as shooting him in the head
or hacking off a limb to find
out – though I had been
sorely tempted on several
occasions.
I could make fire and
water obey my command, I
could move objects the size
of elephants. I could
probably even move an
actual elephant (one day I
needed to try that). But I
couldn’t heal myself from a
bullet wound or bring people
back from the dead. Jack had
a miracle power. Mine was
just kind of meh by
comparison.
Jack pushed past Alex into
our room, stopping short
when he saw the mussed up
bedcovers on our four-poster
bed. He shook his head and
shot a pointed look in Alex’s
direction. It was only then I
noticed something red out the
corner of my eye. I spun
towards the door.
‘Amber!’ I yelled, jumping
off the bed and sliding past
Alex, out into the hallway
where a slope-shouldered
Amber stood leaning against
the doorjamb, her red hair
flaming around her head in
loose curls.
She smiled wanly at me.
‘Hey, Lila.’
After spending six weeks
with us on the boat, Amber’s
colour had finally returned to
her cheeks and the haunted
expression behind her eyes
had begun to fade. But grief
left indelible marks, that
much I knew, and I wondered
how long it would take for
her to get over what had
happened, or if in fact she
ever would. I was glad that
she had stuck around though,
and I guessed a little part of
me was grateful that she was
giving Jack something else to
focus on besides me. He
clearly had developed
something of a crush on
Amber, though I presumed
she wasn’t anywhere near
ready for a new relationship.
Alex greeted Amber
warmly, hugging her tightly,
then turned to Jack, his
expression switching to
inscrutable.
‘What are you doing
here?’ he asked, in what I had
come to recognise as his
friendly interrogator voice.
Jack shrugged, flopping
down onto the bed. ‘Figured
mum and dad needed some
time together just the two of
them and that maybe I should
check in on my little sister.’
He flashed me his most
winning smile. ‘Make sure
she was OK.’
‘Right,’ I said, holding my
arms out to the sides. ‘Well,
as you can see I’m fine.
Absolutely one hundred
percent perfect in fact. Or I
was, until you showed up. So
you can leave now, fully
assured of my health and
general OK-ness.’
‘But we just got here,’
Jack said, eyeing the room
and bouncing up and down on
the mattress, testing its
firmness. ‘May as well stay
now.’
A lightning bolt of panic
shot through me. Was he
suggesting he was going to
be sharing our room? There
was only one bed. I was
absolutely no way making
room in it for him.
‘You’ve got to be
kidding?’ I hissed.
Alex’s hand quickly found
my shoulder and applied
gentle pressure, whether in
warning or to placate me I
couldn’t tell.
‘Nantucket’s a dangerous
place. I just want to keep an
eye on you,’ Jack said,
getting up from the bed and
walking over to the window.
‘Nantucket? Dangerous?
What are you talking about?’
I spluttered. ‘We’re on a tiny
island in the Atlantic. It’s the
least dangerous place
probably in the whole entire
world. Though the murder
count may increase by one
very shortly.’
Jack turned to face me,
smiling smugly. ‘I can’t die,
remember?’
‘That’s just a theory,’ I
shot back. ‘I’m happy to put
it to the test.’
Alex was standing to one
side, his mouth pursed in a
sign I knew now to be
bemusement. He usually
chose to stand aside at times
like these and let Jack and I
battle it out on our own.
‘A girl got murdered here,’
Jack said quietly.
I opened my mouth then
shut it again.
‘When?’ Alex asked.
‘Last year,’ Jack mumbled.
I rolled my eyes. ‘You
made it sound like there was
a serial killer on the loose.’ I
moved quickly to the door
and held it wide open, hoping
he would take the hint. ‘Jack,
I don’t need looking after or
checking up on. Alex is with
me and he’s a marine. And he has a gun. And hmmm, let
me see . . . oh yeah, I’m fully
capable of LOOKING
AFTER MYSELF. A fact you
seem hell bent on ignoring.
In case you had forgotten,’ I
almost yelled, ‘I managed to
rescue you and Mum from a
heavily-guarded Marine base
—’ Jack scoffed loudly and
began perusing the room
service menu. I raised my
voice even louder. ‘I took on
a mafia boss and his
henchmen—’
Jack looked up, an
eyebrow arched. ‘Henchmen?
What are we? Living in a
Marvel comic?’
I gritted my teeth ‘ And I
faced down Richard Stirling
and I blew up an entire
building—’
‘ And you got shot.’ Jack
interrupted. ‘ And I saved
your LIFE.’
I rolled my eyes
heavenward. He was never
going to let it lie. I took a
deep breath and tried to rein
in my irritation.
I turned to Amber who
looked hideously pained.
‘Sorry,’ she mouthed at me.
‘So they only had one
room spare,’ Jack went on, as
though the conversation we’d
just had had never happened.
‘It’s a twin. You and Amber
can have that one and I’ll
share this one with Alex.’
‘No way!’ I shouted.
‘Or Alex can share with
Amber?’ Jack suggested.
A vase wobbled violently
on the desk. Alex moved
swiftly to still it. ‘OK, OK,
look let’s figure it out later,’
he said, firing me another
warning glare. ‘Let’s all go
for dinner and w
e can discuss
it there.’ What he meant was
that we should discuss it
somewhere public where it
was less likely I could do any
damage. He was showing a
huge amount of trust in me,
given my track record.
I cast around for
something to throw, to help
me let off some steam while
we were still in private, but
there was only the mini-bar.
So I turned to Jack and
shoved him instead. He
staggered backwards as
though buffeted by a tornado
and fell flat on the bed, his
arms windmilling.
Amber laughed. Alex put
his arm around me. ‘Come
on, let’s go,’ he murmured,
steering me towards the door.
By the time we finished
dinner I was feeling slightly
less annoyed, in fact I was
feeling suspiciously buoyant
and happy. I glanced in
Amber’s direction. She could
manipulate moods and I
could tell by the way she
avoided looking at me and
the blush that seeped across
her cheeks that it was her and
not a spiked glass of soda
that was behind my altered
mindset.
I wondered if I could get
her to do something about
Jack’s. A few times I caught
him glancing unhappily at
Alex’s arm resting on the
back of my chair and my
hand resting on Alex’s knee.
It had been two months,
when was he going to get
over it? Mum had told me to
go easy on him, that his over-
protectiveness stemmed from
the fact he blamed himself
for what had happened to her
and had, as a result, taken it
upon himself to make sure
nothing bad ever happened to
me. I got that. Totally. And I
loved Jack, I really did. I
even loved his protective
streak. But it didn’t stop me
hating him right now.
Between him and Suki and
Nate always spying on me, it
felt like there wasn’t a place
in the world where Alex and I
could go for some privacy.
Nantucket town’s main street
was lined with historic
houses, most converted into
shops and restaurants and
upmarket hotels. The flyer
for the gig that we’d taken
from the bike store gave us
directions to an ancient-
looking inn (by American
standards) called The Ship.
Jack and Amber walked in
ahead of us but Alex tugged
me back, pulling me into the
shadows by the door.
‘Sorry we aren’t going to
get to spend time together
tonight,’ he murmured,
wrapping his arms around
me.
I banged my head against
his chest. ‘Me too,’ I
mumbled.
His lips pressed against
my ear. ‘Don’t worry, for
your eighteenth I’m taking
you somewhere more secure
than a CIA safe-house. No
one will find us. Not even
Nate.’
I smiled, butterflies
already dancing in my
stomach at the thought.
Alex’s hand came under
my chin and he tilted up my
head so he could kiss me.
Our lips touched at the same
time as a giggle erupted from
the bushes beside us. We
broke apart.
There was a rustling, some
hissed mutters, and then a
shriek, which sounded
unsettlingly familiar.
‘Suki?’ I half-whispered,
peering into the gloom.
‘No,’ the bush answered.
I stared at Alex then back
at the bush.
‘Suki, we know it’s you,
you may as well come out,’
Alex said.
‘What are you doing
here?’ I demanded as Suki
emerged from the bush like a
butterfly trying to fight its
way free from a cocoon,
swatting at branches and
picking leaves from her hair.
From behind her, a skinny
boy with a huge afro
materialised. ‘Nate?’ I cried.
I don’t know why I was so
surprised to see Nate too. He
and Suki were joined at the
hip. And she was his beard,
after all.
Suki smoothed out her
dress and tottered towards us
on huge platform heels. Nate
followed behind, flashing us
all his teeth in a grin that
looked as if it had been
tortured into place.
‘Aren’t you supposed to be
in Atlanta?’ I asked, though
my scowl was already
starting to crack from the
happiness of seeing them
both. I hadn’t realised how
much I’d missed them.
‘Well, um,’ Suki said,
‘Nate just happened to fly
past just as you were getting
on the ferry to come here.’
I heard Alex smothering a
laugh beside me and I gave
up pretending to be mad. I
threw myself on top of them,
hugging them fiercely.
‘You just happened to fly
past?’ I asked, letting them
go.
‘Uh-huh,’ Nate squeaked.
‘And then we thought we
would come and surprise
you,’ Suki said, fluttering her
spider-leg lashes in Alex’s
direction.
‘Hi,’ Nate said, waving at
Alex.
Suki suddenly looked
around. ‘Where’s Jack? I
swear I heard him.’
‘He’s inside,’ Alex said.
‘Where are you staying?’ I
asked them but they had
already turned and were
making eagerly for the door.
‘Well, we figured we could
bunk in with you in that huge
four-poster bed,’ Suki said
over her shoulder. I looked at
Alex. I had been right. Nate
had been spying on us after
all, how else did they know
about the four-poster bed?
‘But maybe Jack would
like some snuggle-time,’
Suki said, her face lighting
up at the thought.
Jack and Amber were racking
up the balls on the pool table
as we threaded our way over
to them. They both did a
double-take when they saw
Suki and Nate steaming
towards them.
‘Well, if it isn’t Mr and
Mrs Smith,’ said Jack,
shaking his head in wry
amusement.
‘We found them in the
bushes,’ said Alex.
Suki hugged Amber while
Nate stood happily mute
before Jack like a dog before
its master.
&nbs
p; ‘It was all Nate’s idea,’
said Suki, brushing up to
Jack and eyeing the baize.
Suddenly she narrowed her
eyes and cocked her head to
one side. Jack frowned, his
shoulders tensing and his
brow furrowing as though
through an act of will alone
he could stop her from
reading his mind.
A furrow appeared
between Suki’s eyebrows.
She glanced at Amber then
back at Jack, a knowing
smile spreading across her
face. ‘Give her time,’ she
whispered, leaning in close to
Jack, ‘she’s warming to you.
But stop taking your T-shirt
off whenever she walks by.
She knows you have a ripped
body.’
Jack spluttered something
and his cheeks burnt red. I
wasn’t sure if Amber had
heard or not but suddenly she
got very busy chalking up the
cue.
She tossed it to me. ‘Girls
versus boys?’
‘Oh, yeah,’ I answered,
eager to take on my brother
in something he couldn’t beat
me at.
‘No cheating though,’ Alex
said, reaching for his own
cue.
‘Suki, are you playing?’ I
asked, but she and Nate were
no longer paying attention.
They were staring towards
the bar, nudging each other in
the ribs. I glanced past them
and wasn’t surprised to see
the object of their attention
was Jesse, the boy from the
bike store who was standing
talking to a girl with dark
wavy hair. He was wearing
scuffed-up jeans and a T-
shirt that clung to his body in
a way that was making both
Suki and Nate hyperventilate
with excitement.
‘I see those two have
found a new love interest,’
Alex murmured, suddenly
behind me.
‘Well, you and Jack are off
the menu,’ I said, wrapping
my arm around him
possessively. ‘They’re like
heat-seeking missiles. They
need to fix on a new target.’
‘Poor guy, someone should
warn him.’
I laughed and strolled to
the end of the table, ready to
break. Alex took a step back
and I felt his gaze on my butt
as I bent over and took my
shot. It distracted me enough
that I hit the white wide and
the balls bounced off the
baize in every direction but
towards the holes. Cheating
wasn’t in my nature . . . but
there was no way I was
letting Jack win. I subtly
nudged a ball into the end
pocket. And then a second
one for good measure just
because I liked the thunk in g sound it made when it fell in.
When I straightened up
Jack and Alex were both
Tormenting Lila Page 3
