“Nonsense. You’re not any more marked than the rest of us,” Niall said, stroking her hair with a gentleness that made Nicholas’s heart tighten. “I used to dream of ravens when I was a boy. They weren’t nice dreams. I hate ravens,” Niall continued.
Elodie yelped as Sarah dabbed at her wounds. “Is everybody else safe?” she asked. “Where is Mike? Where is Sean?”
Sarah flinched. “I don’t know,” she murmured. “Try and lie still.”
Niall walked to the window and looked at the sky. “The ravens are still out there,” he said in a low voice, “and so is that bloody demon-bird, and who knows what else. Sean can’t go wandering off on his own like this. I’ll find Mike and we’ll go and bring him back.” He placed a kiss on Elodie’s forehead and strode out of the room.
“Take care!” Sarah called after him.
“Will do!” His footsteps faded into the distance, and then they heard him calling Mike’s name.
“Sarah. What happened between you and Sean?” whispered Elodie after a few moments, her voice muffled by her pillow.
Nicholas’s heart skipped a beat. He waited.
Sarah shook her head, concentrating on the task at hand. “Nothing happened. And nothing ever will.” She kept her eyes solely on Elodie’s wounds, then she pulled the bedclothes carefully up to the nape of her friend’s neck. “Rest now, Elodie. If you need me, just shout and I’ll be straight up. Thank God you’re safe,” she added, and a rare look of affection passed between the two girls.
“Are you OK?” She then asked Nicholas, unable to read the look in his eyes.
He nodded. “Yes. I’ll sit here with Elodie for a bit. If that’s OK with you.”
“Yes. Stay,” murmured Elodie. She lay as white as a sheet, her eyes feverish with pain.
We have done this to her, thought Nicholas in despair.
He made a promise to himself. Never again would he be part of the King of Shadows’ world of pain.
50
Threshold
Same planet, two dimensions
The love that wasn’t meant to be
Sarah
Just when I was about to make my choice, just when I was about to tell Sean that I was ready, that I knew what love was at last, he told me that he’d abide by the rules.
Secret women cannot marry Lay men.
Sean and I can never be together.
But none of those rules make any sense to me now. Everything has changed, the old order of things has crumbled. None of us is who we thought we were, and still, Sean is clinging to the old world as if its laws still stand.
I tried to tell him that it makes no difference to me whether he is a Lay, or half-Secret, or even an Elemental, for all that matters. I don’t care whose blood runs through his veins – he is Sean. My Sean.
But in the garden today, once I’d explained what I’d discovered in the letter, he told me that he believes in the rigid structure on which the Secret Families base their existence. He told me he agrees with Morag that the powers Secret Families hold should be nourished and protected, and that we should breed among ourselves and not dilute our powers. Yes, breed, like pedigree dogs, or prized cattle. When I protested that I didn’t care about my powers, he said that he couldn’t bear to be responsible for the loss of the Blackwater. That I should marry Nicholas, or Niall, or any other surviving Secret heir, but that it could never, ever be him. Never anyone with Lay blood in them.
He held me one last time, and then he walked away.
Nicholas came into my room as I was trying to gather my thoughts.
“Sarah.” He took my hands in his, and without warning he tried to kiss me.
I turned away. “I’m sorry,” I heard myself saying.
I think he understood at once.
To see the devastation in his face broke my heart, but at least I wasn’t living a lie anymore. If Sean and I could never be together, I didn’t believe I could ever love anyone else. I couldn’t deceive Nicholas any longer. I couldn’t deceive myself any longer.
“I’ll wait. I’ll wait for you to change your mind,” he said, clutching my hand.
I had never seen him like this. “Nicholas, I’m sorry, but I won’t.”
“Sean,” he growled.
“No. There’s no one. There can never be anyone, Nicholas. I’m a Midnight, and believe me, it’s a lot better for everyone if the Midnight line stops here with me.”
51
And Then I Found You
Watch while what was in the dark
Is cast into the light
Watch while the secrets we kept
Don’t choke us anymore
While Elodie rested and Sarah and Nicholas talked upstairs, the others were gathered in the living room. Sean and Mike were chatting quietly by the fireplace; Niall was lying on one of the sofas, his arms crossed behind his head; Winter, having entered while Niall and Nicholas moved Elodie upstairs, was sitting in an armchair near the window, as if she wanted to be halfway between inside and outside, near the freedom of the windy beach. She had tucked her legs under herself, and her silver hair was flowing freely down to her waist. With the moonlight shining on her, her eyes gleamed silver too. She’d been spending a lot of time at Midnight Hall – just like when her mother was the housekeeper there, and she had played with Mairead every day.
Niall was trying to catch glimpses of her when he thought nobody noticed, but Winter knew, of course. She was quite aware of the effect she had on the opposite sex. There was something wild and beautiful about her that never failed to entrance.
“Will you come and explore with me, Niall?” she said suddenly, her clear gaze on him and a smile playing on her lips. Mike stifled a smile, his eyes darting from one to the other. What was happening, what had been slowly happening since Winter had arrived on the scene, was clear for everyone to see. Unlike Sarah, Winter was an open book, her feelings and desires always plain for everyone to see.
“I haven’t been in the grand hall for years. I want to see what it looks like now,” she continued.
Niall rose at once. “Sure thing!”
Upon seeing him so eager, Mike couldn’t suppress his smile any longer.
“Let’s go, then,” said Winter sweetly, and Niall’s cheeks flamed scarlet.
“Have fun,” called Mike mock-seriously. Niall ignored him.
“This place is huge,” Niall murmured as they stepped out into the corridor. “It’s at least double the size of our family home in Skerry.”
“It’s at least fifty times bigger than my cottage!” laughed Winter.
“But a lot smaller than the sea,” said Niall.
“True,” Winter replied softly. “When I was little Mairead and I used to roam around this place for days on end,” she continued as they walked. “Playing hide and seek here was just brilliant, we wouldn’t find each other for hours!” Winter laughed her lyrical laugh. “Come. I want to show you something.”
She took his hand, entwining her fingers with his – Niall felt something warm stirring in his chest, and held onto her. She led him down the corridor to a wooden door, and pushed it open.
“The library,” said Niall.
“How did you guess?” she laughed, gesturing at the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves full of leather-bound volumes of all shapes and sizes.
“I’m very observant!” He winked.
Niall scoured the shelves. “I’ve never seen such a collection before. Botany, astronomy. Oh.”
“What do you see?”
Niall laughed. “A modern book. Yoga Workouts. Do you think Morag Midnight did yoga?” He grinned, holding up a pink-and-yellow-covered book with a woman sitting in the lotus position.
Winter laughed too. “Maybe Hamish.” Her eyes danced. “What is it doing here?”
“It probably belonged to Sarah’s mum.” Niall fingered the soft covers, walking slowly from shelf to shelf. “Some of these are five hundred years old,” he said in awe.
“Look,” said Winter, pointing to
a thick black volume. “The History of the Midnight Family by Lord Gregor Midnight. One for Sarah.”
“Ideal bedtime reading,” smirked Niall. “Oh,” he said, crossing his arms and looking up.
“What’s the matter?”
“That book up there, see?” Winter raised her chin, flicking her hair away from her neck. A gust of her seawater scent wafted towards Niall’s face and he breathed her in deeply, glancing at her white throat as she looked up. “Between Two Worlds,” he said, trying to regain composure. “I want to have a look at that.”
Winter looked around. “There should be a ladder somewhere, or at least there used to be.”
“There!” Spying the wooden ladder, Niall positioned it and started to climb, stretching himself until his fingers brushed the book he wanted.
He wiped the dust off the cover with his sleeve and opened the first page. An intricate label had been glued on it. Midnight, it said in Gothic fonts. He climbed down and handed the book to Winter. She traced the deeply engraved letters on the cover with a finger.
“Come,” said Niall, and took her hand. He led her to the sofa by the window. “Ouch! The Midnights’ idea of comfort was quite … different,” he complained as he sat on the rigid leather surface, hitting the backrest.
“I’ll tell you a secret,” whispered Winter as she sat beside him. “When my mum was housekeeper here they had no hot water. At all. Ever. They all took cold showers and baths. They bathed the babies in water from the stove, but as soon as they were toddlers, cold baths for them too! It wouldn’t bother us, of course, but if you’re not of the sea like us …”
Niall whistled. “Tough people.”
“Mmmm. You can say that again. So. Between Two Worlds,” said Winter, resting the book on her lap. She shuffled a bit until her leg was touching Niall’s.
She couldn’t be any closer if she sat on my lap, thought Niall, a bit panicky. But Winter seemed not to notice his embarrassment.
Get a grip, man, Niall scolded himself.
He leafed through the pages. “This is about demons.” He paled. “Do you know anything about demons and the Secret history?”
“Not much. I saw a few demons, and Stewart told me things once in a while, but I’m mostly ignorant. I never hung out with Secret people, apart from Mairead and Stewart. And when I went away, I was mainly among seals, really.”
“Were you not lonely?”
“Well, there were a few friends, a few boyfriends,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Of course.” Niall scowled.
“Why ‘of course’?” asked Winter.
“Because you’re beautiful,” he said simply. You really are beautiful, he thought, taking in her silver hair, her strong, warm body in a slightly faded blue cotton dress with little white flowers – her pink cheeks and shiny eyes, a face that spoke of easy joy and laughter, unlike Sarah’s and Elodie’s.
“Well, thank you,” she said, and gave him a little peck on the cheek.
Niall swallowed.
“So yes. Anyway. This book …” He continued skimming through it, his eyes scanning the words. Suddenly he froze.
Winter looked at him curiously. “What’s wrong?”
“This mentions the Time of Demons,” he breathed. “The gate between the worlds.” He started to read more frantically. “Have you heard about the Shadow World, or the Underworld?”
“The underworld, as in under ground?”
“Not exactly, no. According to this, the Shadow World is …a different dimension. A different universe.” He stopped briefly then began to read aloud. “The demons that seep into our world cross over to our own dimension. Apparently, it’s not easy for them to do so. Only the strongest survive the passage.”
“But why do they do that?”
“The earth belonged to them, thousands of years ago. That was the Time of Demons. We humans were the endangered species, if you like.”
Winter smiled. “You, humans. I’m half Elemental.”
“So you are,” replied Niall, resting a hand briefly on her arm. Though it only lasted a moment, he loved touching her, feeling her warm skin. And he loved her smell – the sea was his favourite scent in the world.
Niall steadied himself and continued reading. “Then the ancestors of the Secret Families, the Secret children, appeared. They claimed the planet and banished the demons to the Shadow World. But the Secret Families knew that they had to keep guard, and that the demons would try and overcome them again.” He paused. “That’s happening now.”
“Who is the King of Shadows?” asked Winter suddenly. She’d skimmed over his shoulder while he spoke, and now pointed to a passage farther down the page.
Niall frowned, his eyes following her finger. A sudden chill swept over him, despite the proximity of Winter’s warm body. “The King of Shadows, the King of the Underworld. He has many names,” he read. “The most powerful demon of all. The one who rules the Shadow World.”
Winter continued, “The King of Shadows is a Surari, but unlike any other. Legend has it that he is a spirit who rules over a world of spirits. He is bound to the Shadow World but his will and power reaches into our own. It is rumoured that a gate to the Shadow World exists and can be entered through an ancient location, though no one has yet succeeded in finding it.”
Winter trailed off. For a moment they sat in silence. Then Niall shook his head, gathering his thoughts and taking it all in. “We have to tell the others.” He took a shaky breath.
Winter got up and stood very, very close to him.
Niall blushed. She just came up to his shoulder, and Niall wasn’t a tall man. Only then did he seem to notice how small she was.
“We need to—”
But he didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence, because suddenly Winter was kissing him, and everything else, for a moment, didn’t matter.
52
Between Two Worlds
We worship the moon and our herds
Our home is the plains
Our roof is the sky
We rise, we are
The Secret children
With pots boiling on the stove, and a lovely smell coming from the oven, it was like any other kitchen at Christmas. And Sarah was hoping to keep it that way, at least for one day. She was arranging a centrepiece made of red candles and holly as Niall and Winter barged in. The moment she saw their faces, she knew something had happened. The Christmas decoration seemed so absurd all of a sudden, like a little raft in a stormy sea, a desperate attempt to hold on to some normality.
“Hey, man. Are you OK?” called Mike, noticing how pale Niall was.
“Not really,” said Niall, and lifted the book for everyone to see.
“Between Two Worlds,” read Sean, taking the leather-bound volume from him. “What’s this?”
“We found it in the library,” Winter intervened.
“Look here,” said Niall, opening to the page he and Winter had read.
Sean and Sarah crowded around him.
Niall read the relevant parts aloud, and the kitchen fell silent.
“The King of Shadows. That is what you said during the scrying spell, remember, Sarah? The King of Shadows is coming,” said Sean.
Sarah’s face was white. She nodded. “The Enemy is the King of Shadows.”
“There’s more,” said Niall. “Listen. It is rumoured that a gate to the Shadow World exists and can be entered, though no one has yet succeeded in finding it. A gate. A gate to the Shadow World.”
“So we know who he is, and where he is! What’s stopping us?” Mike exclaimed.
“We need to go and find him. It’s as simple as that,” stated Sean, lost in thought.
Sarah was silent.
“Sarah,” Niall said gently. She was standing still, the certain stillness that descended on her sometimes.
“Yes,” she said finally. “Yes. We need to go, but how will we know where to find him? Shouldn’t we think this through?”
“I agree with Sarah,” cam
e Nicholas’s voice from the corner of the room. “We need to think about this, calmly. In the morning. We’ll leave when we know more about what we’re dealing with.” He hadn’t moved, hadn’t spoken as Niall and Winter spoke. They had forgotten all about his presence. But he’d been standing there all along, hands curled into fists to stop them from shaking, trying to quell the fear racing through him.
“Nicholas is right, we can’t leave till we know where we’re going. Might as well enjoy the evening, and all this.” She swept her arm towards the boiling pots and pans, the gently glowing oven roasting the sweet-smelling turkey.
Sarah looked to Sean, her face solemn, pleading.
“Tomorrow,” he said.
Mike put his hands up. “But—”
“Mike,” said Nicholas in a low voice. “We need to figure out what’s happening.”
“I suppose so,” Mike agreed reluctantly.
A look passed between Sarah and Sean, a look laden with meaning. The storm is coming, were their unspoken words.
Nicholas stepped out into the frozen afternoon air. He’d muttered something about needing a walk – he often did that, and nobody questioned it. He stood on the watermark, the wind whipping against him. He was shaking badly, anxiety was sweeping through him and devouring his thoughts, leaving a black knot of fear growing in his stomach.
They’ll know soon. They’ll know who I am.
But now, I know who I am. It doesn’t matter. Not to them, anyway.
A strange elation took him, easing his anxiety. He turned back towards the house – he could see the lights of the kitchen, and the silhouettes of Sarah and her friends moving within. One of the windows upstairs was lit too: Elodie’s room. She’d gone back there to lie down for a while.
Tide (The Sarah Midnight Trilogy) Page 25
