“Probably not,” I said. “Can we forget about Susanna now?”
He grinned. “Yes, though maybe I should send a message to Hercules to tell him that ...”
“No!” I said. “The childish messages have to stop right now. I can’t complain to the Sisterhood about Hercules bothering us if you keep sending him messages.”
“Point,” said Hawk reluctantly. “I just hate letting him have the last word. He knows exactly how to annoy me. The way he twists things round, like saying that I make a habit of cutting your throat.”
“Yes, Hercules knows exactly how to annoy you,” I said. “That’s precisely why you have to stop responding to him, turn your back, and walk away. If you don’t, this feud will go on forever, and eventually Hercules will find a way to spoil things between us, make you lose control and do something that I can never forgive.”
I took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes. “Hawk, you need to think about whether you want a childish feud with Hercules or an adult relationship with me, because I’m not sure you can have both.”
Hawk looked terrified at my ultimatum. He hastily nodded. “You’re right. The feud stops right away. I’ll let Hercules have the last word.”
If the Michael I’d met in the real world had said those words, I’d have believed him. Michael was insecure and vulnerable and very human. He got scared, but did brave things anyway. He’d run from bullies as a child, but he fought for justice now. He had his immature moments, but he wanted to grow up. I loved him for all those things.
Hawk had a lot of the same qualities as Michael, but with the one key difference that the glittering legend of Game was frozen in time. However much Hawk wanted to stop his feud with Hercules, however many times he promised me it was over, the feud would go on. The only way for it to end was for Hawk to change, and Game wouldn’t let him do that.
I’d been worried about the age gap between me and Hawk, and thought that he was too old for me, but the problem was the other way round. Hawk needed to grow up, but he couldn’t. I either had to accept him as he was, or walk away, and walking away would be impossibly hard after the things we’d been through together.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of bells ringing. I looked round. “What’s that?”
“The bells are calling people to gather at the dancing lawn. We’ll watch the fireworks together, and then Cassandra will formally introduce you to the family. A whole queue of men will want to dance with you after that, but I hope you’ll save several dances for me.”
“You can dance? Don’t tell me that Michael was a dancer.”
“Of course he wasn’t. Cassandra forced me to learn to dance centuries ago, so I wouldn’t be such a disaster at parties like this one. We’d better go to the dancing lawn now. I’ll introduce you to Marcus as soon as we get there. Best to get the worst bit over with right away.”
I sighed, and took his arm. “How bad is Marcus?”
“He can often be extremely charming, but his mood changes rapidly. Don’t worry though. I’ll be standing guard over you to make sure there isn’t an unfortunate event.”
I didn’t want to ask what Hawk meant by an unfortunate event. We walked back towards the dancing lawn, and found a crowd was gathering. Some were standing in groups and talking, while others sat at the tables. The lone man at the table nearest us looked up. He studied me for a moment, and then went back to shuffling pine cones on the table in front of him. I watched him out of the corner of my eye as Hawk led me past.
“Who is that?” I asked. “I don’t recognize him.”
“That’s Thought.” Hawk smiled. “You wouldn’t recognize him because I don’t think he’s ever left Celestius. Thought likes order and patterns. He acts as both judge and jury in all the trials on Celestius, because everyone knows that he won’t be swayed by personal likes or dislikes when deciding on guilt or punishments. Now brace yourself for the introduction to Marcus.”
We walked towards a man with short dark hair, and clothes that were vaguely Roman in style. He was sitting at a seat by himself, and people seemed to be giving him a wide berth. Thor and Cassandra were standing nearby, chatting to a couple of men. The group all had their eyes fixed on Marcus.
When Thor saw us coming, he raised one finger. Hawk nodded in response to the signal, and leant to whisper a few words in my ear.
“We should keep this very short.” His left hand tightened on my arm, he led me up to Marcus, and spoke in more normal tones. “Marcus, this is Jex. You must have heard about her coming to Celestius.”
Marcus looked at me first, then his eyes drifted to Hawk standing on one side of me, and to Thor standing barely two paces away. Finally, he looked straight at me again.
“Cassandra told me all about you, Jex. I’m very pleased to meet you.”
He seemed perfectly normal, even pleasant. “I’m pleased to meet you too, Marcus,” I said.
“It’s nice to see a new face for a change. A very lovely one too.”
“Thank you.”
“Perhaps you could tell me something about yourself,” said Marcus. “I lead a very boring life, and I’ve heard everyone else’s stories too many times already.”
Hawk stirred restively at my side. “Another time perhaps. I’m afraid we have to move on now. Poor Jex has to be introduced to the whole family this evening.”
“That’s a shame,” said Marcus.
I smiled. “Well, I’m sure we’ll get to chat for longer another time.”
“I look forward to drinking your blood, Jex.” Marcus smiled back at me. His tone of voice was so calm and agreeable that my mind had to replay the words before I could take them in.
“I’m planning to keep my blood,” I said.
“Time to go.” Hawk took my arm and towed me firmly away, while giving Thor a meaningful look. “Marcus enjoys saying that sort of thing and watching how people react. I think he’s testing whether they’d make a good victim or not. It’s definitely time to move on, but at least we managed the introduction.”
As we walked across the empty centre of the dancing lawn, Hawk was looking thoughtfully around at the people. “We’ve dealt with Hercules and Marcus, but there are a few more awkward introductions to come. The biggest problem is going to be Venus. She’s busily watching us right now.”
Hawk pointed across at where a woman with long blonde hair was sitting at a table. He was right. Venus was surrounded by several laughing men, but she was staring at us.
“Over at the far end of the lawn,” Hawk continued, “you can see a group of a dozen men. They don’t have any especial reason to target either you or me, but I’d still suggest avoiding them as much as possible. That’s the group who had the big clash with the Sisterhood in the early days. If they weren’t Founder Players, they’d either be on Havoc along with the other trolls, or in Game prison.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Everyone here sounds so attractive.”
Hawk laughed. “It’s really not that bad. I’ve pointed out all the dangerous ones now except for Chiron. He’s permanently confined to his castle, but at some point we’ll need to take our turn to go and see him.”
“Take our turn?”
“Chiron likes having visitors, so the family try to make sure someone goes to see him every day. We do the same for Marcus when he lets us. As Cassandra told you, Marcus often locks himself away for long periods, not answering calls or accepting any visitors.”
I had an odd dizzy moment. I’d scared myself to death thinking that the Reaper might have reached Celestius by taking Hawk’s place in the Game. I’d been deeply thankful to be proved wrong. Now I realized my idea could have been half right after all.
Chapter Thirty-five
Hawk’s arm was round me, steadying me. He gave me a worried look. “Is something wrong?”
“I just realized the Reaper might be a Founder Player after all.”
“I hope you haven’t gone back to thinking the Reaper replaced me.”
“No, but start from the same l
ogic,” I said. “The Reaper could replace a Founder Player who wasn’t in Game.”
“I don’t see where you’re going with this. I’m the only Founder Player that’s left Game in the last three centuries.”
I ignored that. “When the Reaper heard you’d worked out the bomber was a Game Tech, he got worried. He prepared an escape route so if things went badly wrong he could give himself a new identity as a player. He also made himself a deletion weapon. We thought he’d made that to use later on, but what if we were wrong? What if the Reaper made that weapon because he needed it to prepare his escape route?”
Hawk frowned but didn’t say anything.
“The Reaper was a Game Tech, so he could enter a castle on Celestius and use his deletion weapon on a Founder Player. He’d choose a victim who regularly locked himself in his castle and didn’t respond to calls or visitors, so no one would notice he was missing for weeks or even months.”
“You mean Marcus,” said Hawk. “The Reaper could have used his deletion weapon to eliminate Marcus from Game, and then hidden the weapon somewhere in the castle before leaving.”
“Poor Marcus,” I said.
Hawk nodded. “Yes. He wouldn’t have stood a chance. Once the real Marcus was gone, the Reaper could set up his escape route to recreate himself in Marcus’s place. It would be easy to act the part of someone that unpredictable. The Reaper could make any number of mistakes, and the family would just dismiss it as another of Marcus’s odd moments.”
He paused. “The question is whether that actually happened. Is that Marcus back there or the Reaper?”
“And if it is the Reaper, then what is he planning for the future? To act the part of Marcus, make a gradual recovery, and be let out of his castle to roam the worlds of Game?”
“The Game Techs would never believe Marcus was sufficiently recovered to be set free,” said Hawk. “They understand only too well that people can’t change their basic natures within Game.”
“And the Reaper would know that.” I relaxed. “Marcus is just himself then. The Reaper’s escape route was aimed at giving himself a new life as a player. He wouldn’t sentence himself to spending eternity locked in Marcus’s castle.”
“But the Reaper’s goal was power,” said Hawk. “If his bid to rule Game failed, would he really want a new life as a mere player? Perhaps he’d choose to replace Marcus to give himself the best chance of taking revenge on the Founder Players.”
I fought the urge to turn round and look at Marcus. “But if that’s what happened, and the Reaper’s goal is revenge, then he’s got the perfect chance here and now.”
“Oh yes,” said Hawk, in a grim voice. “You’re here. I’m here. The whole family is here. I’ve got my armour and weapons with me because I don’t trust Hercules, but most of us are defenceless. The Reaper’s best move will be to wait until it’s fully dark and the fireworks start. The noise will cover up any warning screams, so he’ll be able to kill a lot of us in the darkness.”
I instinctively glanced across to where the sky was blazing red with the setting sun. “We’ve got that same problem again,” I said. “How can we be sure if it’s Marcus or not?”
“That’s simple,” said Hawk. “I’ll threaten to kill him. If this is the real Marcus, he’ll be unarmed, because he isn’t allowed weapons. If this is the Reaper, he’ll have the deletion weapon hidden on him. He’ll try to use it to kill me permanently. I’ll Game kill him instead.”
“There has to be a safer way to handle this. We should call Kwame.”
Hawk shook his head. “Cassandra, Thor, Pendragon, and Ulysses are with Marcus right now, keeping watch on him. If the Reaper sees a Game Tech appear, he won’t wait to ask why. He’ll start by killing Cassandra, and then take down as many of the rest of the family as he can.”
“Then we should go somewhere out of sight and call Kwame.”
“There isn’t time for that,” said Hawk. “It’s already nearly dark.”
I glanced at the sky again, and bit my lip. Hawk was right.
“We have to keep everything looking normal until Marcus is alone with me,” said Hawk. “You’ll start walking back with me, but then stop, pretend you need to adjust your hair or something. I’ll carry on to reach Marcus, get rid of the others, and then challenge him. If he reaches for a weapon, I’ll be ready. Whatever happens, promise you’ll keep safely away from us.”
I nodded. “Hawk.”
“Yes?”
I couldn’t stop him doing this. Cassandra would be the Reaper’s first target, and Hawk had loved her as his sister for four hundred years. “Be very careful.”
Hawk smiled at me, and I took his arm. We walked at a carefully casual speed across the empty circle of grass, heading back towards Marcus. Cassandra was standing only two paces away from him. Thor was at her side, with his arm round her. Pendragon and Ulysses were a little further away. Many more of the family, far too many more of the family, were standing in scattered groups, or sitting at tables nearby.
Marcus turned to look in our direction. He’d seen us coming towards him. If he was the Reaper, he’d wait to let us get closer before he started his massacre. Of all the Founder Players, we were the two he’d most want to kill.
We were halfway there now. I felt Hawk give a meaningful tug at my arm. It was time for me to do my act.
I faked a stumble, and took my hand from Hawk’s arm. “I knew these heels were too high. I’ll catch you up in a minute.”
I stooped to check my sandals, while Hawk walked on. Thor and Cassandra turned to look at him coming, and he waved his right hand in a casual signal that they should let him talk to Marcus alone.
The situation looked under control. Pendragon and Ulysses were already several paces clear of Marcus. Thor and Cassandra were moving away too.
Then Venus wrecked everything. She must have seen me standing there alone on the dancing lawn, and decided this was a golden opportunity to spill poison into my ear, because she started running towards me. Her route took her straight past Marcus, and he whirled round and grabbed her out-flung arm, yanking her towards him.
Hawk stopped and stood there hesitating, his eyes on them both.
“What are you doing, Marcus?” asked Cassandra. “Please let Venus go.”
“But I don’t want to let her go,” said Marcus.
“Cassandra, stay back!” said Hawk. Other people were coming to see what was happening, and Hawk waved frantically at them. “Everyone, stay back!”
“Let me go, Marcus!” demanded Venus. “Someone make him let me go!”
Thor moved forward, but Hawk shook his head. “Let me deal with Marcus. You get Cassandra out of here.”
Thor frowned, but turned to his wife, and tugged her firmly back to join the rest of the watching crowd. I was still standing alone in the centre of the dancing lawn. I’d promised to stay here, and I could do nothing to help Hawk. I’d change that in future, I’d train for hours every day until I became a legendary fighter myself, better than Artemis or any other female player in Game, but right now I was nothing but a liability.
“Why aren’t you helping me?” Venus looked at Hawk accusingly. “Why are you letting Marcus maul me like this? You’re doing this out of revenge, aren’t you? You brought that dreadful, clueless girl to Celestius out of revenge too. All because I wasn’t interested in awful, tongue tied, Michael.”
“We can trade insults later if you like,” said Hawk. “You can remind everyone about the ghastliness of Michael, and I can talk about Eliza’s whining voice and ferret teeth, but right now you’d better shut your mouth.”
Venus gasped. Hawk ignored her outraged face and looked at Marcus.
“Let her go, Marcus. It’s time you went home now.”
“Game command!” shouted Venus. “Request Game Tech assistance.”
A female Game Tech appeared, and looked at the scene with startled eyes. A second later, Kwame appeared next to her.
“Make Marcus let me go!” demanded Venus.<
br />
“Let me deal with this, Kwame,” said Hawk.
At the mention of his name, Kwame gave Hawk a look of surprise that changed into comprehension. “Player Marcus,” he said, “please release player Venus.”
Marcus didn’t respond to him. His eyes were fixed on Hawk. “You know what I am,” he said. “You know who I am. You know what I have.”
“Yes, I do,” said Hawk, “and we both know that Venus is irrelevant to this.”
“Yes, she is,” said Marcus. “You’ve no reason to care whether Venus lives or dies.”
Venus tried changing her tactics. “Marcus,” she cooed. “Why are you holding me so tightly? You don’t want to hurt me. We could be friends and ...”
She broke off as Marcus twisted her arm, and there was a sickening cracking sound, like a stick breaking. Venus screamed. One loud desperate yell of pain, then Marcus literally threw her at Hawk, and jumped towards me.
I was far away in the centre of the dancing lawn. It was utterly impossible for Marcus to cover that distance in a single jump, but he did it, flying high through the air and landing right next to me. Before I had time to react, he had his left arm round me, and his right hand pressing something into my side.
“I have the right hostage now, Hawk,” he said. “I can use my deletion knife to kill your lady love very permanently. Now, let’s negotiate.”
Venus was lying on the ground now, whimpering and clutching her right arm. Hawk was ignoring her, his eyes fixed on me and Marcus.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“I want Hawk the Unvanquished,” said the Reaper. “You walk over here, put your sword on the ground, and surrender to me. I’ll kill you, and then let Jex go.”
“It seems unlikely you’ll actually let her go,” said Hawk.
“Of course it’s unlikely,” said the Reaper, “but it’s possible, isn’t it? You might manage to buy her life with yours. If you don’t try, then you know I’ll kill her very permanently.”
He laughed in my ear and pulled me closer to him. “You love her, don’t you? Always. You’re such a romantic, Hawk. Think about what will happen if you don’t do what I say. You’d have to live forever with the knowledge that you stood by and watched me murder the woman you loved. You won’t do that, will you, Hawk?”
Reaper Page 34
