said. “Oh, and once we’re up, can you bring me some food? Anything will do—no, actually, make it pizza. Lots of pizza. What?” she asked, when she looked up and found him watching her. “I like pizza and they never, never served pizza in my little prison cell.” She sipped her champagne. “I could get used to this. You know, whatever else I do, I plan to have money. There are lots of ways a person like me can make money. I’m going to be very rich.”
They were silent while the plane taxied along the runway, then rose into the sky. Kaitlin stared out of the window. “I think I’d like to learn to fly.” She unfastened her seat belt and wandered off to the seating area, taking her champagne with her. She plonked down on one of the leather sofas.
He followed her. Took a seat opposite. “So what are you going to do? Providing Jake doesn’t insist on me sending you back.”
“Jake can insist all he likes. He’s not my father.”
“He loves you.”
“Hey, I’m actually very lovable. But I have to get away.” She thumped her chest with her fist. “There’s too much hatred, too many dark feelings in here. I want to kill the colonel and Kane so badly, it’s like sickness rising inside me every time they’re near.”
“And where would you go?”
The stewardess reappeared, and they were silent while the woman set out an array of pizzas on the table in front of Kaitlin. Two plates, silverware. “Anything else?”
“That’s fine for the moment.”
Kaitlin picked up a slice of pizza and breathed in deeply. “Yum. I want to go everywhere. Do you know how…narrow my life has been up until now? I grew up in a goddamned military compound. I hardly ever left until Jake and the others turned up. But we were still virtual prisoners. Then, when I was sixteen and I started doing the colonel’s sordid little jobs, I almost wished I never had to go anywhere. I hated it. So now, I’m going to travel for fun.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“I’m going to cross the ocean on a yacht, canoe down the Amazon, bungee jump from Victoria Falls…I have a list a mile long.”
“I’m sure you’ll have fun.” An alien concept. But in a strange way, they weren’t dissimilar. He’d hardly had a normal childhood, either.
“Yeah, we’re so alike.” She glanced at him over her half-eaten pizza. “Both broken.” She finished the first slice, ate a second, picked up a third. “You’re not eating.”
He wasn’t hungry.
“You know,” she said. “Maybe you should come with me.”
“Maybe I will.” If he survived.
“You’ll break Sadie’s heart if you die,” she warned him.
He doubted that. Her heart was way too guarded.
Kaitlin heaved a huge sigh. “You know nothing about women.”
He grinned. “And I suppose you know all about men?”
She swallowed her third glass of champagne. “Absolutely nothing. But I suspect I have atrocious taste. That’s another reason I have to leave.” She leaned closer to him. “I think Kane fancies me.”
His lips twitched. “Isn’t he a little old?”
“Yeah. The pervert. Except not really. I’m eighteen now. I’m all grown up. And he’s…hot. And I keep noticing that. And it’s so inappropriate, considering I want to beat his brains out. Or shoot him in the head.” She sighed dramatically. “I’m just a mass of contradictions. So I’ll take myself away, get a little experience under my belt, and then I’ll no doubt see him for the asshole that he is.”
He suspected she was getting a little inebriated.
“I suspect you’re right.” She poured herself another glass.
At that moment, the stewardess poked her head around the door. “There’s a call for you, sir. We’ve put it through to the office.” She waved a hand to a door at the back of the cabin.
He got up and crossed the room. The door led into a small room with a desk and a leather chair. Kaitlin followed him in, and he let her. There wasn’t much point in trying to keep secrets from her.
“I knew you were bright,” she said.
He took the seat, and she came to stand at his shoulder as he switched on the screen. Fergus’s face appeared.
Kaitlin waggled her fingers. “Hi, Fergus.”
A smile broke his stern expression. “What’s she doing there?” he asked.
“I’m a stowaway.”
He shook his head. “You’re on your way back here?” he said to Ethan.
“Yes. I’ll be there in about seven hours. What’s happening?”
“I’m in with Lauren. I’m sure she believes I’m interested in her offer.”
“Well, keep it that way. I want to meet when I get in, but see if you can make it without her knowing.”
“I’ll try.”
“What else?”
“I’ve been trying to get that video footage you asked for. The part from the garage to where the police car stopped them is gone. No record at all.”
“Damn.” But it wasn’t unexpected.
“But,” Fergus continued, “I extrapolated possible routes backward from there and forward from the party site. And I managed to pick them up on route. The video isn’t the best, and they are in the vehicle for the most part, but there’s one part that’s…interesting.”
“Send it through.”
“It’s on its way.”
He tapped his fingers on the desk as he waited for the video to open. When it did, it showed a wide street at night time. A car pulled up—the black sedan he recognized from the chase. The door opened and a passenger got out. Behind him, Kaitlin drew a sharp breath. The man stood for a moment looking around. He closed his eyes, opened them, got back in the car and drove off. The video only lasted for a minute. He played it again, then turned to Kaitlin.
“What do you think?”
“I think Fergus is right. It’s very interesting,” Kaitlin muttered. “And that you need to call Jake.”
Ten minutes later he’d set up the link. Jake’s face came on the screen, Kane beside him. There was no sign of Sadie. He thought about asking, but in the end, he decided to keep quiet. She clearly didn’t want to see him again. First things first, because he was sure they must have been worrying. “Kaitlin’s here.”
“What the hell is she doing there?” Kane snapped.
“None of your fucking business,” Kaitlin said from behind him.
“You’ll send her straight back.”
“No, he won’t.”
> Actually, he’d already decided no, he wouldn’t. She patted him on the back, and he sighed. He wasn’t sure if he was doing the right thing, releasing Kaitlin on an unsuspecting world. “I think you need to let her have some space,” he said.
“And I think it’s not up to him to let me do anything. I’m not in the goddamn army. I’m a free person. Isn’t that what breaking out was all about?”
Jake ran a hand through his hair. “Kaitlin, are you sure?”
She nodded. “I need this.”
“Well, keep in touch. And if you need anything…”
“I know.”
Kane opened his mouth to say something, but Jake spoke to him quietly, and he shut up. “What else?”
“I’m sending you a video Fergus tracked down. It’s the car that chased us from the garage, presumably the same people who attacked the party.” He hit send, then waited while they watched it. Jake swore softly.
“Who the hell…?” He turned to Kane. “You know them?”
“Never seen them before in my life.” He faced the screen, speaking directly to Ethan. “You need to access the Conclave’s files, to see if they were working with any other groups.”
“I will. But I suspect the answer is no. Travis didn’t mention anything, and there was no point in keeping it secret when he knew we’d have access to the files.”
“Who the hell are these people?” Jake said. “And more to the point—what do they want?”
“Well, that’s pretty obvious. Us. Dead.” Kane rubbed a hand around the back of his neck. “Okay, so let’s list the facts: One—they can find us. Hone in on us. Two—both Rose and Sadie said they could feel them, so we can sense them once they get close enough. Three—they can knock people out, presumably with some sort of mind control similar to Rose’s psi bolts. Four—they want us dead. Five—finally, and best of all, they look just like us. Coincidence? I don’t think so.”
Ethan switched the screen back to the video and then flicked back to the image of the man. He’d stopped under a street light, and he could see him clearly. Tall, lean, black hair, and deep blue eyes.
Who else could possibly be after them?
He didn’t believe it was Conclave. There was no reason and no way would they have attacked the party or killed his father. It wouldn’t happen. All he could do was follow his plan, take down the Conclave, and hope that with the Tribe all out of London, these others would stay away. And that the distance was too great for them to hone in on them while they were in Africa.
At least Sadie would be safe.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Sadie woke once in the night, to find herself lying side by side with her sister, their hands clasped together. It was how they’d always slept. Maybe her sister was in there somewhere after all, and one day she would get her back. It occurred to her that both she and Ethan had been molded by the deaths of the people nearest to them, and both those people were actually still alive.
What did it mean?
Maybe that appearances were an illusion. The world was full of lies, and you couldn’t trust anyone.
Or perhaps…one should never give up hope.
She fell asleep again, this time to dream of Ethan. A different dream this time. One that in a strange way filled her with hope. She woke as the first rays of daylight filtered through the curtains. And she was crying, sobbing, her sister’s arms wrapped tight around her. But it wasn’t sadness, maybe melancholy…and the realization that she’d made yet another total fuck-up with her life. She should never have let him go alone and should certainly not have let him go thinking he didn’t deserve love. His mother had walked away from him. Now she had done the same. Whatever happened, even if he died and she lost him forever, she had to face her own demons.
Josie stroked her hair. “What is it?” she asked.
“I have to go tell a man I love him.”
She jumped off the bed and ran for the door, hesitated, ran back and kissed her bemused sister on the cheek. “Before you…left, you had a crush on Stefan. He’s a sweetie, so if you need anyone to talk to, he’ll help.”
And she was gone.
She raced to her room, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, shoved her feet into boots. She was getting out of this place. Somehow. If she had to walk. But that would take way too long.
She packed a small bag and headed for the kitchen. Coffee first, then she’d have to go creep to the colonel to see if he could arrange transport to London.
As she entered the kitchen, she came to a halt. Jake, Christa, and Kane sat around the big wooden table, sipping coffee, looking at her. She sat down, and Christa pushed a steaming mug in her direction. She wrapped her fingers around it.
“You look pale,” Jake said. “Did you have another vision?”
“Yeah. A dream. Ethan died. And I’m going to London. So don’t try and stop me.”
“Ethan died?”
“It’s complicated. But I need to leave. Now.”
He gave a small smile. “There’s a helicopter waiting to take you to Kasesi airport, where the colonel has very kindly and totally illegally commandeered you a military jet. You’ll be in London tonight.”
She peered at him suspiciously. “How did you know I’d want to go?”
“We were actually taking bets on how long you would last,” Christa said.
“Who won?”
“Jake. I said shorter and Kane reckoned longer.”
“I’ll go get my motorbike,” Kane said. “I’ll take you to the helicopter pad.” He rose to his feet and wandered from the room.
“Ethan contacted us during the night,” Jake said. “From the plane. Kaitlin’s with him. And he got some new intel from London. Some CCTV coverage of the two men who attacked the party.”
“And…” she prompted.
“They look like us. And if you go to London, you have to presume they’ll be able to find you.”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Christa said. “The reflector device might protect you. It stops you sending and receiving with each other, so it might prevent these people picking you up.”
She slid a device across the table, and Sadie shoved it in her rucksack, then sat back and sipped her coffee. She’d have the whole journey to London to come up with a plan, so she stared vacantly into space and tried not to think about the future. The thing was, even if they somehow managed to come through this alive, she would still lose Ethan. The Tribe was long-lived. Kane was around a hundred and fifty and looked not much older than Jake’s twenty-nine. Ethan would grow old and die, while she stayed the same. But it was still worth it, however much time they had together—and she was probably worrying unduly, and Ethan would never get the chance to grow old.
“What’s the matter?” Christa asked.
“I was thinking about Ethan growing old. You know, if he doesn’t die imminently.” She realized then that Christa was in the same situation. Although she had small amounts of Tribe DNA, she wasn’t Tribe and would presumably grow old as normal, leaving Jake behind.
Christa reached across and touched her lightly on the arm. “You don’t have to lose him.”
“What?”
“When you both come back—which you will—I’ll be ready to try the first human subjects in my longevity project.”
She was vaguely aware that Christa had been working on some sort of genetic project for the Conclave—albeit unknowingly. “You mean Ethan? Is it safe? Have you done it before?”
“Only once.”
“And…?”
She grinned. “I’m still here, aren’t I?” Then she gave a small shrug. “Just talk to him about it. If that’s what he wants. What both of you want.”
“I will.” It was too much to take in right now. She was finding it hard to believe she’d last the next few days, never mind any longer.
At the sound of a bike pulling up outside the front door, she pushed herself to her feet. “Keep an eye on Josie for me,” she said. “Try and convince her we’re all as nice
as you.”
“I will.”
Outside, she slung her leg over the bike, wrapped her arms around Kane’s middle, and they were off. She looked back. Christa and Jake stood on the veranda, Jake’s arm slung around Christa’s shoulder.
Would she ever see them again?
She almost swayed from exhaustion as she climbed down the steps from the plane. She hadn’t been able to sleep on the flight. Her mind had churned with the information Jake had told her. What did it mean? Who was after them and why? It seemed like they would never run out of people who wanted to kill them.
She’d landed in a military airport a few miles outside London. The colonel still had friends—at least he had some uses. She took a deep breath and settled the reflector device in place and headed out. A black SUV pulled up as she reached the tarmac, and she climbed into the back without speaking to the driver. He had his instructions and drove her out of the airport and headed toward the city. Only when they got close did she tap the screen. It came down. “Yes, ma’am?”
“Take me to Lincoln Street,” she said.
“Yes, ma’am.”
She wasn’t sure where Ethan would be, but she’d start at his office. She still had her security clearance; hopefully, it would get her in the door. If not, she’d have to rely on reception to put her in contact with Ethan…if he was there or they knew where he was. At least from the office, she could contact Jake and tell him she’d arrived.
She went through the revolving doors into the reception area, then swiped her card at the security check. She held her breath, half expecting it to flash up with some warning, but it cleared, and the guard nodded her through. She took the private elevator—activated by her card—up to the top floor, where Ethan’s office was situated. With the reflector device on, she couldn’t reach out and see if he was close. She was tempted to take a peek but wouldn’t risk it. The outer office was empty, and she tapped lightly on the double doors to the inner office, before pushing them open without waiting for a reply.
She came to an abrupt halt as she stepped inside. Two guns were aimed directly at her. And the tension oozed out of her. He was here. “Don’t shoot.” She held up her hands. “I come in peace.”
