Beyond Everlight - Debbie Cassidy(ang.)

Table of Contents CHAPTER 16 CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER 7 CHAPTER 8 CHAPTER 9 CHAPTER 10 CHAPTER 11 CHAPTER 12 CHAPTER 13 CHAPTER 14 CHAPTER 15 CHAPTER 17 CHAPTER 18 CHAPTER 19 CHAPTER 20 CHAPTER 21 CHAPTER 22 CHAPTER 23 CHAPTER 24 CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 26 CHAPTER 27 CHAPTER 28 CHAPTER 29 CHAPTER 30 CHAPTER 31 CHAPTER 32 CHAPTER 33 CHAPTER 34 CHAPTER 35 CHAPTER 36 CHAPTER 37 CHAPTER 38 CHAPTER 39 CHAPTER 40 CHAPTER 41 CHAPTER 42 CHAPTER 43 CHAPTER 44 CHAPTER 45 OTHER BOOKS BY DEBBIE CASSIDY ABOUT THE AUTHOR CHAPTER1

BEYOND EVERLIGHT Fearless Destiny Series DEBBIE CASSIDY

COPYRIGHT Published by Debbie Cassidy Copyright © 2017 Debbie Cassidy All Rights Reserved This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, duplicated, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Cover by JMN Art Edited by Read Head Editing.

Table of Contents CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER 7 CHAPTER 8 CHAPTER 9 CHAPTER 10 CHAPTER 11 CHAPTER 12 CHAPTER 13 CHAPTER 14 CHAPTER 15 CHAPTER 16 CHAPTER 17 CHAPTER 18 CHAPTER 19 CHAPTER 20 CHAPTER 21 CHAPTER 22 CHAPTER 23 CHAPTER 24 CHAPTER 25 CHAPTER 26 CHAPTER 27 CHAPTER 28

CHAPTER 29 CHAPTER 30 CHAPTER 31 CHAPTER 32 CHAPTER 33 CHAPTER 34 CHAPTER 35 CHAPTER 36 CHAPTER 37 CHAPTER 38 CHAPTER 39 CHAPTER 40 CHAPTER 41 CHAPTER 42 CHAPTER 43 CHAPTER 44 CHAPTER 45 OTHER BOOKS BY DEBBIE CASSIDY ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CHAPTER 1

T

he sound of my boots echoed like muted gunshots down the primary school corridor. Tiny faces peered at me through

open doorways, while educators struggled to usher the small bodies back into the safety of their classrooms. They were doing a half-arsed job though—too enthralled by the two Fearless Officers eating up space. With my 5ft 8in frame, kitted out in my standard issue combats and leathers. A dangerous looking birth mark that ran from temple to mid-cheek, I probably looked like something out of an action comic to these kids. But Brett, nicknamed The Monolith by our unit, was the beast they couldn’t take their eyes off. His 6ft 5in frame of muscle either had people running in the opposite direction or rooted to the spot. Point was, they shouldn’t be here to do either.

I turned on the first educator we came to. “Why the hell haven’t you evacuated?” The teacher, a guy who looked barely old enough to shave, opened and closed his mouth a couple of times; reminding me of a goldfish I used to have. I leaned in, keeping my voice low enough not to scare the kids, but firm enough to get my point across. “Get the damn kids out of here. Now.” “Kenna?” Brett grabbed my arm before addressing the educator in a softer tone. “Just get them back into their classrooms, and stay put until we tell you otherwise.” I resisted the urge to shrug him off. This was too close for comfort. “Kenna. Breathe,” Brett said. “I’m fine.” But I wasn’t. The tiny ball of hot rage that sat in the pit of my stomach was threatening to expand. I was a Fearless Officer. I protected the weak. I killed the monsters, and I didn’t lose control. But today was testing, because I couldn’t see this as just another case. This could easily have been Bella’s

school, Bella’s class . . .Bella. The atrocity I was here to remove should never have gotten in. People paid good money to live here, to ensure their safety. But the past few months had proven that nowhere was completely safe. The recent rash of incidences in Everlight had the government scrambling for an explanation. To me it was obvious—they couldn’t keep the problem out, because they couldn’t stop people from bringing the problem in. The next step would be border checks. Our sanctuary was quickly becoming a prison. “Did you check the wards?” I asked. “Yeah, they’re intact.” Fuck. We strode toward the end of the corridor. A door opened ahead and a slender woman, hair pulled back in a messy up do, dressed in leggings and a colourful tunic, stepped out. Her eyes behind her spectacles were wide and frightened. “Thank god you’re here.” She wrung her hands, glanced back into the room behind her, and then ushered us in. I took a deep breath and entered. Brett moved

behind me like a shadow. Today he was playing back-up. I scanned the walls, taking in the maps and charts. There was a huge one of Lindrealm— what was left of our world—with the capitol, Everlight, clearly marked. On another wall were close-up maps of Everlight and the surrounding boroughs. The gateways to Twilight and Evernight were highlighted in red and blue respectively. It was beautiful and horrific, because the world beyond those gateways was a mystery to all but a select few. And no one wanted to be one of those select few. The windows were all locked with the shutters half down. The tables had been pushed haphazardly to the sides of the room. Chairs lay toppled higgledy-piggledy. And in the centre of it all sat a little girl—head bowed and knees up—rocking gently back and forth. Her hair was a rat’s nest of tangles. “What’s her name?” I addressed the teacher. “Emily.” I nodded and took another step into the room. My hand moved to the holster at my hip where

Frieda rested, inert but ready. “Emily, can you talk to me?” The girl kept swaying. “What is it? Can you get rid of it? Oh, god. That poor child . . . Her parents . . .This place should be safe,” the teacher babbled. Yeah, it should. There were no cupboards or nooks and crannies, and the wards were intact. It made no sense. “Emily, can you hear me?” I ran my gaze over her tiny frame, and then focused until the veil over my vision dropped and I saw the problem. Distorted and bloated, a monstrous thing clung to the child’s back. The urge to step away was immediate. It doesn’t know you can see it, so just stay cool. The otherworld denizen lifted its puffy face. Its eyes rolled around in it its head, and then its body began to pulse. Emily emitted a low whine. “What do you think, Kenna?” Brett said. I cocked my head and pretended to consider the situation. “OD Parasite Class.” “Yeah . . .I think you’re right.”

Course I was right, but I needed him to see it too. Not with his eyes, because he couldn’t do that, but with the senses that came with his Fearless status. “Fucking hell,” he whispered. Correct again. This was gonna be hell. Severing the connection between the monster and the child could kill her, but leaving it would be a definite death sentence. I drew my weapon and flicked my wrist, activating Frieda’s blade. The room lit up with everlight. Emily threw back her head and screamed. “Oh, god!” the teacher backed up and ran from the room, slamming the door behind her. A quick nod in Brett’s direction. “Hold her down.” Brett flexed his biceps, his dark shirt sleeves stretching dangerously. “You got it, boss.” Ignoring the screams and pleas and promises to be a good girl pouring from Emily’s lips, I moved in for the kill. ***

Sometimes I hated my job. Those days when I failed to get there in time. On days when we were summoned too late, or on days where the otherworld denizens won. But not today. Today was a good day. We stood under a churning lavender sky and watched as Emily’s parents gently loaded her into their people carrier. Mrs. Finch, the teacher, was hovering with a huge umbrella, shielding them from the downpour that had ripped the heavens just as I’d expelled the dirty little denizen. Emily was sound asleep and wouldn’t remember a thing when she awoke. “I’m always astounded at how well you can wield that thing.” Brett glanced at my holster then winced, reaching up to gingerly touch the bruised skin under his eye. “Nah. It’s all Frieda. Nothing to do with me.” I winked. “Well, maybe Frieda can have a word with Lance?” Brett glanced down at his blade.

Civilians probably thought we were nuts for naming our weapons. What the heck did they know? Our everlight blades were our only defence against the monsters that lurked in the dark, and naming them had become a tradition; it forged a connection between blade and wielder. Brett was a good soldier, but his bulk competed with agility, and although there was power in his strikes, the finesse was absent. I guess that’s why the powers that be had paired us up. On days like this his brute strength was a huge advantage. Parasites could infuse their hosts with all kinds of abilities if they felt threatened. Hence Brett’s black eye. The car pulled away and Mrs. Finch hurried back toward the school building. I pulled on my gloves and helmet and slung my leg over my ride. I was done getting wet. Shooting Brett a grin over my shoulder, I started the engine. “Meet you back at base.” And then I was roaring away down the empty rainslicked streets. I whizzed past the neatly spaced residences with their open plan living and

uncluttered designs. Past the clean, well maintained parks, and through the centre of the capital filled with tall glass buildings imbued with luma, so they not only gleamed, but glowed. It was here that all the decisions were made. There was barely any traffic, the main mode of transport being the railway that criss-crossed throughout the capital, courtesy of Shamateck. All of the motor technology was powered by the corporate giant. At one time there’d been an underground railway, but that had been filled in long ago—too many nooks and crannies, too many places for a breach to develop. Now there were dedicated lanes for the Fearless and law enforcement. We got to park where we liked for as long as we needed. I changed lanes onto the slip road that took me out of the central capital and led me home. I made the half-hour journey in twenty minutes, left my ride in the drive, and headed up the two steps into our newly renovated town house. The scent of freshly baked bread hit me as soon as I stepped through the door. My stomach growled, but food could wait. Kicking off my boots and throwing

off my leather jacket, I headed straight up the stairs. I needed to see Bella. I needed to hold her and feel her little heart beating against mine. Bella’s door was ajar. I carefully pushed it open, intent on sneaking in and jumping on her. “I know you’re there, Kenna.” Sighing, I pushed the door wide. “How do you do that?” “Supersonic hearing,” Bella winked. Yeah, she’d picked up the winking from somewhere and it had been cute at first, but now it was just annoying as hell. Mum said if we didn’t mention it she’d stop; I wasn’t so sure anymore. Stepping into the room, I held out my arms for a hug. Bella jumped off her bed and wound her arms around my waist. She was petite for an eight-year-old. Despite our twelve-year age gap, or maybe because of it, we were super close. “So, what you up to?” Bella moved back to her bed and picked up her workbook. “History homework.” “Cool. What you writing about?” “The Event.”

My heart sank. I hated that topic, but I understood how it could fascinate a child with Bella’s inquisitive nature. “What you got so far?” I parked my butt on her bed and held out my hand for the workbook. Bella handed it over before hopping onto the bed beside me, her dark ponytail bobbing up and down. She’d got her colouring from dad, and I’d gotten my silver-blonde tresses from mum. I scanned the neatly written paragraph. Over a century ago, some stupid scientist did an experiment that made our world bash into another world and most of our world was lost. Evernight, Twilight and the fifth dimension are part of a separate realm that has existed alongside ours, unseen and unknown forever. But now we have two gateways into their world. One opening into Twilight, and one into the Evernight. We made a new world and learned to survive with the djinn and fight the monsters. That’s when the marks were born. I read the rest of the paper to make sure Bella had explained what the marks meant. There was a

neatly drawn diagram underneath. An oval to represent our world, Lindrealm, and two overlapping ovals touching Lindrealm—one labelled Twilight and the other Evernight. Beyond that she had written the words fifth dimension. It was precise and to the point but . . . “Maybe you shouldn’t call the scientists stupid?” Bella huffed. “Why not? They were stupid. Playing with stuff they knew nothing about. The world was a better place back then. No monsters, no gateways, no djinn.” She was right. “Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t think any world is perfect. I’m sure the old one had its fair share of monsters too. ” “But not like these. And it used to be bigger. Miss Harris showed us the globe. We used to be part of something huge! There were oceans and seas and deserts!” “Yeah, and famine and war.” Bella sighed. “There are more of them than us now. What do you think happened to the rest of the world?”

Popular belief was that the rest of our world had ceased to exist, but I liked to think it was still out there somewhere, ticking along, free of the denizens, free of the djinn. They’d always been there, the djinn, their dimension pressed up against ours. But we hadn’t seen. We hadn’t understood. And then the scientists had found proof of the existence of other dimensions and other realities. Their experimentation had caused the membranes of our realities to collide and almost destroyed our world entirely. Now we were forced to play by different rules. We were victims to the djinn’s monsters, while they sat back and did nothing. “Kenna?” Crap. I hadn’t answered her question. “I think the rest of the world is fine. Maybe one day we’ll have the technology to know for sure.” “Or magick.” “Or magick.” With Shamateck on the case it wouldn’t be long before everything was powered by magick. They were responsible for all the runes and sigils on

the market, each able to absorb and channel the magick that surrounded us. Our luma rides, everlight blades, and all the wards in the city were powered by runes and sigils. Formerly known as scientists, the shamans were now the new authority on the magick that was slowly replacing our oldworld tech. Soon there wouldn’t be a home or a street without the Shamateck influence. Despite this fact, the government still believed we could hold on to the old ways. Use the magick to modify our existing technology, but keep it at bay. They were bloody delusional. “Mum said you had to go to a school in the city today,” Bella said. Dammit! I’d have to remind mum not to discuss my work with Bella. “Well, did you?” she pressed. I couldn’t lie. I mean, I wanted to, I just found it difficult most of the time. This was one of those times. “Yes. I did. But it’s okay. The monster is gone.” Her eyes grew wide. “Back to Evernight?” “Yeah, back to Evernight.”

Bella scanned her room and I knew exactly what she was thinking. She was wondering if there were any doorways, any spots of absolute darkness where a monster could crawl in. Once upon a time the monster under the bed had been a scary story, the fruit of a child’s overactive imagination. The bogey man in the wardrobe was nothing more than a coat hung oddly on its hanger. Now it was more than real. Now every dark spot was a threat–a possible gateway from Evernight to our world for the smaller denizens. I never wanted to see what the larger ones looked like. Everlight, however, was a haven. Our homes were designed to eliminate the pockets—no wardrobes, no cupboards, just shelves and racks— most were even open floor plan. Our streets were designed in the same way. The houses spaced far apart enough to eliminate shadows. And then we had everlight itself. Created from luma and imported from Twilight; it was used in our street lights, home lighting, and sprayed over the streets weekly by huge everlight treatment trucks. It meant

that even on the darkest night our city glowed. The city was re-named around sixty years ago to reflect its luminous status. I forget what it used to be called. Linden . . . Lindon . . . Something or other. I put my arm around Bella and pulled her close. “You don’t have to be afraid. Our home is safe. Besides, you have me. I’m Fearless, remember?” I held up my arm and pulled back my sleeve to show her the delicate mark at my wrist, the beautiful script that formed my destiny—Fearless. The F looked a little faded, and I quickly smoothed my sleeve down to cover it. Bella held up her own wrist, tracing the tightly closed rosebud that marked her flesh. “I want to be Fearless too.” A spike of anxiety pierced my heart. “No babe, you really don’t.” But I didn’t have a say in the matter. Her bud would bloom with her first bleed, and her destiny would be revealed. With the boys it was different, varying to when their bodies truly hit puberty. “Sam at school says Fearless run in families.”

My stomach clenched. “Yeah, only sometimes though. Wouldn’t it be cool to get Fortune though? I mean you could forge your own destiny.” Bella shrugged. “I guess. But then I won’t get an everlight blade.” She pouted, then giggled as I tickled her. We fell back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Please let her be claimed by fortune or even fate. At least she would have a destiny. I fingered the mark on my arm. Bella sighed. “I want to be just like you.” My chest tightened. I was an anomaly, a liar, and I didn’t want her to be anything like me. “I pray to god every night to make me just like you.” God? I bit the inside of my cheeks. I refused to pollute her with my derision for a god who had let so many down. But I’d stopped believing a long time ago. How could I believe, in the face of all the atrocities and needless deaths I’d witnessed? No. We were either on our own, or god just didn’t care. It was a shame that the majority of the citizens of Lindrealm didn’t agree. New houses of worship had

sprung up in the boroughs outside of Everlight. Houses of the One Creator—one god for all. I blew out a breath. “I just want you to be happy.” Bella propped herself up on her elbow to stare down at me with those piercing eyes of hers. “And you’re not happy?” I blinked up at her. So young and yet so insightful. “I’m happy, sweets. I got you and mum. Things are hunky dory.” I pulled her down for a final squeeze. “I got to head back to base for a bit, but I’ll be home for supper.” Releasing her, I rolled off the bed and moved to the door. “Kenna? How did the monster get into the school?” Good question. I paused at the door. “I’m not sure. But I promise I’ll find out.” Leaving her to her homework, I headed to my room. Frieda needed a luma top up and my sanctioned stash was on my bedside table. I worked quickly, unscrewing the lid to the vial and tipping a little of the luminescent contents onto Frieda’s hilt. The words came next, tripping easily

off my tongue; et perducant te in lucem. The sigil etched into her hilt flared blue for a second. I flicked my wrist to summon the blade. It blazed brightly, forcing me to squint. “That’s my girl.” Deactivating her with another flick of the wrist, I headed back downstairs. I was slipping on my coat when mum came out of the kitchen carrying a Tupperware box. Her silver-blonde hair was pulled up in a messy bun and her face was free of makeup, which only made her look even more beautiful. She gave me the squintyeyed looked and held out the box. “Your lunch.” I opened my mouth to tell her I was good and that I’d eaten, but she shoved the Tupperware toward me, and a whiff of yummy bread killed my protests. I took the box. “Why’d you tell Bella about the school?” Mum shrugged. “It’s the world we live in, and forewarned is forearmed.” I rolled my eyes. She was always doing this, answering my questions with quotes or proverbs or whatever. But she did have a point. Bella would be

wary now. And a wary child was a safe child. “Love you,” I said. “Love you too.” Mum went back into the kitchen and I headed out the door. Funny how whenever it rained, traffic just seemed to pile up. And even on my ride, which could weave through the stationary traffic, I knew I was going be late. My stomach gave a nervous twist. Blane was so gonna kick my ass.

CHAPTER 2

C

entral base was on the outskirts of the city, and I always found the contradiction amusing. We were the

main port of call dealing with dispatch to the other bases, and responsible for over a third of the boroughs in Lindrealm. The building was a grey and white stone mammoth, surrounded by an acre of lush green land, electric fences, and search lights. It had once been a prison, but after the scientists messed up, nothing was what it was meant to be any longer. The gates buzzed open on my approach so I didn’t have to slow my ride, and the wards flashed green as I drove through. I was a familiar figure to the guards, and a favoured one. I kept them sweet with mum’s freshly baked cookies. I raised a hand at the guard station as I passed but didn’t slow down. The meeting had started ten minutes ago, and I was in for an ear bashing.

I swerved around the building and into the tunnel leading to the underground garage. Parking my ride next to Brett’s and pocketing my keys, I hurried to the lift. Exiting on the second floor I strode past empty cubicles to the huge glass office at the back of the room. The meeting looked to be in full swing. Maybe I could slip in and— Blane’s eyes locked on mine through the glass. He stopped speaking and folded his arms across his broad chest. Every head in the office turned to look at me. Fuck! I skulked in, shrugged out of my jacket, and slipped into the seat next to Brett. “You’re late,” Brett whispered. Thanks, Captain Obvious. “Thank you so much for joining us Miss Carter,” Blane said acerbically. “So sorry if this meeting was an inconvenience to your already busy schedule.” I bit back the smart retort that jumped to mind and offered him a tight-lipped smile. He stared at

me for a beat longer, his warm brown eyes hard and unyielding. Okay, enough with the reprimanding. Just get on with it. As if reading my thoughts, he released me from scrutiny and turned back to the group as a whole. “So, dispatch will be screening calls based on taxes paid.” Exclamations of disgust and dismay rippled across the room. I elbowed Brett. “What the heck is going on?” Brett didn’t take his eyes off Blane. “The government has decided that boroughs behind on their taxes won’t be getting Fearless assistance.” “What?” I looked to Blane “Seriously? You’re gonna let them do this?” The room went silent, and Blane once again fixed his reproving gaze on me. “We are a government run agency. We don’t have a choice.” Arguing back was a no-no, and I would so pay for this later, but sometimes shit just needed to be said. “We’re Fearless, chosen by a higher power to help those in need. The fucking government doesn’t

own us. No one owns us!” Blane’s jaw tensed, the tell-tale tick letting me know he was about to lose it. His tone dropped to a lethally soft level. “And where would you be without the resources to be a saviour? Without the everlight to feed your sword? Without your ride, or protective gear? The government owns everything.” Not Evernight, I wanted to say. Not Twilight, and most certainly not the fifth dimension that lay beyond. But I swallowed the words and leaned back in my seat, folding my arms across my chest to illustrate my disapproval of the whole thing. Blane cocked his head, silently asking me, are we done now? I grudgingly inclined mine. “Final item on the agenda. Everlight prices have just gone up.” Seriously? What the heck? Higher prices for everlight meant higher taxes, which meant more boroughs unable to pay and being left up shit creek when they needed Fearless aid. I stood up and walked out the room.

I was done listening to this bullshit. *** At one time in my life I’d thought being a Fearless Officer meant something. That I’d be able to help those in need and make a difference. I’d had the luxury of choice, and I’d chosen this life only to discover how wrong I’d been. Chosen by destiny, Fearless were simply puppets for the government to use. Now they were lording their power over those unable to fight back. It made me sick to think we would be turning a blind-eye to cases where we could help, because of a few coins. I sat at my cubicle, heat churning in my chest, and stared at the pen with a colourful fake feather that Bella had given me for my twentieth birthday. My tight-lipped reflection glared back at me from my blank laptop screen, and an ice-cold cup of coffee, complete with manky skin, dared me to take a sip. I was in for a tongue-lashing from Blane, but I didn’t give a damn.

The meeting broke up, and officers began filtering out of the room. Brett ambled over, his expression grave, and then my phone buzzed. The yellow light blinked at me tauntingly. Blane. “You best get that,” Brett said, “get it over with.” He was right, as usual. I reached for the handset just as the doors behind us burst open and Unit Beta came spilling onto the floor, covered in blood and wreathed in screams.

CHAPTER 3

G

emma’s moans of pain were covered by Kev’s cries for help. Julie and Victor made up the rear, bloody and grimy.

Ben, one of our medics, came rushing out with his kit to help Kev haul Gemma into the medical room. The rest of us just stood around in shock. Julie fell into the nearest chair, covered her face with her hands, and began to sob; raw sobs that tore at my heart. “What the fuck happened?” Grabbing a box of tissues from a nearby desk, I shoved them at her. Victor fiddled with the hilt to his everlight blade. His hands trembled and he clasped them together to hide it. Brett placed a hand on the shaken man’s shoulder. “Victor? Shit. Come on.” Victor took a shuddering breath. “It was horrific. Crawlers. A fuckload of ‘em. We called for back-up twice. It was horrible, but we were making

head way until . . .” he shook his head. “Dispatch called us in, they told us to abort.” Kev, the unit leader, joined us. Almost as big as Brett, he was the resident mini tank, and to see him so cut up was unheard of. “We refused to abort; we couldn’t just leave innocent civilians to die. They said if we disobeyed a direct order we’d be stripped of status.” Julie’s sobs cut off. “They forced us to leave them. There were children. Babies! Oh god!” she hiccupped. “We have to do something. We have to send some units back there.” Kev, jaw set, strode toward Blane’s office, but Blane was already walking toward us. “Sir, we have a situation where—” Blane held up his hand. “I’ve been informed. Get cleaned up and take the rest of the day off.” Kev’s brows snapped down. “But sir, West Borough needs—” “A clean up, and we’ve authorised one.” Julie slapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes brimming with tears. A clean up meant only one thing—there were no survivors; only bodies to

be disposed of. The crawlers had taken what they wanted and slipped back home to Evernight. “We should have stayed, we could have helped,” Victor said. Blane’s jaw ticked. “You followed orders. That is what you do. Now go, get out of here.” For a moment I thought that Kev would argue, but then he clamped his mouth shut, turned on his heel, and stormed out the door. Blane turned his attention to me. “My office. Now.” He didn’t wait to see if I’d follow. He knew I would. *** “What the fuck was that all about?” Blane asked. “I thought I made myself clear. You do not question my authority in front of the other officers. Not ever.” I placed my hands on my hips. “Your authority sucks and you know it! I know you don’t buy into all the ‘government owns everything’ crap. You

know they’re just as powerless as the rest of us. This is their way of exerting some measure of control. Instead of looking out there for answers, they’re turning our world into one big fucked-up prison! They let those people die today! They killed those people!” “And you think I like it? You think I want to be the bad guy? My hands are tied!” We faced off, chests heaving, eyes blazing. Blane was the first to back down. He fell back into his leather swivel chair. Man I loved that chair and the things we’d done in it, but I was too pissed to get warm and fuzzy thinking about it now. “It’s the way it has to be, Kenna. The only way it can be until something changes.” “But why raise taxes? Why stop us helping those in need? I mean, how does letting people die benefit anyone?” I slumped in the seat opposite him. A darkness crept across Blane’s face, a secret he was keeping from me. Not for long though. I softened my tone. “Come on babe, I just need to understand. Why?”

Blane sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose between his forefinger and thumb. “Twilight’s crops of luma are failing. If they can’t salvage enough, then we’ll do more than raising taxes . . . We’ll be abandoning boroughs all together.” My heart sank. It made sense now. I didn’t like it but I understood it. “Have they contacted Erebus?” Blane shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess so. But you know how that goes. That ungodly creature is a law unto himself. His aid comes at a price, and I have a feeling that unless we see some drastic results the government may chose not to continue to pay.” I shuddered at the thought. I’d never seen Erebus in the flesh, but I’d seen depictions of him in texts, some of them pretty lewd and overly generous when it came to proportions of certain parts of his anatomy. Erebus was a dark djinn, and our only connection to the world beyond Evernight. No one knew for certain why he’d chosen to assist us, but we paid heavily for it—thirteen humans, once a year, chosen by lottery. That was another

benefit to being Fearless—I was exempt. “No, they won’t do that. The shit that gets in is bad enough. I don’t know if we have the capacity to deal with all the crap Erebus and his clan keep at bay.” “If they keep it at bay.” Blane leaned forward across his desk. “What do you mean?” Blane licked his luscious lips. “How do we know there is anything worse out there? How do we know for sure that the tithe we pay every year isn’t for nothing more than his satisfaction? Fuck, it kills me to wonder what he does with those souls we hand over.” He sat back, lip curling. “The government wouldn’t have set up the system unless they thought it would benefit us.” “A minute ago you thought the government were arseholes.” “Still do, but . . . come on, they must have verified the existence of the larger, more dangerous otherworld denizens before signing the treaty.” “They sent a man, yes. He confirmed. But who’s to say he was telling the truth? Our world

was in dire straits then so we did what we had to.” His cynicism was reassuring. For a moment, at the meeting earlier, I’d seriously begun to doubt falling for him. I stood up and moved toward the window overlooking the office. Blane’s secretary, Vanessa, glared at me through the slats of the blinds. Smiling widely at her, I flipped them closed before walked over to the door and turning the key to lock us in. “What are you doing?” His voice was strained. I began to unbuckle my belt. “Saying sorry for being such a difficult bitch earlier.” Blane glanced at the door; I could see his mind ticking. What were people thinking? Did they suspect? Course they did, but no one would say a thing. I kicked off my pants, and Blane stopped glancing at the door. I swivelled his chair away from the desk and straddled him. Blane stopped thinking. ***

Belt done up, hair smoothed back, I was almost ready to face the world outside our steamy little haven. My cheeks were warm, probably flushed, but there was nothing to be done about that. To be honest, I kinda liked it. So what if people knew what I’d been up to? It felt deliciously sinful. We’d been doing this for almost two years now. That swivel chair had seen some serious action, and one time we’d actually broken his bed with our antics. He hadn’t been in charge when I’d joined central base—the promotion had come two months later— but he’d been one of the more seasoned Fearless. One look and I’d known I had to have him. Hadn’t taken me long either. Sometimes I wondered if our relationship was purely physical, but then he would look into my eyes, like soul searchingly deep, and I’d forget what the heck I was worrying about. “We really need to go on a date sometime soon,” Blane said. He locked gazes with me. And there it was. The look. Damn, I loved the way he drank me in. His attention never lingered on my birth mark. Almost as if he didn’t see it, and to be honest, since I’d

been with him I noticed it less and less myself. I flashed Blane a grin. “Yeah? Well maybe you can speak to my boss? He’s a real slave driver.” Blane chuckled. “Life of a Fearless, eh?” True. Our social lives were minimal; shifts often ran back to back, and a recent high mortality rate had left us shorthanded. It wasn’t like we could just recruit. Fearless were born, and until they matured there was nothing we could do but cope. I leaned over him, and he lifted his face for a kiss. His lips were soft and undemanding now that he was sated, and I lingered a moment, inhaling his scent. He always smelled so clean, fresh, and sharp. Running a hand down his cheek I straightened. “See you tomorrow for briefing.” His expression grew solemn. “I’m not in tomorrow, but the names for tithe escort will be posted on the bulletin board.” No point asking where he’d be, or if my name was on that list. He never spoke about his activities outside of the office, and the list would be sent over by fax first thing tomorrow, so he wouldn’t know yet if I was on it or not.

“Okay babe, see you soon.” I flipped the blinds open, unlocked the door, and sauntered out. Vanessa didn’t even look at me. She just gathered some papers and bustled into Blane’s office. It was sweet how she doted on him. Probably because she had a crush on him. Couldn’t blame the gal. He was a pretty amazing guy. It was mean to goad her, but I just couldn’t help myself sometimes. “You off?” Brett asked. “Yep, and you should get out of here too. Your shift was up half an hour ago.” Brett shrugged. “Blane sent Beta Unit home, so I offered to file their reports.” I sighed. “You’re too sweet, you know that?” I took off my jacket. “Come on, hand me some of that paperwork.” Brett grinned and passed me a batch of forms. “Aw, thanks bud.” “Shut it.” I grinned back at him and pulled up a chair. No mate of mine was going to be slogging

through a whole unit’s reports by himself. Yeah, mum would be pissed that I’d missed supper, but she’d understand once I explained. My work tended to come first . . . a lot. Grabbing a pen from the pot on his desk, I knuckled down to work. I rode out of base an hour and a half later; hungry, tired, and in need of a drink—something fiery and potent. I knew just the place to get it. This detour had been on the cards for over a week, and I couldn’t safely put it off any longer.

CHAPTER 4

A

s I rode through the glowing nighttime streets, past the sleepy houses and onto the motorway that led out of the city, I

couldn’t help but wonder how much longer I’d succeed in keeping my secret. As the posts marking the miles rushed past, the ground grew uneven. Shoots and vines spilled up from cracks in the paving, and roots crawled up out of the asphalt. I dropped my speed to accommodate the terrain, weaving around the danger spots as the barrier to the city limits loomed closer. This was where Everlight’s hold ended, where the illusion of a perfect concrete jungle died, because up ahead was the real world. Past the worst of the terrain, I picked up speed, whizzing under the illuminated barrier and out into what us Fearless called The Wild. My chest grew light, and the urge to throw back my head and whoop was almost too strong to resist. The road

narrowed into more of a beaten track as trees and shrubbery bent low to brush my shoulders in welcome. The heady scent of nature—damp earth post rain—filled my head. Out here I got to leave the lies behind. My life in Everlight was good: safe, protected, and normal. But it was a lie. There was no normal, not anymore. Not for almost a century. Everlight was a facade—the final stronghold of a world that was quickly diminishing. The strangeness, the inexplicable magick the government was attempting to keep out, was steadily seeping in from the surrounding boroughs. Hadn’t they started to use magickal wards on schools and Fearless Bases? Weren’t our Fearless blades magickal in their ability to banish the denizens? We were succumbing to the allure, to the otherworldness of it all, and soon the delineation of ‘us and them’ would be a distant memory. Some believed it to be a blessing—the House of the One Creator advocated it. But the ache at the back of my throat warned me to beware. We were

outnumbered on all sides. If our defences fell, humanity would be consumed by the other worlds. There was no recourse but to fight back. By keeping the denizens out, we showcased our strength. We held our ground. But this wasn’t the only lie. There was something more. Something personal. The truth behind my privileged position. The government provided my family with full healthcare and a home that was paid for, meaning that mum didn’t have to go out to work. The government took care of us, but I was stealing from the system. Usually that didn’t bother me. But today, with the news of struggling luma crops and rising taxes, the burden of guilt sat heavy on my shoulders. Yeah, so being out here, in The Wild, was like shrugging off a coat of lies. My exit loomed ahead. I zipped off the motorway and onto the slip road leading into Market Borough. Being one of the boroughs closest to Everlight, it saw a good amount of tourist action. If you were looking for something

in particular that you couldn’t get in the capital, then you’d find it in Market Borough. The centre of town was open round the clock and blazing with everlight. It was the hub, the source of their income, and their ticket to paying their taxes. I swerved through the streets, past the colourful inviting stalls, past the marketers shouting about their wares, past the crowds of people milling about. Lampposts fitted with everlight bulbs were the only illumination aside from half a moon. The scents of noodles, beef, and fresh pastries intermingled with the sweet inviting scent of magick. My stomach clenched with hunger, reminding me that the Tupperware box mum had given me was still sitting in a drawer at my desk. It had been almost thirteen hours since I’d eaten. Taking a left at the intersection, I dropped my speed further, hugging the pavement, my eyes scanning the stores that lined the street so I wouldn’t miss it. Clovers was a place easily overlooked by most, but never by me. Up ahead a green sign gleamed enticingly. I parked outside and dismounted.

My stomach fluttered with nerves and I took a deep breath. He always had the strangest effect on me. It was why I put off these meetings until the last minute. There were no windows from which to peek in, only a door in the wall and the neon sign. I pushed open the door and went in. *** A short corridor ended at another door which opened into the main bar. It was nothing special: red leather booths, dim lighting, a black and white chequered dance floor—which at present was empty—and a circular bar that sat smack bang in the middle of the room. It was pretty dead tonight, just a couple of dazed looking people in a booth sipping on luminescent cocktails. I headed to the bar, and as if sensing a patron’s presence, Valla emerged in all her glory. Breasts practically spilling from her bustier top, hair piled high atop her head, and slanted jade eyes twinkling with mischief, she braced herself against the bar.

“Well, hello there sexy,” she said. “Long time no see.” I hopped onto a stool. “How’s it hanging?” Valla glanced down at her crotch. “You wanna see?” I’d walked right into that one. “Maybe another time?” “Promises, promises.” She licked her lips and eyed me up and down. “So, what you having?” “The usual.” Valla inclined her head and turned away to mix my drink. I had no clue what was in it, but it was tasty as hell with a hit that lasted long enough to feel good, but not enough to put me over the limit to drive. The first time mum had brought me here I’d been terrified, because when I’d looked at Valla, I’d seen her for what she was—a green monstrous thing with shark teeth and blood-red eyes. I hadn’t let on though, and over time I’d learned to control the filter that allowed me to see the otherworld creature’s true natures. Valla was a djinn, one of the refugees that had made lives for themselves in Lindrealm. I’m pretty

sure the government wasn’t clueless, but as long as these refugees didn’t cause any mischief they were left alone—to be honest it was probably more a case of the government not knowing how to get rid of them even if they wanted to. I glanced over my shoulder at the other patrons and dropped the veil over my eyes. Only two of them were human, and they weren’t together. They were sitting separately with their companions who were both lower level djinn; green skinned and red eyed. My muscles tensed. This was bad. For the most part the djinn that had infiltrated our world were harmless. They ran small businesses and generally kept under the radar. But this, openly fraternising with humans on what looked like a romantic level, was taking it too far. Djinn were fascinated by humans, by our humanity and our souls. And it looked like they were getting bolder, venturing out of hiding to get some action. I had no idea if humans and djinn could procreate, but if they could then this was dangerous ground. In another century or so there could be no humans left. Just djinn-human hybrids. It was a way to wipe

us out, to dominate us without a war, and even Fearless wouldn’t be able to stop them. The urge to stand up, walk over, and say something was almost too much. But to do so would be to reveal what I could see. Valla was aware that I knew her secret, but I had never revealed that I could see her true form. That was my secret, and one that mum had urged me not to share with anyone . . . anyone except Lauren. Lauren was an exception. Clenching my teeth I turned back to the bar. There was nothing I could do. Nothing the government could do. Valla placed a tall glass filled with a fierycoloured concoction before me. “There you go.” One sip and fire raced down my throat, pooling in my belly. “Hits the spot.” Valla paced her hands on the bar and leaned forward. “I know something else that would hit the spot just right too.” Valla was pretty hot, but even if I swung that way—knowing what she truly was, what her true

form was—I could never go there. I leaned in and pecked her on the cheek. “What, and spoil a perfectly good friendship?” Valla rolled her eyes. “We’re not that good of friends.” “Nice try.” I chuckled then took another sip of my drink. I was tempted to ask her the question again, the one that she evaded every time—why had she come here? Why leave the fifth dimension? She’d either shrug and change the subject, or tell me to piss off and mind my own business. It was the only time she dropped the sexy bartender act and showed a spark of her true nature, so I saved my energy and finished my drink under her watchful gaze. Setting my glass down, I slipped off the stool. “Is he about?” Valla jerked a thumb at the door behind her. “You know the way.” She lifted the latch and let me behind the bar. I glanced down at the bottom half of her body, legs to die for topped in six inch ruby red stilettos.

“Wow!” Valla preened. “You don’t know what you’re missing.” Oh, but I so did. Leaving her to her preening, I pushed through the door that led to the core of the bar. There was a kitchen where the bar snacks were prepared and Valla took a load off on her break. At the centre of it was a spiral staircase that led to the basement. Gripping the handrail, I made my way down. *** The warehouse at the bottom of the staircase was filled with dim lighting, a desk, a bed, barrels of beer, and crates of other beverages. A full length freestanding ornate mirror was stationed by the far wall, but Lauren was nowhere to be seen. I moved toward the mirror, rapped on its surface three times and took a step back. My stomach was a mass of knots as the surface of the mirror began to ripple. The contours of a body and a face pushed through, and then Lauren

was stepping into the room. His light hazel eyes shone with pleasure at seeing me. “Kenna.” He said my name like a caress. Suddenly I was feeling all hot and flustered. This was why I dreaded coming here—the weird way he made me feel. “Lauren. I’m sorry it’s been so long.” He smiled softly. “Well, time has little meaning when we move between worlds. How long has it been for you?” “About a month, I think.” Which meant over six months for him. Crap. I really needed to visit more often. He walked over to his desk and sat in the hard backed chair stationed beside it. “Won’t you sit awhile?” He indicated the bed. I perched on the edge of the mattress and just took him in. I couldn’t help it. Lauren was just . . . beautiful. Not hunky or gorgeous, but striking in a way that blended both masculine and feminine beauty. His skin was flawless, alabaster perfection, his brows perfectly arched, his cheekbones high, and his chin slightly pointed. He was a marvel to

look at. He dropped his gaze, his lashes casting shadows on his cheeks. I cleared my throat. “Shit, I’m sorry for staring.” He shook his head. “It’s alright. I know what I must look like to your mortal eyes.” Yes, my mortal eyes . . . but if I dropped the veil then I could see even more; the soft aura of light that surrounded him and the golden shimmer to his skin. Lauren was a Twilighter and luma was in his soul. But as lovely as he was, I hadn’t come here to admire him. I took off my jacket and pulled up my sleeve. “Can you?” I held out my wrist. Was that a flash of disappointed in his eyes? “Of course.” He unlocked the top drawer to his desk and retrieved the slim box which contained his quill. “So, how’s the life of a Fearless?” “The same. Although, I heard that luma crops have been struggling.” Lauren looked up sharply? “Really?” His gaze slid away.

“Lauren?” He sighed. “As far as I’m aware the crops are fine but . . . there have been rumours of strange goings on at the luma farm.” “If the crops are fine, then why aren’t we getting our full quota?” “I don’t know.” It’s not like we weren’t keeping up our end of the deal. We paid in song. Our most promising musicians worked all year round to produce unique sounds that would then be sent to Twilight to feed the fabric of their realm. The Fearless who’d been to Twilight on escort duty swore the air itself sang. I never wanted to hear it though, because that would mean I was escorting the tithe, and I wanted to put off that duty for as long as I could. “You think you can ask around for me, find out what may be going on?” Lauren’s gaze caressed my face. “Of course, I’d do . . .” he pressed his lips together. “What?” He shook his head. “Lauren?”

His hazel eyes darkened. “I missed you.” My throat tightened. I licked my lips, confused at how my emotions were never completely my own around him. “I’m sorry. I’ll come back more often, I promise.” After all, I needed him. He was my saviour. “Come back in two days. I should have some information on the luma situation by then.” He slipped off the chair and onto his knees before me. Taking my wrist in a gentle grip, he began to fill in my mark with his enchanted quill. There was no pain, only the warm tingling grasp of his long fingers and the scent of freshly cut grass. Lauren was a contradiction. Gentle hands, firm resolve, soft skin, and steely determination. Mum still wouldn’t tell me how they’d met. Only that she had found him just in time to help me. I was an aberration—a child born with no mark. Mum had hidden it for as long as she could but, afraid that someone would find out and report me, she’d gone in search of an otherworld solution to our problem, and it was on this path she’d found

Lauren. I’d known him almost all my life. He never aged, never faltered in his focused attention toward me, but as I’d grown our relationship had changed. Intensity had developed behind his eyes, eliciting a tumult of confused emotions inside me that I still hadn’t managed to untangle. It was easier to stay away as long as I could. He finished inking in my mark—the destiny I had chosen—and sat back. I rubbed my hand over the word Fearless, which now looked fresh and new, then pulled my sleeve down to cover it. “Thanks.” “Always.” We locked eyes and I felt a tug in my solar plexus pulling me toward him. “Kenna . . .” his breath was warm against my cheek. The clatter of heels on the stairs broke the spell. We sat back and watched Valla take the last few steps in her ridiculous shoes. She stood by the staircase, hands on hips. “It’s getting busy up there. Employ some more staff or get your butt up there and help me serve.”

Piece said, she clambered back up the stairs. I stood and pulled on my jacket. “I best get going. I’ll see you in two days.” Two days for me would be two weeks for him. My stomach felt hollow. I told myself it was hunger, but I knew it wasn’t. It was something else. Something I suspected understand.

I

would

never

CHAPTER 5

I

t had grown humid outside, a sure sign that rain was on the way. It sweetened the air, intensifying the scent of magick, moulding it

into something sharper and poignant. I hated the effect it had me. The ache it elicited at the back of my throat, the flutter it teased into being in my belly. It was seductive, alluring, and here, in The Wild, it saturated everything. It wouldn’t be long until it claimed Everlight too—a fact I both dreaded and longed for. Heading for my ride, I was distracted by an echoing velvety laugh. My scalp pricked as I turned my head toward the sound; and there they were. Cradled by the night—the couple from Clovers— the djinn and the human. She had her arm through his and was looking up into his face as if he was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. He was probably using some kind of djinn glamour on her. Making her want him. Making her

love him. A shiver ran down my spine. This wasn’t my fight. My fight was with the denizens. My secret had to remain a secret. I took a step toward my ride just as the human woman answered with a tinkling laugh of her own. Fuck it. I spun on my heel and headed toward them. They’d just turned a corner. I broke into a sprint to catch up, reaching the end of the street to find them crossing the road toward a strange dilapidated looking building. Boarded up windows, vine covered walls, and a roof in need of a through felting. Shit, they were almost through the doors. I broke into a run. “Hey! Wait up!” They either didn’t hear me, or more likely the djinn did but decided to ignore me, while the human was too enraptured to care. Heart pounding dangerously in my chest, I burst through the peeling double doors and into the building. The scent of incense hit me. Polished wooden

pews, a multitude of flickering candles, wide arched windows filled with stained glass, and an impressively ornate alter behind which hung a tapestry of the universe. I was in a house of worship. A House of the One Creator. I dropped the veil and stifled a gasp as the ceiling morphed into a shifting replica of the tapestry. A billion stars, a hundred moons, a cosmos of possibilities were suspended above me. My breath hitched and my chest grew light. A clatter broke the eerie connection. The couple I’d followed was standing by a long table to my left. It was laden with a variety of food, from cakes to pastries to soups. They stared at me with open curiosity. Okay. What to do now? The woman smiled and made to take a step toward me, but the man—the djinn—grasped her elbow to stop her. Heat flared in my chest. “Let her go.” The woman’s smile wavered. She glanced at her companion. “It’s alright Susan,” he said, with that echoing

velvet voice of his. She nodded and smiled. “No, it isn’t okay. Let go of her now.” The djinn’s brows came down in a frown. With the veil down I could see him for what he was— monstrously beautiful, with savage features, emerald skin, and ruby red eyes. I needed to get through to the woman. “I’m a Fearless Officer. And I . . . I can sense that your companion isn’t human.” Her mouth formed an ‘O’. Finally. And then she burst out laughing. The doors to the house of worship opened and more people spilled in, laughing and shaking sparkling raindrops from their limbs. I barely noticed, my attention on the woman who was having a proper laughing fit, and then the djinn joined in and I lost it. “What the heck is so funny?” She held up her hand and shook her head. “I’m sorry. It’s just . . . you looked so worried. It’s okay. I know what Farhaan is. I’ve known for some

time.” She knew? But . . . I didn’t understand . . . The djinn picked up a cup of something and held it out to me tentatively. “Water?” Someone giggled. I turned to spear the offender with my best don’t-fuck-with-me glare and almost lost it all over again. The place was filled with djinn and humans, and . . . was that a Twilighter? “What have I missed?” A voice cut through the silence. The crowd parted and a short balding djinn, dressed in black robes dotted with winking stars, sailed through. His gaze latched onto me and his wide mouth opened in a smile that had me backing up. His eyes widened. “Oh, my dear. You do have a strong sense don’t you?” Best to let him think I was going on vibe alone. I nodded. “Well, we won’t hurt you.” “What is this? Some kind of indoctrination? Take over a house of worship and convert humans

so they procreate with djinn? Some kind of otherworld cult?” His bottom lip jutted out in a pout. “Now that would have been an interesting approach, but totally counterproductive. God doesn’t want brainwashed souls. In fact, god wants the exact opposite. He wants enlightened souls.” He wasn’t making any sense. “What have you done with the pastor?” “He is the pastor,” Susan said. I turned to her. “You can’t be serious. This is a house of worship.” “Yes. One god for all.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “So you’re the pastor. A bloody djinn. And you’re all here of your own free will?” I made sure to make eye contact with the humans. Some looked away, others glared at me in defiance, but it was Susan who responded. “Why shouldn’t we be? The djinn and the Twilighters aren’t so different from us.” “Aside from the fact that they have no humanity. They have their world. This one is ours.”

Susan rolled her eyes. “Listen to yourself. Did your mother never teach you to share?” The heat in my chest was now in my throat. Didn’t they understand what was at stake here? Our world, our freedom, and the one thing that distinguished us from them—our humanity. “You can’t share humanity.” Her hand went to her stomach. Her gaze softened and a smile tugged at her lips. “Yes. You can.” Oh fuck. Her djinn lover wrapped his arms around her, and I took a step back. “Wait, won’t you stay awhile?” The pastor said. “Have a bite to eat? We’d hate to see you leave in the terrible rain.” But I was already pulling open the door. They were crazy, the lot of them, and there was nothing I or the government could do about it.

CHAPTER 6

I

t was midnight by the time I snuck into the house. I had to be up in five hours for my next shift. A yawn ripped through me as I crept up

the stairs, eager for bed. I cracked open my door and slipped into my room. The blinds were drawn, but the glow of everlight peeked through the gaps, mingling with the soft glow of everlight that lit up the ceiling. In the capital you were never completely in the dark. I undressed quickly and slipped under the duvet in just my sports bra and panties. Oh god that was sooo good. I closed my eyes. My stomach growled. No, no, I just wanted to sleep, dammit. There was a soft knock at the door. Mum let herself in carrying a tray of what smelled like lasagne. Exhaustion took a backseat. I sat up and held out my arms. “Gimme!”

Mum frowned. “You really need to take better care of yourself.” She set the tray on my lap and parked her butt on the end of my bed. “Eat up.” I dug in, shovelling food into my mouth like a demon. It was gone too soon, leaving a warm huggable feeling in my belly. “Oh man, I needed that.” “How was your day?” “Good.” Susan’s face

came

to

mind.

“Except . . . I discovered something disturbing.” “What?” I licked my lips. “I went into a house of worship.” Her eyes lit up. “You did?” I sighed through my nose. “Not by choice.” “Oh?” I rolled my eyes. “The point is, this house of worship was run by a djinn. And there were other djinn there, with humans. Mum, the humans knew they were fraternising with djinn. One of them was even pregnant by a djinn.” She stared at me levelly. “Did you hear what I said?”

“I heard you. I was just waiting for you to get to the disturbing part of your story.” “Are you serious?” Her eyes narrowed. “Why does this bother you so much?” “Why doesn’t it bother you? Seriously? We’re under constant attack from the denizens that come out of Evernight, out of breaches to their world, and now the few refugees that we are tolerating are actually actively fraternising with humans. I can fight the denizens. I can protect us from that threat, but I can’t do anything about this.” She shrugged. “And why should you?” I couldn’t believe she didn’t get it either. “This world is all we have left, and it’s becoming theirs. Magick has changed it, and it won’t be long until what we were is lost. That’s inevitable. But we have our humanity, and that’s something they can’t take from us. Not unless we let them.” Something akin to annoyance flashed across her face. “And what makes you think you have the monopoly on humanity?” What the heck was she on about?

Her lips turned down. “Don’t give me that look. Humanity is a gift to be shared, and if you can’t understand that, then I obviously haven’t raised you as well as I thought.” My chest squeezed at the look of disappointment on her face. She placed a hand over mine. “You vowed to protect your people. Surely the djinn and Twilighters who chose to make their home in our world fall under that umbrella? Remember, many of them have been here, living amongst us, for longer than you’ve been in this world. This is their home too. Protect this world and its creatures from those that mean us harm.” Her words were like shards piercing my chest. My cheeks grew warm. I couldn’t look at her. She was right. Of course she was right. “The creator gave us all life. One god for all, Kenna.” My muscles stiffened. “Don’t.” “Kenna?” I held up a hand. “No mum. We’ve talked about this. God is something we’re gonna have to

agree to disagree on.” She sighed. “Drink your milk.” Milk all glugged, eyes heavy with sleep, I was ready to conk out. “What time you up tomorrow?” she asked. “Five.” I yawned. “I’ll be up. You’re having a proper breakfast young lady.” Her stern expression softened and she smoothed my hair. “Sleep tight baby.” She took the tray and slipped from the room. It was a while before my mind relaxed enough for sleep to crawl in. Mum’s words ran through my head, accompanied by a queasy feeling which I recognised as shame. What was I achieving by ostracising the otherworlders amongst us? The threat was without, not within. Focus had to remain on the denizens. Sleep was wrapping me in its deliciously warm arms when I felt the covers being pulled back. The bed dipped as a small body cuddled up against my side. I rolled onto my side and pulled her close. “Bad dream, sweetie?”

Bella nodded her head, her hair brushing my shoulder. “It’s just a dream, it doesn’t mean anything.” “I know. I just . . . I wanted to be close to you.” “Was the bad dream about me?” “I can’t remember.” “It’s okay. Just go to sleep.” She’d been having these dreams on and off for a couple of months now, and it was always me she came to. I didn’t mind her sharing my bed, but I hated that she was having nightmares. Mum was adamant that it was just a developmental phase. I hoped she was right. I held Bella until her breathing evened out, and then I finally allowed sleep to take me. *** Filled with porridge, toast, and a cup of coffee, I turned up at base ready to do battle with whatever shit the world decided to throw at me that day. First thing on the agenda was the escort line-up, but I

didn’t even make it to the notice board because Brett got to me first with a steaming mug of coffee and a grin that told me all I needed to know. “Really?” He nodded. “We’re off the hook, bud.” I glanced around the floor and clocked a few sullen faces. No one liked escort duty. It reminded us of our helplessness, of the fact that we were beholden to one of the monsters. It reminded us that one day out of the year we were forced to become the monsters. I tucked myself into my cubicle ready for a day of the mundane when Brett slid his chair over. “So . . . Danny wants to go out for a meal tonight.” I looked up from booting up my laptop. Danny did not do restaurants. “Really . . .” Brett caught his bottom lip between his teeth and raised his brows. “I know, right? That’s what I thought so . . . I think he’s gonna pop the question.” “Oh my god! Shit! I’m so happy for you!” I leaned over and threw my arms around him, or tried to—the guy was huge.

“I’m fucking nervous as hell. I love him but this is a huge step. Things have been rough with all the back to back shifts and the late nights. I honestly thought it wouldn’t work.” “You want this though, right?” He nodded. “It’s just, our jobs are so unpredictable and shit is getting bad out there, I just . . .” “No.” I cut him off. “We do not stop living just because we may die any second.” Brett sat back in his seat and stretched out his long legs. “Wow. Deep.” “Shut it!” Brett chuckled. “You’re right. I know. I just don’t want him to be left alone.” “He won’t be, cos I got your back,” I winked. “So on to the most important question of all . . . what are you going to wear?” *** The morning passed quietly. Two dispatch calls came through. Zeta Unit took one and Delta took

the other. I was Alpha Unit, split into two smaller teams that rarely went out together—yeah we were that good. Brett and I made up one half, and Adam and Nathan the other. We only ever got called out as a whole unit when the big guns were needed, or another base was short staffed. I watched the other units head out, wished them luck, and continued scanning the last six months of reports in the central data base. All the reports from all the bases were filed here. I filtered the data and pulled up the Everlight cases for the past six months. There were eight. It didn’t sound like a lot, but it was double from just two years ago. I checked through each report and then looked at the family history, relatives, any trips taken a month before the incident occurred, and sure enough there it was—the connection that I’d been looking for. “Brett, check this out.” Brett slid his seat over and studied my laptop screen. “Shit.” “Yep.” All the people involved in the incidents had visited the same area in the same borough a week before the incidents were called in. The

borough wasn’t one of ours; it was Riverside, which was covered by Southside base. Technically we had no jurisdiction, and I should call it in. But this case felt personal. I’d expelled that denizen. I’d found the connection. I wanted to see it through. Brett’s regard was hot on the side of my face. “We could get in the shit for this, you know?” I smiled slyly. I loved the way he could read my mind sometimes. “We?” He snorted. “Er, yeah. You don’t think I’ll be letting you go alone, do you?” “This is why you’re my best bud.” Brett shook his head. “Come on then. It’s a forty-minute ride and I have dinner plans this evening remember?” Shit! I’d almost forgotten. Now I just felt bad about taking this on. “Don’t,” he said. “We do this and we all sleep a little better tonight.” I nodded, glancing across the floor toward Blane’s office. He’d said he wouldn’t be in today, but I’d hoped he’d make an appearance. By the time I checked the Riverside Borough area, my

shift would be up. Scrawling a cheeky note, I headed to his office to drop it on his desk. “Excuse me? Where do you think you’re going?” Vanessa said. I paused on the threshold to the office. “To leave a note on Blane’s desk.” Vanessa held out her hand. “I’ll take that, thank you.” I gave her my best, you’ve-got-to-be-kiddingme look. “Er . . . No you won’t.” Vanessa raised her perfectly plucked brows. “You can’t go in there.” Okay, so she was doing her job, and it was kinda dodgy for anyone to just saunter into the boss’s office when he wasn’t there, and yep, she was his secretary for a reason, but I was his girlfriend for Pete’s sake! Girlfriend trumped secretary and the rules. Although . . . I wasn’t supposed to be his girlfriend at work. I sighed, admitting defeat. Striding over to her desk, I placed my hands on its polished surface and leaned in. “I know you want his cock, but honey, it’s already taken. In the

meantime, why don’t you make sure he gets this?” I placed the folded up note in front of her, knowing full well she’d read it, but not caring a jot. Her cheeks flamed and she swallowed. “Is that okay with you?” She pressed her lips together and nodded, her eyes sparking in defiance even while her face did its best beetroot impression. Well, the girl had gumption, I had to admire that. I left her with my filthy note, imagining how she could possibly get any redder, and headed back to my desk where Brett was hovering. I shrugged on my jacket. “You ready?” Life was filled with too many dark things— they lurked on the outskirts of the everlight, they waited in pockets of darkness, and for the most part there was nothing permanent we could do about them. So when we got a chance to score a point against the destructive forces that surrounded us, there was no hesitation. “Let’s go close this breach.”

CHAPTER 7

R

iverside Borough was in southern Lindrealm. Made up of a cluster of residential and small market areas, it

hugged the tail end of the Times River. A huge hydroelectric plant sat on the river bank. I couldn’t resist dropping the veil, just for a second, just to see the pretty rainbow lights that churned above the shimmering mauve river. Runes etched into the walls of the riverbank drew magick from the atmosphere, and the magick churned the water, powering the plant and creating electricity. This was Riverside Borough’s contribution to the capital, and how they paid their taxes. The electrical power kept what old technology we had alive. Everlight’s dependency on Riverside Borough would probably save it from having to pay the rising tax, until Shamateck made electricity redundant. As we rode along the opposite side of the river

and over the bridge that connected the two banks, my mind was running over the facts of our case. All the affected had been children and they all lived in Everlight. A quick check for incidents involving kids in Riverside had netted me six hits in the last six months. The breach had to be somewhere all the kids may have gone. Somewhere outdoors. Somewhere like a park? We passed the plant and rode into the borough proper. We drove through the streets, passed the neat houses with their pretty gardens and waist high fences, and toward the two-square-mile area I’d mapped out using the results I’d collated. We pulled over before we hit our hot spot, and I flipped open the cover to the small tablet built into my ride to access the central database. “What you thinking?” Brett asked. “I’m thinking parks.” “Good call.” There were eight of them in the area. The coordinates came up, and I programmed them into my ride before emailing them to Brett. While he accessed the email and programmed his ride, I fired

up my engine. “Meet you there.” I was off. *** “This is the last one, bud,” Brett said. It was beginning to get dark and we were in a part of the borough where everlight was scarce. This area was far removed from the capital where everlight hung in the air, coated the roofs, and shone from every street light. Here we had real night—just the emerging moon, distant stars, and the growing shadows. Nature had taken a hold, growing defiantly through cracks in paving and climbing stubbornly up walls. Once again a far cry from Everlight, where nature only grew where deliberately permitted. “Can you sense anything?” Brett asked. Part of a Fearless Officer’s skill was sensing portals. As I wasn’t really Fearless, I didn’t have this skill, but I had learned how to fake it using my excellent gut instinct and perception. Taking a

couple of steps into the park, I scanned the equipment: the slide, swing sets, the roundabout, the climbing frame, and an obstacle course made from tyres and huge plastic tubing. Bingo. I pulled out Frieda and began to move toward the tube. “Yeah, me too . . .” Brett said. “I can feel it.” I got there first and ducked my head to peer in. It was pitch black. The tube wasn’t that long, and there was plenty of moonlight, so I should have been able to see out the other side. A blink and the darkness receded, revealing the swing set on the other side of the tube, but in the next moment it was obscured by darkness yet again. Behind me Brett activated Lance. “It’s pretty unstable.” Our everlight swords gleamed wickedly in the dark. “You ready to close this sucker?” Brett asked. “Yeah.” It was a large breach. I couldn’t believe we hadn’t had more trouble from it. Kids went through here every day. It could have opened

at any time and simply swallowed one. Maybe it had. I’d have to check the missing person’s reports. I climbed a little way into the tube, Frieda held up and ready to jab the darkness. The darkness leapt at me. A scream tore from my throat as I slashed at the inky mass. A screech filled the air and the denizen slammed into me, propelling me out of the tube. Teeth snapped at my face. Its weight pressed down onto my chest. I couldn’t tell what it was; just that it was too damn close for comfort, and my sword arm was trapped between us. I held it at bay with my left arm while Brett yanked at it, but the bugger had its talons in my jacket and all Brett was doing was shaking the fuck out of me. “Get the hell off her!” Brett yelled. “Kill it!” I shouted. It reared back and lunged. My arm slipped and it bit me, its teeth piercing the leather arm of my jacket and sinking into flesh. The pain was fire. Darkness clouded my vision, and then I was pinned under its full weight for a long second before it shuddered, jerked, and folded in on itself, over and

over until there was nothing left. “You okay? Oh fuck, you’re bleeding!” Brett hauled me to my feet. My vision swam with black dots. I blinked to clear them before peeling off my jacket to expose the bite. “It’s deep, but I don’t think it’ll need stitches,” Brett examined the wound. My head swam when I tried to nod. “There’s a med pack on my ride.” Brett led me to a bench and then sprinted back to the rides for the med pack. He was back in less than a minute, already ripping the bandage out of its sanitised wrapper. I let him work on me, binding the bite to staunch the bleeding and giving me a shot for the pain. “You think you can ride?” I exhaled and slipped my jacket back on. The pain was ebbing already. “Yeah, I’ll let you know if I need to stop.” We walked back to our rides and I saw that Brett had activated the luma skin on both our bikes. They glowed softly in the dark—twin sources of

fear for otherworld denizens. I climbed aboard, eager to get home, but then remembered my meeting with Lauren. Just as well really, Market Borough was closer to Riverside than Everlight was, and maybe Lauren could work his mojo and fix me up. “I’m gonna take a detour through Market Borough, I have to pick something up for mum. I have a medic friend there who can look at the bite.” “You sure? I don’t mind coming with you. We should really take you back to base to get that sanitised and flushed.” I shook my head and smiled. “Trust me. I’ll be fine. Besides, you have a date remember?” His eyes widened, “Oh shit! Yeah,” but then his brows snapped down, “Danny will understand. You’re hurt.” “It’s just a scratch.” He quirked a brow. “So tough.” “You know it.” I leaned in and gave him a hug. “Go get engaged.” We rode together as far as the motorway and

then split up. Brett headed down the main road to Everlight, and I took a slip road to Market Borough. I had to see a Twilighter about some intel.

CHAPTER 8 did you find out?” I was sitting on “ Sothewhat edge of Lauren’s bed, as he’d claimed the only chair. “Nothing of value.” I raised a brow. “Seriously? You were gone two weeks and you learned nothing?” “The farm is closed to all visitors. I tried for days to get a meeting with the owners, but no luck. I did however manage to bribe one of the field hands into doing a little spying. Apparently the owner’s son hasn’t been seen about the place for some time.” “You think that means something?” He shrugged. “The son used to run the fields and now he’s gone.” “So you think something happened to him? But how would that affect the luma crops?” “It wouldn’t, unless . . .” “What?”

“Unless the owner was being blackmailed.” “If someone took his son and was forcing him to lie and hold back the luma?” “Yes.” “But why? Why would they do that? What is luma used for in Twilight?” “The gem mines mainly, and sometimes in decoration to light the midnight revelry, that kind of thing.” “But as far as Twilight is concerned they’re getting the luma they need?” “Yes.” Lauren leaned forward and took my hands. “Depriving Lindrealm of luma will make it vulnerable to the denizens.” “But all we have at the moment is a theory based on sketchy information. I’ll need more if I’m going to take this to Blane.” Lauren’s expression shuttered. He released my hands and leaned back in his chair. His classic reaction whenever I mentioned Blane. “How is . . . Blane?” “He’s good, thanks. I wish you guys could meet, you’d love him.”

“Do you?” “What?” “Love him?” “I—” Did I? “I guess so.” His lips curled in a soft smile. “Believe me Kenna, when you love someone . . . really love someone, there’s no guess work involved.” Was he talking from experience? Maybe about a lover he’d had? Wow, I really didn’t know much about him at all. He’d known me since I was a baby. I’d been coming to see him on my own for six years now, and all I knew about him was that he owned this bar, had a magick quill, could pass through a magick mirror, and that he was single, or at least I thought he was. “Have you ever loved someone? I mean . . . I never thought to ask if you had someone.” “Yes, but it was a long time ago.” His tone was clipped. Yep, this was why I didn’t pry into his personal life, because every time I did I got the shut-down face. Over the years I’d just gotten used to filling the silence with chat about myself or mundane

everyday things. “Well, I should get going.” I made to stand. “What about your wound?” I glanced down at my leather-clad arm. “How did you know I was hurt?” He offered me half a smile. “I can smell the blood.” Okay, now that was creepy. What if I’d been on my period? Had I visited him at that time of month before? “Kenna? Would you like me to patch it up?” My arm had begun to throb. I had intended to ask Lauren to fix me up, but he was looking at me in that way again, the way that made my chest feel hollow. I needed to get away. “It’s getting late, I should go. Mum can fix me up when I get home.” He opened his mouth, and for a second I thought he was going to insist, but then he snapped it closed and nodded. I was at the staircase when I realised we hadn’t planned what our next step would be with the luma situation. We needed hard evidence. I turned back

to Lauren, to ask him just that. “I’ll keep trying,” he said. “Check back in a day or so.” I left him at the bottom of the steps but didn’t look down. I knew he’d be watching me leave. He always watched me leave.

CHAPTER 9

M

um lathered my arm with some kind of green poultice. She had a knack with herbs, and we used herbal

remedies at home all the time. “So Lauren’s going to try for some real evidence?” she asked for the third time, her brow furrowed with concern. “That’s what I said.” She gave me the look, the one that warned me not to get snippy. “This will heal it up in no time.” She sighed. “So you have to go back in a few days?” I’d told her that twice too. I bit my tongue and nodded. We were at the kitchen table, Bella safely tucked up in bed, which was the only reason she was speaking Lauren’s name. Bella didn’t know about Lauren. He was mine and mum’s secret, to tell Bella would be to risk revealing the truth about

my mark. Mum sat back and wiped her hands with a damp cloth. “It’ll be okay.” I wasn’t sure who she was trying to reassure more—me or herself. “Do you think there are others like me?” Mum glanced up at me sharply. “What do you mean?” “Without a destiny. Without a mark.” She stood and walked over to the sink. “Why this again? We’ve talked about this.” “Now who’s getting snippy?” Yeah, we’d talked about it, and most of the time I was okay with it. Tonight was just one of those nights. When mum had first told me the truth, that my bud was a fake, I’d been horrified. But curiosity had soon set in. Surely not having a destiny made me special? But mum had been insistent that it made me a target. It wasn’t until I began to see the migrant djinn that I understood the danger. “If they know you can see them, the real them, then they will kill you,” Mum had said.

So when the time to pick a destiny had come around, Fearless had seemed the best option. The exciting option. It was as close to the real me as I was going to get. It allowed me to hunt the otherworld denizens, to seek them out without anyone knowing. And in time I befriended the odd djinn, using the excuse of my sensitive Fearless nature as the reason I’d been able to flush them out. My true sight was a secret I intended to take to my grave. Of course I wondered why me? But with time it became less of an obsession. I pushed back my chair and stood. “You’re right, it doesn’t matter. I should get some sleep. Night mum.” “Night baby girl.” I left her standing at the sink, water still running, with a faraway look in her eyes. I knew better than to ask what she was thinking about. My mother was a woman with many secrets. I just hoped that one day she would deign to share them with me. I was half way up the stairs before realising I was too buzzed to sleep. The news that we’d closed

the breach would be all over the office tomorrow, but hopefully news of Brett’s engagement would take a little of the heat off us. We’d gone against protocol and there were bound to be repercussions. Warning Blane about what we’d done, and emphasising the success of our mission, could turn the reprimand into a mere slap on the wrist. My phone was already in my hand, but a better idea came to mind. Swiping my keys and jacket, I headed out the door. *** I’d have loved to surprise him. Climb into bed naked with him and wake him with a kiss, but I didn’t have a key to his house so I settled for ringing the bell like any other Joe. It was around eleven at night, but Blane wouldn’t mind a wakeup call from yours truly. Besides, the incident in the park had shaken me more than I’d care to admit. I’d almost had my throat ripped out. If Brett hadn’t killed the denizen in time . . . I shuddered. I rang the bell again and waited as the hallway

light came on. Blane opened the door, dressed in one of his bed time tee shirts and the soft grey joggers I loved to borrow when I slept over. His mouth was already curled into a smile, and his eyes were alight with recent laughter. They widened in genuine surprise when he saw me. His mouth formed an ‘O’ and he glanced back over his shoulder. I followed his gaze and caught movement down the hall behind him, in the kitchen. My brows shot up. “You have company?” “Blane, I’m just topping you up.” I recognised that voice, and my blood was instantly on the boil. Blane held up his hands. “She popped over with some documents I forgot to sign. She’s only been here an hour. I was just about to kick her out.” “Really? Is that why she’s ‘topping up your glass’?” I injected a whine to my voice to match hers. Blane’s expression sobered. “Jealousy does not sit well on you.” “Wow. Really?” I turned and began to walk

away, then paused. No. Why the fuck should I leave? I spun on my heel and strode back up the path. “It’s eleven in the evening, if you popped over to see me and found, say . . . Kev chilling in my kitchen over a bottle of wine, wouldn’t you be a little jealous?” Blane sighed. “Okay. I’m sorry.” “Good. Now let me in and we can get rid of her.” He stepped aside. I have to say the look on her face when I walked into the kitchen was priceless. “Oh, hi.” She brushed back her hair, which she’d left down for the occasion. Dark, long, and glossy, it hung in silken waves down her back. Without the pinched look to her face, I had to admit she was pretty good looking. “Hi Vanessa, Blane said you were kind enough to drop off some documents?” Vanessa smiled tightly but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Yes, I guess I better get going.” Her gaze slid over my shoulder to Blane. Was she expecting him to ask her to stay? I exhaled to control the green-eyed monster

that wanted to scratch out her eyes as she brushed past me into the hallway. Blane let her out and returned to the kitchen. “Please tell me you’re not that stupid.” Blane shrugged. “So she has a crush on me. Big deal. It wouldn’t be the first time, and it doesn’t mean anything would ever happen.” He moved toward me and pulled me into his arms. “There’s only one woman for me.” Gah, I hated that he could make me melt like this. “Really, and who might that be?” His lips curled in a slow lazy smile. “How about we head on upstairs and I show you?” Sounded good to me.

CHAPTER 10 I shouldn’t go?” Mum hovered at the “Maybe door. I gave her a once over. Light makeup, hair loose, nice slacks, and a lovely cashmere sweater under her new calf length black coat. She looked good. “You’re going.” “It’s just dinner with the girls. I can eat at home.” Her eyes lit up. “I can join you guys for movie night! I haven’t had a chance to say congratulations to the boys yet.” The problem wasn’t that she hadn’t seen Brett and Danny, the problem was that the place her charity group had picked for their bi-annual meetup was a little on the pricey side. “We can afford one fancy meal, mum. Trust me, it won’t break the bank.” Her phone buzzed and she looked down at it. “That’s Brenda . . . I guess I should go?”

I opened the front door and ushered her out before she could think of any other excuses to stay home. As soon as the door slammed, Bella came bounding down the stairs in her pyjamas and bunny slippers “Has she gone?” I nodded. “Yay. Now we can watch killer clowns!” “Yeah, then we can braid each other’s hair and I’ll let you paint my nails bright pink.” “Really?” “No. Not really you dingbat!” She puffed up her cheeks and blew out a breath. “Fine. But it was worth a try.” I shooed her into the living room. “Pick an age appropriate movie.” He eyes lit up. “Your age, not mine!” Her shoulders fell. Biting back a chuckle, I headed into the kitchen to put on the microwavable popcorn. “When are Brett and Danny getting here?” Bella called from the other room.

“Any minute, Sweetie!” I found the popcorn and stuck it in the microwave. “Has it been a minute yet?” “Gah! Child, pick a movie will ya?” The doorbell rang. “I’ll get it!” she cried. The microwave pinged, and I grabbed a bowl for the popcorn. Male voices drifted into the kitchen, followed by an excited ‘eep’ from Bella which could only mean one thing. Treats! I hurriedly filled the bowl and headed into the living room just in time to see Bella taking a huge bite of a Delightful Donut. I glanced at Brett, then Danny. Both were empty handed. “Seriously? Where’s mine?” Danny stared at me wide eyed. “Brett said you were detoxing.” “When do I ever . . .” I looked to Brett then back to Danny and then held out my hand. “Hand it over.” Brett reached behind the television and pulled

out a paper bag. I wiggled my fingers. “Gimme!” There was only one place in the whole of Everlight that sold these little bites of heaven, and it was always rammed with customers. Danny knew the owner, so our monthly movie nights were almost always accompanied by these delicious treats. I pulled out a raspberry-filled sugar-coated dough ball, popped it in my mouth, and began to chew. I sighed as the warm gooey raspberry exploded in my mouth. “This ish delishous.” Bella giggled. “You’ve got sugar all over your face!” “And raspberry all over your teeth,” Brett said. I shook my head. “I really don’t care.” Danny dipped his hand into the bag and pulled out a dough ball. He popped it in his mouth, rolling his eyes in exaggerated ecstasy. Whereas Brett was a monolith, Danny was a panther: dark haired, lean, and graceful. But right now, with sugar on his face and all over his black polo shirt, he looked nothing like the serious

executive he played all day. “Look at you!” Brett laughed. He leaned across as if to brush the sugar off Danny’s shirt but at the last minute plucked the paper bag from my fingers, picked out a crispy dough ball, and shoved it in his mouth. “Show gud,” he said, showcasing masticated contents of his mouth as he spoke. Bella burst into giggles.

the

“Wha?” Brett leaned down toward her. “You think thish ish funny?” Bella pressed her lips together to staunch her laughter and shook her head. “You know what I do to little kids that laugh at me don’t you?” “No tickles!” Bella squealed but didn’t make a move to run. Brett lifted his hands, wiggled his fingers, and then attacked. The next few minutes were filled with Bella’s uncontrollable laughter and Danny’s amused chuckles. A bubble of warmth expanded in my chest as I watched Brett give Bella a reprieve and

turn his tickle power on Danny. This, right here, made it all worth it. My friends. My family. This was home. *** We were crammed onto the large sofa, just settling to watch a fantasy movie about a mermaid, when I noticed Brett and Danny exchanging glances. I hit pause. “What? I thought you liked mermaids?” He smiled. “Love em, it’s just . . . we had something to ask you both.” I sat up straighter. “Well, ask then.” “Will you be my best man?” Brett asked. Was he serious? Gah! “Course I will you dummy!” Danny looked down at Bella. “And we’d love you to be our flower girl.” Bella’s eyes lit up. “Yes! Cindy got to be a flower girl last month and she had the prettiest dress. Do I get a pretty dress?” Danny chuckled and ruffled her hair. “Course

you do sweetheart.” She bounced on the sofa. “Wait till I tell mum!” I pulled her into my arms. “You’ll be in bed by the time she gets back. You can tell her tomorrow.” Brett grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl in my lap. “Let’s watch this movie. Bloody love mermaids!” Danny pressed play and we snuggled up on the sofa for some fantasy aquatic entertainment.

CHAPTER 11

M

um joined me on the squishy sofa in our cosy living. She’d rolled in at one in the morning and hadn’t rolled out

of bed until lunch time. If she had a hangover it didn’t show, she looked as alert and glowing as always. It was almost two in the afternoon now, and Bella looked ready to burst with her flower girl news. “Have they picked a date yet?” mum asked. “Nope.” I took a sip of my juice then placed it back on the coffee table. “But they plan on a summer wedding.” “And guess what mum? Tell her Kenna, tell her!” Bella hopped from foot to foot. I smiled at Bella’s enthusiasm. “He wants me to be his best man.” Bella clapped her hands. “And tell her the rest!”

I rolled my eyes. “And they want Bella to be a flower girl.” Mum smoothed Bella’s hair and made all the right noises. In the background the television screen flickered while a figure addressed the world silently. I’d muted it when Bella had wandered in. She was supposed to be up in her room for this, but there were a few minutes till the announcement so . . . Mum glanced at the screen then at me. She inclined her head—the signal to send Bella up to her room. My little sister may have argued with mum, but she could never say no to me. “Bell, babe, it’s time.” Bella sighed but didn’t argue. With one sideways glance at the screen she headed out of the room. We listened while she climbed the steps and waited until we heard her door shut before turning the volume up on the television. The silent man came to life in all his gravity. “—of the lottery are in. Thirteen names,

thirteen lives to protect the many. We owe these people our undying gratitude, their families are now our families, and we owe them our eternal support . . .” “Just get on with it already!” Mum said. Her hands were curled into fists, her knuckles white. She hated this as much as I did even though we were both exempt—she because of her age, and I because of my status as Fearless. We watched every year regardless, and we shared in the grief of the families that did lose someone. The names began to scroll on screen, complete with picture, borough, and residential code, just so there couldn’t possibly be any confusion. We scanned the names, not recognising any until the last one. Mum’s hand flew to her mouth and my insides twisted. “I got to go.” I was on my feet and heading out before mum could reply. ***

I pulled up outside Brett’s at the same time as the escort van. Two male Fearless Officers jumped out just as I dismounted. Their faces weren’t familiar. Probably from another base. Striding over, I cut them off before they could step onto the path. The taller of the two tensed, his hand going to the Taser at his waist. I caught the twitch of curtains from the corner of my eye—we were being watched by the whole damned street. I flashed the badge I rarely used and the officers relaxed. “Guys, one of us lives here.” “Ah, shit,” said the shorter guy. “I thought I recognised the other name on the tenancy papers.” “The monolith?” the taller guy asked. “Yeah.” My throat was suddenly dry. “They just got engaged.” “Fuck. You think he’ll . . . You think he’ll be okay?” You think he’ll be trouble, is what he meant. “I honestly don’t know, so you mind if I go in first to scope things out?” They shook their heads, “No, go ahead.” I walked up to the front door and knocked.

Brett opened it almost immediately. He didn’t look past me at the van. He simply stepped back, let me in, and shut the door. I found Danny in the kitchen, eyes red and swollen, a mug in his hand. “I’m okay, I’ll be okay,” he said. My eyes welled. “Fucking hell, I was supposed to be making this easier!” Danny did his snort laugh thing that always made me giggle. “It’s okay. You being here makes me feel better. I don’t want him to be alone tonight.” I looked to Brett, whose face was a stony mask. Danny clapped his hands together. “Okay, I should grab my toothbrush or something, right? Am I gonna need a toothbrush? I don’t know. I . . .” He moved toward the hallway, and then stepped back. “Should I bother taking anything?” He looked so helpless, standing there in his joggers and t-shirt, his hair dishevelled and his brown eyes wet with sorrow. Brett stood by the door to the hallway, his large body blocking the exit.

Danny reached for him. “Will you walk me out?” Brett’s jaw ticked. “I can’t.” “I’ll give you guys a moment.” I squeezed past them both and stood by the front door. I was a voyeur—a useless eavesdropper of their grief. Their sobs echoed throughout the house, seeping into the walls. I’d never forget that sound. Danny plodded out to me a moment later. “Walk me out, Kenna.” I glanced over his shoulder at Brett, but he’d already retreated into the kitchen. I linked arms with Danny. “Okay.” We made our way down the path to the waiting van. The short guy opened the door at the back, and a peek inside showed a mini bar, cushy seats, and even a television. He would be a prisoner riding to an uncertain fate in style. He climbed up and turned back to me. “Take care of my man, Kenna. He may look strong but he’s a pussycat really. Did you know he won’t even kill a spider? He’s a real softie and this . . . this could break him.”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak, because there was a dam of emotion in my chest threatening to burst at any moment, and I couldn’t allow that to happen. I needed to be strong for them both. I stepped back as the doors slammed shut. The engine roared to life and the van peeled away from the kerb just as the front door flew open and Brett barrelled down the path. I grabbed at him, trying my best to hold him back, hold him together, as the vehicle sped down the street and round the corner out of view. We were headed back up the path to the front door when my pager buzzed. I unclipped it and scanned the message. It was a call out—a local eatery with a possible creeper problem. The coordinates had already been sent to our rides. Insensitive wankers! My eyes pricked. Brett stared at me, jaw clenched. I reached for my phone. “Fuck it, they can find someone else.” Brett grabbed my hand. “No. I need to do this.” His eyes gleamed with the fire of vengeance,

and I felt the answering call in the tightening of my chest. Yeah, I wanted to do this too. “That denizen picked the wrong day to take a stroll.” *** I took a swig from the bottle of whisky and handed it to Brett, who finished it off. We stood on Times Bridge, covered in creeper gore and bits of food, and watched the Twilight Gate beyond the river. Behind us, a quarter mile back, was the Evernight Gateway—heavily guarded around the clock and warded to fuck just in case. I’d thought killing the creeper would help us, and while we’d been hacking and slashing and generally making a complete mess of the restaurant kitchens, for a few moments the pain had taken a back seat. But once the threat was gone the pain was back, rolling over us like a relentless tsunami. So we’d found ourselves here. Looking out at the gateway Danny had been taken through mere hours earlier. The Twilight Gate was beautiful at night—an

archway that reached up to the sky—slender, regal, and ornate. It had become a landmark for the city. Covered in everlight, it glowed like a beacon, reminding us that beyond the horror and darkness lay a realm of beauty unlike anything we could imagine. Shame it had also become a gateway to Erebus. When the gates first appeared, the government sent probes through both. The probes sent into the Evernight Gate were all destroyed upon entry. We don’t know for sure what lies beyond, and so we take Erebus’s word that only death awaits us on the other side. The tithe reach Erebus’s Evernight home via Twilight, where they’re handed over to Erebus’s emissary. He takes them the rest of the way through via a portal. “What do you think he does to them?” Brett asked for the fifth time. “I don’t know.” The same reply for the fifth time. Brett was hurting. He would hurt for a long time. The worst thing was the not knowing. It was

the lack of closure. I knew this. Mum knew this. Bella was too young to recall, but my step dad, the only father I’d known, had vanished seven years ago. I’d wondered about his fate for years, and then one day I’d simply stopped wondering. Instead I told myself he was dead. It was better that way. It was better than wondering. I turned to Brett now, intent on giving him the same advice, but the look of utter despair on his face stayed my tongue. Let him have a few more moments. Let him build the towers of hope in his mind for a little longer. If they helped him sleep at night then he should have them. I followed his gaze, set now on the shimmering magenta river. Under the everlight that danced in the air, the river was a shifting entity seething with life. Shapes and shadows darted beneath the surface. Some as long as a man, some even longer. The river was a mystery in itself; an aquatic world populated by creatures we’d yet to be formally introduced to. “I bet it’s peaceful down there,” Brett said softly.

I didn’t like the dead tone of his voice, or the emptiness of his expression. “Let’s go home, bud.” I hooked my arm through his, tugging him away from the railing He didn’t fight me, but followed me meekly as I looked to hail a taxi. Back at his house I tucked him into bed, prepared to take the couch, but he pulled me down with him, and I did the best I could to comfort a monolith as he cried himself to sleep .

CHAPTER 12

A

few days passed before I had the chance to visit Lauren again. I was loathe to leave Brett, even for a second, but he

insisted that it would be good for him, that he needed some alone time. I made the journey out into The Wild, crossing into Market Borough as the sun set, leaving the world under the protection of a watchful moon and the limited everlight that coated this borough. Tonight the scent of moonflowers was strong in the air—a cross between sandalwood and vanilla—the scent was both powerful and intoxicating. It was a favourite in Market Borough. Healers and shamans used it in a variety of concoctions. There was a garden a few streets away filled with the gorgeous white blooms, amongst other interesting flora that seemed to be emerging every day. Parking my ride up against the kerb outside the bar, I hurried inside. Clovers was busy tonight, and

I found Lauren working the bar with Valla. To everyone else he looked like an average guy—dark hair, dark eyes, nothing special. If the woman who he was shaking a cocktail for could see how beautiful he was, she’d be drooling all over the bar. He looked up and caught my eye before continuing with his cocktail making. I tucked myself into a corner booth. He’d be over once he was done with the customer. In the meantime, people watching was always an interesting pastime. I scanned the floor searching for familiar faces. A short balding man with a friendly smile raised his hand in my direction. Did I know him? He broke away from his companions and wound his way past the tables toward me. “Hello. How are you today?” There was something really familiar about him. My scalp prickled, and I dropped the veil seeing him for what he was. The short, toothy djinn that ran the house of worship round the corner. “You.” He shrugged. “Me.”

“Have you come for an apology?” “Do you have one for me?” Mums sobering words came back to me. Man, I hated it when I was wrong. “Actually, I do. Someone who means a lot to me said some stuff that . . . well . . . I shouldn’t have been so judgemental. You deserve my protection just as much as any human.” He cocked his head, his eyes narrowing speculatively as he studied me. “I do believe you mean that.” “You don’t have to sound so surprised.” “Well, you were quite vocal the last time we met.” “People change. They learn and grow.” “Which is all the creator wants from his children.” “Woah.” I held up my hands. “I said I was sorry about the whole you-don’t-belong-here thing. Let’s not bring your creator into this.” “My creator?” Okay, I was so not in the mood for this. “Look. I don’t believe. I am not a believer, so I’d

appreciate it if you dropped the subject.” He shrugged. “Very well. But if you’re in the area and just wish to hang, then please drop by.” “Hang?” “It is what you youngsters say isn’t it?” A shadow fell over us. “Pastor Cimran. How are things at the House?” Lauren asked. The little djinn looked up and smiled, his pointy teeth gleaming in the lamplight. “Oh very well, Lauren. We missed you at worship last week.” “I’m sorry. I was . . . away. But I’ll certainly drop by sometime this week.” His gaze went to me then back to the djinn. “How do you know Kenna?” The djinn raised his brows at me giving me the floor. My cheeks heated. “I accidentally went into the house of worship the other day.” Lauren’s brows were up now. He knew my feelings on the whole god thing too. “What? It was a mistake.” “I don’t believe in mistakes, only opportunities to affect change.” The pastor patted my arm and

dropped me a wink. “Enjoy your evening Kenna, and do visit soon.” He left us to join his companions, which now that I’d dropped the veil, I could see were human. Lauren slipped into the booth opposite me. “I expected you days ago.” “I’m sorry. I would have come sooner but my friend Danny, you know, Brett’s boyfriend, well, fiancé now, was selected as tithe.” Lauren’s eyes gleamed with empathy. “I’m so sorry, that must have been horrific for you both.” “I don’t know what to do to help Brett. Danny was his world.” “All you can do is be there for him. Give him space if he needs it, but let him know you’re there. Only time will heal.” “What happens to the tithe? Do you know?” I’d never thought to ask him before, but it was different when the tithe was someone you loved. He leaned back against the red leather of the booth, his gaze hooded. “Not for certain, and speculation won’t help anyone.” He was right of course, speculating wouldn’t

help Brett. Best to give him the time he needed to move forward. My heart ached at the loss too, but it was barely a fraction of what my friend must be feeling. My eyes grew hot and I cleared my throat, blinking away the threat of tears. “So what news do you have for me on the luma front?” Lauren leaned forward again, his gaze intense. “I’ve had to stop digging.” “What? Why?” “Because I enjoy living, Kenna.” He sighed in exasperation. “My questions haven’t gone unnoticed, and the other day I came home to find things had been moved around.” “You think someone was in your home?” “I’m sure of it. I’m not saying I’m dropping the enquiry, just that I’ve passed it on to someone more equipped at getting information. I suspect that the people who want to control the luma are pretty powerful. The fact that they merely rifled through my belongings tells me that they don’t see me as a direct threat. Not yet. But if I keep digging that could change.”

I covered his clasped hands with my own. “No, of course you need to back off. I couldn’t bear it if you got hurt.” He dropped his gaze to our hands, his throat working. “Thank you.” There was a deeper undertone to those two words that I couldn’t decipher. I pulled back my hand and smiled. “I need to get going, but I’ll check in soon, I promise.” He smiled wistfully. “Yes, you always do.” I left with that damn ache in my chest again, and a feeling that there was so much about Lauren I simply wasn’t seeing.

CHAPTER 13 Brett doing?” Kev asked me as I topped “How’s up on my daily dose of caffeine—I liked it milky and sweet. The coffee lounge was empty except for us. It was a cosy space, with a couple of sofas, a table and chairs, kettle, ice box, and sink. Recently I was hiding in here more and more. My workspace next to Brett felt lonely and tense, even with the big guy sitting right there. I shrugged. “I don’t know. He doesn’t talk about it. It’s like Danny never existed.” It was like I didn’t exist half the time. He’d also been coming in late on a regular basis, looking like shit, and reeking of booze. Blane wanted to have a chat with him but I’d begged him to cut Brett some slack. If things carried on like this though, even my sweet talk wouldn’t be able to stop Blane following through on his threats. Fearless didn’t have the luxury of grieving, because if we fell apart people could die. “Ah, shit. I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, me too.” I really missed my best friend. “They were good together. Just makes me shy off relationships even more.” “Nah, you can’t stop loving just cos it might be taken from you.” A couple of months ago I would have said the same thing, but seeing the light die in Brett’s eyes, seeing the essence that made him the man he was eaten away in the aftermath of his loss, had changed my world view. If Blane hadn’t been Fearless I would probably have broken it off. Kev was watching me curiously. “It’s why the Fearless dating Fearless rule is dumb.” “There’s a rule?” Kev smirked. “Have you not read the handbook?” “Yeah, of course I read the 800-page tome.” I rolled my eyes. Kev leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms. “Yeah, it’s in there, just so you know.” He was hinting at Blane and me. No wonder Blane was so anal about us not being affectionate

at work. I’d just thought dating the boss was a nono. I hadn’t considered the possibility that it was an actual rule. I cleared my throat. “Yep, it’s a dumb rule. At least dating a Fearless means you know they won’t be taken from you by the tithe. If they die you’ll know exactly what killed them” “Closure.” I drained my mug and rinsed it out at the small sink. “See you at the ball tonight?” He shook his head. “Beta isn’t on duty.” “Aw, I’m sorry.” He shrugged. “I went a couple of years ago.” He shuddered. “Trust me I don’t need to go again.” Every couple of years the government threw a ball in honour of Erebus and his clan. The elusive creature himself was always in attendance, as were four Fearless units in plain clothes. You know, just in case. Alpha unit had drawn the short straw this year, and I had mixed emotions about the whole thing; and by the whole thing I meant Brett. He’d been so closed off since Danny had been

taken two months ago that I was afraid he was overdue for an explosion of some kind. I just hoped it wasn’t at the ball. Tonight we had to be ready for anything. Leaving Kev to his ministrations I made my way back onto the main floor. My plan was to get home early, take a long bath, and then doll myself up for the event of the year. But otherworld denizens waited for no man, and just as I reached my desk my radio crackled to life. Brett looked up from his laptop screen, his dead eyes flaring to life. “Let’s go kill something.” I followed him out to our rides, my chest tight with fear over what my friend was becoming. *** “Wow!” Blane’s brown eyes glowed with appreciative warmth as they raked over me. Warmth unfurled in my belly. “If you keep looking at me like that people might get the right impression.” But that didn’t stop him of course, and my

cheeks grew uncharacteristically warm. Blane knew how to make me feel wanted with just a look. That look told me that the midnight-blue evening gown that mum said brought out the silver highlights in my white blonde hair, had been worth every penny. For a moment I forgot that I had Frieda strapped to my thigh, or that I was on duty. For a moment I allowed myself to be a woman basking in the admiring gaze of her lover. We were hovering on the edge of the ballroom. I’d been people watching; doing my job as undercover Fearless, but Blane was here in an official capacity. He looked pretty hot in his uniform of dark trousers, crimson shirt, and dark blazer. His chest was decorated with badges that signified his position on the force. There were other officials here too: government officials, law enforcement officials, and the rich and famous. They mingled and made small talk while waiting for the star guest. Erebus. “Does he always like to make an entrance?” I asked Blane.

Blane smiled. “He doesn’t need to. That creature could stop traffic with a look.” I glanced at the main entrance. “Oh, he won’t come through there.” Blane looked up to the balcony. “That’s where he’ll be.” “So, he won’t be mingling with the little people?” Blane chuckled. “Hardly. Besides, there’s some official business that needs to be discussed.” He cleared his throat and fingered his collar. He was hiding something. “Has this got anything to do with these meetings you’ve been going to?” Blane pressed his lips together. “Oh, come on!” He sighed. “Yeah. Some decisions have been made.” “What kind of decisions? Commander-type decisions?” I hadn’t had the pleasure of Commander Raines’ company yet, but Blane had met him on a handful of occasions. Usually spur of the moment meetings that had clashed with our plans to meet up. So yeah, I wasn’t a big fan.

He locked eyes with me. “You really do look beautiful. When this is all over I’m taking you on a proper date.” “Promises, promises.” But dates weren’t in our future. Not with the rules against us. It wouldn’t stop me dreaming though, or holding on to him, to the illusion of us, for as long as I could. Who knew, maybe the rules would change some day. A ripple of excitement skimmed over the gathered guests. I set down my flute of champagne —it had been merely for show anyway. My eyes scanned the balcony area and then my heart skipped a beat as the creature we had all been waiting for appeared. Erebus stood at least seven feet tall. His dark upper body was a mass of indigo muscle, his eyes shards of silver in an awful feral face; all harsh lines and dispassion. His hair was completely white, falling down his back in a tight braid. I noted the paper-thin scars that criss-crossed the left side of his face. He looked nothing like the depictions in the old texts I’d seen. “Oh, lord . . .”

Blane snorted. “Yeah, I didn’t think djinn would look so human either.” Human? I glanced sharply at him before comprehension dawned. I had my veil down. He didn’t see what I saw. I focused on pulling up the veil to see what lie Erebus showed the world. My vision blurred and I caught a flash of a tailored suit, short silver hair, and pale eyes. The dark skin was replaced by a dusky complexion, and his whole physique was smaller and more compact. Why would he present himself in such an unassuming form? Surely he wanted us to cower before him. It made no sense for him to hide his ferocious appearance. I dropped the veil again, needing to see the real Erebus, needing to see what we were dealing with, and then four more djinn stepped out of thin air behind him. They were half a foot shorter but fearsome nonetheless, with varying degrees of darkness to their skin. Two had hair of the deepest crimson and eyes like molten lava. The other two had inky black tresses and obsidian irises. Their chests heaved as their deadly regard roved over the

crowd gathered below them. I averted my gaze, not wanting to be caught looking, and that’s when I saw him—a short wiry man in a cheap grey suit. There was nothing to flag him, aside from his shitty taste in clothing, but alarm bells went off in my head regardless, and a queasy feeling kicked up in the pit of my stomach. “Just stay close to the exits,” Blane said. I felt him leave, but I was fixated on the little man. He was standing by a floor decoration—one of those bust things that are supposed to lend the room an opulent air. A small smile played on his lips. I focused, trying to see past the facade, trying to see if he was who he seemed to be. Nothing. He was just a man. An ordinary man. And then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a plain wooden box with a silver clasp. Bile crawled up my throat and I gulped it back. Wrong. Something was wrong. Movement above me on the balcony. But I wasn’t thinking. I was already in motion,

weaving toward the man as he made to undo the clasp. The wrongness was a screech in my mind as I took the last few feet at a run, tackling the man to the ground and knocking the box from his grasp. It clattered across the marble floor. “What are you doing? Get off me!” His eyes were wide with desperate fear. He thrashed beneath me, tangled in the folds of my very expensive designer dress. What had I done? This was crazy. He was just a guy. I opened my mouth to apologise but a shadow fell over us and the little man froze. I scrambled off him and straightened, turning to address the owner of the shadow, but my words withered on my lips under the intense scrutiny of the djinn that held us all captive.

CHAPTER 14 is your name?” Erebus’s voice was a “What rumble that vibrated through my bones. “Kenna.” It was all I could manage. My chest felt like there was a weight sitting on it. I couldn’t breathe. He was too close, too cosmic. Behind him the other djinn moved round to flank me. Shit, what had I done? I wanted to look away. Look for help. But he had me trapped in his silver sights. “May I kill the man?” asked the djinn to Erebus’s left. His words broke my paralysis, and I took a step in front of the small man, mustering my best glare for the dark-haired djinn who had just spoken. “No, you may not kill him.” Erebus reared back, his nostrils flaring. I held up my hands in a placating gesture. “It’s a party. Surely it would be in bad taste?”

Erebus’s djinn moved in tighter and the air began to grow thin. The dark-haired djinn leaned in to Erebus to whisper something I didn’t catch. Erebus rewarded him with a slow blink. The djinn stepped back into position. “Why did you tackle him?” Erebus asked me. Because I’m a dick? Fucking hell I went gaga over a box, why the hell had I done that? It didn’t matter now. I had to come up with a viable excuse or risk looking like the idiot I was. “I thought he had a weapon, but . . . it was just a box.” I pointed in the direction the box had clattered. One of the crimson haired djinn broke away from the group and went to retrieve the box. He carried it back between index finger and thumb, his lip curled in disgust, his lava eyes flashing with rage. “See, just a box.” I turned to the small man. “So sorry for, erm . . . attacking you.” But the small man wasn’t paying me any attention. His gaze was fixed on Erebus, his body trembling like a leaf. He fell to his knees. “Forgive me oh great

entity. Forgive my transgression. I was coerced and seduced. I am a fool. A helpless fool grovelling for his life.” Erebus took the box. He held it easily in the palm of his huge right hand. I noticed the cuff at his wrist; thick, silver, and plain, yet somehow mesmerising. He flipped the lid with a finger nail of his left hand. My stomach cramped and I almost lost my supper. A curl of purple smoke rose up into the air. It hovered for a moment and then dissipated, taking my nausea with it. Erebus snapped the box closed and dropped it on the ground. His expression was calm, almost dispassionate, but his eyes were incandescent pools of fury. When he spoke, his voice was an icy wind that ripped at my skin. “Assassination attempts are in poor taste,” he lifted his chin to glare up at the balcony. Assassination? I followed his gaze to see a couple of well-known government officials, including the head of Fearless division, back away

from the railing. “Your magicks and concoctions won’t work on me, so save yourselves the trouble.” Shadows rose off his shoulders, winding around his torso. I kept my eyes on his face, not wanting to give away what I could see. The Fearless Senior Official stepped forward, his face a pale smudge of guilt. “Erebus, believe me, we knew nothing of this. This man does not work for us. Guards seize him!” The little man began to whimper. Erebus’s wicked lips curved in an equally wicked smile. “No, please. Allow me.” His arm shot out, the thick silver cuff at his wrist winking in the light as his fingers wrapped around the man’s throat. A sharp crack echoed around the room. Erebus opened his hand and the man fell to the ground. I stared at the dead body then back up at Erebus, too stunned to speak. Erebus took a step toward me, his eerie pale eyes raking over my face. “All humans blend into one. They all look the same, but I will remember

your face.” He stepped back, taking his djinn guards with him. “Until next time.” He swept out the main doors, his entourage of djinn clinging to him like menacing shadows. Silence lay over the room like a comforter for the space of two heartbeats, and then the gathering erupted into a cacophony of sound. Someone gripped my elbow and tugged. I blinked up at Blane and allowed him to pull me across the floor and into a side room filled with books. Blane shut the door and rushed back over to me, his hands on my shoulders, his gaze attempting to lock on mine, but I was seeing Erebus; his blazing eyes and his ferocious face. He still filled my vision like the corona of the sun. “Kenna? Kenna! Are you okay?” I shook my head to clear it, inhaling and exhaling to reclaim my equilibrium. As I did, the events of the night fell into place like a neat puzzle, the meetings Blane had been going to, the discussion he said the government would be having with Erebus, and finally the poor unfortunate man who had tried to assassinate a monster with nothing

but a box of purple smoke. “You planned this. They planned to kill him? What were you thinking?” “Shhhh! Fucking hell Kenna keep it down!” He reached for me with trembling fingers. It was the first time I’d seen him truly scared. I blew out a breath and asked again in my inside voice. “What were you thinking?” Blane began to pace. “It was a powerful incantation, uttered for thirty days straight by thirteen shamans. It was supposed to bind him. We need to take back control Kenna, and if we could make him work for us for free, stop the tithe, then maybe we’d get somewhere.” Somewhere like dead. Like the poor man with a broken neck, who I now knew had simply been a delivery boy. Blane turned to me. “What the hell made you attack him?” I wasn’t about to tell him that the guy had made me literally sick. “He looked shifty, and when he put his hand into his coat I thought he was going for a weapon.”

Blane stared steadily at me for a long second, and I schooled my face into innocent sincerity. He sighed. “Well, it’s over now. We won’t be getting a chance like that again. He probably won’t come to the next ball.” “Can you blame him?” Blane shot me a sharp look. “Whose side are you on?” “Not the side of stupidity.” “What?” “Your plan was stupid. Simple.” “Maybe. But he wouldn’t even have caught on if you hadn’t rugby tackled the delivery guy.” I opened my mouth to retaliate then snapped it shut. It was a pointless argument. What was done was done. Blane rubbed his hand across his face. “Look, there’ll probably be repercussions to all this so we need to be prepared. After what we just tried to do, if he is keeping shit at bay, he’ll probably sit back and let it come on over.” I shook my head. “It doesn’t work that way. He signed a treaty. He gave us his word.”

“We just tried to bind him.” “Djinn 101, babe, their word is their bond. Literally. If that treaty was worded precisely then there’s little he can do to break it, as long as we keep up our end.” “The tithe.” “Yeah, the tithe.” I was surprised he knew so little about our biggest adversary, but then, he couldn’t see them like I could, and he hadn’t sought out the knowledge simply to understand. We dealt with the otherworld denizens—the riffraff that loitered on the outskirts of the fifth dimension where the djinn resided. The djinn themselves were a mystery to most of humanity. If not for Valla and the few other migrants I’d befriended, I would probably be just as clueless. Djinn were made of smokeless fire, they could manipulate their form, and the more powerful ones could manipulate a human mind if allowed to get close enough. Before our realities had collided they’d tested the membrane, pushing against it from time to time, leaving behind a residue of fear that we struggled to comprehend. Ghosts, aliens,

demons—we gave them all kinds of names simply to understand what it was we were experiencing. And now we knew. Now we were true neighbours, and for some reason the djinn themselves had deigned to leave us to our fate, all except Erebus who seemed determined to aid us. “I better get back to the commander. Wait a few minutes before leaving just in case.” I nodded. I knew the drill. He slipped out of the door, closing it firmly behind him, and I found a seat and pulled off my stupid fancy shoes. A flicker in the periphery of my vision had me whipping round to scan the far side of the room. Nothing but shelves and books, and a moving shadow! I was on my feet, yanking Frieda from her holster at my thigh. The dark-haired djinn peeled himself from the bookshelves, materialising before me in all his glory. His obsidian eyes flashed in the everlight emitted by my sword. He reached for it and wrapped his fingers around it. “Your toys cannot hurt me. Tell me, how

do you know what we speak?” “What? What do you mean?” He leaned in, his lip curling, his nostrils flaring. “Do not play games with me human. Tell me where you came to learn it?” “Learn what?” The air behind him rippled and he paused, cocked his head, and closed his eyes as if listening to something. All I could hear was the pounding of my own heart. My only weapon was useless against him. I was at his mercy. I wanted to run, but he still had a grip on my sword. And then he didn’t. He opened his eyes and stared into my soul. “I’ll be watching . . .” He stepped back and vanished. I didn’t wait to see if he would return. I legged it the hell out of that room as fast as I could.

CHAPTER 15 sure you don’t want me to pop round “You before I head to base?” “Nah, I’m just gonna get an early night,” Brett said. I glanced at my watch. It was only six p.m. No point arguing with him though. He wanted space and I’d give it to him . . . for now. But there was no way I was letting him slip into the habit of being alone. That wasn’t who he was, and he owed it to Danny to go on living. “Fine, but I’m coming over to grab you for breakfast before shift tomorrow morning!” He sighed. “Fine.” I hung up and headed for the shower. I had a meeting with Blane in less than an hour, and if I was gonna get chewed out for the ballroom incident two days ago, then I wanted to look hot and smell like daisies while doing it. ***

Forty-five minutes later, dressed in jeans, a polo shirt, my favourite boots, leather jacket, and with my hair blown out to look magazine worthy, I stepped out of the lift and strode toward Blane’s office. I got a few appreciative looks from the guys, and even a wolf whistle or two, which kinda made my day. I didn’t get to dress up often so it was nice to be reminded that, yeah, I was attractive when not covered in grime or gore. Vanessa looked up as I approached. “He’s not here.” Her face looked pinched. “He wants you to meet him on the roof.” The roof? I backed up and headed back toward the lift. There was an access stairwell to the roof beside it. I took the three flights of stairs two at a time. What the hell was he doing on the roof? I pushed open the door and answered my own question. A small gazebo draped with twinkling lights sat in the middle of the roof, under which sat a table for two, lit by flickering candle light. Blane stood

up, smoothing his jacket and licking his lips. He looked . . . nervous. Oh, shit, was this a soften-theblow-because-you’re-being-demoted dinner? He smiled, but it looked shaky. My stomach quivered. I liked being Alpha Unit. I liked being in charge. “You look gorgeous babe,” Blane said. I sighed, just wanting to get it over with. “Okay, just hit me with it. What’s the damage?” “Huh?” I rolled my eyes. “The dinner, all this,” I waved a hand to encompass the scene. “They want you to demote me, don’t they?” Blane opened and closed his mouth and then burst out laughing. “What? What’s so funny?” Unless . . . unless this wasn’t a softening-the-blow-meal. Maybe this was just . . . a meal? Oh, shit. Now I felt stupid. “Sit down, come on.” Blane waved me over. “I promised you a proper date, but . . .” “We both know that can’t happen.” I took the seat opposite him. “I get it.” “I hate it.” “Vanessa knows.”

He nodded, “She was so sweet about it, even helped set it all up.” Maybe I had misunderstood her intentions all along. “Well, thank her from me.” I glanced at the ice bucket. “Is that bubbly?” I rubbed my hands together. Blane reached for the bottle and poured us both a glass. “Before we drink there’s something I want to say.” He took a deep breath “I didn’t believe in love at first sight, not until the day you walked into the base all sass and wit, and I recall thinking—this is it, this is the one. I couldn’t believe my luck when you showed interest, and throughout it all I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop, for you to tell me you’ve made a mistake by being with me.” He ducked his head. “Yeah, I know I come across all macho and shit, but that’s the man they expect me to be. But with you everything is different. There are rules . . . strict rules about relationships between Fearless, but some rules are made to be broken. Kenna, I would fight the world for you. I would stop being Fearless, if I could, just to be with you. Because I

love you.” My breath caught in my throat. When Lauren had asked me a couple of months ago if I loved Blane I hadn’t been sure, but now, in this moment, with those words pouring from his lips, I couldn’t have been more sure. We’d messed around for a while now, and yeah, somewhere along the line I’d fallen for him. But the sacred L word was a word of no return, a commitment that broke the rules we were bound by. “I—” “No, let me finish. I love you, and I want us to be together any way we can, so . . .” he reached into his pocket and retrieved a small black box. Placing it on the table between us he flipped the lid to reveal a silver key. “Kenna Carter, I know I can’t ask you to be Mrs. Greene just yet, but until I can, will you be my roommate for life?” Man, I am so not the blubbering kind, but this had to be an exception. My vision blurred as I reached for the key, my heart in my mouth, my pulse racing. “Blane, I—” My radio crackled, interrupting the moment. I

swiped at my eyes and reached for it. “Alpha Unit requested at Market Borough. Coordinates dispatched to riders. Immediate attention required.” “Fuck!” Blane sat back in his chair. I chuckled and plucked the key from the box. “Yes, I will be your roomy.” I leaned across the table and planted a kiss on his lips. “Wait up for me tonight,” I held up the key and winked. “You can bet on it.” I left him with a grin on his beautiful face and hope in my heart. It was only when I was slipping my helmet on that I realised I hadn’t told him I loved him back. *** I pulled into the neighbourhood that dispatch had sent and saw the other two riders. This was a big-guns call. The area was on the outskirts of Market Town and didn’t benefit from everlight but was usually lit by an abundance of oil lamps, except tonight every

lamp post was dead. Adam raised a hand and Nathan lifted his chin in greeting. They were both big guys, but Adam had a more athletic build while Nathan opted for pumping iron. Once again, a well thought-out pairing from the powers that be. I dismounted and headed over. “So, what are we looking at?” My gaze slid over their shoulders at the street shrouded in darkness. Thank goodness the moon was high tonight, because it would be our only source of light. Less than a mile behind me was the hustle of the market, which was lit up with everlight. “What the hell happened to the lamps?” Adam shrugged. “No idea. They winked out a few minutes ago. But we have a bigger problem.” “The Hat Man,” Nathan said. Oh crap. We’d come across this denizen twice before, and each time he’d managed to wreak havoc then give us the slip. Easy to do when you were nothing but an actual shadow. I’d done some research on him the last time we’d come across him, and there was lore that went back to the time before. He was the ultimate bogey man, the shadow on the wall with no caster, the coat on the hook that

morphed and became a person, the thing that had prompted children all across the world to ask to sleep with the lights on. The Hat Man was a legend we had yet to vanquish with our everlight. “We’ve urged residents to stay indoors and stay together. They have candles and working oil lamps. We’ve made a call to the street lighters. Someone should be here shortly to sort out the lamp posts.” Adam’s tone was calm and steady, but the tick of his jaw told me how tense he was. His tension was infectious. “Okay, we should split up and sweep the area.” Nathan glanced at the road behind me. “Where’s Brett?” “He’ll be here. You guys get going. I’ll be fine on my own until then.” Nathan frowned. “You’ll stay put till he arrives?” I gave him the look. The one that said remember who’s in charge. He held up his hands. “Yeah, yeah, I know you know the drill.”

Never go in without back-up; it was the first rule of many. I watched as they strode off into the darkness, their everlight swords glowing brightly to light their way. I activated the luma skin on my ride and leaned against it while I waited for Brett. Five long minutes later I radioed in, only to be told that Brett had been called out at the same time as me. A shrill scream ripped through the air to my right, followed by the sound of gunshots. Who the hell had managed to get hold of one of those? We didn’t carry guns. Guns did jack against the denizens, which meant it was a civilian discharging a retro firearm. Fuck! I was supposed to wait but . . . Dammit, where the heck was Brett? Another scream followed by more gunshots. The Hat Man could be attacking right now! I could finish this. I activated Frieda and began to run through the dark toward the screams. My bootfalls echoed eerily down the street. The houses looked dead and empty. The residents were probably huddled together in one room with all the

light they could muster. The scream came again, reverberating through the silent street. I adjusted my trajectory and veered toward it. I skidded to a halt beside a semi-detached house; the scream had come from the alley between the houses. Alleys were bad news. I hefted Frieda. “You with me girl?” I imagined she pulsed in agreement. Man I was desperate. My hand went to my radio but I changed my mind. If the Hat Man was down this alley, there was no time to waste. I entered the darkness, haloed by Frieda’s everlight. Sweeping her from side to side I avoided the bins and debris and . . . Oh god, no . . . I fought the impulse to drop Frieda, gripping her tighter instead. Adam’s dead, sightless eyes stared up at me as the black necrotic effects of the Hat Man’s touch crept over his face, eating at his skin and devouring what was left of him. His body exploded in a spray of silent ash. There were no words. Only action. I had to

find Nathan. Please don’t be dead. Please . . . Frieda’s light swept over another pile of ash. Nathan? I couldn’t be sure, but my gut told me I was alone, standing in a fucking alley without back-up. Not that back-up had helped Adam and Nathan. I reached for my radio and jerked as something whizzed past me just beyond my halo of light. There was a vice around my lungs as I struggled to breathe. Breathe dammit. I could do this. I just needed to get the hell out of the alley and back to my ride. I just needed to call for back-up. Where the fuck was Brett? I began to back up slowly, sweeping Frieda back and forth, keeping the shadows at bay, and then I saw them—long and distorted up against the walls of the houses to either side of me. The Hat Man, a woman in a dress, a child, another man with no hat . . . there were more, so many more, and they were closing in on me. Fingernails scraped along my scalp and a voice echoed in my head. Delectable.

The icy fist of fear unfurled in my belly. I turned and ran. I burst from the alley and into the streets, the Shadow People at my back. My ride was a bright spec that seemed too far away. The houses around me were shut tight. I was on my own, my breath a knot in my tight lungs. And then a door was flung open to my left. “Come on! You can make it!” A young girl with wild blonde hair was waving me madly toward her. I put on a burst of speed, racing up her path and into her hallway. She slammed the door behind me and yanked me into the kitchen which was bathed in candle light. I fell into a chair. “Thank you . . .?” “Emma. What’s your name?” “Kenna.” I looked around. “Where are your parents?” “Out of town. I thought I was old enough to stay home by myself but now . . .” her bottom lip

trembled. She couldn’t have been more than fourteen or fifteen; she still had the baby fat of youth on her cheeks. “It’s okay. I’m gonna call for back-up and we’ll be just fine.” I reached for my radio and grabbed air. An arctic finger of dread ran up my spine. “What? What’s wrong?” I plastered a smile on my face. “It’s alright. I must have dropped my radio, but there’s one on my bike. I just need to go out and—” “No!” She clutched my arm. “You can’t leave me here alone!” “You’ll be fine. You have light.” “Yeah but the candles are going down.” A quick survey of the clean minimalistic kitchen space confirmed that she was right. The candles had barely an inch or so left, they wouldn’t last long enough for back-up to arrive. My ride had a luma skin. If we could get to it, then we would be safe. “You got running shoes kid?” She nodded quickly. “Under the stairs.”

I went with her; Frieda held aloft, and waited patiently while the candles sank and she tied her laces in double knots. Good girl, we couldn’t risk a trip or fall out there. We gathered by the front door. “It’s a straight run down the street to my ride, it’s surrounded by everlight. Just keep up.” She grinned, a cocky grin. “I run track.” I smiled. “Well, why didn’t you say so? On the count of three. One, two, three!” We were off, arms pumping as we legged it down the street. My bike was getting closer; the blessed halo of everlight was getting larger. I’d radio in, we’d get back-up, and we’d clear all the Shadow People. And then I tripped. I went down hard, banging my knee and grazing my hand. Emma kept running for a second before skidding to a halt and turning to look for me. Her gaze slid past me, to the street behind me, her eyes widening. “Come on!” I looked back to see them advancing from both

sides, but the largest, the most menacing, was the man himself, his top hat eating space as it slid across the ground toward me. Ice filled my veins and my breath grew short, but I wasn’t ready to admit defeat. Not yet. I pulled myself up and buckled as a sharp pain lanced through my ankle. My heart sank; there was no way I was running on that, let alone outrunning anything. I turned to Emma. “Run! Stay by the ride. Use the radio. Run!” She faltered for a moment, bless her heart, and then she did the smart thing. She ran. I hobbled for all I was worth, veins burning with adrenaline. Blane’s face flashed through my mind. Mum and Bella. Oh dear Bella, how would she take this. How would she cope? I wanted more than anything to tell them how much I loved them. I wanted more than anything to not die here on this street, and for the first time in forever I called out to god. I begged him to help me. To give me the strength to survive this, but my prayers were interrupted by the sensation of tiny ants crawling

inside my skull. I hunger, you will serve me well. Adam and Nathan’s necrotic bodies filled my mind’s eye. “Please . . . no.” I didn’t care how weak or desperate I sounded. I just wanted to live. His laughter was sandpaper and nails on a chalkboard, a filthy sound that crawled under my skin, digging in its dirty claws, and then I felt his icy touch—his mark of death on my ankle. I will relish you. I stopped hobbling and turned to face him—a faceless inky black mass standing before me as he burrowed inside me—infecting me, devouring me. Relish . . . And then he was moving on It was over. The shadows surged past, headed toward Emma, but they were too late. She was at the bike. She was safe. A soft sob caught in my throat as my leg cramped in pain. The necrotic effect of his touch would spread until every cell in my body was dead, until I was nothing but ash. It would spread,

unless . . . A horrific idea bloomed in my mind. I turned and hobbled back toward Emma’s house. The pain intensified, but I pushed through. No. There was no pain. I burst through her door and, staggering into the kitchen, began pulling out drawers. There had to be something I could use, anything. There. It gleamed wickedly at me. Its sturdy handle signifying it was of good quality. I reached in with a trembling hand and picked up the cleaver. I was not going to die today. Not if I could help it. Tea towels would work as a tourniquet . . . needed to sit and tie them together. It hurt . . . couldn’t think. Shit. I needed to get to the flesh. Cleaver cuts denim. My leg . . . My leg was dead. Focus dammit. I tied the tourniquet as tight as I could get it, and then stared at my leg. My cells were dying. Death was crawling over my skin. A low keening

filled the air . . . Was that me? Oh, god. Please god. Please. My vision blurred as heat flared in my chest, rising up to scorch the backs of my eyes. God wasn’t listening. I had to do this. Me. Find a safe place . . . Bella’s face . . . safe . . . I lifted the cleaver. My leg was dead. I brought it down. The lethal sharp metal bit into my flesh and for a moment there was only the crunch and crack of bone, and then I was on fire. My body, my brain, there was nothing but the pain and my bloodcurdling scream. It wasn’t done. Not over. Darkness reached for me. Not yet, no . . . Body shaking with shock, I hacked over and over, my arm an automaton, throat raw from screaming. I wanted to live. And then oblivion claimed me. *** “So sorry, so fucking sorry,” Brett’s voice. “Hey . . . What’s up? What . . .” so tired . . .

“Mummy, will she wake up soon?” Bella. I wanted to sit up and hug her but I was trapped in the dark, unable to move. “Sweetheart it’s gonna be okay. I promise. Everything will be okay.” I let the darkness cradle me.

TEN MONTHS LATER . . .

CHAPTER 16 in there! It has her, please you have to “She’s help!” The woman; petite, dark-eyed, and vibrating with fear practically shoved me up the dark staircase. I didn’t take it personally; the circumstances didn’t call for niceties. In fact, she was damn right composed for someone in her situation. I glanced over my shoulder at her. “How old?” “Six. She just turned six,” her voice trembled and my chest filled with icy rage. “It’s the second door on the left.” “What’s her name?” “Katie.” I took the stairs carefully, one at a time, my hand on the banister the whole way. I paused on the landing and withdrew Frieda from her sheath at my waist. Frieda had been temperamental for a while; black market everlight wasn’t as potent as the pure shit, but it was all I had. I flicked my wrist to

activate her blade and squinted as the landing was bathed in light. A couple of swishes and she held her luminescence. “Good girl.” She flared a little brighter as if in response. Passing the first door on the left I came to a halt by the second. Adjusting my grip on Frieda, I grasped for the handle and pushed the door open. The room beyond was pitch black, a darkness that was unnatural, viscous, and completely out of place. “Katie, don’t be afraid. I promise I won’t let it hurt you.” That is, if it hadn’t hurt her already. “Katie, can you say something. Katie?” The darkness shifted, my pulse jumped, but I held my ground. “Okay Frieda, time for you to do your thing.” I stepped into the dark. It wrapped around me, eager to claim me, but the everlight staved it off, surrounding me in a protective cocoon of gentle luminescence. It wouldn’t last though. “Katie, follow my voice, come on sweetie,

your mummy is waiting for you downstairs, I can take you to her.” “Please . . .” The voice was tinny and far away. Shit! “Katie, stay with me honey. Come on, follow my voice.” The darkness parted and a little girl stepped through; she stopped just outside Frieda’s halo of light. “Katie?” She held out her hand. “I’m scared. Please . . .” I squinted to get a better look at her. “Come into the light, hun.” She shook her head. “I can’t. Please, I’m stuck.” She jerked forward then fell back as tendrils of darkness wrapped about her waist. She held up her hands to shield her eyes. “It hurts. It’s too bright.” To anyone else this would have made sense— she’d been in a pitch-black room for some time now, bright light would hurt her eyes, right? Wrong.

This was a sign that I was too late, but just to be sure . . . “Come on. It’s your birthday tomorrow. Don’t you want to get out of here and celebrate it?” The girl nodded and held out her hand again. “Yes, yes, my birthday. Please get me out of here.” The cold rage that sat on my chest at the best of times became an iceberg of pressure. “Where is she?” The little girl blinked up at me once, twice, and then her pretty brown eyes turned dark and ate away the whites. “Aw, what gave me away?” “Where. Is. The girl?” “Where. Is. The girl?” the changeling mimicked in a taunting tone. My heart was racing and fire filled my veins. I raised Frieda, ready to strike. “Wait! Please. I have information. If you let me go I’ll share, I will.” It was too disconcerting, this thing parading as a little girl inside our town walls, inside a family home. It didn’t belong, and I could never let it go free. It must have seen the intention in my eyes because it dropped its hands and melted back into

the darkness. “No you fucking don’t!” I leapt forward, bringing Frieda down in a swift arc. The changeling screamed, relinquishing the Katie facade and converging into its true form—faceless, grey, black, and spindly. It writhed on the ground as I brought Frieda down again, slicing instead of simply impaling. It needed to feel the pain, to suffer for what it had done. The everlight sliced into its leathery flesh with ease. “Please, I know where you belong!” I paused briefly, chest heaving. Its faceless visage split and morphed until I was looking at my face, but not my adult face. No, this creature had my child face, minus my birthmark. “I know a secret, a big secret.” Ten months ago I may have taken the bait. I may have spared it long enough to interrogate it. But I was no longer that woman. I brought down my shaft of light. The darkness around me began to retreat, seeping back into the crack from where it had

come. I didn’t turn look where it was going, my attention was fixed on the changeling—dicing and slicing as its inhuman screams composed a symphony for my ears. Finally it began to fold in on itself until it winked out of existence entirely, and that’s when I allowed myself a glance behind me at the crack that had allowed it entry. It was box, laid on its side up against the wall, a box which had obviously contained a gift for Katie—a doll perhaps—and she had been so excited, the parents too distracted that they’d forgotten to flatten and dispose of it. The darkness was all but gone. Soon there would be no evidence of what had transpired in this room, save for the cold grey body of a six year old child curled up on the floor by her bed. *** I sat in the corner of Clovers, Valla’s special brew clutched in my hand. The shooting pain in my leg brought perspiration to my brow. I took another swig from my glass, eager for the alcohol to numb

the pain. Valla’s gaze was a hot brand on the side of my face as she worked the bar, but she knew better than to say I told you so. My body needed a bed, my brain craved sleep, but in order to satisfy them I’d have to walk over to the bar and take the stairs down to the basement. I couldn’t trust that I wouldn’t buckle. The journey to the east side of Lindrealm, expelling the changeling back to Evernight, and the journey back had been too much. I’d known it when I’d gotten the call for help, but like always I’d been unable to say no. Things had gone from bad to worse for Lindrealm. Four boroughs had been completely cut off from Fearless aid, and the price of luma was still rising, pushing taxes up. Soon the only safe haven in our world would be Everlight. War was on the horizon. We’d kill each other before the denizens had a chance to finish us off. The world was going to shit. A figure slid into the booth opposite me and a packet of yellow powder was pushed across the table toward me.

I picked it up and pocketed it. “Thanks Cimren.” He nodded, his face grave. “I won’t have any more for a while. The bastard shaman that makes it has tripled the price, but I’ll find a new vendor, I promise.” My brain was a haze of pain. The powder helped, taking the edge off when it got too bad. Made from the stamen of the moonflower, with some other crap thrown in, it was the only painkiller that did shit when I was like this. “I shouldn’t have said anything,” Cimren said. “This isn’t your fight anymore.” “Don’t. You did the right thing.” I exhaled. “But I was too late.” His brows came down. “Not your fault. You tried.” “Yeah.” So why did I feel like crap? “Susan asked after you.” “How’s the baby?” “Good. Look, take the herbs and get some rest. Come see us when you can.” He slid out of the booth and toward the exit.

Funny how life worked out. A year ago I wouldn’t have believed that a djinn and a Twilighter would be my only friends but now . . . I snorted. My phone buzzed and I glanced at the caller ID. Brett. How long had it been since we’d spoken? Yeah, around the same time I’d woken up from my body’s self-induced coma to find myself without a leg from the knee down. That time in my life was one I didn’t care to recall. I’d lived, but it was no longer a life I valued, and Brett . . . I still wasn’t ready to forgive him for his part in it. “I’m sorry, so sorry.” He’d been passed out drunk when the call had come. Killing his own pain the only way he knew how. Although I understood why he’d done it, I just couldn’t forgive him for not being there for me. Not yet. I drained my glass. Okay, time to walk. I pulled myself up and began to shuffle across

the floor. I took my time, grateful for the fact that everyone in here was too busy with their own shit to notice the woman hobbling toward the bar. Valla didn’t even look up, she continued to wipe the bar and flipped the latch to let me back there as if on autopilot. My eyes pricked with tears. I loved her for not making a big deal about this. Each step down to the basement was a shard of fire lancing up my thigh, and by the time I made it to my bed and sat down, my body was shaking with sobs. I swiped at the tears. Fucking hated being this weak. I was alive dammit. Alive was good. Then why did it feel so crap? I rolled up my trousers and stared at my prosthetic. I hated that thing. It wasn’t a part of me, and yet without it I was grounded. I undid the clasps that pressed it to my flesh and tugged it off. It was an old design, but had been all I could afford. After The Event, national health had been

abolished. Everything cost money now, and although Fearless insurance was great, it didn’t cover loss of limbs, which kind of sucked considering the job we did. I guess they figured if you were going to be maimed in such a way and be of no use to them then they weren’t going to be footing the bill. They said I was lucky I’d cut below the knee joint so I still had that movement. They said I was lucky they’d found me when they did. I’d lost a lot of blood. Emma had led them right to me, bless her. Lucky? Ha! More like empty and worthless. A raw pit of darkness had opened up inside me, eating away at the essence that was me. At first I’d told myself, It’s just a leg, you’re still you. But it hadn’t stopped the Fearless from putting me on indefinite leave—what use was a crippled Fearless to the force? I couldn’t do the job I had been trained to do in an official capacity, so I’d turned to doing it on the sly. I didn’t want to think anymore. Tipping the contents of the sachet into my

mouth, I lay back and closed my eyes and waited for the pain to ebb. Sleep would find me soon. The Hat Man’s laughter echoed in my ears, his deadly shadow fingers reached for me. I tried to run but fell on my front. Tried to stand but something was wrong. Something was missing. A glance over my shoulder revealed the problem. My legs were gone, and in their place were two smooth stumps. They wiggled up and down in a desperately futile dance. And the Hat Man laughed and laughed and laughed. *** The sensation of something cool being rubbed into my skin woke me. Lauren sat on the end of my bed, smoothing soothing ointment into the skin below my knee. “Your mother called.” He didn’t look up from his task. “I guess I should go see her and Bella.” “She said she wishes you’d move back home. They miss you.”

My chest tightened. “I can’t. Not yet.” Maybe not ever. I couldn’t cope with the mollycoddling and concerned looks that they thought I didn’t see. I’d end up resenting them and that would kill me. “I’ll visit soon, I promise.” Lauren finished rubbing in the ointment and patted my leg. It was funny how I didn’t mind him touching me. It was strange how he was the creature I’d turned to when I’d needed to run away. He’d given me this room, a job at the bar, and his time. The last was the most valuable of all. I’d known him forever, but it was only now that we were becoming friends. I sat up. “So, any news on the luma situation?” He met my gaze, his rich dark hair shimmering in the lamplight. It was getting longer, past his shoulders now; he kept it tucked behind his ears, which I could see tapered to a fine point, but to all other humans would look completely normal. There was no need for everlight here. denizens abhorred Twilighters, and to them Clovers probably reeked of excrement. “I needed to speak to you about that. A more

immediate problem has arisen in Twilight which I and my comrades must attend to. It may or may not be related to the luma issue. But I’ll be leaving in a few days and may not be back for some time.” A lump formed in my throat. “Oh.” “I promise I’ll be back as soon as I’m able.” “Of course.” I smiled to mask the erratic fluttering in my chest. Lauren, Valla, and Cimren were my only friends now. But Lauren was more . . . he was my crutch. It would be strange without him. Had I told him how much his time meant to me? “Thank you for everything, Lauren.” He locked gazes with me, stealing my breath and stirring something familiar within me. “I don’t know what I would have done without you these past months. I’ll miss you.” His pupils dilated. “Kenna, that means so much.” He leaned in. My phone buzzed violently on the bedside table and I jerked back. Had he been about to kiss me? Cheeks hot, I answered the call without

checking the ID. “Hello?” “Kenna?” My breath whooshed out and my knuckles tightened on the handset. “Blane . . .” Oh, god, I shouldn’t have answered. “It’s good to hear your voice.” His tone was a familiar caress. I swallowed the lump in my throat. “What do you want?” A long beat of silence. “I need you to come into the office.” “No.” Another beat of silence. “It’s not a request, Kenna. It’s an order.” His manner was no longer soft. It was brusque and business-like. “Nine tomorrow morning. Be there or we’ll send a unit to fetch you.” He hung up. Send a unit to fetch me? Arctic fingers burrowed under my skin. “Kenna? Is everything alright?” Lauren asked. My throat was too tight to speak. They knew about my expulsions. They knew, and I was in deep shit.

CHAPTER 17

I

climbed out of the taxi and adjusted my coat. It was long and disguised my gait. My eyes were gritty from lack of sleep; the nightmares

were back. Would they ever truly be gone? After I’d awoken, sweat soaked and breathless, it had taken two shots of whisky to steady my nerves and send me off into a dreamless slumber. I prepared to be checked in, to have to explain what I was doing back here after so long, but I’d taken barely two steps when the gate buzzed and began to roll open with a clatter. The guards raised their hands in greeting from the guard’s station, and I raised mine in return, eyes misting. They hadn’t forgotten me. The journey across the floor, past the cubicles was the worst—all the fake smiles, the ‘Hey, great to see you’ comments. It made my stomach hurt, and I hated Blane for forcing me to do this. Brett’s cubicle was empty, which was a small

relief. I made it to Blane’s office, desperate to get away from all the scrutiny, to find a matronly, bespectacled woman sitting at Vanessa’s desk. “Can I help you?” she asked. Blane’s office door opened. “It’s alright Cathy, I’m expecting her.” Cathy nodded and went back to her paperwork, but I was too busy being hit by a memory. “It’s okay, you’re still you.” he’d said. But I’d seen the contradiction in his eyes, the pity. I’d needed to know for sure, so I’d ripped back the covers exposing my mutilated leg. “Can you love me like this?” Oh god, how I’d wanted him to say yes. But the gasp that ripped through him, the curl to his lip, the disgust that replaced the pity, spoke a thousand denials. He might as well have taken a scalpel to my heart. “Get out.” “Kenna, I didn’t mean—” “Get the fuck out and don’t come back!”

And he hadn’t. This was the first time I’d seen him in almost ten months, and I hated how good he looked. How unaffected he seemed. “Thank you for coming Kenna.” He stepped back to allow me into the room. “You didn’t give me much choice.” The office looked the same. Exactly the same, except . . . was that a new picture on his desk? I couldn’t see what it was of, it faced away from me—a picture for him to look at as he worked. “Please take a seat.” I sat, grateful for the excuse to take a load off. Blane moved around the desk and sat down in our swivel seat. He leaned back and gazed at me. “You look good, Kenna.” Liar. I knew exactly what I looked like—a gaunt skinny thing with dead eyes. Mirrors were not my friend. But these were just the usual pleasantries, and so I smiled and accepted the faux compliment. “Can we just get on with this please?” “Yes,” he cleared his throat, “Of course.” He

opened the drawer to his desk and retrieved a sheet of paper, and held it out toward me. It was a list of names. Thirteen names. I glanced up at him in shock. “How can you have this? The names aren’t released until tomorrow.” Blane swallowed. “Just read it.” I scanned the names. What was he getting at? None of these names were familiar, except . . . No. It couldn’t be. I locked gazes with my ex-lover, the man who’d claimed he loved me enough to break the rules, but hadn’t loved me enough to accept my disability. “Vanessa Greene?” The words grated my throat. He swallowed again and sat up straighter. “We got married three months ago. She’s six months pregnant and—” Blood roared in my ears blocking out his words. I moved to jump to my feet and stumbled, grabbing the edge of the desk to steady myself. “What is this? Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I need your help.” I couldn’t breathe. I was having a fucking panic attack over the fact that my ex had moved on so quickly. God I was pathetic. “Kenna? Kenna! Shit. Please. I’m so sorry.” The pity in his tone worked faster than a paper bag to quell the attack. I breathed through my nose, shallow even breaths until my heartbeat slowed to resting pace. And then I sat back down and looked him in the face. He’d moved on, and I wasn’t going to show him how much that hurt. “What do you want from me, Blane?” Blane pressed his lips together. “I want you to . . . I need you to take her place.” The world seemed to stand still. I hadn’t heard him right. I couldn’t have heard him right. But the look of desperation on his deceitfully handsome face dashed that hope into oblivion. He wanted me to take Vanessa’s place as a tithe. He wanted me to give up my life for his . . . his wife and child. I may be broken and empty, but I was alive. I’d hacked off my own leg just so I could live. After the pain I’d been through, I deserved to

live dammit! “No.” He slumped back in his seat and ran a hand through his hair in a gesture I recognised as exasperation. Pushing back my chair I made to stand. “Sit back down.” This time when he looked at me there was no trace of the man I’d known, the man I had loved. “This is not a request. It’s an order.” My mouth fell open and I snapped it shut. “You can’t order me to become part of the tithe. Besides, I’m Fearless, and my name wasn’t on that fucking list!” He retrieved a folder from his desk and slid it across to me. I reached for it, pulling it onto my lap and flipping it open. Every case I had worked without authorisation was listed, complete with photographic evidence and witness statements. And the icing on the cake was a discharge order signed a week ago. Blane’s plan was suddenly crystal clear, and my heart, which I had thought was now

invincible, shattered once again. “You’re blackmailing me?” Blane blinked rapidly and fixed his gaze on a point over my right shoulder. “The government needs a spy, someone who can report on the purpose of the tithe. Possibly infiltrate Erebus’s clan, and even if that isn’t possible, to gather as much intel as possible and upload it via a secure link back to Central Office. I suggested you. You’re trained. You are no longer Fearless. You’re the perfect tithe. Your name will be switched for Vanessa’s.” “You want me to spy until I die?” He blinked again. “At least have the courtesy to look at me when you’re asking me to die, you bastard!” Blane looked right at me, his jaw tight. “You took on unsanctioned cases. You dealt in black market luma, and you operated a Fearless sword when signed off active duty. You either do this or you go to prison for life and your family loses any and all privileges. You cooperate and we allow your family to remain secure. We even keep Bella’s

name out of the tithe lottery for life.” My mouth went dry. Save Bella. Protect my family . . . Oh, god. I dropped the folder into my lap and buried my face in my hands. Tell him to go fuck himself. Tell him what a traitorous bastard he is, then say yes. Because I had no choice. Not really.

CHAPTER 18 BRETT

S

outhern Base was Brett’s new home. Central Base had felt wrong after Kenna

left. Her imprint lay on everything. Memories of their time together were around every corner. He’d found himself trapped between a home that was saturated with Danny’s essence, and a work environment steeped in Kenna’s. Moving offices had seemed the easier option. He threw himself into work, taking extra shifts, working doubles, whatever it took to not go home. He’d taken to keeping his toiletry bag in his desk drawer, and sometimes he’d kip on the lounge sofa. If anyone noticed they didn’t make a big deal. In fact he was up for a promotion soon. All those hours he’d put in had been noticed, but even the prospect of a pay raise did nothing to lift the grey veil that had fallen over his world. “Hey Donohue, you check the escort rota

yet?” Karl called out as he made his way across the floor. Brett looked up from his paperwork. How could he have forgotten about that? Oh yes, because he’d spent the last year trying not to think about the day the love of his life had been taken from him. His face must have said it all because Karl held up his hands. “Shit, man I forgot,” his lips twisted. “And I guess so did whoever selected the escorts.” Brett’s veins filled with ice. “No.” Karl sighed and shook his head. “Sorry, mate.” Brett signed into his laptop, the machine whirred and whined in protest, the screen flickering green then black before he was given the option to log it. The damned tech in this place was going haywire. Instead of making things easier it just added precious minutes to each job. Finally logged in, he checked his mail. Sure enough, there was a message containing his pick-up. Fuck this! How insensitive could the system get, you’d think they’d give him a pass for a couple of years at least. He

opened the email and read his pick-up’s name. His self-pity melted away as he realised just how insensitive the system could be. “Donohue, what is it?” Karl was still hovering. Brett looked up into his concerned face, the ice turning to dangerous heat. “You remember Kenna Carter?” Karl nodded. “Yeah. Never met her, but I heard about what happened. A fucking travesty that’s what it was. She was your partner, wasn’t she?” Brett swallowed, he wasn’t ready to delve into his part in what had happened, he needed to stop what was about to occur. “Yeah, well look who my pick-up is.” Karl moved round to read the email. His eyes widened and then his jaw clenched. “That is out of order.” Brett nodded. “And I think it’s about time we stood up and let them know how out of order this kind of shit is. That could be me, or you. What happened to Fearless for life, what happened to

years of putting our life on the line, doesn’t it mean anything? What’s the point if they can just chuck us away like used toilet paper when they’re done with us?” Karl straightened, his eyes flashing. “I’m with you mate, this isn’t on.” Brett pushed back his chair, his body alive with real purpose for the first time in what felt like forever. He’d failed her once and he refused to sit this one out. *** He sat in the van watching the building they’d asked him to pick her up from. A bar called Clovers. He’d been keeping tabs on Malorie, Kenna’s mum, and Bella for the last few months. The bar had been mentioned more than once. Malorie attempted to encourage him to go see Kenna, but the fact that she hadn’t replied to any of his messages or answered his calls told him she wasn’t ready for that yet.

Four hours, numerous calls, a heated meeting with the head of base, and enough back-up in the form of Fearless Officers to get his boss to call up the chain to Senior Command, all for nothing. The list was final. The decision would not be overturned. Helplessness was an angry band around his throat. The base was up in arms, petitions were being signed, but they wouldn’t save Kenna. Kenna’s fate was sealed. The petitions were to protect future Fearless, to prevent what was happening to her from happening to anyone else. She was the springboard, the example they would use to prevent this injustice occurring again. But none of it helped him save her. He’d failed her again. He’d tried calling but she didn’t pick up. She never picked up. And now he was here, waiting to drive her to an uncertain fate. “You going in, or shall I?” Lisa, his partner on this run, asked.

Brett shook his head. “We won’t need to. She’ll be out in a moment.” Lisa nodded, her lips pressed together. She knew the story, knew who they were picking up, knew that Kenna was Fearless, and Fearless didn’t run from possible death. Sure enough, the door to the bar swung open and Kenna walked out. Brett’s vision blurred and he blinked away the moisture. Man, it had been too long. She looked different . . . smaller . . . more vulnerable. He should have been there . . . Lisa moved to open her door but Brett stopped her with a gentle touch to the elbow. “Let me.” “You sure you okay doing this?” Brett swallowed. “I need to.” Lisa nodded and sat back. Brett climbed out of the van and walked over to meet Kenna halfway. Her eyes widened when she saw him and then her lips curled in a mirthless smile. “Well, I guess someone up there wants me to have closure.”

Brett couldn’t help the grin that tugged at his lips. “How you been Carter?” “Legless. You?” “Lonely.” They stood awkwardly on the kerb and then Kenna dropped her guard, her shoulders drooped and she held out her arms. Brett reached for her pulling her close and squeezing gently. She was all skin and bones and his heart ached for her, for their friendship that hadn’t been given a chance to heal, and for everything that could have been and shouldn’t be. “I missed you Kenna,” he whispered into her hair. “I missed you too, and for what it’s worth, I’m glad it’s you taking me.” With a final squeeze, she pulled away and Brett let her go. It was time.

CHAPTER 19

W

e must be almost there, we’d been driving for almost an hour. The back of the van was windowless and I

didn’t have the heart to switch on the television provided. I just wanted it over, whatever it was going to be. The small chip inside my ear would allow me to record everything I learned, with an auto relay every fifteen minutes back to Central Office. It was a smart piece of tech, a meld of science and magick courtesy of Shamateck. My body was a canvass of gooseflesh and I clenched my teeth to stop the chatter of fear. The van came to shuddering halt. Were we here? The doors opened and sunlight streamed in. “Kenna!” Mum clambered into the back of the van and pulled me into a hug, squeezing so tight I could barely breathe. My eyes pricked and then I was crying into her shoulder. This is what I had

been trying to avoid, why I’d asked to be picked up at Clovers, why I hadn’t gone home to say goodbye. “Mrs. Carter? I need to get moving again,” Brett said from outside the van. It was a funny twist of fate, Brett being the officer to pick me up from Clovers, but it had worked out for the best. As soon as I’d set eyes on him I’d known my reluctance to see him hadn’t been because I was afraid I hadn’t forgiven him, it had been the fear of how he’d look at me. But when he looked at me, all I saw was my best friend and the man who, if he could have been there, would have taken the hit for me. Mum cupped my face in her hands. “Listen to me baby girl, there are so many things I need to tell you, so many things you need to know, but there isn’t time right now. One thing I can promise you is that you do not need to be afraid. Promise me you won’t be afraid.” Her hands were warm brands of comfort on my cheeks. Her eyes were filled with fiery determination that fuelled what little hope was left

in my heart. Her conviction gave me strength. “I won’t be afraid. I promise I won’t be afraid.” And like a magical mantra, my fear evaporated. She leaned in and kissed my forehead. “I’ll see you soon,” she whispered, and then Brett was helping her back out of the van, the doors were closing, and we were back on the move. *** I climbed out of the van. Brett, tight-lipped and moist eyed, led me to a line-up of twelve others. There were more men than women this time round, most were in their early twenties, but there were a few that were probably a year or two shy of thirty —shitty luck to be chosen when they were so close to being exempt. We eyed one another and exchanged shaky smiles, united in our predicament. The gate loomed before us; a rip in our reality so high that it reached up into the clouds. They’d built pillars to mark its location, and the Twilighters had etched the pillars with runes infused with luma,

so no matter the time of day the gate was always visible, always glowing. The surface of the portal was as smooth as glass, reflecting the city behind us. Guards were stationed at either side, armed to the teeth. I moved toward the line-up but Brett gripped my elbow. “I’m here, Kenna, for as long as they let me.” I took my place in the line-up, and we began to move toward the portal. Brett and Lisa made up the rear—our escorts to ensure we crossed over. I was the last tithe through, and the only one not to vomit my guts up as soon as I came out the other end. Around me humans emptied the contents of their stomach, while Twilight guards, dressed in midnight blue, their golden hair tied back in long braids, passed around buckets. It looked like this was a normal occurrence and yet I was unaffected. I turned to see Brett wipe his mouth with the back of his sleeve and shake his head. “Well, they didn’t tell me that would happen.” He eyed me. “You’re not sick?” I patted my stomach. “Iron constitution.” This side of the gate was a simple field filled

with swaying blooms and the smell of sweet grass. The sky was as clear as crystal, and motes of pollen floated on the breeze. In the distance lay mountainous terrain and a winding path that led goodness knew where. I cocked my head, listening to the melodic hum that carried itself on the gentle breeze and inhaled the heavy scent of magick. My eyes stung for a few beats as my olfactory system adjusted. Unlike on the human side of the gate there were no guard stations, only a few horses grazing peacefully to our left. One of the Twilight guards caught my eye and raised a brow. I shrugged and he smiled and ambled over. “You don’t feel sick.” “She has an iron constitution,” Brett said. “I guess she does.” “Your people don’t guard this gate?” I asked him. He looked perplexed. “Why should we? No Twilighter would choose to live in the human world, and if they did we would not wish to stop them.” Someone yelled and the tithe broke into a frenzy.

“Run!” “Stop!” Lisa shouted. I glanced at Brett but he was already on the move. Long legs carrying his powerful frame across the lush green grass after the idiot who’d thought he could get away. Lisa was busy restoring calm to the remaining tithe, her hand hovering at the hilt of her blade. The tithe was vital to the treaty. Thirteen or no deal. Shielding my eyes with my hand I squinted at the dots on the horizon—Brett and the runaway. The dots merged. Looked like Brett had him. “It isn’t right, this isn’t fair,” someone said. But it was the only way to protect the majority. We had no choice and they all knew it. Even the guy who’d run knew it. You could see it on his face as Brett led him back—the downturned mouth, the slump of his shoulders—it was defeat and acceptance. The Twilighter guard sighed. “There’s always one.” “So what happens now?”

“Now we head to the tavern.” There was a beaten track up ahead, but the guards herded us in the opposite direction. Brett walked beside me to my right, and a Twilight guard strolled along to my left. “Why aren’t we taking the road?” “It leads to the kingdom of Twilight.” The guard’s face was solemn. “But this is Twilight, right?” “Yes, Twilight is ruled by three monarchs, the most powerful of which is Orin, the Twilight king.” “He named his kingdom Twilight after your world?” “He has the power to do so.” There was an undertone to his words, something I would have latched on to and teased out if I hadn’t been taking a stroll to an uncertain fate. My stomach quivered and I blew out a breath. “You okay?” Brett asked. I nodded. I would be. I just needed to focus on something other than what would happen at the end of our journey. I focused on the mountains in the distance; white gleaming peaks tipped with cotton

wool clouds under a mauve sky streaked with amber. I focused on my steps, muffled by the cushioning effect of the carpet of emerald grass which sprang back into place in my wake. Little orange blooms, four petals surrounding a crimson centre, dotted the blanket of nature like tiny embers, and the scent of citrus drifted up into the air with each step that disturbed the flora. The sun blazed down on us benevolently, its heat cancelled out by the fresh breeze that ran its questing fingers over my skin. And then there was the melody; a soothing hum on the air that cocooned my senses, calming the flutter in my chest and lulling me into a false sense of security. Twilight had allure in its every mote, and I let go a little, losing myself to the moment, to this place. My muscles relaxed a fraction, and the lead ball in my stomach melted away. A quick glance up at Brett’s profile showed me a tense jaw and lowered brows. He was on the alert, resisting the call of the land. Ever the Fearless.

I sighed and pulled myself from the comforting embrace of my surroundings. This wasn’t a nature stroll, it wasn’t a little vacation. This was the path to my end, and I wouldn’t walk it in a daze. I nudged Brett with my elbow. “Do you know what happens now? Did they give you any . . . instructions?” Brett glanced down at me. “There’s a tavern up ahead. We’re instructed to escort you to it and then leave.” “You’ll be fed, and the food is exquisite,” the twilighter guard added. Laughter filled the air, and I realised it was the tithe up ahead. They were laughing. Strolling along, heads tipped up to the shifting sky and laughing as if they didn’t have a care in the world. My gut twisted. “Twilight can do that to an outsider—turn their head and claim their heart,” the guard said. Yeah, I could feel the tug, the invitation to do just that, but I focused instead on the sharp twinge in my leg, using my pain to ground me. The ground rose up ahead of us in a steep incline, and the line

of now willing tithe climbed it, stumbling here and there and grabbing on to each other with smiles and giggles. I tripped, biting back a groan as fire lanced up my thigh. Brett’s arm wrapped around my waist, and I resisted the urge to shake him off. There was no valour in false pride. I allowed him to help me up the rise, leaning on him to minimise the discomfort. It would be over soon. The dead didn’t feel pain. A whoop filled the air and I looked up, squinting against the blazing sun, to see a few tithe silhouetted at the top of the rise. They must have spotted the tavern. They hugged and then raced away down the other side of the hill and out of view. My chest ached for them, for me. Maybe it would be better to succumb to the allure, to laugh and be free of the fear. Don’t be afraid, Kenna, promise me you won’t be afraid. I wouldn’t be afraid, but I wouldn’t do it by hiding behind a lie either. I blinked away the

temptation. Fearless didn’t hide. We didn’t run. We faced what was coming head on. Blane may have signed the discharge order but that didn’t change who I was . . . who I’d chosen to be. I pulled myself up straighter, leaning less on Brett as I crested the rise. Below us lay a valley wreathed in lavender and buttercup blooms. A brook gurgled melodically as it wound its way along the foot of the rise, vanishing behind a quaint little building of thatch and stone. Twirling plumes of smoke rose from its chimney, and the aroma of bread and spice competed with the scent of nature. The neat line of tithe had disbanded into a cluster as they whooped down the hill toward the brook and headed for the arched stone bridge that would carry them across. “We’re here,” Brett said. Two words that acted like weights around my ankles. “You know what, I’m really not hungry.” “The meal is a strict requirement,” the guard said. Probably laced with poison, or some other drug

to make us compliant, not that we needed a drug in this place, but I knew I’d eat, because I couldn’t let Lindrealm down. My stomach churned as we made our way down the rise. How the heck was I going to eat anything feeling like this? *** The inside of the tavern was an assault on the senses. A multitude of aromas, all mouth-watering and compelling, filled my head. An explosion of colours in the form of beads, scarves, and glittering stones hung from beams and twined around balustrades. I fingered a string of beads coated in glitter. “Looks like a rainbow threw up in here.” Brett snorted. “Erebus demands we welcome the tithe with a feast for the senses. He demands we treat them with respect.” “And how does a djinn have any control over what occurs in your lands?” “These are the outlands—officially unclaimed

—the residences are free to fraternise and ally with whomever they wish.” “So who do you, the guard, work for?” His lips curved in a smirk. “Erebus. For now.” Someone was talking, giving some kind of welcome speech, and then we were being ushered to a long table laden with food. I took a step forward and Brett gripped my elbow. “I have to leave now, Kenna.” His eyes were dark pools of goodbye. My heart sank and an ache filled the back of my throat. “Already?” I hated that my voice trembled. I hated that it made me sound weak. I cleared my throat. “Yeah, be safe bud.” His throat bobbed. “Listen to me. You’re strong. Fearless. And if there’s a way for you to come back from this I know you’ll find it, and I’ll be waiting.” They were fighting words. Words that stoked the flame of hope that mum’s assurance had sparked to life in my chest. But I didn’t trust myself to speak, afraid the quiver in my voice would betray me, because right now, in this moment as he

prepared to leave me in this strange land, I didn’t feel very fearless at all. He pulled me close and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Laters, bud.” I gripped his shirt, my eyes pricking. “Laters.” He took a step back, and I reluctantly released him. Lisa walked past us, catching Brett’s eye. With a final lingering glance that held in it a world of conviction, he turned and followed her out of the door. I stood staring at it for the longest time, and then a gentle caress to my elbow jolted me out of my trance. “Eat something, it will be time soon.” The other tithe sat at the long wooden table, chattering amiably as they piled their plates with meat, vegetables, cakes, and fresh warm bread. Goblets were topped with red fruity wine. The atmosphere was celebratory. I joined them, my stomach cramping with anxiety. I exhaled, desperate to fall under the same spell now that Brett was gone, but the allure seemed to skirt

around me, leaving me alone, bereft and completely lucid. “You must eat,” the guard at my shoulder said. I picked up a roll and bit into it. Flavour exploded on my tongue and suddenly I couldn’t imagine not eating. I piled my plate high with a little of everything. The next few minutes passed in a haze of chewing while swimming through a river of frivolous conversation. It was happening, I was losing myself. Warmth seeped into my fingers and toes, penetrating the dark knot of foreboding in the pit of my stomach and tugging it loose. The door behind me slammed open and a cool breeze ruffled the back of my head. A voice boomed over the bubbling conversation. “Are we ready then?” The pleasant floaty feeling evaporated. Great. I turned in my seat to glare at the intruder. He strode toward the table, his grey eyes raking over us. He was at least six and a half feet tall and stocky, with long grey hair pulled back in a queue. A heavy beard, laced with grey, covered the lower half of his face and his pointed ears were decorated with

several hoops. He locked eyes with me, his brows shooting up. And when I refused to look away his bushy brows snapped down. “What you looking at?” he growled. “I could ask you the same thing.” Someone, still intoxicated by the bounteous meal, giggled. The bearded man’s eyes narrowed. He bared his teeth and snapped them in my direction. “Impudent tithe, be silent!” My pulse jumped, but I curled my hands into fists and held my ground. He strode over until he was towering over me. “Did you eat?” I held up my almost empty plate. His gaze dropped to it and then scanned the rest of the table, probably taking in all the dazed gazes and soft smiles. Maybe I’d been right, maybe there was something in the food as well as the air. Then why hadn’t the effect lasted on me? He moved on to the others, running his eyes over them, growling and generally trying to intimidate them. Didn’t work though, they just giggled and went back to their goblets and plates.

The knot was back in my stomach, and this time there would be no unravelling it. I just wanted this crap over with. If I was going to die then so be it, but I was done with the blade hovering over my head. I pushed back my chair and stood. “For goodness sake, can we cut the theatrics and get on with it? If I have a date with death, then I’d like to bloody get it over with.” The mention of death seemed to lift the lethargic haze that had fallen over the tithe. Someone gasped, and a murmur of apprehension rippled up and down the table. The big guy turned to glare at me, but I had a pretty damn good glare of my own in place. I was done being intimidated. Blane had strong-armed me into this position, but from here on I was doing things on my own terms, even if it meant dying a little bit quicker. “Well?” I asked. He strode over to me and stopped barely an inch away. “You want to die?” I lifted my chin and stared him square in the eye. “Of course I don’t want to die, but if I have to,

then I’d rather do it on my terms.” His lips curved in a smile that could only be described as smug. “Very well.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a huge black gem. “You can be first.” He cupped the back of my head and slammed the gem against my forehead. The world went dark.

CHAPTER 20

I

opened my eyes to sunshine and the smell of freshly baked scones. Mum was baking.

Awesome. I threw off the duvet and swung my feet to the ground. My curtains were open, fluttering in a gentle breeze, and the sky outside was cornflower blue. I could get up and go downstairs. Speak to mum and eat some scones. I could walk out of my room and into Bella’s. Kiss her on the forehead and tell her how much I love her. I could do a ton of things but it wouldn’t matter, because this was a lie. I’d realised it as soon as I’d swung my feet off the bed. I reached down and ran my hand over the smooth skin of my leg—the leg that I no longer had.

I glanced up at the ceiling. I didn’t know what this was, but it wasn’t real. Blane was real, what he’d asked me to do was real, and the bearded Twilighter who’d slammed a black gem into my forehead was real. Time to wake up. My world wavered and winked out. I burst back into reality, gasping for air, arms flailing. Water . . . My body was reacting even before my mind had caught up to my predicament, and I was swimming toward a ledge. Things bumped into me, jostling me. No time to stop and see what they were. I wanted out! My fingers made contact with the granite ledge and I hauled myself onto solid ground. The pool I’d escaped gleamed with an inner light, and the contents . . . Oh fuck . . . Bodies, too many to count, floated in the amber tinged pool, the diameter of which was easily twenty-five metres. The ones closest to the ledge I recognised—they were all members of the most recent tithe. Danny had to be here somewhere. Should I climb in and look for him? What would I do even if I found him?

It wasn’t as if I could get him out of here. I was a prisoner with a job to do. There had to be something in this chamber, some clue as to what was going on. The bodies looked alive, as if they were simply sleeping. Could they be in a strange dream state similar to the one I had been in? A thick column made from some kind of iridescent material jutted up from the centre of the pool. It reached up to a ceiling so high, it was impossible to see what lay on the pinnacle of the column. There was definitely something there though, because the ceiling above it flickered and glowed with tawny light. I needed to know exactly what was casting that glow. There had to be a way up there. A quick scan and I spotted the staircase. It was set in the stone wall and was so narrow that it almost blended into it. It wound up until it connected with what looked like a bridge leading to the top of the pillar. I pulled myself up and buckled, taking my full weight on my good knee. Shit. My trousers were

sopping wet and it was an effort to roll the material up to expose my prosthetic. The straps had come loose in the water. Two seconds to secure them and I was back on my feet, testing my weight to make sure it was secure. There was no point rolling my trousers back down, they were clingy, wet, and gross. I could be caught at any moment, and I needed to know what was at the top of that column. This was Erebus’s domain. I needed to gather as much intel as possible before they found out I was free from their strange dream pool. Pressing a finger to my ear I tried to locate the chip they’d put there, but the tiny pinprick bud was gone. Fuck! It had probably become dislodged in the water —so much for reporting back to base. Fuck ‘em. I headed for the stairs regardless and climbed, hugging the wall to keep my balance. Each step sent a lance of pain up my thigh, but I gritted my teeth and pressed on. The bridge drew nearer, bringing my goal closer. Below me the sleeping bodies swaying gently in the pool grew smaller. One

wrong misstep and I’d go tumbling to my death, but it was all right because I was almost there, almost . . . I stepped off the staircase and onto the bridge—seven feet wide and ten metres in length. I could see it now, the object that was setting the ceiling on fire, but I needed to get closer to confirm my assessment. Several steps down the bridge, and there was no doubt in my mind that the object was a live flame. So bright, so vivid, so enticing, that it made me want to reach out and touch it. Was it my imagination or was it flickering faster? Was it leaning toward me? I took another few steps, bringing me close enough to reach out and touch the glass that encased it. I did just that, my fingertips grazing the surprisingly cool surface of the barrier. The flame leapt up, expanding to three times its size. I jumped back, lost my balance, and fell hard on my bottom. The flame shrank but my heart continued to hammer against my ribcage. A shift in the air followed by a drop in temperature alerted me to the fact that I was no longer alone. I scrambled to stand as a figure

materialised on the bridge. Oh shit! Erebus, in all his glory, barrelled toward me. There was no point in evasion. Nowhere to run, so I stood my ground, biting back my squeak of fear as he grabbed me by the shoulders and lifted me off my feet. “How are you awake?” He pulled me close, his silver eyes boring into me invasively. “Tell me!” He shook me, rattling my bones, sending pain shooting through my limbs. I pressed my lips together, determined not to cry out. He growled and threw me to the ground. I landed awkwardly, my prosthetic leg twisted at a strange angle. He glared down at me, cocking his head as his eyes raked over me. “I know you . . . I know your face,” his tone softened but not in a comforting way. “They sent you.” His eyes narrowed and then his gaze fell on my prosthetic leg. “What is wrong with you?” My cheeks heated with shame, and anger lanced through me, replacing the pain. “None of

your damn business!” I grabbed the leg and roughly adjusted it. He took a step forward and fell to a crouch before me. I kept my gaze down, not wanting to see that ferocious visage up close again. “Your leg . . .” His hand reached for my prosthetic, and I lashed out, slapping at his hand. He froze. I froze. Oh fuck. Slowly I raised my chin to meet his gaze. “I’m sorry. I just . . . just don’t touch it.” My throat was so tight with fear that my voice was a strangled whisper. I was so dead. He blinked down at me and then retracted his hand. “What happened?” I swallowed the lump in my throat. I didn’t want to talk about this. “It doesn’t matter.” I expected him to press, to demand an answer, but instead he pulled himself to his full height and looked down his nose at me. “Since my dream vessel seems to have no effect on you, you may as well come with me.”

I blinked up at him. Was that it? He wasn’t going to strike me dead? And then another thought occurred to me—maybe he didn’t think me worth the effort. The anger was back. I yanked at the straps of my prosthetic until they were painfully tight and then pulled myself to my feet. “I was a spy you know.” I had no idea why I said it. Maybe I wanted him to take me seriously, or maybe I just wanted him to look at me like I mattered, either way it was a stupid idea because his shoulders tensed and he turned slowly to face me again. “Really?” “Really.” He cocked his head. “And how did you expect to relay the information you found?” I swallowed. “I had a device in my ear . . . It’s gone now.” I glanced down at the pool “Must have dislodged in the water.” “Let me get this straight, you were tithe, so you are no longer Fearless. You lost your device, so you are no longer a spy. So, what are you little human?” He leaned in. “You are simply a fragile

woman with only one leg. You are nothing.” Heat bloomed in my chest sudden and fierce, my hand whipped up coming in contact with his cheek with a crack that reverberated throughout the chamber. This time there was no surge of terror in the wake of my action, no remorse, because he was right. I was nothing and I hated it. I hated it, and I would rather be dead. “Fuck you Erebus.” Do it. Fucking kill me. End it. I searched his face for that murderous spark, but instead found something that looked suspiciously like admiration. There was no time to analyse it any further, because I was whipped off my feet and slung over his back like a sack of potatoes. For a moment I was too stunned to react, and by the time I did, beating my fists against his back and demanding that he release me, the world around us was disintegrating, shattering into a multitude of colours and shapes, and I was completely undone. I was nothing, and I was everything. Disconnected to any singular location and yet connected to every material atom in the

universe. The moment was all too fleeting. I came together on a soft mattress, Erebus looming over me with blazing eyes. The room was three times the size of my room at home; decorated in bland dark colours and rich fabric, with a floor to ceiling window leading onto a balcony. It was a luxurious space, so why the heck was I here? My brows snapped down. “What are you doing?” Instead of making a move toward me, he turned on his heel and strode toward the exit. I scrambled off the bed and stumbled after him. “Wait!” But he was already gone, the door slamming closed behind him. I reached for the handle, twisting it to no effect. I was locked in.

CHAPTER 21

T

he room was lit by oil lamps attached to the wall. There was a cute little fireplace complete with mantel and a poker stand.

I had an en suite bathroom, a huge empty wardrobe, and a king size bed covered in expensive looking sheets. But, despite the luxury, I think I would have begun to feel a little claustrophobic if not for the balcony. The glassless windows, hinged with shutters, pulled back to allow the gauzy drapes to billow in the breeze, giving the room an air of openness. The sky beyond was dark and pinpricked with stars. I stepped onto the balcony and gazed out at the part of Evernight laid out far below me. The fortress had to be at least twenty stories high and was perched on the edge of a cliff which overlooked a vast expanse of nothingness . . . No, not nothingness, there were things . . . creatures, moving around in clusters down there. I stepped up to the waist high stone barrier, serving as the

balcony railing, to get a better look. Evernight was a mostly barren land, with the odd outcrop of boulders or the lone copse of dead looking trees. There was life down there though, the kind of life that would take yours in a heartbeat. But there was also beauty in the form of clusters of white blooms that grew at the base of boulders, or wound their way over the blackened tree corpses. It was as if nature refused to quit, even here in the darkest of places where the sun never shone. I looked up to the moon—a silver disc wreathed in an eerie shadow—its anaemic fingers barely reaching the world below. Something snake-like scuttled out from the shadows thrown by a tall outcrop of rocks. It wound its way toward a copse of trees vanishing into darkness once again. I shuddered, suddenly grateful for this room high up in the fortress. Something scraped against stone and my gut whispered in alarm. I froze and listened. The scraping came again, followed by the sound of wet panting. The back of my neck pricked. The smart thing to do was to retreat to the safety of my room,

but like those dim-witted characters in the old slasher movies, I let the stupidity gene take control and gripped the balcony to lean over and look down. Orange orbs ringed in red glared up at me, a wide slash of a mouth filled with shattered glass for teeth snapped up at me. A scream tore a path up my throat exploding into the night air with violence. Fall back, dammit. Move! But I was rooted to the spot. The monstrous creature moved quickly, hooking its talons into convenient crevices in the fortress’s outer walls. Its dark hairy haunches bulged and twitched. It was seven metres below me. Another scream was trapped in my throat. What the hell was wrong with me? It paused, talons hooked tight and then it leapt, hurtling toward me. My scream ripped through the silence and was answered by a roar. A huge, grey, winged creature hit the monster from the side, grasping it in claws twice the size of my head and shaking it until it

yelped. My paralysis broke, and I stumbled away from the balcony railing and back into my room. Fumbling with the shutters with trembling hands, I tried to get them closed. Awful wet shredding sounds accompanied by shrill inhuman screams filled the air, and still I couldn’t get the shutters shut tight. And then the sounds stopped. The beat of wings. A gust of air. The thud of something landing on my balcony. Oh, god, it was the winged thing. It had torn the other beast to shreds and now it was coming for me. It was coming for me, but I would not go down without a fight. I scanned the room for something . . . anything that I could use as a weapon. The poker by the fireplace! Gripping it like a baseball bat, I was ready to swing. Ready to fight. A shadow fell across the floor by the windows and then a soft voice called out. “It’s alright miss, you come out now. Fargol gots the monster. You is

safe.” Was there someone else out there with the winged creature? “I understands miss, Fargol’s monstrous visage sets your tiny heart beating with fear. Fargol will leave you be. No fear. South side is Fargol’s domain. No foul creature breach Fargol’s defences.” I lowered the poker and took a couple of steps toward the balcony. Through the gaps in the partially closed shutters I caught a glimpse of the speaker—the stony, grey, winged creature. He looked familiar . . . He looked like a huge gargoyle! They were listed in the Otherworld Denizen Handbook, but as an unknown entity. They’d been spotted in the human world on several occasions but never reported as doing any harm. In fact, some people believed them to be protectors of the weak, and this one had just saved my life! “Fargol leave you be.” He flexed his enormous stony wings, preparing for flight. “Wait!” I pulled back the shutters and stepped out onto the balcony.

He paused and turned his head to face me. Even hunched over he was easily ten feet tall, his body was a wall of muscle with the hind body of a big cat and the upper body of a body-builder. His hands were lethal claws, and his face was a nightmare. But his eyes were all too human and filled with gentleness. If not for those eyes I would have run screaming back into the room. “Thank you for saving my life.” He glanced at the poker in my hand and then smiled, baring blunt square teeth. “Fargol best be off now. Must keep to patrol. If you is needing Fargol just call on the wind for Fargol and Fargol be here.” “I’m Kenna, by the way.” I’m not sure he heard me over the beat of his magnificent wings. *** I took my time with the shutters after that, making sure they were locked tight. Fargol said he patrolled the area, but I wasn’t taking any chances. The

thought of what could have happened to me if he hadn’t shown up in time was enough motivation to take the poker to the bed with me. Feeling defenceless took some getting used to. I’d always had Frieda to light the darkness, to fight the beasts, and now I had . . . a poker. I held it up. “I name thee . . . um . . . Bertha.” Yeah, Bertha was a good no nonsense name. I pulled back the covers and crawled onto the bed, unbuckled my prosthetic and placed it to one side. My skin looked red and sore, but it didn’t hurt as badly as I’d expect it to after all the activity. Bertha clutched to my chest, I attempted sleep. Tomorrow was an uncertainty. How long would Erebus let me live? *** I awoke with a start, the Hat Man’s shadow visage imprinted on my mind’s eye, his mocking laughter echoing in my ears. The room was black as pitch— someone had put out the lamps. I lay completely still, battling to steady my nightmare nerves, to

force my erratic breaths into steady even ones. Bertha was a reassuring presence in my hands and I gripped her tighter. My body was screaming at me to act, to run or fight, because there was something in the room with me. Long minutes ticked by and then a shadow at the side of my bed shifted. I threw back the covers, sat up and swung Bertha in its direction. I made contact with a jarring thud that reverberated up my arms and elicited a surprised yelp from the invader. I pulled back, ready to swing again but the shadow was too quick. It rushed around the bed and across the room. The sound of the door opening and closing was followed by a surge of light as all the lamps miraculously flared back to life. The end of the poker was smeared with blood. Good. Let them come. I may not have Frieda but I was far from defenceless. Snuggling back down with Bertha, I closed my eyes. I’d battled a shadow with a poker! My heart fluttered with a hollow light feeling. For the first time since I’d lost my leg, I felt truly alive.

CHAPTER 22

M

orning arrived without further incident. I awoke to a grumbling stomach and a soft breath on my

cheek. Gripping Bertha tighter, I opened my eyes, ready to attack, but the room was empty. Pushing back the covers, I reached for my leg. Strange, I’d been so sure I’d felt a presence. Not ominous and scary like the one last night but merely curious. I glanced at the shutters—locked up tight. My stomach grumbled. It was time to leave my lovely prison. The door may be locked, but I’d hammer on it and scream for as long as it took to get someone’s attention. My clothes were a mess from my dip in the pool, but the armoire contained women’s clothes: slacks, polo shirts, underwear, and even a dress or two. Dressing quickly, I headed for the exit. To my surprise the handle turned easily and the door opened with a soft snick.

I found myself in a narrow corridor lit by wall lamps. The walls were brick and mortar, and the ground smooth wooden flooring. To one side was an archway with a staircase visible beyond it, and the other was an endless corridor. This was my chance to explore, get my bearings, but the instinct was waylaid by the scent of bacon. At least I thought it was bacon, it could have been some other kind of meat—I was in Evernight after all— but I liked the idea of bacon best. My stomach demanded I follow the delicious aroma. I took a few steps in the direction of the arch and the smell intensified. Sod it, I was hungry and I had a poker. There were two sets of stairs. I took the downward flight following the smell, which brought me to a carpeted floor with fancy chandelier lighting and heavy tapestries of Aztec-like patterns hanging on the walls. It was a far cry from the corridor I’d been housed on. This was three times the width only a fraction of the length. A set of tall wooden doors set in another arch cut off my view of what lay beyond, but the doors were slightly ajar.

I pressed up against the wood, and peeked through the gap. The room beyond was obviously used for dining. There was a table large enough to seat at least fifteen people. I couldn’t see much more through the gap, just enough to know that it was a cosy looking space and that the table was occupied by three figures—two of Erebus’s sidekicks, the red-haired ones, and Erebus himself. He looked as forbidding and formidable as always, his lips turned down as he listened to whatever his sidekicks were saying. I strained to hear, but couldn’t make out more than a murmur. Ripples of air threaded their fingers through my hair. What the—? Hands cupped my shoulders holding me in place. “You want to know what they’re saying?” The voice was deep enough to be masculine but melodious enough to be feminine. I waited for the flare that would tell me to fight, but it never came, instead my muscles relaxed and I found myself nodding. A chuckle blew across the top of my head.

“Well, let’s see. Baron, the red-haired djinn with the cocky tilt to his mouth, is pointing out that you’re dangerous because you can understand the language of the djinn, while Aidan, the other redhaired djinn with the heavy brows, is pointing out how you are dangerous because you’re immune to the pool of dreams. And Samson, the dark-haired one just out of view, is adding that you look like the violent type. Vale is holding his peace as usual.” “And Erebus? What does he think?” The voice sighed. “Erebus tends to keep his cards close to his chest, but the fact that you’re still alive tells me that he is intrigued by you.” Intrigued. Yes, I was intrigued too. I twisted out of my eavesdropper’s grip and turned to face him . . . her . . . um . . . My gaze dropped to the speaker’s chest. Male or unfortunate female? On closer inspection of his features I was leaning toward male. “My name is Sabriel.” “Kenna.” “I know who you are,” his lips curled in a soft smile that made my chest feel light. His eyes, the

clearest blue I had ever seen, looked down on me with something akin to tenderness. He was dressed in a simple white cotton shirt and pants to match. “You must be famished, come.” He placed a hand on my shoulder, pushed open the door, and steered me into the room. The murmur of conversation stopped and four pairs of eyes latched on to me. I faltered but the gentle pressure of Sabriel’s hand kept me moving. “Our guest is hungry,” Sabriel said. Baron, one of the red-haired djinn leaned forward. “She is a prisoner, not a guest.” Samson, the dark-haired djinn with his back to the door, turned in his chair to face us. “She poses too many questions and we should end her now.” His dark eyes flashed, and I zeroed in on the small cut on his forehead. Bertha’s mark. Erebus was silent, his gaze speculative. Until now I’d kind of accepted that I might die. I’d been ready for it when I’d agreed to be tithe, but then I’d pulled myself from a pool filled with humans, climbed a crazy high staircase to see an amazing

flame, survived an orange eyed monster, met a gargoyle, and fended off a shadow with a poker. The familiar fire of survival—the one that had filled my veins as I’d hacked off my leg—was back. I wanted to live. Standing tall I locked eyes with the dark-eyed djinn. “It’s easy to sense violence in someone when you’ve been clocked on the head with a poker by them.” I tilted my head. “Maybe if you didn’t sneak around a lady’s room in the dark then you wouldn’t get hurt.” He blinked, and reached up to touch the cut on his head before turning to Erebus. “See, she sees too much!” “What the hell does that mean?” “It means that my wound is under a glamour, you shouldn’t be able to . . .” his eyes widened. “Wait a moment, what do you see when you look at us?” Shit. I took a step back but Sabriel’s grip on my hand tightened. He threw back his head and laughed. The sound was a melody that swelled to fill the room and lifted my spirits.

Samson’s eyes narrowed to slits. “It isn’t funny.” Sabriel sobered. “Oh, but it is my friend. It’s just what you need—a reminder that even you are not infallible. Our guest obviously has some Twilighter genes, which is hardly surprising considering the inbreeding that occurred in the first couple of decades after our worlds meshed.” He shrugged. “Maybe instead of advocating her demise, you should be thinking of ways in which she may prove useful.” Samson’s gaze shifted back to me, and this time there was more than a hint of consideration in those obsidian depths. I was too busy turning over Sabriel’s words. Twilighter genes? Could it be? It would explain how mum knew Lauren. Was he a relative? A family friend of a great, great grandsomething? I wish I knew more about our family tree, I wished I’d asked more questions. “Different doesn’t necessarily mean dangerous, Samson,” the dark-haired djinn sitting opposite Samson said. Vale, I think. Well at least one of Erebus’s

henchmen was on my side. Samson’s lips curled and he averted his gaze, offering me his aquiline profile. “So, can we get an extra plate?” Sabriel said. I glanced at Erebus, but he was staring at the table. “Set a place,” he said softly. Samson pressed his lips together. A door to my far right burst open and a slender man carrying a tray glided in. He wasn’t djinn and his long hair was covering his ears so I couldn’t tell if he was a Twilighter—he had the colouring of one, which reminded me—I studied Sabriel’s ears; definitely not a Twilighter. The slender man popped the tray next to Vale, and Sabriel led me around the table and pulled out the seat. I should have felt intimidated by all the djinn around me, but the tray before me was laden with eggs, bacon, and fried bread, and my stomach took the driver’s seat. Ignoring the djinn, I shovelled food into my mouth like there was no tomorrow, because face it, there may not be for me. The only sound in the room for the next few minutes was the sound of my munching.

“So Erebus, what do you intend to do with our lovely guest?” Sabriel asked. Erebus snorted. “Our guest? This is not your home Sabriel.” “Ouch! And I thought we’d gotten past all the unpleasantness.” A low rumble filled the room; it cut through my hunger and pierced my chest with a strange longing. I stopped shovelling and looked down the table at the source of the sound. Erebus stopped chuckling and caught my eye. His silver gaze was too penetrating, too invasive. I focused my attention back on my plate, but my appetite for food was gone, replaced by a longing for something I didn’t quite comprehend. “She can stay until the next tithe and then she can go back to her world,” Erebus said. “What?” Samson was on his feet. “After what she’s seen? After what she knows?” Erebus went deathly still. Sabriel muttered. “Oh, dear.” Beside me Vale dropped his head in his hands, just as Samson threw back his head and screamed.

It was an excruciating sound that, thank goodness, was cut off when Samson abruptly vanished. What the heck just happened? I turned to Sabriel with the question on my lips to find him calmly sipping a cup of tea. Where the hell had that come from? Aiden cleared his throat. “Despite his impudence, Samson does raise a valid point.” Erebus scraped back his chair and pulled himself to his full height. “She was Fearless. A protector of humanity. That kind of commitment does not change overnight.” His eyes were on me now and it was a little harder to breathe. “Come with me.” He turned and walked toward an archway that, until a moment ago, hadn’t even been there. I stared at his retreating form and gained an elbow in the ribs from Sabriel that galvanised me into action, and I quickly followed.

CHAPTER 23

T

he arch led to a balcony similar to the one outside my room, but much larger. Erebus was at the railing.

Was this some kind of ploy? Did he intend to throw me off? Nah, if he wanted to kill me he would just kill me. He didn’t strike me as the type to play games, and he’d said there was something he wanted to show me. I joined him at the stone barrier and looked out into Evernight. The breath whooshed out of my lungs. We must have been miles away and several miles above ground level, and yet the shimmering gaping maw of the portal was clearly visible to us. “Is that the gate?” “Yes.” And there was an inky mass converging on it. It surged forward to batter against, what looked like, a wall of flame, before being driven back over and over again.

“Oh, god, what is that?!” I pointed toward the mass. “That is the hoard,” Erebus said, “and those bright flames are the ceaseless warriors, my clan, that fight day and night without food or rest to prevent the gate from being breached.” I visualised our guards, our weapons on the human side of that gate, and a dry bitter laugh bubbled up my throat. What could a few puny guns do against this hoard, what would a few everlight swords do against this deadly mass? I looked up at Erebus but he remained fixated on the spectacle far below us. “The ceaseless are a part of me,” he said. “They gain their strength from me, and I gain mine from the flame that you saw above the pool of dreams. The flame thrives off the souls of the tithe. If the flame dies, my clan dies, and if that occurs then the human realm will be overrun.” The denizens weren’t the only threat. This hoard was the real danger. And the tithe . . . how could I begrudge him those souls if it protected humanity as a whole?

Danny’s face came to mind. I had to ask. “My friend was selected as a tithe last year.” He glanced down at me. “I know this may be of little consolation, but he does not suffer. He floats into death on a beautiful dream.” “I’m sure he would have preferred to live his life for real.” I couldn’t help the bitterness that tainted my voice. “Would it really matter if you spared one soul?” Erebus sighed. “He belongs to the flame now; to remove him from the pool would kill him instantly.” A weight settled on my chest. If only there was a way to get a message to Brett, to give him some closure, but I was stuck here for a year. At least I was alive. Questions seethed in my mind—what was this flame? How could it have so much power? Why had it reacted so strangely to me? I opened my mouth to ask Erebus all this, but he turned his head to pin me with his gleaming eyes. “I do not enjoy taking life, and I will spare yours because I know, as a Fearless, you will do nothing to jeopardise the safety of humanity. Our

anonymity is what allows us to protect the human realm. In my experience, given too much knowledge, humanity has a tendency to jeopardise its own existence.” I couldn’t argue with that. Hadn’t it been the scientists with their fountains of knowledge, new technology, and arrogant assurances that had landed us in this mess in the first place? Yeah it made sense, but what didn’t make sense was why? Why was Erebus helping us? Why did it matter so much to him? I’d always assumed he was getting something in return, but from what he’d just told me there was no benefit in this for him except his ability to fuel his ceaseless army. “Why are you helping us?” He swallowed and looked away again. “Because I have a debt to pay.” Well that told me absolutely zero. “What kind of debt?” Erebus’s brows snapped together and he slowly turned his head to look down on me. I held up my hands. “I’m just trying to understand, that’s all. It must be a pretty huge debt

for you to have protected us for . . . what, the better part of a century? So what happens when you feel the debt has been paid? Do you just stop protecting us?” Sabriel’s dulcet tone cut off any response Erebus may have deigned to give me. “If you’ve finished frightening the girl, maybe I can show her to her room?” Erebus nodded. “Take the north stairs.” I glanced over my shoulder at Sabriel, then back at Erebus. I really wanted an answer to my question, but Erebus’s downturned mouth and drawn brows told me he was done talking. I left the balcony and moved back into the dining room with Sabriel. The other djinn were gone and the table had been cleared. Sabriel led me to the door I had eavesdropped at, but I couldn’t resist a peek over my shoulder for another glimpse of the monolith who I now knew to be less of a monster, except the archway that led to the balcony was gone. ***

I stood at the foot of the northern staircase and gazed up at a flight that had to be more than a hundred steps. Tears of anger and shame pricked my eyes. This was gonna hurt like a bitch—both my pride and my body. Sabriel was watching me. There was no way I was showing any weakness. “Kenna, are you all right?” he asked. “You know, for a moment on the balcony I actually felt sorry for him. I actually attributed a little humanity to the guy but this . . . this is just cruel.” Sabriel’s smooth brow crinkled. “Why would you say that?” I reached down and lifted the hem of my trousers just enough to show him the prosthetic. His pressed his lips together. Not to be beaten, I began to climb. One, two, three, and here I was outside my room. “What the hell?” “Maybe you should trust your instincts more,” Sabriel said.

Yep, this fortress was most definitely enchanted. Erebus had sent us via the easy route because he knew about my leg. Funny how easily I’d been able to hate him when I’d thought he wanted me to climb a bunch of steps, but how much harder it was to accept that he’d done me an overt kindness by sending me on an easier route. Years of believing him to be some kind of monster were going to be hard to overcome. I reached for my door handle and paused. “Do you know what Erebus’s debt is?” Sabriel’s eyes lit up. “I thought you’d never ask!” He took my hand again. “Come with me.” He led me down the corridor the opposite direction from where we had come, passed several closed doors, all of which looked very similar to mine except that mine had a fancy doorknob and these were all plain. We took a left at an intersection and stepped into a library. I didn’t have a great love of literature, but Bella would have loved this. She devoured books like candy, and this room was one big candy store. It reminded me a little of the library in the fairy-tale

Beauty and the Beast. Ironic, considering I was in an enchanted castle, held sort of prisoner by a djinn who was pretty beastly. I did like the idea of being a beauty, except I knew I wasn’t all that to look at, aside from my freaky silver-blonde hair and eerie eyes there wasn’t anything special about me. And can you imagine me twirling around the room with this leg? I chuckled to myself and elicited a raised brow from Sabriel. “What did you want to show me? I’m not much of a reader.” Sabriel moved to the fireplace and pointed to the painting above it. I moved close enough to study it. A man with crimson skin and amber eyes sat on a throne. No. Not a man . . . a djinn with the sternest expression I’d ever seen. He had the same savage features as Erebus and his sidekicks. “Who is that?” “That is Ibris, the lord of all djinn,” Sabriel said. “He was ferocious, ambitious, and stubborn to a fault, but he was also fair and loyal. Under his rule the fifth dimension thrived.”

There were other djinn too. Crimson just like this Ibris dude, and then I spotted a small figure—a dark djinn with midnight blue skin and silver eyes. I pointed at the child djinn. “Is that—?” “Erebus? Yes, it is.” Sabriel’s features softened, making him look even more feminine than usual. “Ibris’s first spawn, his adopted son. Ibris knew that his people would never see Erebus as a true heir, and so he gave him the next best status and promoted him to Man at Arms. He became Ibris’s right hand, his confidant. More than a son, he became Ibris’s friend. It was Erebus and his clan of dark djinn that protected the realm. It was Erebus who failed to prevent the assassination of his beloved father and his bloodline. The fifth dimension is now a place of anarchy, and the hoard a by-product of that anarchy.” “That’s his debt? He feels guilty?” “Erebus continues to try to make up for his mistake; his singular most epic failure, because if mankind falls that will be another realm whose destruction he will be responsible for.” The tiny djinn boy with a smile on his face was

a far cry from the hulking beast of a djinn that Erebus had grown to become. Djinn lived many lifetimes—a century in our world could mean two or three in their dimension. I finally understood the depth of his guilt. “But when does it stop? When will his debt be paid?” Sabriel sighed. “I said the hoard was a byproduct of the anarchy in the fifth dimension, and only an end to the anarchy will stop the hoard.” “Why? I don’t get it. What is this hoard?” “The hoard is hunger and greed manifest. It is the rage and grief and ambition of every djinn; think of it as the mental trash of the fifth dimension. You think the otherworld denizens are a problem? They’re nothing in comparison, in fact I suspect they’re simply trying to escape from the hoard and find somewhere safe to hunt and feed. If it gets into the human realm it will infect every man woman and child. Your world as you know it will cease to exist. The problem is it’s getting stronger, and the flame . . . it grows weaker with each passing decade.”

The flame that had flared when I had moved too close . . . Erebus said that it was fed by human souls, but if Sabriel was correct and I had Twilighter genes, that I was some kind of mish-mash of human and inhuman, then maybe . . . maybe my soul could sustain it for longer? No. I couldn’t step forward. Not now. If I did then I may never leave. I would never see mum or Bella again. I didn’t want to die. I wasn’t a sacrifice. I turned away from the painting, eager to change the subject, eager to think of something else, anything other than the fact that I may be able to give this flame a boost. Sabriel was studying me with a strangely intense expression on his face that made me want to wring my hands. My scalp prickled and my brain itched. I asked the first question that came to mind. “A week in the Twilight is a couple of days in the human realm, but how does time run here in Evernight?” How long would I have to wait to be free?

“Time runs the same in the Evernight and in the human realm. The fifth dimension is another story entirely.” “And you, where do you fit into all of this?” Sabriel winked. “Wherever I wish to.” He clapped his hands. “Well, it’s getting late and I have errands I must run, but please feel free to enjoy the library, and when you wish to return to your room just retrace our steps precisely.” He’d been eager to chat a moment ago, but as soon as the questions got personal he had somewhere he needed to be? Definitely fishy in my book. I watched him leave, even his walk was graceful, and then I took a seat by the fire. There was a ton of information to absorb, and the fire was warm and soothing. I stretched out my aching leg and settled back in the huge plush armchair. It was selfish not to say anything about the flame, to hide the fact that I may be able to help, but hadn’t I given enough? Hadn’t I suffered enough? My eyelids felt heavy. Just one moment . . . My eyelids fluttered open to a dying fire and a throbbing leg. The library was a tapestry of

shadows, but one shadow, larger than the others, stood out. It moved toward me, horrific and twisted. Something had made it into the fortress. Something Fargol had failed to stop. A denizen.

CHAPTER 24

A

scream bubbled up my throat. “You’re awake,” Erebus said. Oh shit. It was him . . . on the floor by

the bloody fire. Embarrassment made me short. “And you’re observant.” Erebus crouched by the fireplace, stoked the embers, and the monstrous shadow he cast taunted me, jumping and dancing in time with the rejuvenated flames. “Are you always this derisive?” His body was angled away from me, hunched over and massive, he could crush me with a fist, and here I was getting snippy with him. “Yeah, sorry about that.” He stood and placed the poker back in its stand by the fire. “You’ll be my . . . guest for a while, so I’ve asked Vale to show you around the fortress tomorrow. This will be your home for a year, and I want you to be comfortable.”

I waited for him to tell me I could go anywhere except the west wing—that’s what happened when you let your little sister rope you into watching Beauty and the Beast thirty times. “Why?” What was wrong with me, dammit? Why did I have to look a gift horse in the mouth? But the words just kept coming. “Why are you being so civil to me?” His eyes flashed and, then his lips twitched. “As opposed to disembowelling you like the horrific beast I am?” I swallowed. I really needed to learn to keep my mouth shut. Erebus moved toward me until he was towering over me. “I kill when I must. I do not kill for pleasure. If you posed a threat then I would kill you, have no doubt about that. Now you should get some proper sleep, in a bed.” “I’ve had enough sleep. I need to do something, be of some use. What about out there, in Evernight? If you get me an everlight blade I can help fight, maybe not the hoard but there’s other crap out there.” Like the thing that tried to climb

into my room. His gaze dropped to my leg, it was a brief look but it was a look nonetheless, and my cheeks grew warm. I opened my mouth to unleash but he cut me off. “Have you had any training since you lost your limb?” I blinked up at him. “What?” “I see the way you move, you still haven’t accepted the prosthetic as a part of you and that would make you a liability out there, but I appreciate your offer.” He made to turn away but I wasn’t done. “Then train me.” He paused. “Why? Why would you want to go out there? Why risk your life?” I opened my mouth to spin him some bullshit but the truth tumbled out, unbidden. “Because this isn’t living. Living is fighting for a cause, living is being of some use to the people I care about. One less denizen on this side is one less denizen who might press through to the human realm.” I paused, surprised at my own candour.

“Go on.” I licked my lips, the truth sandpaper on my tongue. “When they sent me here, I was forced to accept that my life was over, but now . . . I have a chance to live again, and I’m not going to spend it sleeping.” I realised how contradictory my words sounded. Hadn’t I just turned my back on the idea of giving my soul to the flame, even though it could have contributed toward the survival of mankind? Yes. And the worm of guilt had been born. This was a way to assuage it, to give something back that still offered me a hope of survival. Erebus studied me for a long beat and then inclined his head. “Very well. We will begin on the morrow, but I warn you my methods are harsh.” “I wouldn’t expect anything less.” He turned his back on me. “Now sleep, you will need your strength.” This time I didn’t argue, but slipped out of the room, retracing my steps just as Sabriel had instructed. ***

“And this is the library,” Vale said, leading me into the room I’d fallen asleep in last night. I nodded, pretending to be enthralled by the prospect of all the books. “You don’t like reading do you?” he asked. I wrinkled my nose. “Not really my thing. But give me a good film and a bowl of popcorn and I’m all yours.” His eyes lit up. “Yes, I’ve heard of these . . . films. Humans enjoy them very much.” I couldn’t imagine not watching a movie ever again. And here was a creature that had never seen one. “What about plays?” His brows knitted. “You know, like the theatre? Do you go to the theatre?” He moved toward the tapestry, his face averted. “I’ve never been anywhere but at Erebus’s side.” Okay, dedicated much? “But surely you’ve travelled? Or dated?” He glanced over his shoulder, a wry smile

playing on his lips. “Our duty is to Erebus, to the flame and the gate.” He dropped his gaze quickly, tightening his lips to kill the smile. Okay, so not such a doormat then. “Vale, what do you djinn do around here for fun?” He looked up, his lips curving in a lethal smile. “We kill things.” “Nice.” “Come, I’ll show you the kitchens. Food is prepared and the table set three times a day, but if you should get hungry in between, you can request a meal directly.” I followed him out the door, down the corridor, past my room, and up a flight of ten steps. We stepped onto the upper floor and into a vast room filled with cast-iron stoves, long wooden work surfaces, and heavy looking pots and pans dangling off hooks on the wall. The whole room was wreathed in steam emitted by several bubbling pans sitting on the black stoves. Two slender males stood at opposite ends of the work surface, chopping and dicing so fast that their hands were blur.

“Meet Tyrol and Fren. They’re twins.” The twins stopped working to look up and offer me a smile. “Do you be needin somefin missus?” asked one. “We ‘as fresh bread, cheese, and grapes if you is wantin a snack.” I shook my head. “I’m fine thanks.” They nodded and went back to work. “So,” Vale clapped his hands together. “I think that covers what you need to know.” So far he’d shown me four ballrooms, three studies, an empty storage room filled with furniture, the library, and the kitchens. That was all I needed to know? Made me wonder what Erebus was hiding. For example, I had no idea where their chambers were, not that I intended to go visiting, but what if I needed to speak to one of them for some reason? I wanted to argue, to insist he show me more, but the dull ache in my leg warned me that it probably wasn’t in my best interests. Erebus had offered me a short enchanted route to my chambers the other night, but today Vale had taken

me everywhere the long route. I guess it made sense. I needed to remember how to get places. Vale was already heading back to the stairs. “Shall I show you back to your chambers?” My heart sank. I didn’t want to be cooped up in my room all the time. Erebus had promised to train me, so maybe I could do that. “Where is Erebus? He said he would train me.” Vale paused at the bottom of the steps, his brows shooting up. “Really?” “Is the idea that preposterous?” He shook his head. “No. You were Fearless of course.” “Then what?” He pressed his lips together. “Do you enjoy gardens?” “What? Um . . . I guess.” He smiled. “In that case, there is something else I could show you.” ***

Vale dropped me off in the courtyard before claiming he had jobs to attend to. The garden was a huge rectangular shape surrounded by the fortress walls, but open to the churning night sky. Black pulsing vines clung to the stone, weaving up and around the many arched windows that looked into the courtyard. Moonflowers threw off their vanilla and sandalwood scent, and night orchids filled the air with a chocolaty aroma. There were other blooms too, strange fantastical white flowers that I had no name for. I wandered through the garden revelling in the night air, the touch of magick on my senses, and the silver fingers of moonlight that ran over my skin. I lifted my chin to look up at the moon. It peeked down at me from behind a black mass that slowly crept across its surface like a dark caress. Okay, so I wasn’t a garden person, not usually, but maybe that was because I’d never been in a night garden before. There was something otherworldly and magickal about a garden at night, and one that only bloomed under the moon was something entirely different. I wandered down the

slender winding path made of cobblestone that opened out into a glittering pond. A stone bench provided the perfect place to sit and reflect. I parked my butt and stretched out my leg, massaging my thigh muscles. The dull ache was back and the thought of trekking all the way back to my room made me cringe. I could have done with some of Cimren’s yellow powder right about now. I’d just stay a while. Watch the shapes darting about beneath the surface of the water. It was almost hypnotic, and then the water began to ripple outward in a circle, as if something were pushing upward, outward. Something big. I tensed, ready to bolt just as a head emerged from the dark glittering water. Two emerald eyes regarded me from an alabaster face. I cocked my head. “Um . . . hello?” The head emerged fully—completely bald, slender nose, a slash for a mouth, and a neck that could be broken with the flick of a strong wrist. He rose further, baring his barrel shaped chest, slit neatly down the sides by gills that opened and

closed. His pale skin bloomed with a network of purple veins. “You are a she, but not she,” he said. “I’m Kenna. Who are you?” “Adamaris. Kenna, you are not she.” “I don’t know what you mean.” He glided toward me. “Now she is gone. Do not be she.” His green eyes were huge, wet, and imploring. I just wish I understood what he was trying to tell me. His gills vibrated, his nostrils flared. He backed up and slid back under the surface of the water. “You like the garden?” I squealed like a pig, hand going to my chest to stop my heart from punching out of my ribs. I looked up at Erebus. “You scared the crap out of me.” “You didn’t hear me approach? Strange for a Fearless.” I looked to the pool, about to tell him about the strange man with gills, but decided against it. The creature had bolted as soon as he’d heard Erebus

coming. My gut warned me to keep quiet. “I was daydreaming . . . or night dreaming.” Urgh, that sounded pathetic. He seemed to buy it though, moving around me to take a seat on the other side of the bench. He settled himself, his massive frame taking up most of the seat. He was wearing dark pants tucked into heavy boots, and a waistcoat that left his chest and arms bare. His skin gleamed enticingly in the moonlight and his profile was all harsh lines highlighted by silver. He made a strikingly intimidating figure. I made to look away, but then he spoke, pulling my gaze back to his face with his deep vibrating timbre. “If you enjoy the garden, then please feel free to come and go as you please. I’ll make sure no one disturbs you.” His gaze was on the pool. Was he referring to the water dude? It was on the tip of my tongue to ask. After all, Erebus had spared my life, he protected humanity, and from what Sabriel said he was a good guy, but my gut rolled and I kept my mouth shut. “I wasn’t expecting something so . . . beautiful,

in the midst of Evernight.” He smiled dryly. “Evernight wasn’t always such a barren place. All you see in this garden once grew out there, but the merge, the gateway, the hoard, and the hunger of the denizens have stripped it of life.” “But haven’t the denizens always been there?” His silver gaze tracked my features. “Yes, but they weren’t always this monstrous. The magick here has been tainted and twisted. It affected the denizens, the animals, and insects that lived here. It infected them, turning them into something else entirely. It created new beasts to roam the land, and what was once a peaceful outland was turned into a horrific prison for anyone banished here.” His eyes narrowed. “You sense it don’t you? The magick?” “Doesn’t everyone?” One side of his mouth lifted. “Yes, most mortals can sense its presence, the prickle that races over their skin in a particular spot where magick is thick, the ripple of air at the nape of their neck when a gust blows a cloud heavy with magick their way. But you can smell it, see it . . .”

I stared at him, heart rate kicking up. “How can you know that?” I hadn’t confided that to anyone, thinking it was somehow connected to the fact that I could see the djinn’s real faces. He shrugged a massive shoulder. “My dream pool could not hold you. It was an educated guess.” My shoulder slumped. Sabriel’s theory that I had Twilighter genes was starting to look like a certainty. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but there was something I was sure how I felt about. “When do we start training?” “I must take a short trip. A few days at the most.” “And then we train?” He nodded. “Training will help you assimilate with your limb.” “Yeah, and then I can go out and kick some denizen ass.” He was silent for a long beat, and when he next spoke his tone was gentle. “You can be free in a year. Are you sure you wish to risk your life outside these walls? The training can simply be that —training.”

Heat flared in my chest. “Are you trying to back out of training me?” He sighed. “No, Kenna. I’m just offering you an alternative.” “Well I don’t need one. This is what I do.” It was all I knew. “Very well, we begin upon my return. Be prepared for pain.” Pain was my frenemy. Bring it.

CHAPTER 25

I

barely knew Erebus, but it was as if his absence had leached a little colour from the atmosphere. A few days he’d said, which

couldn’t be more than a week right? I really wanted to start training. Inaction was my enemy. I entered the dining room to find Vale and Samson drinking some kind of beverage from goblets. It definitely didn’t look like tea or coffee. Man, I could kill for a cup of tea. The djinn watched me approach; Samson with a scowl and Vale with a smile. The chair I’d occupied the other day was empty and so I slipped into it. There was a goblet in front of me and a jug of whatever they were drinking, but I didn’t really fancy trying it. My stomach gurgled. “We don’t have to put up with this you know,” Samson said to Vale. “Erebus is away, we don’t have to tolerate this . . . human.”

He said it like a dirty word, something vile and disgusting. I clenched my jaw. Okay, so he didn’t like humans. It wasn’t worth the hassle fighting back. Vale looking me up and down with his dark eyes. “Well, I for one find her charming. So small and delicate.” Small? Me? I stifled a snort, because I suppose compared to these mammoth creatures I was pretty dinky. Samson raked me with his derisive crimson eyes. “Vale, your desperation for diversion is becoming depressing, not to mention delusional, especially if you could find this pathetic one-legged freak charming.” Heat surged through my body and before I could think my goblet was sailing across the table toward Samson’s head. It connected with a thunk. Samson leapt to his feet; his face a contorted mask of barely contained fury, and made to lunge across the table. Vale’s chair scraped across the ground as he jumped to my defence, but I didn’t

fucking need him to defend me. I was on my feet, muscles quivering, pulse racing, ready for whatever he had to throw at me. “Enough!” Sabriel’s voice froze Samson in his tracks. “Erebus may not be here but I am.” He looked different, taller and broader. His cerulean eyes blazed with inner fire, and he was transformed from a graceful, almost feminine creature, into a formidable one. Samson turned his head toward Sabriel, his lip curling. “You think I give a damn what you think?” “No. But you won’t cross me either.” “Samson, please. Just go,” Vale pleaded. Samson’s jaw tensed. His eyes were mere slits when he turned them on me. “You’re a novelty. Nothing but a novelty, and when you wear off, then I’ll have my fun.” His lips curled in a sadistic smile that sent a chill up my spine. He kicked his chair and stormed from the room, taking the tension that crackled in the room with him. My pulse was still pounding in my head and I slowly uncurled my fists, absently noting the half crescent marks my nails had cut into my palms.

“Kenna? Are you alright?” Sabriel’s hand landed on my shoulder lightly. I turned to Vale. “What did he mean by that?” Vale shrugged. “I have no idea.” He sighed and sat back down, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Sit down, Kenna. It’s over.” He didn’t add the for now, but I heard it anyway. It looked like Samson would be a thorn in my side while I remained here. I sat back down, feeling suddenly deflated. “You need to control your temper,” Sabriel said softly. “Samson won’t be cowed by it; in fact he feeds upon conflict.” “Sounds like the hoard.” Vale snorted. But Sabriel was right. The rage had come from nowhere—sudden and fierce. The Before Kenna would have controlled it, harnessed it into cutting words. But the After Kenna was a cocktail of pain, anger, and uncertainty. One of the twins appeared with a tray carrying a tea pot, and what smelled like sausage and egg. My stomach took charge, making appreciative

noises as the goodies were set on the table in front of me. “Eat up and then we’ll take a stroll,” Sabriel offered as he poured tea for me. I blew out a breath, expelling the ugly darkness the altercation had churned up inside me, and tucked in. Good food can do amazing things for morale, and five minutes later the world looked a little brighter. “Seriously, this is sooo good. The best sausage I’ve ever had.” Vale’s brow crinkled. “Sausage?” I paused mid-bite and held up the sausage speared on my fork for his inspection. “Vale . . .” Sabriel’s tone held a warning. Vale ignored him. “We call it rodent.” I choked and spat out the masticated meat. Vale patted my back. “Are you alright?” I took a huge gulp of my tea to wash out my mouth then stared at the sausage . . . the rodent on my plate. Man, it had tasted so good. “You did that on purpose didn’t you?” Sabriel

said. I slid a glance Vales way to find him smirking. He shrugged. “Entertainment is a little light around the fortress and her reaction was pretty entertaining. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.” “So it’s really . . . rat meat.” Sabriel sighed. “Their rodent is vastly different from the human realm rats, which carry disease and all manner of things. Their rodent is bred for consumption.” It should have made it okay, but it really didn’t. “What about the eggs? Please tell me these are egg from chickens.” I looked to Vale who was looking over my head at Sabriel as if for direction. I held up my hand. “You know what. I don’t want to know. It tastes like egg and so its egg.” I scooped up a forkful and popped it in my mouth. Egg. ***

“So Vale already showed you around the fortress?” Sabriel asked. I nodded. We wandered toward the library, taking our time. The sconces fixed to the walls flared slightly as we passed. “Although, I doubt he showed me everything. This place is huge.” Sabriel paused. “It is, plenty to explore . . .” He raised a brow and cocked his head. “You want to snoop?” “Do you want to snoop?” Gosh, I was torn. It felt kinda icky to snoop, but at the same time I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to this place, and didn’t I deserve to really know the place that would be my home for the next year? “Trust me. We won’t go anywhere where we shouldn’t, just places that Vale may have missed.” It was better than sitting on our arses doing nothing. “Let’s do it.” Several twists, turns, and staircases later, we

found ourselves on a corridor neither of us recognised. There were no sconces lit here. The air smelled musty, stale and unused. A chill seeped off the walls, settling on my skin and sinking into my bones. It would have been black as pitch if not for the shuttered arched windows that ran along the wall on the left. Razor thin slivers of moonlight cut across the corridor like horizontal silver stripes. “Creepy much?” Sabriel’s eye whites gleamed in the dark. “Maybe we should head back.” “Scared?” His lips tightened. “Hardly.” But I knew what he meant. There was something forbidden about this floor. Something forgotten, but my feet led me down it anyway. There were several doors on the wall to our right. I turned the first door handle to find it locked. Great. The second one was the same, as was the third and the fourth. “So much for exploring.” There was one more door at the end of the

corridor. Sabriel reached for it and twisted the handle. It rattled but wouldn’t budge. “Great.” I sighed. “Come on, let’s get out of here. I can show you the garden, have you seen the garden?” Sabriel shook his head. We began to walk away just as a soft click cut through the thick silence. Sabriel and I locked gazes and then both turned back to the door as it swung ominously open.

CHAPTER 26

I

t was an invitation, right? The fortress was

enchanted and it was letting us in . . . I took a step toward the room. Sabriel gripped my elbow. “Maybe we shouldn’t?” “Seriously? A locked door just sprung open of its own accord and you want to walk away without checking it out?” Sabriel pursed his lips. “Fine. But let me go in first.” “My hero.” He slipped into the room, and I followed a moment later, a light feeling in my chest. The room was pitch black and I stumbled into Sabriel. “Shit.” “We should go.” Sabriel voice was tight. A soft whoosh filled the air and the room flared with light. I blinked, allowing my eyes to

adjust, and then stared at my surroundings. The light quivery feeling in my chest melted away. I’m not sure what I was expecting: hidden treasure, a chained up beast, maybe a secret garden. Something. Anything. But not this. Not a bedchamber. It was a pretty fancy one though. High fourposter bed, long ornate dresser with a massive oval mirror studded with gems, plush rugs, colourful tapestries on the wall, and a fancy chandelier dangled from the ceiling lit with what looked like a hundred candles. Yeah, it was fancy, but it was just a bedroom. I shook my head. “Let’s just go.” But Sabriel was staring at a something on the wall. A large painting that had been slashed to fuck. He moved toward it as if in a daze and raised a hand to smooth the shredded canvas back into place. I caught the curve of a delicate jaw, the tumble of crimson hair, and the flash of emerald eyes. Sabriel cleared his throat, dropped his hand, and strode toward the door. “There’s nothing to see here,” he said over his

shoulder. “Let’s go.” My scalp prickled. I took a step toward the painting, overcome by the certainty that there was something to see, I just didn’t understand what. “Kenna?” Sabriel stood by the open door, his expression impassive. With a final glance at the ripped up painting I followed him out of the room. We navigated the fortress, making our way back to familiar ground. Had that painting, that room, meant something to Sabriel? His reaction had been too weird to discount the possibility, but he wasn’t talking and there was nothing I could do without looking like a nosey cow. Besides, we all had our secrets, the things we preferred not to speak of. A sharp pain lanced up my thigh, reminding me of one such moment. The moment I refused to relive by talking about it. Yeah, we were all entitled to our moments, and I’d allow him his. I had other things to worry about, like avoiding Samson and training with Erebus. I just hope he returned before Samson made

good on his threat. *** The next three days passed pleasantly enough in the company of Sabriel. I only crossed paths with Samson once, and he was careful to keep his barbed comments to a minimum. Maybe in time he’d come to tolerate my presence. As it was, being around him did awful things to my temper, reminding me how much I’d changed in a few short months. It was a hollow feeling I could do without. It was late afternoon of the fourth day that Sabriel knocked on my door with a really cool gift. I’d been moaning about being cooped up, about being in a whole new world and unable to physically experience it. My balcony gave me a pretty awesome view of Evernight, but everything was so far away. It was just shapes and varying shades of grey. I was moping about, forcing myself to read an actual book—something about a prince and a ship and some faraway enchanted land. I wasn’t sure what was happening. I had to keep re-

reading the same paragraph because the story just wasn’t sticking, so the knock at the door was a huge relief. Throwing the book aside I called out. “Enter.” Sabriel poked his head round the door, a huge grin on his perfect face. “Look what I found.” He stepped into the room, hand behind his back. “Guess what it is?” I stared at him. “You want me to guess what you have behind your back? Seriously? It could be bloody anything.” He pouted. “You’re no fun.” He brought his hand round to show me his prize. “Ta da!” “Wow! Is that a spyglass?” I hadn’t seen one outside of a pirate cartoon. “Gimme!” “Please . . .” “Please,” I said sweetly. He handed me the spyglass. Now to see if this baby worked. I rushed onto the balcony and extending the spyglass as far as it would go, peering out over Evernight below. The world came into focus. The ground was hard-packed earth in most places, with trenches of turned over soil here and

there, mainly by the odd copse of blackened trees or boulder cluster. Shrubs sprouted randomly over the terrain. Black vines decorated with white blooms that swayed in a gentle breeze, their flowery heads turned up to the silvery light of the moon. I scanned left, seeing more of the same, and then a flicker of flame caught my eye. I swung the spyglass back, slower this time, until I found the fire—a camp fire with djinn—their skin an eerie green colour in the light of the moon. There were two adults and a child huddled around the small fire. A cart tethered to a strange looking beast was stationed behind them. “There are djinn out there.” “Yes, did Erebus not tell you?” “No. I don’t understand. Why are they out there?” “Nomads. Outcasts. Djinn simply wanting to be free of the oppression of the fifth dimension.” “So they risk their lives here?” It said a lot about how fucked up things in the fifth dimension must be if these djinn were willing to take a gamble in Evernight, although I didn’t see any denizens out

there. “Where are all the denizens? Why is it so quiet tonight?” “They’re probably underground. The hoard is surging tonight. Aidan, Vale, Samson, and Baron are out at the gate aiding the ceaseless army. The denizens may be monstrous but they aren’t stupid enough to brave the hoard.” So Erebus’s sidekicks were at the gate. With the spy glass I’d be able to see the gate up close, and I knew just where to get the best view. I was about to step away from the balcony, when movement to the right of the campfire caught my eye. I leaned in, focusing behind the djinn. The ground opened up, and something with feelers and a shit-load of legs wriggled out. It looked like a monster sized centipede with epic proportioned pincers. “Shit!” “What?” “You know how you said the denizens weren’t stupid to come out when the hoard was surging?” “Yes?”

“Well I found a stupid one.” I dropped the spyglass, my heart pounding in fear for the djinn family. The denizen was only several metres behind them. “We have to do something.” I moved into the room and grabbed Bertha from her spot by the bed. “I need to get down there.” “What?” Sabriel’s eyes grew round. “You can’t go out there. You could be killed.” “And if I don’t, they’ll be killed.” I rushed back to the balcony and found them with the spy glass again. The creature was taking its sweet time, circling around the campfire, sticking to the shadows of the rocks that rose up a couple of metres behind them. The little girl sat up straighter, and then the woman was gripping her arm and tugging her to the other side of the fire while the man jumped up, grabbing his staff in a battle ready gesture. They’d spotted the denizen, which wasted no time, bunched up its body and sailed through the air right at the man, landing on top of him. I couldn’t hear their screams, but I didn’t need to. “Sabriel, get me down there now! I know you can. You come and go as you please. You must

have a way, some kind of ability like the djinn. Please. I have to help them.” He took a step back shaking his head. “Kenna . . .” “Dammit, Sabriel, can you get me down there or not?” He nodded reluctantly. “Then do it! Or I swear to god, if anything happens to that family I’ll never forgive you.” “I’ll take you but I won’t be able to intervene.” What? I didn’t understand what he meant, but it didn’t matter. “Fine. Whatever. Just get me there.” He held out his hand and I took it. The world fractured. The ground vanished from beneath my feet, and for one blissful moment I was merely floating in nothingness. But reality pulled my back down with an iron grip. My feet slammed against the earth, the vibration travelling up my limbs to jar my knees. I buckled as my prosthetic came loose. Fuck!

There was no time to fix it. We’d landed right in the centre of the scene, almost on top of the campfire which flickered wildly, casting crazy shadows across the ground. The little girl’s screams and her mother pleas filled the air. The man, who had succeeded in rolling clear of the denizen, stood bleeding and shaking, his staff swinging all over the place, his eyes glazed. Some kind of neurotoxin on the denizen’s talons? The centipede raised the front portion of its body off the ground, pincers ready to clamp and tear. Not on my watch. I leapt forward, swinging Bertha with everything I had, and clocked it upside the head. It whipped back, a terrible screech tearing from its monstrous throat, but it recovered quickly, turning on me, the only threat to its bountiful meal. I got a good close-up look down that fuckers throat then, rows upon rows of tiny razor teeth travelling down in a spiral into infinity. Anything that went in there would be shredded nice and proper before it

reached the creature’s stomach. No chomping needed. I pulled Bertha back and swung again, but this time it ducked, evading the strike and throwing me off balance. My prosthetic slipped. I buckled, hitting the ground with my knee. Fire shot up my thigh and a whimper tumbled from my lips. “Mama. The lady!” “No. Kira, stay back!” The denizen swung its body toward me, but I brought Bertha up blocking the attack, barely, but it was bleeding now. It scuttled back a metre, dazed. I tried to pull myself up but the prosthetic had come lose and there was no leverage to get back on my feet. “Sabriel!” I kept my eye on the creature. It was bunching up, getting ready to pounce again. If I could just get on my feet . . . One good hit might knock it out. “Sabriel!” I had to look, had to see what was stopping him from helping me. I glanced over my shoulder to see him standing by the mother and daughter, his face a pale oval, his blue eyes two dark smudges in his face. My pulse beat in my

throat and numbness filled my chest. He wasn’t going to help me. The little girl screamed and I turned in time to see the denizen leaping through the air toward me. It happened so fast, and yet it felt like the thing was sailing through the air forever before its weight came down on me, before its talons pierced my flesh and heat flooded my veins. This was it. This was my end. I waited for the crunch of pincers, the darkness of oblivion as it crushed my skull. But it didn’t come. Instead the weight was thrown off me and a feral face with silver eyes was staring down at me, screaming at me with no sound. Because the only sound was the roar of blood rushing through my head like a current catching me by the limbs and dragging me down, down, down . . .

CHAPTER 27 her to die!” “Left “I know. I should never have . . .” “ . . . know better . . .” “ . . . Understand . . .no more . . ..” “ . . . deserves the truth . . ..” I wanted to focus, to open my eyes, to understand what was being said, because it sounded kinda important, and I was pretty certain it was about me. But my limbs felt like someone had coated them in lead and then popped a house on my chest just for good measure, and don’t even get me started on my eyelids. I think those had been glued shut. It was easier to let sleep take me. *** “Kenna? Can you hear me?” “Yeah, I can hear you.”

An exhalation. I opened my eyes. “I’m alive.” Erebus glared at me from a chair by my bedside. “You’re lucky to be.” “How long was I out?” “Two days.” Wow, that was some powerful neurotoxin. I tried to sit up, but gave up when the world began to spin. The insides of my eyelids were safer. “Kenna!” I felt his breath on my face, fresh and sweet. “I’m okay, just dizzy.” I felt him retreat. “That is to be expected.” There was a long beat of silence. “Why did you do it?” “What? Go out there?” “Yes.” “I didn’t have a choice. It’s what I do.” “If I hadn’t returned when I did you would have been killed.” My body tensed. Yeah, I would have because Sabriel hadn’t bothered to help. “I didn’t think I was alone. I had Sabriel. Obviously I was wrong.”

Erebus sighed. “Sabriel is at fault. He shouldn’t have taken you out there, not without explaining the truth to you.” “Which is?” “Not my truth to tell.” Great, so I had to wait to speak to the traitor. I risked opening my eyes and turned my head to look at him. His gaze was fixed on me, and our eyes locked. “Thank you for saving my life.” “The djinn you saved asked me to convey their thanks to you.” He sat forward in his chair. “I always assumed Fearless cared only for the fate of humanity, and yet you risked your life for creatures that possess none.” I hadn’t understood it until now, because I hadn’t felt it until that moment on the balcony when I’d seen innocent lives in peril. My instinct was to protect, regardless of race or species. Mum had been right all along. “I guess that’s what humanity means.” The corners of his eyes crinkled in the possibility of a smile, but it never reached his lips.

He stood, his huge frame towering above me. The movement of air sent his aroma drifting over me— earth and rain and thunderstorms. “Get some rest, Kenna. I will have your meal brought to you here.” He strode toward the door. “Wait!” He paused, hand on the door knob. “When can we start training?” A surprised snort erupted from his mouth. “Once you can stand unaided.” I pondered his words. “Hang on, what does that mean? Unaided. Is that a trick clause? I need my prosthetic to aid me.” He opened the door and slipped out. “Erebus. Erebus, explain yourself!” But he was gone.

CHAPTER 28

M

y butt ached from all the spills I’d taken, and my leg screamed at me to stop, but that’s just what Erebus

expected me to do. The realist in me wanted to curl up in a ball and sob through the pain, but the stubborn bitch inside me knocked her out and took over. I pulled myself to my feet for what felt like the hundredth time and adjusted my grip on the slender stick that was my substitute for Frieda. We were in a wide room, stripped of all furniture and perfect for these sessions. Training was nothing new to me. Fighting, falling, and being hit was no novelty, but until now I hadn’t allowed myself to accept how the changes in my body had affected my skill. Erebus didn’t take long in pointing that out, not with words, but with action. I was slower, clumsy, and my balance was

shot. Yeah, I knew it was to be expected, but it was still a punch to my pride. I’d always revelled in my agility, taken it for granted at times, but it was clear now that all those cases I’d taken on the sly had been ones where subconsciously I’d known I wouldn’t be tested physically. “Again,” Erebus beckoned me with his fingers, like something out of a bad action movie. If I hadn’t been in so much pain, and if he hadn’t looked so forbidding in his loose pants and bare chest, I’d have found it funny. Instead I adjusted my balance and attacked. This time I managed to make contact before he took me down. I lay there, with his foot on my chest, fire shooting up my back, and a stupid grin on my face. He cocked his head, his eyes narrowing to silver slits. “You find this funny?” I shook my head, giving myself a moment to catch my breath. “No, but I got a hit in.” Erebus rolled his eyes and removed his foot. “A tap, nothing more. You can do—” But I was up on my feet and in full attack mode. Leaping up onto his back I pinned him by his

neck, my stick pressed against his throat. “Got you!” “Really?” He drawled. And then he dropped. I realised what he was doing a fraction too late. The air whooshed out of my lungs as his mammoth frame pressed me to the ground. Black dots danced in my vision, and my lungs burned, desperate for oxygen. I released the stick and slammed my hand on the ground beside me in gesture of surrender. He rolled off me, and sweet air rushed back into my lungs. Long minutes passed, and the dots receded to reveal his concerned face hovering over mine. He was leaning over me. His knees planted on either side of my body, his hands to either side of my head. I froze, trapped beneath this primal beast. My heartbeat, which had just fallen to resting pace, kicked up, hammering against my chest in the primordial quest to fight or flee. Something in his expression, in the depths of his eyes, shifted. The pinpricks of his pupils dilated, drawing me in, and I was acutely aware of every point of contact between our bodies. His thighs brushing mine, the

warmth from his hands fanning against the side of my face. Heat pooled in my belly and my mouth went dry. Erebus tensed. His chest, which had been rising and falling with every breath, stilled. My lungs ached. We were both holding our breath. “Interesting training position,” Sabriel said from the doorway, his arms folded across his chest. Erebus was off me in a fraction of a second. Crap. I rolled to my feet, wincing as my ribs complained. Today Sabriel was dressed in a blue cotton shirt and matching pants. His golden hair was swept back off his forehead and his crystalline eyes surveyed the scene with obvious amusement. This was the first time I’d seen him since the denizen attack. It was almost as if he’d been avoiding me. The hot feeling behind my eyes every time I thought about him had calmed a little, but now that he was here, looking as if nothing was wrong . . . Well it would take a damned good reason for me to forgive him for leaving me to die. “We’re done for today,” Erebus addressed me,

but kept his attention on Sabriel. Sabriel reached into his pants pocket and retrieved a small tub of something. “I have what you asked for.” Erebus nodded and then strode passed Sabriel to the door. “Give it to her.” I watched him leave, my heart somewhere in my throat and my head a tangle of thoughts. “So, the training is going well?” Sabriel asked. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak just yet. My body was still re-equilibrating from Erebus’s proximity and an ache had formed at the back of my throat in response to Sabriel just being here. Sabriel held out the tub. “An ointment for your leg. Erebus was insistent you have it.” I plucked the tub from his fingers, unscrewed the lid, and took a sniff. Peppermint and cloves, just like the stuff Lauren had used on me. “He asked you to get this for me?” “Yes, I’m sorry it took so long.” “Long? We’ve only been training for a week.” Sabriel’s brows shot up. “Oh, my dear, he asked me for this ointment three weeks ago.”

I did the math. It had been over two weeks since the night in the library that we’d actually begun training. I’d had to recover from the denizen attack first, and it had taken almost five days to get back to my old self. If he’d ordered this three weeks ago, it meant he’d ordered it when I’d first arrived. I wasn’t sure what to make of that, and I didn’t know what to make of Sabriel. He was acting as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn’t just stood back and watched that thing attack me while I lay defenceless. And now he was jabbering on about something completely unrelated instead of saying sorry. “As far as djinn go he’s one of the better ones. Djinn aren’t born with an ounce of humanity, but with Erebus, I always say that the creator broke the mould.” Yes, Erebus is great. He saved my life when you did nothing. I wanted to scream the words at him, but my throat was painfully tight and my eyes pricked. Fuck this, I wasn’t going to stand around and pretend that we were buddies again. Shit didn’t

work that way. “Excuse me. I have to go.” Hugging the tiny pot to my abdomen I strode out of the room, ignoring the aching burn in my leg.

CHAPTER 29

T

onight all the djinn were present at the dining table. They’d even saved me my usual seat. The twins had outdone

themselves with the spread; meat and gravy, four different vegetables, some fluffy pastry type thing, and a spongy desert to wrap it all up. Erebus hadn’t joined us yet, but his djinn were in high spirits, toasting and drinking from their goblets with relish. They’d been out earlier doing goodness knew what. I’d come to connect their good moods to having been on an excursion. I guess a little battle was good for the soul after all. “This is delicious,” I jabbed a fork at the meat on my plate. “Don’t you want to know what it is?” Baron asked. I shook my head. “Nope.” I glanced at Vale who snorted. They tried this every time but I wasn’t falling

for it. If I wanted to eat, I needed to go on taste alone, and this meat tasted good. End of. Baron chuckled and went back to his own meal. As I cut and chewed, I waited for Erebus or Sabriel to join us. I hadn’t seen either since the training room earlier, but then I realised this was the perfect moment to pump the other djinn for information on Sabriel. I’d had a lot of time to think about that night, how he hadn’t wanted to take me out into Evernight. He’s said something but I couldn’t recall what, I’d been too focused on getting out there, but now it was bugging me. I was pissed, but I didn’t believe I’d misjudged him. There had to be more to the story, and if Sabriel wouldn’t tell me, then maybe the djinn would. For starters I had no clue what Sabriel was. I’d assumed he was some kind of djinn at first, but the others didn’t treat him like one of them. He definitely wasn’t Twilighter, ‘cos of the ear thing, so what was he? I sipped my water and turned to Baron, who was seated beside me. “So, what kind of creature is

Sabriel?” Baron quirked a brow. “He hasn’t told you?” I shook my head and his lips curled in a wicked smile. Aiden leaned in from across the table. “He must have his reasons not to say.” Baron snorted, “Like I give a shit.” “Baron . . . Don’t,” Vale warned. Baron didn’t even glance his way. “Sabriel is an angel.” I blinked at him, not sure I’d heard right. “An angel? As in god and stuff?” “And stuff . . . Aw, isn’t she adorable.” Baron reached out and pinched my cheek. I jerked away, making him laugh. Baron seemed pretty easy going, but he had a spiteful streak in him. That pinch had been harder than it needed to be. Aiden shot his brother a disgusted look. “You shouldn’t have done that, if Sabriel wanted her to know he would have told her.” “Or maybe he was waiting for her to ask around and find out for herself.”

“And maybe you should stop being such an infernal arsehole.” Sabriel materialised at the end of the table. “Kenna?” I stared at him—a dude in a pale green cotton shirt and matching trousers. This was an angel? “I was going to tell you when the time was right. I know how much you despise religion.” He knew? How the heck did he know? He was an angel so had he read my mind, spied on me? I’d thought he was my friend. My cheeks grew hot, and pressure built behind my eyes. “What did you do? Jump in my head and take a fucking swim?” “It doesn’t work that way I—” The scrape of my chair cut him short. “Forget it. I don’t care. Just stay the fuck away from me.” I needed to get away and think without all the eyes on me. The north staircase was a blessing, but Sabriel materialised in front of my door, blocking my path. He held up his hands. “I’m sorry. I understand.

Based on the atrocities you have seen, it must be hard to keep the faith.” “Do you know why I despise religion? Because it gives people false hope. It makes them lazy. Instead of taking action they put their faith in an absent god, and when things fuck up they call it god’s will.” I stood, hands on hips, so riled my chest was heaving. “You know, it wasn’t so bad when I thought he didn’t exist. I could blame the idiots propagating the word, but now I know different— there is a god but he just doesn’t give a shit!” I shoved him aside to get to my door. “I keep the faith alright, just not in the likes of you.” Sabriel’s eyes grew moist and my ire rose. “Oh, don’t give me that crap! Why should you care what happens to me? You barely know me. In fact, if you care so damn much, where were you when I cried out for help? Where were you as I was forced to hack off my leg?” I snapped my mouth shut, desperately wanting to take back the words. This subject was taboo. His scanned my face, catching his bottom lip between his teeth. He looked . . . torn. His

shoulders drooped and when he spoke next his voice was a tender embrace. “I was there, Kenna. I was there to steady your hand when you brought down that cleaver. I was there to bring you back to consciousness so you could finish the job, and I was there to grant you oblivion from the pain once it was over.” My chest tingled and my stomach hardened. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t know that, not unless . . . unless he had been there . . . unless he’d . . . I couldn’t do this right now. It was too much. Stepping into my room, I slammed the door in his face. *** I stood with my back pressed to the door. He was still out there. I could sense him. Why wouldn’t he just go away? I didn’t want to think, I didn’t want to accept or to believe. Pastor Cimren’s face came to mind, his many kind words hinting at something more, something bigger than us. And he’d been

right. There was a god, one who had sent an angel to help me. But he hadn’t stopped the pain. He hadn’t saved my leg. I was so confused. “Kenna, please let me in so we can talk. Let me explain.” The heat of rage was gone, leaving an empty ache where my heart should be. Maybe his words would fill it? Taking a deep breath I opened the door and stepped back out into the corridor. *** Angels were real and they wore cotton. Or at least that’s what Sabriel said as we sat in our usual spots in the library. The fire popped and fizzed as my anger toward my friend dissolved. It was impossible to hate Sabriel. It was god I was mad at. “Can’t you tell god to get off his ass and do something about the crap that humanity is going through right now?” “It doesn’t work that way, Kenna. We aren’t

permitted to intervene, not directly. Humanity was given free will for a reason.” Yeah, so it could shoot itself in the foot it seemed. “So why are you here, in Evernight?” He bowed his head. “Erebus and I . . . We go back a long way, and when I knew you were coming here I arrived as quickly as I could.” “Wait—you came here specifically for me? I don’t understand.” “There is too much for you to understand right now, all you need to know is there are some souls that are chosen. Souls that are meant for more. And for those souls we are given a certain amount of free will . . . a length of rope by which our actions are measured. It was what allowed me to come to you that terrible night when you were forced to make a horrific decision. It was why I was unable to intervene to save you the other night.” His words came back to me. He’d warned me he wouldn’t be able to intervene, but I hadn’t listened. “It was all I could do not to tear that thing off you, Kenna. It was the hardest thing, to let events

play out as they were meant to.” “You knew Erebus would come?” “No. But I had faith. The little freedom I do have will allow me to find you as long as you should need me.” He reached out and grazed my cheek with his fingertips. “I am your angel Kenna.” My mouth went dry as I looked into those sincere blue eyes. There was nothing but tenderness in their depths, and I couldn’t help but reach up and take his hand. I squeezed, not knowing what to say. Thank you sounded a little lame for the situation. A real live angel. I don’t know why it was so shocking. After the denizens, the djinn, and the Twilighters, angels should have been a breeze to accept. But for humanity, god and his divine beings held a higher regard, they were surrounded by faith and were untouchable to us, something that existed in our hearts and minds. Had there been a part of me wanting to be proven wrong? Had I wanted some sign, some heavenly act to ignite faith in my heart? Hadn’t I called out to god in my darkest hour? The fact that I was sitting here in the library talking to

Sabriel, an angel, was all the answer I needed. The how’s and why’s of it all were still unclear, but this, right now, was a start. And then there was the question of how much Erebus knew about Sabriel’s purpose with regards to me. “Does Erebus know you came here for me?” Sabriel nodded. “When I arrived you’d already been placed in the pool of dreams, but once I explained that you were important to me, Erebus agreed to retrieve you. It just so happened you’d already extricated yourself.” That explained Erebus’s timely arrival in the chamber that day. “So, I’m supposed to do something important?” Sabriel nodded. The flame. It had to be. My stomach churned and I closed my eyes briefly. “Do you know what it is?” “No.” I sat back in my seat and lifted my sleeve to reveal the Fearless mark that Lauren had etched into my skin. It was beginning to fade. The mark was a lie, but I did have a destiny . . . just not one

that I wished to fulfil. An image of the flame filled my mind and I squeezed my eyes shut. I wasn’t ready . . . Not yet. But destinies had a way of finding you. How long did I have left before mine caught up with me?

CHAPTER 30

T

he garden in the courtyard was a good place to digest the events of the past few weeks. It was hard to believe I had been

here less than a month. Being here in the fortress, with Erebus, his djinn, and Sabriel was becoming a little too comfortable. And then there was the issue of the flame and its reaction to me. I wanted so much to believe that I’d imagined it, but there was no denying that I was different from other humans. My lack of destiny mark, the fact I could comprehend their language, that I could see beyond their glamour; it all came together to point to a destiny I didn’t want. It all came back to the way the flame had reacted to me. It fed on souls for god sake. And it wanted mine. I wasn’t ready to be the super fuel it needed. The cobble path took me back to the pool, but this time I barely noticed the splendour of the outdoor haven. The intoxicating aromas were lost

on me tonight. I parked my butt on the stone bench and stared at the pool. The water gleamed in the moonlight, a flat serene disc. What I needed was a diversion, something to take the spotlight off me and place it neatly elsewhere. “Hello, water dude, you there?” The water remained motionless. I lowered myself to the ground and leaned down toward the pool. “Water dude?” Had I imagined him? Those intense green eyes over that slash of a mouth, and that barrel chest with the flapping gills cut into his side? No. My imagination was no way near that good. Maybe he wasn’t in a sociable mood today. Shame, because I was pretty sure he’d been trying to tell me something last time, and I could really do with something new to focus on, aside from my destiny predicament. I’d about given up when a shadow darted across the water just under the surface. The garden fell into pin-drop silence. All ambient sound ceased abruptly, even the breeze held its breath. The hairs on the back of my neck sprang up in warning just as

a hand burst from the water right in front of my face. My scream was a gurgle, and then the hand had a hunk of my hair and I was yanked face first into the pool. I was upside down, headed for the pool bed, my limbs flailing in slow motion as I tried to flip, to turn my body to go up instead of down. Down was nothing but a black abyss. My chest began to burn with the need to breathe. My lungs tightened, and fighting the rising panic I forced my body to right itself and kicked for the surface—a tiny dot of silver up above. Too far. How could it be too far? No air. Needed air. I wouldn’t make it. Stay, stay here where its safe. Stay with me. I will protect you. That voice . . . It was water dude. Except this time his sentences were coherent, whereas last time he’d been all disjointed and freaky. He appeared before me, his green eyes so dark and huge they ate up his face. He cupped my cheek with his spindly fingers. I shook my head desperately trying to

communicate to him that I couldn’t breathe, that I needed to rise. I needed to fucking breathe! You do not need to be she, or the she before. I won’t let you. His mouth didn’t move but his words reverberated in my mind. My head grew light, as the urge to open my mouth and take a breath became overwhelming. This was it. “Breathe!” The voice was a sharp slap. I inhaled, gasping and flailing. I was going to die. “Calm down, dammit. You’re safe. You’re alright.” I stared up into Erebus’s furious face. I wasn’t in the water. I was on the ground by the pool. But I was wet, at least my hair and face were. My heart felt like it was trying to tunnel out from my sternum. “I was in the water.” “I told you not to save that creature,” a smooth velvety voice I didn’t recognise said.

Erebus ignored it and pulled me to my feet. I clung to him, my body trembling with confusion. “What just happened?” The stranger answered. “Well, we wandered into the garden to find you lying by the side of the pool with your head in the water. ‘Strange way to pass the time,’ I said to Erebus, but then he was already in hero mode and pulling you from the siren’s grip.” I pushed sopping ropes of hair from my face and turned to the speaker. He was around the same height as Erebus, but whereas the dark djinn was muscular and powerfully built, this djinn sported a more athletic wiry physique. His indigo hair was swept off his forehead and his green eyes studied me speculatively. “Thank you for the summary, Baal,” Erebus said dryly. “My pleasure.” He inclined his head. “It’s a shame you revived so easily. So disappointing for dear Erebus here. He didn’t even get to try out his lifeguard resuscitation skills.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “The kiss of life. He has a certificate, did

he not tell you?” Oh man, I was so confused and I had water in my ear. Erebus began to lead me away from the pool. “Baal, you spend way too much time in the mortal realm, you know that?” “And you spent way too much time in your own company.” We walked past Baal and I was acutely aware of his gaze on my face. It was kinda like a warm finger, pleasant but slightly presumptuous. “Erebus,” Baal said. Erebus paused and turned slightly, taking me with him. “What?” “Would you like me to take care of it?” He ran an index finger across his throat in a slashing motion. “No!” I stepped out from under Erebus’s arm. “I don’t think he meant to hurt me.” Baal raised his brows. “Really, because from where we stood it looked like he was applying the kiss of death.” Who the hell was this guy? “He was trying to

tell me something.” The moments under the water were growing hazy now, like a dream slipping though my fingers. “I think he just wanted to warn me . . .” “Really?” Baal crossed his arms, his tailored shirt stretching distractingly across his broad chest. “Do tell.” I tried to latch on to the memory but it was like trying to hold onto smoke. I exhaled through my nose. “I can’t remember.” A gust of wind sent a chill through me, raising gooseflesh and making my teeth chatter. Erebus’s arm draped over my shoulder, his heat seeping into my skin. “Come, before you catch a chill.” I allowed him to lead me away from the pool, away from Baal and out of the garden where I’d almost drowned. *** “What’s a siren?” I asked Erebus once I was dry and no longer shaking.

He’d escorted me straight back to my chambers and ordered me into the washroom to get changed and dry. He sat at the foot of my bed now, his gaze tracing the sweep of the comb as I brushed out my damp hair. Sabriel had been in my room plenty of times. He’d even sat in that same spot, but I’d never felt as fluttery as I did now. I gripped the comb tighter to quell the trembling of my fingers. “A siren is a water spirit. But Adamaris is different. The offspring of a water djinn and a siren, he is the only one of his kind. Exiled and ostracised, he’s lived a long hard life. I offered him a home here in the fortress.” “I really don’t think he was trying to hurt me.” Although, now that the incident was over and the memory of what happened had completely vanished, I wasn’t so sure. “No, I don’t believe he was,” Erebus said. “Adamaris gets confused. Lonely. I’ll have words with him. He won’t bother you again.” I nodded. “Thanks.” I set the comb on my bedside table. “That’s twice you’ve saved my life

now.” His lips twitched. “Yes, you do seem to have a tendency to find yourself in trouble.” “I never used to. I used to be the one bailing people out.” My hand went to my leg. “I hate this. I hate being this.” “Hating it won’t make it go away. This is now a part of you and until you learn to accept it, to grow into it, you will never be whole.” “Easier said than done.” “The training will help. Right now you view your limb as a foreign entity; it behaves in a contrary manner, unpredictable and unreliable. The training will help alter your mindset.” He sat forward, his silver eyes alight. “I promise you Kenna, you will feel whole again.” Our eyes locked and my breath caught in a knot at the back of my throat. My gaze fell to his lips. What was I doing? This was dangerous ground. He was something else, something otherworldly and cosmic. My pulse kicked up and crawled into my throat to join the knot. He shifted slightly, angling his body toward me, leaning in, his breath hot on

my face. My eyes fluttered closed, my chest rising and falling erratically. His heat brushed my skin, sending an electric shiver up my spine to settle at the nape of my neck. My lips parted instinctively. I wanted this . . . wanted him to kiss me. A long beat passed. Just the sound of our erratic breath, accompanied by a twisting tension, and then his fingers brushed my cheek, running over the delicate shell of my ear to tuck an errant strand of my silver hair behind it. “Get some rest, Kenna.” His voice was a soft rasp. I opened my eyes to see my reflection in his pupils. Open and yearning. He moved off the bed, taking his heat with him. The door closed behind him and I threw myself backward onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. What the fuck had I just been about to do? Thank god he’d taken a step back. Okay it stung a little, rejection always did, but it was for the best. He was a djinn—a cosmic otherworld force bound to this place, and I was going home in a year’s time. Suddenly a year felt way too long.

CHAPTER 31

W

e trained hard for another week, and then Erebus took off on one of his trips. It was three days before he

summoned me for another training session. I didn’t ask where he’d been, even though I felt his absence keenly. It was strange how someone could make such an impact on your world in such a short span of time, but then Erebus was like a force of nature, undeniably enthralling. I found him in our training room, stripped down to just loose black pants, feet bare and hair tied back in a braid. He was finishing off a kata, and I hovered by the door, not wanting to distract him with my presence. He moved like deadly silk, his powerful body cutting through the air like a lethal blade. Who would have thought such a huge frame could be so graceful? His movements were almost hypnotic; his skin gleamed in the light cast by the chandeliers above, and his usually stern and

ferocious expression was replaced by one of serenity and calm. He was . . . beautiful. I blinked and stepped back out of the room. Standing with my back to the wall, I placed my hand on my heart. What the fuck was I doing? The guy wasn’t even a guy, he was a bloody djinn! I needed to get my shit together and fast, all this easy living was making me soft, and when was the last time I’d had sex? Ah, yes, almost a year ago, about the same time I’d stopped thinking about it. Rolling around on mats and getting pinned under his hard, taut body wasn’t helping keep my libido in check either. I needed to clear my head, get out there, kick some denizen ass, and forget about my sex drive. Surely Fearless training coupled with the two weeks Erebus had given me was enough. It felt like it was enough. The old Kenna was back, simmering beneath the surface and raring to go. The ache in my leg was barely noticeable now. I strolled in as Erebus finished off his kata. He had his back to me while he wiped his face with a

towel. Okay, time to make my case. “Hey listen, I think I’m ready to go out there.” The muscles in his back tensed and then relaxed as he let out a snort. “What? Look, the best kind of training is on the job training, and it’s not like I haven’t done this before. Plus we’ve had two weeks of lessons. I won’t be able to put what I’ve learned into practice until I’m out there. You can send one of your henchmen with me if it makes you feel better.” He finally turned to face me, towel slung about his neck. “No.” “No?” I shook my head. “No, you won’t let me out there or no, you won’t let me take backup?” “No, period.” Fuck this! “Listen, I know that you’re aware I’m meant to do something important, so how can you be so sure it’s not out there?” He didn’t even flinch. “Unless that something important is getting yourself killed, then I’m pretty sure it’s not out there. Not yet anyhow.”

The flame came to mind, possibly my true purpose, and one that would kill me. He had no idea how close he’d come to hitting the proverbial nail on the head. The little voice of reason in my mind told me to shut the hell up and listen to the big guy, but I shoved it in a box and slammed a lid on it. I needed to be out there doing something productive, because every day that passed where I wasn’t fighting the denizens was another step away from the person I used to be. “Look, I know you’re trying to keep me safe, but that’s never been an option for me. It’s not who I was. I’m not who I was, and I won’t be her until you take me off the leash and let me out there.” “You’re not ready, Kenna.” I stifled a curse. “So how many sessions until you’re satisfied?” He moved in until he was inches away from me, throwing heat in my face and forcing me to ogle his pecs. “You’re good, but not good enough. Stay on your feet for a whole session and then we’ll talk.” I lifted my chin to meet his gaze with a

determined one of my own. “So what are we waiting for?” I’d been delusional to think he’d been tough on me before. As I dodged and swiped and lunged and dodged some more, sweat soaked limbs screaming out for relief, I realised that he was right—I was good, but not good enough. Not yet. I went down three times, but I wasn’t fazed, because I was learning his moves, figuring out his tells, and the next time or the time after that I would use them to my advantage. It was no longer enough for me to stay on my feet. No. Now I wanted to bring him down. *** My bath was calling to me, offering me relief from the aches and pains. I entered my room and shivered. Man it was chilly, and the reason rattled against its wooden frame. One of the shutters had come undone and was flapping in the breeze. Movement beyond caught my eye. Cautiously, so as not to alert whatever was out there, I tiptoed toward the shutters and then breathed a sigh of

relief. Fargol’s grey hulking frame was standing against the balcony railing looking out at Evernight beyond. I stepped out to join him. “Hey, what’s up?” His brow furrowed and then he craned his neck to look up at the sky. “Stars. Nothing to be concerned about.” I pressed my lips together. Okay so he was a literal kind of creature. “How are you?” He sighed. “Bored. Fargol has no beasts to kill.” His shoulders slumped. I moved closer to look up into his face. “But that’s good right? It means you’re doing your job well. Surely you don’t like having to kill?” “Arch, Fargol, hates the killing, but Fargol lives to serve. And if Fargol is not useful Fargol fear he will be sent to sleep.” “To sleep?” He beckoned me closer and pointed at something above us on the stone facade of the fortress. I craned my neck to see a massive stone shape jutting out of the building—a stationary stone gargoyle.

Fargol sighed. “Muriel is Fargol’s friend, but she was put to sleep. Not enough work for two of us. Now there is only Fargol.” He sounded so dejected, so lonely, that I couldn’t help but reach out and pat his arm. It was cold to the touch and slightly rough, like sandpaper. “I won’t let them put you to sleep. I need you.” I smiled reassuringly. “It makes me feel so much better knowing you’re out there keeping me safe when I sleep.” His brows shot up a little. “Really?” “Really, so I’ll speak to Erebus and tell him not to put you to sleep.” Fargol’s brows fell. “Erebus does not put us to sleep. The fortress does. We are part of the fortress and the fortress decides if we sleep or wake.” Ah, the enchanted fortress. “So, as long as you’re useful you stay . . . awake?” He nodded. Maybe he just needed to feel useful? The whole sleep wake thing could be connected to his emotions somehow. It was worth a shot. “Well, I could really do

with someone to talk to. You know, a friend. It would be very useful to me.” His brows climbed up to the top of his head this time and I bit back a chuckle. “You be Fargol’s friend?” “Sure.” “Fargol is useful?” “You certainly are! Now, how about I take a quick bath and then we can have a chin wag before supper.” “Chin wag?” “Remind me to teach you some human phrases.” He nodded eagerly. I left him to his survey of the landscape beneath us and headed for my quick bath. I had a feeling that Fargol was going to be a wealth of information, and if I was going to be stuck here for the next year then it would be nice to have someone not invested in my future to talk to. ***

Samson, Vale, Erebus, and Sabriel were already at the table when I joined them. I took my usual seat beside Sabriel. “What did I miss?” “Samson was just asking me when I’d be leaving,” Sabriel said. My chest tightened in panic. “What? You can’t leave.” I hadn’t realised up until now how important his presence here was to me. I’d just taken his company for granted. After all, he had come here for me, right? “Aw, how sweet, the angel-hater has been converted,” Samson said. I grit my teeth. The black-eyed djinn really grated on my nerves, his constant jibes and thinly veiled insults were beginning to take their toll, but I was determined to take the high road. Ignoring him I focused instead on Sabriel. “I’d really like it if you could stay.” Sabriel gave me his signature smile: soft, warm, and just for me. The band around my chest loosened a little. “Of course I will remain if my host allows.” He

looked past me up the table to Erebus who was watching us intently, his eyes silver slits. “Why would Erebus mind? One distraction is as good as another,” Samson said. Erebus shifted his gaze to Samson and tension thrummed in the air. Vale sighed. “Seriously Samson? Learn to keep your peace.” “Why? Someone needs to say it.” Erebus picked up his goblet and took a swig of his drink, his eyes moving back and forth between the two djinn. I was intrigued now. What exactly was Samson getting at? And why was Vale looking so worried? Sabriel addressed Erebus. “May I stay, Erebus?” Erebus glanced at me, his lips lifting in a tight smile. “It seems our guest would be despondent without you. I may be many things, but I’m not an inconsiderate host.” Sabriel inclined his head. Samson snorted. “Samson . . .” Vale’s tone was saturated with

warning; a warning which Samson chose to ignore. “You’re encouraging their alliance? As if having an angel and a human parading through our halls wasn’t enough, must we be subjected to the repulsive sounds of their coupling?” The room fell into pin-drop silence. Heat flooded my veins. I set down my knife and fork. I was done taking the high road. “Fuck you Samson, for your filthy mind and filthier mouth! You don’t like me, yeah I get it, but don’t you dare sully my relationship with Sabriel!” My eyes pricked with angry tears and I blinked back the moisture. He surveyed me for a long beat, his face a mask of distain. “You really don’t see it? You really are an moron. Any fool can see he wants you. It’s there, plain as day every time he looks at you.” “Samson! Enough!” Erebus’s voice was the crack of a whip, stunning Samson into silence. “Leave the table. Now.” Samson, all white knuckled and flashing eyes, scraped back his seat and stood slowly. “I am

warrior djinn. I serve my lord,” He spat out the words, short and sharp, inclined his head and left the room I stared at my plate, my veins still burning with the strange heat that Samson’s words had evoked. My appetite was gone, but I was damned if I was going to let him ruin my meal. Picking up my fork and knife I continued to eat.

CHAPTER 32 BRETT

S

tupid bloody kids! He swept the third warehouse on the

abandoned estate and then held his finger to the com in his ear. “Clear. Over and out.” “Me too. Over and out.” Karl said. “Meet you outside. Over and out.” He hated the com, but they were a new addition to the uniform. Fearless were dropping like flies, and only a handful had emerged from the next generation. The government was in panic mode, scrambling to find solutions to keep their existing Fearless Officers safe. If they could have doubled up on call outs they would have, but there were too many calls and not enough bodies to double up with. Giving the derelict building a final visual sweep, he headed out to liaise with Karl.

He found him outside talking to the kids who’d reported the crawler. Karl’s tone matched Brett’s suspicion. The kids had played a prank. There was no crawler. “Just admit it, lads, you lied. Come on, was it a dare? Look, I promise you we won’t report you.” The tallest boy, probably fourteen or fifteen years of age, shook his head, his brows snapping together. “Listen, man, we’re not lying. We saw it, okay?” “Yeah, it was fucking huge!” the shorter one said. “Gary! Fucksake stop swearing!” the taller boy said. “It was over by the far warehouse,” the third boy said. He couldn’t have been more than twelve years old. His voice was squeaky, a sure sign it would be breaking any day. Brett joined them, hands on hip. He was so done with this. They’d searched all three warehouses and come up clean. “Come on, let’s get going.” He began ushering

them back out toward the dirt road where their bikes were lying at an angle on the dusty ground. “It’s getting late.” They grumbled but followed. Karl and Brett walked ahead. “Bloody kids,” Karl muttered. Brett snorted. “Yep.” The sun was setting and it would be dark soon. He just wanted the kids to be out of here before that happened. This part of town wasn’t luma treated, and it was a twenty-minute ride back to the centre of the borough and safety. “And promise us you won’t come back out here it’s dangerous and—” A short, sharp scream had Brett whirling round to scan the area. “It got him! It got Freddie!” Gary shook his head and legged it toward his bike. The taller boy looked torn but then he turned and ran. Karl met Brett’s gaze, and then they were running back toward the warehouses. There was a definite trail. Drag marks.

Likelihood was that poor Freddie was dead. Crawlers may look like spiders, but they didn’t bother wrapping up their meals for later consumption; they liked to chow down and split, so they had minutes to find this thing and end it before it moved on. From the look on Karl’s face he was thinking the same. The drag marks led round the back of the warehouse Brett had checked, and ended at a rundown shed. “Fuck!” “Yeah, I missed it too mate.” Not good enough. His negligence had cost this kid his life. Everlight swords at the ready, they moved toward the building. The sky was darkening rapidly and their swords glowed reassuringly in the gathering gloom. Karl nodded and Brett inclined his head. Karl held up his fingers—one, two—they burst into the shed, ready to tear the crawler to ribbons, but the interior was empty. The denizen was gone. “What the heck?” Brett stared at the lifeless body lying on the

ground. It made no sense. Crawlers fed, they didn’t just kill and leave. Karl moved to examine the body and Brett joined him, kneeling to get a better look. There were no outward signs of trauma, no indication of how the boy had been killed. “Oh man look.” Karl lifted the boy’s wrist and Brett stared at the half open bloom and the three letters that had emerged before his death . . . FEA. *** Brett stood before his boss’s desk while he examined the photo. “It’s one child,” Derek Brunt said. “Yes, one child who was destined to be Fearless, and was cut down before he could emerge, by a crawler who didn’t even stick around to finish his meal.” “You spooked it before it could dig in.” “So why not take the body back with it? Unless the aim was to simply kill him all along.” “Assassin crawlers?” Derek rolled his eyes. “Come on!”

Brett exhaled, struggling to keep his cool. The guy wasn’t even giving his theory a chance. “Forty kids have either gone missing or been killed by denizens in the last two years. Forty! How do we know that they weren’t destined to be Fearless? It would explain the lack of new Emergents.” Derek dropped his gaze to the photo, his eyes narrowing in speculation. He was finally considering the possibility. “What if someone is targeting Fearless? Trying to take away our main defence?” Derek rubbed a hand over the lower half of his face. “There’s no way to know for sure.” And there was no way to protect the kids who might be targeted next, because they had no idea who was destined to be Fearless. “There has to be something we can do, an alert to parents, some kind of lockdown to protect the kids,” Brett said. Derek looked up from the picture. “No. We say nothing. Not until we have some concrete evidence. This kind of news would cause widespread panic and we need to be certain before

we issue any alerts. Leave it with me, Donohue. I’ll make some calls.” Brett left the office knowing he should be feeling more positive about the whole situation, so why did he feel like there was a lead weight on his chest?

CHAPTER 33

T

oday was the day, I could feel it. “You might as well kiss the ground now,” Erebus said as he circled me.

“Nah, I’d rather make you kiss my ass.” The words just tripped off my tongue before my brain had time to compute. Erebus’s feet faltered and his eyes flared. Erebus never faltered. My heart leapt as an idea bloomed in my mind. Up until now I’d held back dialogue with Erebus, ever aware that he could cut me down with a flick of his wrist, but his reaction just now urged me to push it, to shock him, make him falter again so I could take him down. It was a fantastic spontaneous plan, except for the fact that training with Erebus was like running from a freight train. The next twenty minutes passed in a blur of sweaty intense concentration on my part. No time for witty banter. No time for my

smart mouth to do its thing. I was beginning to think my idea was a complete bust, when I finally got my opening. He lunged for me and I swung out of the way, circling him and tapping him on the butt with my stick. “Nice ass.” He stumbled forward, and I used his momentary lack of balance to sweep him off his feet with a hard knock to the back of his knees. He wasn’t down for long, and when he rose his eyes were blazing orbs of rage. I stood my ground. “We had a deal. I’m still on my feet and I managed to knock you down.” He advanced slowly, his body a mass of rippling muscle. “You think this is funny? You think that it’s some kind of joke? You think you can distract a denizen with your smart mouth and wit?” He was up close and personal, and the urge to turn and run was a palpable force, but I dug in my heels, because all I had left was my pride. His face, which I had thought beautiful a few weeks ago, was twisted in fury. His eyes were brands raking punishingly over my face, my cheeks heated and I

clenched my jaw painfully to quell the whimper that wanted to be heard. I hated the fear he could incite within me. I hated that he was right. My ploy had worked with him, but out there I would have been dead. My pride, however, wouldn’t let me back down. It desperately needed a win about now. Erebus leaned down so we were eye to eye. “These training sessions are over.” I let him go, still battling my conflicted emotions. *** I was too embarrassed to go down to supper later, but I should have guessed that my absence wouldn’t go unnoticed. I was lying in bed, grumbling over my empty stomach, when there was a soft knock at my door. The first thought that flew through my mind was that it was Erebus come to apologise, and then I reminded myself that if anyone should be

apologising it should be me. There was no way he would come find me, and then I thought shit, what if it’s Sabriel? My stomach was suddenly hollow but not with hunger. Since the little exchange with Samson a few days ago, I’d been avoiding Sabriel and I wasn’t sure exactly why. He’d been nothing but good to me, and he deserved to be treated better, except Samson’s words had lit a fire of doubt in my mind. The way that Sabriel looked at me was intense at the best of times, but it was also filled with tenderness and, yeah, longing, the last of which I’d chosen to ignore up until now. And then I’d gotten to thinking about him always being there and I was like . . . had he seen me naked in the shower when I was in the human realm? The knock came again. It was time to face my demons, or as it may be in this case, my angel. “Come in,” I called. Sabriel entered, carrying a tray of food that smelled delicious. I offered him a tentative smile. “Thank you.”

Sabriel placed the tray before me and sat at the end of my bed. I picked up my fork, eager to dig in to what looked like a hearty meat stew. “So, what did you do?” I speared a piece of meat and popped it in my mouth. “Kenna?” I chewed and swallowed. “Fine, I pissed Erebus off by trying to be smart.” I sighed. “It was a stupid idea but I . . . I just can’t carry on like this. I need to be useful, and this, sitting around and cashing in three meals a day isn’t being useful.” “How can you be so sure it isn’t?” “Seriously? How am I contributing to the survival of mankind?” “There are other ways of being useful and you, my dear Kenna, are being more useful than you know.” I sat back and crossed my arms over my chest. “Okay, tell me one way in which I’ve been useful here.” Sabriel smiled. “Do you recall Samson’s jibe at Erebus the other night?”

Yeah, that and the rest of it. I nodded. “He was speaking of you. You’re the distraction.” “A distraction? And how the hell is that a good thing?” “How do you think Erebus spends his spare time?” “I don’t know, bench pressing a house?” Sabriel chuckled. “No. Although that does conjure an interesting image.” He sobered. “Erebus would spend his time out there, in the Evernight, hunting.” “Great so I stopped him being useful.” “No, you gave him something alive to focus on, something other than death, and in a world composed of death, that in itself is a gift to be treasured.” My stomach dropped and the back of my neck heated. “I didn’t realise.” “And why should you? This is all new to you, and Erebus . . . he isn’t exactly the ‘chat over a hot chocolate’ type.” No he wasn’t, but he’d been kind enough to

agree to train me, and I’d treated the exercise like some kind of game. What was wrong with me? Cutting corners had never been my thing. Sabriel nudged my tray. “Eat up before it gets cold.” I picked up my fork and speared a potato, I caught his eye just as I was sliding he fork out of my mouth and it was impossible not to catch the flare in his cerulean eyes, the obvious dilation of his pupils. Oh shit. He averted his gaze. I set down my fork, the food a lead weight in my belly. I wasn’t the kind to string a guy along, and in usual circumstances I would have laid my cards on the table, just said, ‘Flattered but not interested,’ but for some reason those words were being elusive this time round. If I was being honest, I just didn’t want to lose him. He’d become my comfort blanket. “I know what you’re thinking.” “Please tell me you mean that figuratively.” He chuckled, the sound like melted chocolate.

“Yes, Kenna, I am not privy to your actual thoughts. I just have a keen insight and my empathic skills are paramount amongst my kind. You’re thinking of what Samson said the other night.” I locked eyes with him. “Is it true?” He smiled. “Yes.” My stomach dropped and my heart did a funny skip. “But not in the way he meant.” He leaned in and took my hand. “My love for you is pure and devoid of the passions of man. I am your angel, and it is natural for angels to love their charges.” He ran his thumb over my knuckles, sending a shiver through me that contradicted his words and my emotions. “Please don’t let it cause you any further anxiety.” I cleared my throat. “Okay.” He released my hand and stood up. “So, shall we meet later in the library for our evening beverage?” I stared up into his beautiful face, noting the slight furrow to his brow. He was worried that I

wouldn’t believe him, but I did, because I wanted to. I smiled and nodded and watched him leave with a strange ache in my heart. *** With time to kill before my meeting with Sabriel in the library for our evening hot chocolate, I decided to go for a little wander. The fortress was becoming more familiar to me with every passing day, and it felt like it was becoming accustomed to me as well. On several occasions I’d completely lost myself in its maze-like structure only to climb a flight of stairs and be exactly where I needed to be. There was no agenda today. I roamed the halls, stopping to trace the intricate designs on the gilded frames of the strange landscapes that hung on the walls, and take in the never-ending darkness beyond the many windows of my temporary home. Trusting the fortress to guide me, I took another flight of stairs and found myself in an unfamiliar corridor. Lush pile carpet covered the floor and heavy black drapes hung against the

walls. The doors here were taller and wider, made of sturdier stuff than the ones on my floor. My instinct was to turn and leave. Something about this floor didn’t feel right, and then I heard the scream. It was piercingly desperate, but cut off too soon. Had I imagined it? No, there it was again and I was pretty sure it was coming from the room to my left. Someone in trouble? Had the fortress delivered me here for a reason? If it had then there was no way I was walking away. Grasping the handle I pushed open the door.

CHAPTER 34

T

he door swung open silently. I stared at the scene beyond, my brain scrambling to piece it together, and then it clicked. Heat

suffused my veins and bile surged up my throat. I flew into the room, screaming at Samson and beating at his back. He knocked me aside with his huge arm. I went flying and landed on my arse. The woman on the bed screamed for me to help her. My vision clouded and blood pounded in my ears. I ran at him. Grabbed his long hair and pulled with all my might. This time the blow he landed made me see the constellations in high definition. I hit the ground, my ears ringing. Pain bloomed like an unwanted flower on my cheek. He must have broken my cheek bone. He must have broken my face. My left eye . . . I couldn’t see! Samson was done. His boots moved toward me. “I told him you shouldn’t be here. You’re

nothing but a pathetic human who happens to have some otherworld DNA. A mongrel. A dirty mongrel.” My scalp lit up with pain as de grabbed a fistful of my hair and twisted. “Look on the bright side, your eye now matches that ugly birthmark.” I hawked and spat in his face. His eyes lit up with fury. He pulled back his fist, ready to strike. I braced for impact. The blow never landed. Samson was ripped away from me by a whirlwind of power. Erebus stood in the centre of the room. His chest heaved like he’d just run a marathon. His took in the scene and then turned incandescent eyes onto Samson. The woman on the bed, one of the women who had been part of the tithe, whimpered. Samson shrugged. “What? You know you can’t kill me. So what are you going to do?” He crossed his arms over his broad chest. Defiant, insolent, or simply crazy, I wasn’t sure. My face throbbed too much to think straight.

“No. He can’t kill you, but I can.” Baal stepped into the room. His tall lithe frame was encased in an impeccably tailored dark suit, and diamonds winked at his earlobes. His green eyes flashed dangerously. “Erebus, please just say the word.” Erebus glanced at the bed then looked down at me, the pulse in his jaw jumping like crazy. “No. Death would be too easy.” He fixed his attention on Samson. “You have shamed the clan with your actions, Samson, and I have no recourse but to banish you.” Samson dropped his arms. “Banish? You can’t . . .” Erebus turned his back on Samson and closed his eyes. Samson began to flicker. He opened his mouth to speak, probably to protest, but he was merely a residue of himself and then he was gone. What the heck? “What happened?” It was Baal who answered. “Samson is no longer on this plane.” I looked to Erebus. “So where is he?” “It doesn’t matter.” Erebus sighed wearily.

“Baal, would you take this woman back to the pool of dreams?” Baal inclined his head. “Of course dear friend. I assume you wish to attend to this one.” He swept a hand, heavy with sparkling gems, in my direction. Erebus’s lips tightened. He held out his huge hand to me, and I allowed him to haul me to my feet. Baal reached for the woman on the bed, but she jerked away. She curled into a ball making a low keening sound. “I mean you no harm. Allow me to tend to your wounds. I mean you no ill.” Baal’s voice was like velvet—soothing and beguiling. The woman sat up cautiously and this time when he reached for her, she allowed him to gather her into his arms. He carried her as carefully as if she had been made of glass, speaking to her in a hushed melodious tone that kept her enthralled. They left the room and I made to follow but Erebus whisked me off my feet and into his arms, so I got an intimate introduction to the pecs I’d unintentionally admired on more than one occasion. Thank goodness he was wearing a shirt this time.

But still, I could feel them through the fabric. If my face hadn’t been on fire with pain it would have been beet red with embarrassment. Erebus shifted my weight. His hand brushed against my butt and a shiver of unwanted desire shot through me. Maybe I should ask him to put me down? I didn’t need to be carried. But we were already out of the room. The moment to protest had kinda past, so I focused on the pain and blocked out the body that was too close for comfort. We were at my door too soon. I expected him to place me on my feet but instead he pushed open the door and carried me to the bed, placing me gently on the covers. His eyes roved over my face. Crap, I must look a mess. “How bad is it?” He shook his head. “You never fail to surprise me Kenna. So tiny and fragile, and yet so filled with fire.” “I’m not exactly tiny. I’m five-eight, which is kind of tall for a woman so—” “Also incapable of accepting a compliment it seems.”

He reached out and ran the back of his fingers down the good side of my face. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I suspected Samson was hiding something from me, I just hadn’t realised that his dissatisfaction with our duty had grown so large as to eclipse everything we stand for. We protect humanity in every way we can, what he did . . . it was unforgivable.” “And yet you let him live.” “Killing him would have been a mercy, believe me.” He walked around the bed and to the door. “Get some rest. I will send a poultice for your injuries.” The door closed behind him and I reached up to touch the place where his fingers had made contact. My skin was still tingling. *** Sabriel entered like a whirlwind on speed. I almost dropped the poultice I was trying to apply to my face. He came to a stunned halt by the side of the bed, his wide eyes taking in my injuries.

“You should see the other guy,” I quipped. “I should have been here. Kenna, I . . . will you ever forgive me?” “Forgive you for what?” Sabriel’s hands curled into fists. “I should have been here.” “Why? You’re not my bodyguard, besides aren’t you prohibited from intervening?” I pressed the poultice to my face. It stung and made my eyes water. Sabriel sat on the bed beside me. “What is this disgusting concoction?” “A poultice to help me heal.” He reached up and gently peeled the bandage soaked in the herbal concoction off the side of my face. His lips tightened. “I should have been here. I would have killed him.” “Yeah, Baal offered to do the same.” Sabriel’s hand stilled. “Baal is here?” “Yeah. Who is that guy?” Sabriel placed the poultice back on the tray and held his hand a centimetre away from my cheek. My skin began to tingle and itch. I pulled

away. “Stay still,” he admonished. “What are you doing?” “Healing you.” “Oh. In that case have at it.” I grit my teeth and let him work his magic. “All done.” He traced his index finger over my cheekbone, and eureka! no pain. I rushed to the bathroom to examine my face in the mirror. The swelling was gone, and I could see through my eye again. I ran my fingers over my birthmark, temple to mid-cheek. If only he could have taken that away too, but even as that thought occurred to me, another took its place. I hovered in the bathroom doorway. “Could you have healed my leg?” “What?” I licked my lips. “You said you were there . . . that night . . . Could you have taken away the necrotic infection?” “Oh, Kenna, I’m so sorry. We don’t hold that kind of power. I couldn’t raise you from the dead. The cells in your leg, they were dead. That wasn’t

something I could have healed.” I searched his face for any sign of deceit, any sign of a lie, but found only sincerity. “Okay. Good.” I took my place back on the bed. “I don’t understand why Samson would do such a thing. Surely he must have known that Erebus would find out eventually, and I thought he despised humans so why . . . I don’t get it.” Sabriel leaned back against the post at the foot of the bed. “It’s because he hates humans that he did it. I sensed Samson’s pent up frustration and his anger as soon as I met him. Over the years it’s grown and festered. He finally acted on it. Believe it or not he used to be a decent being.” “So what happened?” “Life happened. Ibris, their king, fell and they were thrust into a world of discord and disorder with minimal resources to clean up a mess that Erebus had shouldered the blame for. Djinn are strange beings, similar to humans in the sense that they too have free will—the good the bad and the worst. Just like humans, they make mistakes. They hurt each other, steal, cheat and kill. Many of them,

even though they may deny it, are fascinated with humanity—the driving force that makes humans different. They yearn to understand what makes humans the creator’s favourite.” Seen in this light, djinn weren’t that different from us, aside from the funky colours and strange abilities they possessed. “I asked Erebus why he hadn’t killed Samson, but he didn’t really give me a straight answer.” Sabriel’s brow furrowed. “Samson, Aiden, Vale, and Baron are no ordinary djinn. They are bound to Erebus in a unique way that even I don’t understand. Erebus was a lonely child. Growing up favourite to the king in a household of efreet, he was reminded every day how he didn’t belong. Tiny acts of unkindness, harsh words, and even the odd shunning. It took its toll on him, but he never complained. He was simply grateful to be loved by his adoptive father. Maybe there was a part of him that was afraid that if he spoke up then Ibris would send him away—to protect him of course—and Erebus could not bear that.” “So what did he do?” I sat forward, eager to

know more of what made Erebus the djinn he was today. “Erebus is the last of his kind. The dark djinn died out over a half a millennia ago. Nomadic spiritual beings connected to the earth, they would travel the fifth dimension, healing, guiding, and bringing peace. But they were also formidable warriors if challenged. One day they were simply gone. Ibris, alerted to a cosmic storm in the outlands, had ridden to investigate only to find an empty dark djinn settlement. Empty except for the wail of a single babe.” “Erebus.” “Yes.” Sabriel nodded. “So you see, he was alone until the day he decided he no longer wished to be. One day he arrived at dinner with Samson, Aiden, Vale, and Baron—his brothers.” “But where did they come from?” Sabriel shrugged. “No one knows for sure. But if he is unable to kill them, then I suspect they are more a part of him then anyone would have guessed.” “And Baal? Who is that?”

“Someone you need to be wary of.” He stood and walked to the door. “I’ll check in on you later.” I fell back on the bed and closed my eyes to an image of Erebus as a lonely child in desperate need of acceptance. A tiny voice whispered a warning not to get too involved, but I ignored it. Thank goodness he’d found his brothers—his clan. And what a formidable creature he’d become. *** The wind riffled through my hair as I ran. My feet barely touched the ground. The sky was a clear vibrant lavender, and euphoria was a bubble rising up my throat to explode from my lips in a whoop of joy. I was me again. Free again. But the sky was growing dark and the wind was growing chill. Someone was chasing me. I never leave a meal unfinished. Never . . . My knees gave way and I hit the ground, trapped beneath his shadow, his touch an invasive prickle as it infected and consumed. He wanted

more than my leg. He wanted the rest of me. I awoke on a whimper. Sweat soaked and wreathed in the shadow of the nightmare. Fuck this. I hated this. Why wouldn’t he leave me alone? There would be no sleep tonight There was always one thing that was guaranteed to bring on the snores and I knew just the place to get it. *** The murmur of voices drawing nearer had me sliding behind one of the freestanding bookcases on instinct. Baal entered the room, followed by Erebus. “I know you don’t approve, but what choice do you have?” Baal asked. “There is still time,” Erebus replied. “No, Erebus there isn’t.” Baal sighed. “I know you take your duty very seriously, but it’s a selfimposed one. You don’t owe humanity anything.” His tone was a little too bitter for my liking. “Increasing the tithe is a last resort, ” Erebus

replied. “They’re nothing but cattle, except you see them as fragile butterflies, beautiful in their fleeting existence. Let it end now. Come back to court where you belong. There are many that would be thrilled to have you back.” “I can’t, the flame—” “Will die, I know. So let it. Let him go, and we can start anew. We can rebuild our kingdom together. Our forces combined would be more than adequate to claim the Ibris Throne. Of course, I know you’ve no desire to rule, and I’d be happy to take that burden. But you’d be back where you belong. Protecting your people and maintaining the harmony that we will surely bring.” It was a passionate speech and he almost had me agreeing with him, but Erebus was another matter. “You may be able to retract a vow and turn your back on those weaker than you, but not I. Humanity suffers due to our deficiencies and my inadequacy. I will not turn my back on them.” Baal exhaled sharply. “Dammit, Erebus, if you

continue on this path you will die! End this now. Unbind yourself and be free.” “Your concern is heart-warming my friend, but my mind is made up.” “In that case, we should toast to your insufferable stubbornness,” Baal said. “Indeed, I believe I have just the thing . . .” Their voices grew distant as they left the room, and I sagged against the shelves. I didn’t get everything they’d said, but the gist was clear enough to make me admire Erebus even more. *** “So then Baal was like—let the humans die, and Erebus was like—no way, I made a vow.” “Then what happened?” Fargol asked from his position on the balcony rails. “Well, Baal tried to convince him and told him if he didn’t stop then he would die . . . shit!” I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t picked up on that immediately. I racked my brain for the rest of the conversation—something about unbinding himself

to be free. What did that mean? “Kenna, what troubles you? Tell Fargol.” “Just something Baal said. He said that the flame would die and then he told Erebus he should unbind himself and be free?” Fargol’s brows came down low over his deep set eyes. “The flame is the last piece of Ibris’s essence. Fargol knows this. All djinn know this. Many wish it gone. But Erebus protect it. He bind to it and keep it alive.” Yes. He’d mentioned that he gained his strength from the flame and that the flame fed off human souls, but from what Baal said it sounded more like Erebus was keeping the flame alive and if that was the case, if he was somehow bound to the flame, then he was nothing more than a soul battery just like all the humans, except more powerful of course. Problem was, batteries eventually die. Shame coloured my cheeks and made my eyes sting. Here was a djinn with no real connection to humanity, save for a sense of misplaced responsibility, ready to give his life to protect us, while I, an actual human, was dithering over telling

him about the flame’s reaction to me. If this was my purpose, then running from it wouldn’t get me very far. “Kenna, you have strange look on your face. Fargol find it unsettling.” I reached out and patted his forearm. “I have something really important I have to do Fargol, but I’ll be back later. I promise.” But Fargol wasn’t listening any longer; his attention was fixed on Evernight below. “Fargol, what is it?” “Trouble is brewing. A sentinel approaches.” I pulled myself up and moved to the railing, straining my eyes to see into the dark. A dot moved rapidly toward the fortress. No point fetching my spyglass. It had already moved out of view. “What’s a sentinel?” “Erebus’s eyes in the night.” Fargol unfurled and flapped his immense wings. “Fargol must patrol.” He launched himself into the night. I turned and retreated back into the fortress. It was time to speak to Erebus. It was time to find out the truth.

CHAPTER 35

T

he dining room was empty. The library was empty too. Despite my explorations,

I’d yet to stumble upon Erebus’s personal quarters. Not that I wanted to hang out there or anything, it would just have come in handy right now. If I didn’t find him soon I might chicken out of telling him the truth. “Okay fortress, I know you can hear me or feel me or whatever magical fortresses do, and I desperately need to find Erebus. Please can you help me?” Yeah, I felt a little stupid talking to a building, but it was an enchanted building. Surely that was acceptable? Okay, time to see if my message had been received. I climbed up a flight of steps that should have taken me to the dining hall, but instead spat me out in a small entrance hall I’d never seen before. The floor was grey stone slabs, and instead

of pretty tapestries, the walls were decorated in weapons. Maces and swords and spears, even a spiked silver ball on a chain! An elaborate arch led to a dimly lit chamber that looked like something out of a Dungeons and Dragons game. There were tables laden with weapons, a couple of chests, and a huge roaring fire. Erebus, Aiden, Vale, and Baron stood by one of the tables, suited up all in black; long sleeved fitted polo shirts and slacks with some kind of leather armour strapped on over their chests, arms, and thighs. They stopped talking when I entered and turned to look at me. I raised a hand in a tentative greeting. “Hey, what you doin’?” Baron snorted and turned away to fiddle with something on the table behind him, out of view. “How did you find this place?” Erebus asked. “I um . . . asked the fortress to help me find you?” His brows shot up. “You did, did you?” “Yeah, I needed to speak with you.” I glanced at the other djinn. “In private.” No point getting

everyone’s hopes up if I was wrong about the flame. “We need to go,” Aidan said. He didn’t even bother to look at me. Wow that hurt. Vale offered me a weak smile though, which made me feel a little better. The other djinn had grown to become tolerant of me, and on the odd occasion even friendly. What had changed? Samson! They probably blamed me for his exile. Sod that, I refused to feel bad on that account. Samson was a shit, no two ways about it. He’d deserved what he’d got. “I have to go now. I’ll find you later,” Erebus said. No! Not later. I needed to do this now. “This is important!” Erebus’s eyes flashed. “And so are the lives of the djinn residing in Evernight.” He tightened his weapons belt. “We just received word that a nearby settlement is under attack by the Shadow People.” Shadow People . . . The words were an echo in

my mind as my veins filled with ice and a sharp pain lanced through my chest. The urge to run and hide assaulted me, but I grit my teeth and stood my ground. This was the fear. The nightmare. I couldn’t let it consume me. The Hat Man had taken more than my leg. He’d stolen my confidence and my conviction. It was time to fight back. “Let me come with you,” I said. Vale coughed into his fist. “No,” Erebus said. But I wasn’t backing down. I needed this. I needed it to quell the desperate ache in my soul. “I hacked my leg off with a cleaver!” Erebus stilled, and I suddenly had Baron’s undivided attention. A lump formed in my throat—my body’s reflex to having to tell this story. I swallowed hard and continued. “I was called out on a case, the Hat Man. He and his Shadow People killed two members of my team, and then, he got me . . . my leg. So I cut it off.” Vale’s face had twisted into something akin to pity, and it elicited a spark inside me that I desperately needed right now.

Anger. I fixed my eyes on Vale. “Don’t you dare look at me like that! I’m not telling you this to gain your sympathy. I’m telling you this because I need you to understand why this is important to me. I need to go out there. I need to face him again, because if I don’t . . .” my voice cracked. “ . . . if I don’t . . . I’ll never wake up from the nightmare.” And there it was—the fact I’d been fighting for almost a year— the reason I’d pulled away from my family. The reason I’d pushed Blane away without giving him a chance. I hadn’t just cut away my limb, I’d cut away a part of me. That part of me that felt powerful, agile, and useful. That part of me that made me who I was. I’d avoided the difficult cases, telling myself my leg couldn’t handle it, when in reality I’d been afraid. I was done being afraid. It was time for the nightmare to end. It was time for me to face my fear, and to do it on my own terms. I didn’t say any of this, but something in my face must have communicated it to Erebus because

he nodded curtly, reached for something on the table behind him and then chucked it toward me. I caught it in mid-air and turned it over in my hands. “Is this . . .?” Frieda. “Yes, it belongs to you. I had it retrieved once you started training.” Vale coughed again, but Erebus ignored him and so did I. I was too busy staring into Erebus’s moonlight eyes, trying to understand what would make him do such a thoughtful thing and trying to stop myself from reading too much into it. “If you two are done gazing into each other’s eyes, can we please go now?” Baron drawled. Aiden chuckled. “I for one am ready to rip some shadows.” He held up a mace which glowed with everlight. I flicked my wrist and activated Frieda. She burned bright. He’d topped her up. I exhaled around the ache in my chest and locked eyes with Erebus. “I’m ready.” ***

The beast was huge—a cross between a horse and a lion. Jet black with a tail tipped with spikes and an armoured head plate. Yeah . . . didn’t fancy riding that. “Um . . . I’m much better on a motorbike.” Erebus circled my waist with his massive hands, lifted me easily into the saddle, and then swung up to take his place behind me. The heat of his chest seeped through the thick material of my loosefitting jacket. The man was a walking furnace, but the warmth counteracted the bitter wind that scraped my cheeks. “Hold on.” Erebus shifted and we were off, moving so fast it was like flying over the dry lands. Twisted trees painted silver by the moonlight rushed by, and I held on to the beast’s mane, clamping my knees into his sides. There wasn’t much risk of falling off though. Erebus’s biceps were a sturdy cage holding me in place against him. His scent—zesty and fresh—filled my nostrils and made my head spin. His hands, perfect for squeezing the life out of something, perfect for

squashing and crushing, but as soft as a feather when they had caressed my cheek, gripped the reins. I clenched my fists to stop myself from reaching out and running my finger across those powerful knuckles. Instead I focused on our landscape, blinking back the moisture in my eyes that the wind evoked. There was flat land as far as the eye could see, interrupted by the odd rise of rock and earth. Burrows? I didn’t even want to think about what kind of creature lived in those. Up ahead, out of the almost barren landscape, rose a barrier of wood and mesh. The fence was twice as tall as Erebus. The gates were closed but we didn’t slow down. We were going to crash! But then the gates began to trundle open and we galloped through the gap, coming to a halt in a courtyard filled with frightened djinn gathered in the centre of a huge ring of fire. Erebus dismounted and then reached up to help me down. I landed lightly on my feet, and was it my imagination or did his hands linger around my waist a little longer than necessary? But then he

was turning to the gathered settler djinn—so many of them of all shapes and sizes huddled together in the glow of the flames. “Stay within the light,” he said. We moved past the haven of light into the darkness beyond. “Stay close,” Erebus said to me. I wasn’t about to argue with that, my palms were already sweating and I had to wipe them surreptitiously on my slacks. I’d made sure to rebuckle my prosthetic. It should hold. But if I had to run then there were no guarantees. Why the hell hadn’t I thought of all this before? We slipped between the low, squat buildings shaped from earth and stone. Aiden, Baron, and Vale fanned out, but I stuck to Erebus like his shadow. There was enough moonlight to make out our surroundings, to pick out the normal shadows from the dangerous ones if need be. It took almost an hour, but we scoured that settlement and came up empty. “They’re not here,” Aiden joined us as we made our way back to the gates and the waiting

settlers. “Do you think they gave up and left?” Baron asked. “Hardly,” Vale said, “When have you ever known them to leave without consuming?” We moved closer to the circle of light, it looked brighter somehow. The hairs at the nape of my neck stood to attention. Something was off. And then I saw them, pressed up against the gate. Lying merged together just outside the circle of light. They were waiting. Waiting for us to leave and for the djinn to give up their vigil and step out of their haven. They were planning an ambush! I grabbed at Erebus’s forearm. “They’re here,” I hissed. Erebus didn’t break stride. “Where?” “The gate. The ground. They’ve got the settlers surrounded.” “I see them,” Vale said softly. Baron cursed and Aiden growled low in his throat. There was no time to formulate a plan, not

without the Shadow People figuring out we were on to them. The only course of action was a sudden attack. A ripple skated over my skin and I was overcome with the conviction that Erebus had somehow communicated with his clan, and sure enough they split off just before we broke free from the shadows of the settler’s buildings. It was Erebus and I who walked to the edge of the light. Hands trembling, scalp tingling, I did my best to ignore the Shadow People to my left. They wouldn’t attack, not unless they thought their plan had gone sour. And what a feast it would be if they succeeded. There had to be at least eighty djinn in the ring of fire, not including the children. Frieda’s hilt was a warm comforting presence in my hand. One of the older djinn, a tall slender man with a short-cropped beard, stepped toward the flames. Erebus held up his hand to halt him. “I’d feel better if we made one more sweep.” As the final word left his mouth, Vale and Aiden appeared as if from nowhere. Vale cut a swath to Erebus’s right and Aiden to my left. The

two Shadow People closest to me were the first to go, shattering beneath a bludgeon from Aiden’s everlight mace. There was a moment of deathly silence and then the moon winked out as the shadows attacked.

CHAPTER 36

M

y ears rang with the screams of the djinn, my head buzzed with

adrenaline as I cut and jabbed and obliterated those fuckers. My body felt stronger that it had in a long time, maybe even stronger than it had ever been. The training sessions with Erebus had honed my balance, my muscle, and my skill. I didn’t stumble, falter, or fall. It was exhilarating. I took out six, maybe seven Shadow People, but I was looking for him. The one who had haunted my nightmares for months; he was the one I needed to defeat to be free. Erebus was always close by, lending me his strength. A wild laugh exploded from my lips. I spun, using my good leg as a pivot and slashed the heck out of a Shadow Person at Erebus’s back. Erebus turned to face me and we locked eyes for a brief moment. That was long enough for me to note the heat in his gaze, the

smug curl to his lips, and then we were moving apart, back into the fray. I had just taken down my ninth Shadow Person when I saw him. The Hat Man was retreating toward the buildings, making his escape while his brethren were slaughtered. Aiden was up against the gate taking down two Shadow People. Vale and Baron were double teaming another one, and Erebus was swinging his blade in an arc decapitating the four Shadow People that had him surrounded. I was on my own and he was getting away. His shadow face appeared in my mind. His laughter rang in my ears. I couldn’t let him get away. Leaving the fire and the clan behind me, I ran into the darkness toward my true target. The buildings closed in around me and every shadow was a suspect. The prickling of my scalp told me he was near.. And then his voice—rusty nails and peeling scabs—scraped the inside of my skull. I have yearned for another taste of your flesh. I tightened my grip on Frieda to quell the tremble in my hands. “Come out! Show yourself

you coward!” A shadow detached itself from the ground, rising up until he was an inky black mass in the shape of a man . . . a man in a hat. My stomach quivered, and I adjusted my grip on Frieda. What are you waiting for, I’m sooo hungry . . . He lunged and I swung, but he was no longer in my path. I spun, shaken by the evasive manoeuvre, and almost lost my balance. Keep it together Kenna. His dirty laughter filled my head. The air rippled at my back. I lashed out at nothing. I was losing it. He was goading me and it was working. The fear was seeping back in. The doubt was digging its claws into my mind. I clenched my trembling hand into a fist and gripped Frieda tighter. Breathe. Focus. Closing my eyes I let my other senses take over. A whoosh to my left. Frieda sliced through the air like a whip and then began to drag. Contact.

The Hat Man stood impaled by my sword. Ripping her free I sliced again. A screech filled my mind, sending a lance of pain through my brain. The sound was inside my head but instinct had me dropping my guard to cover my ears regardless. The Hat Man knocked Frieda from my grasp and advanced. No . . . not again. I tripped and landed on my butt. So hungry . . . The chill from the ground seeped into me as I scrambled backward to get away from his looming figure. My back hit a wall. Tears stung my eyes. “I hope you fucking choke on me.” The Hat Man dove toward me, and I raised my chin in a final act of defiance. A roar filled the air. Erebus! He materialised before me, his back acting as a shield against the Hat Man. “NO!” Aiden appeared to my left and slashed at the Hat Man who was obscured from my view by Erebus’s huge frame. Baron joined him a moment later followed by

Vale. The three of them began cutting into Shadow Man, but my attention was Erebus—on the erratic rise and fall of his chest and the determined curl of his lips. A strange buzzing filled my head . . . something wasn’t right. Slowly, almost painfully, he raised his arm to reach for me. And his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell. His body hit the earth with a thud that reverberated through me. I remembered how to breathe with a piercing scream. *** “It’s alright, it will be alright.” Sabriel’s words meant nothing because Erebus was dying. I’d heard Vale and Baron talking. I knew the score and I had to see him. “Get me into his chambers Sabriel, please.” I grabbed his hand. “I need to see him.” There was a crushing weight on my chest that wouldn’t lift until I’d seen him. “I know you can do this.” “To travel somewhere I need to have either

been there before, be able to see it, or be connected to someone who is there. I’ve never been to Erebus’ private chambers, and I have no spiritual connection to him.” Sabriel paced my chambers. “I asked them if you could see him, but they have him locked away. You have no idea how protective they are of him.” Yes. Yes I did. I’d seen first-hand how they’d dropped everything, even me, to get back to the fortress with Erebus’s unconscious body. I’d run after them to find them climbing up onto their mounts, and thank goodness Vale had surfaced from his resolve long enough to pull me up onto his beast. Erebus’s huge frame had been slung over another one of the strange creatures, and we’d ridden back as fast as we could. Once inside they’d whisked him away. I was the reason their lord was dying. Yes, Baron had said all of that and more, spitting the words in my face, and oh god my heart ached. “I need to see him!” Sabriel dropped his chin to his chest, shoulders slumping. “I’m sorry, Kenna. I cannot help you

with this. Maybe it’s for the best if you stay away? I fear you may be becoming too attached.” The beat of wings filled the air, and a gust of wind blew my shutters open. Fargol landed on my balcony. I glanced at my gargoyle friend and back at Sabriel. “Does his chamber have a balcony?” “You wish to see Erebus,” Fargol said. “Yes.” “I will take you.” “Kenna, this is a bad idea,” Sabriel warned. “Maybe. But I’m doing it anyway.” Fargol wrapped his huge hand around my waist with ease. His wings beat the air and we were off. “Don’t look down,” Sabriel advised. The next few minutes were a haze, filled with starlight, the steady whoosh of wings, and the thunder of blood in my ears. We landed lightly on a balcony three stories above mine and halfway around the building. I hugged Fargol’s massive bicep. “Thank you. Will you wait for me?” Fargol inclined his head and melted back into

the shadows. The shutters were open, gauzy curtains blowing gently in the breeze. I stepped closer, peering through the semi-opaque material. The room was dimly lit and all I could make out was a fireplace twice the size of mine, a plush rug, and the gigantic four-poster bed. Velvet drapes that looked crimson in the lamplight were drawn around it. I tiptoed into the room and moved as stealthily as I could toward the head of the bed and pulled them aside to peer in. Erebus lay unconscious. His body as still as stone, his skin, which was usually a rich midnight blue, looked pale and drained. His chest was bare but covered to just his pecs, and a network of black veins were visible under his skin—the Hat Man’s poison. It was working its way through Erebus’s system, trying to kill him. It was a testament to his power that he wasn’t already dead. I perched on the bed beside him and reached out to graze his cheek with my fingertips. Cold. So cold. My vision blurred and I swiped at my nose.

He was dying and it was my fault. If I hadn’t been so consumed with wanting revenge, if I hadn’t been so reckless . . . “Please don’t die.” His eyelids fluttered and I tensed, hoping and praying he would awaken. His lips parted in a soft moan and then he settled back into his slumber of death. I blinked, dislodging a tear that skated down my cheek, and leaned over him until my face was mere centimetres away. “Please, fight. Please don’t leave me . . .” The words came from a place I didn’t recognise. A forgotten chasm that I’d believed was devoid of all feeling. I needed this creature, this fierce warrior djinn who’d taught me to fight again, who’d shown me kindness without confusing it with pity. I needed him to live. The door opened. Shit, they couldn’t find me in here . . . “Who’s there?” Vale? He was the most compassionate of the four. Maybe he’d understand? I stepped out from behind the drapes. Vale’s brows snapped down. “How did you?—

never mind, you need to go before Baron or Aiden see you here. In fact, you need to go back to the human realm before . . . before Erebus dies, because once he does I won’t be able to stop my brothers from tearing you to shreds.” The tears were falling freely now and I didn’t care. “I’m sorry, so sorry. I never meant for this to happen.” Vale sighed through his nose. “I know. You wanted revenge . . . some kind of relief from your nightmares. I understand all too well and so do they, but . . .” he glanced at the bed. “Erebus has changed since your arrival. His actions today were not for the greater good and that frightens my brothers, for if we are not working for the greater good then we have no purpose at all. When Erebus dies they will be free, and they will come for you.” “Why are you so sure he’ll die? He can fight this. I know he can.” “A decade ago he may have staved off the infection, but the flame and the ceaseless army have sapped his strength. He is but a shadow of the djinn he once was. We all are.”

The flame . . . my stomach fluttered. “I need to show you something, please. I think it could help save Erebus.” Vale gave me a look that clearly said he thought I was insane but I brushed it aside. “I think I can fuel the flame.” His brows shot up. “I know it sounds crazy, but if there’s a chance I may be right, that we could save him, do you want to risk turning your back on it?” He looked to the ground, rubbing an index finger over his bottom lip. “Please, Vale, you have nothing to lose by letting me try.” His gaze slid to the bed, then back to me. “Alright. But stay close and stay quiet. We can’t risk the others finding out.” *** I stared at the flame on the other side of the bridge and was suddenly overcome by doubt. What if I’d imagined the flare? What if it had all been in my head?

“Well?” Vale asked. I exhaled and began to walk across the bridge toward it. How close had I been the last time it had reacted to me? My palms grew slick and I curled my hands into fists. Please, please work. A bitter chuckle rose in my throat. A few days ago I would have given anything for this not to work, but now it meant everything to me. I didn’t care that I was signing my own death warrant. All I cared about was seeing those silver eyes. I was three metres away when it began to flicker, two metres it began to pulse, and one metre it was an inferno, pulling toward me. I barely registered Vale’s gasp at my back, my head felt giddy and my knees had gone weak. I reached out and placed my hands on the glass separating me from the flame and watched it surge up until it filled its chamber. “What the hell is going on?” It was Baron’s voice, but I didn’t care. I blinked back tears of relief and turned to offer the clan a shaky smile. “We can save him. Tell me we can save him.”

Aiden was the first to speak. “We need to bind her.” I nodded. “Do it.” “Wait,” Vale stepped forward to take my hands in his. “Do you understand what that means?” I smiled up into his face, a face that was harsh and unforgiving, but one in which I had learned to find traces of kindness. “I know. I’ll eventually burn out and die, like all the other humans, but if I can save Erebus and it gives humanity a chance, I’m good with that.” Vale’s eyes darkened and he reached up to brush a tendril of my hair off my face. “So be it.” His gaze was suddenly too intense and I dropped my chin, breaking eye contact. “Let’s do this.” “Wait, Kenna!” Sabriel came barrelling onto the bridge. “You can’t do this!” “Sabriel, you don’t understand—” “No, you don’t understand. You have a destiny.” Baron and Aiden stepped into Sabriel’s path. Sabriel glared at them but they folded their

arms across their chests, refusing to budge. He ignored them and focused on me. “This isn’t your destiny. It can’t be.” “Maybe not but it doesn’t matter. I have to do this. I want to do this.” I turned back to Vale. “Please let’s get this done.” Vale led me around the glass chamber to a small levered door, large enough for a hand to fit though. “There is a cuff at the centre of the flame. You will need to retrieve it,” he said. “You want me to put my hand into the fire?” Had he lost his mind? “The humans in the pool are merely channels, what you are going to do is different, you will be binding directly to the flame, just as Erebus has done.” The cuff on his wrist! That was what bound him? “If the flame truly accepts you then you will not be harmed.” I glared at the crazy dancing flames licking the glass eager to get at me. It damn well better accept

me! Okay, deep breaths. “Here goes.” I flipped the latch and stuck my fingers into the fire. Nothing. I shot Vale a triumphant look before plunging my whole arm in. I could see the vague outline of an object in the centre of the flame and snagged it. The cuff caught on the glass recess. I looked to Vale for assistance but he shook his head. Looked like I’d have to do this alone too. I yanked harder, finally getting it free. It was huge, much too big for my wrist; it was more the size of a collar. “Really?” Vale shrugged, but the tightness around his eyes and mouth told me he was anxious I wouldn’t go through with this. In for a penny, in for a pound. I unclasped the cuff lifted it to my neck and locked eyes with Sabriel. “Bottoms up.” I clasped it around my neck. Vale’s shoulders sagged. Aiden and Baron stepped out of Sabriel’s path. “Um . . . is something supposed to happen? I mean, am I meant to—Oh!”

My veins flooded with heat, and my knees gave way. I was floating. Images I didn’t quite understand flickered through my mind: a sundrenched room, a tinkling laugh, and the scent of roses in full bloom. There was dark desolation and cutting betrayal and arms that branded me with their fiery touch. They wrapped round me, squeezing until I couldn’t breathe. A flash of crimson filled my vision. A voice whispered my name, and fingernails dug into my mind, piercing and claiming. I awoke with a gasp. I was on a bed with drapes . . . Erebus’s bed. Erebus’s room. My hand went to my neck, making contact with the smooth metal cuff. The clasp at the back was gone, leaving seamless metal to circle around my neck. Oh, shit . . . it was on for good. No taking it off, no going back. Breathe, Kenna. Breathe. It was alright. Erebus had one and it was alright. It was just like jewellery . . . heavy un-removable jewellery.

“You’re awake,” Erebus appeared at the side of the bed. I started at the sound of his voice, swallowing a whimper. My head still felt strange, as if there was too much information floating around inside it. Erebus sat on the side of the bed, his hip by mine. “I had you brought here when I awoke. The binding process can be painful. I didn’t want you to be alone.” I shook my head. “No pain. Just images.” He cocked his head. “Really? And what did you see?” “It was more impressions . . . I smelled roses and heard a beautiful laugh and felt . . . sad and lost and . . . betrayed.” Erebus sighed. “I see.” “I don’t. What was that?” “Memories. Nothing more.” “Whose memories?” “It’s not important.” He searched my face and then reached across to touch the collar at my neck. “You saved my life.” My cheeks burned under the silver caress of

his eyes. “You saved mine first.” “Why did you do it? You know it will kill you.” “Why did you save my life at the risk of your own?” His eyes darkened, the dilating pupils drawing me in. I licked my lips, unwittingly drawing his eye. He swallowed hard and averted his gaze. “I acted on instinct.” His instinct had been to save me? I wasn’t sure what to make of that, but my body seemed to know. My heart was beating like a hummingbird’s wings and my lungs were working overtime. “And I . . . I wanted to see your silver eyes again.” His head snapped up and his nostrils flared. He reached up to cup my cheek, his thumb moving lightly across my lips. Heat pooled in my belly and I closed my eyes, unable to look at him, unable to hide my arousal. “You are a wonder, Kenna.” A knock at the door was a welcome interruption, because it was taking everything I had not to throw myself at him. Erebus lowered his

hand, his soft expression smoothing into something more alert and business-like. Vale entered. His gaze flickered from my flushed face to Erebus’s unaffected one. Did he guess what had almost happened? “Erebus, Baal is here,” Vale said. “He wishes to speak with you. I also have the weekly report.” Erebus nodded and stood. “Tell him I’ll be right—” “Why don’t you tell me yourself?” Baal entered the room, his brows shooting up when he clocked me on the bed. His gaze fell to the collar at my neck. “I see the reports are true.” Erebus’s eyes tightened. “Reports? Have you been spying on me again old friend?” Baal winced and held up a hand, finger and thumb an inch apart. “Maybe just a little bit.” “Baal . . .” There was real warning in Erebus’s tone. “Pfft,” Baal waved a hand in the air. “You know me. I’m all about the information. And this,” he fixed his startling green eyes on me, “is some information.” His lips bloomed in a slow smile. “So

Kenna, I see Erebus has you all trussed up and tangled in his futile cause.” His smug expression grated on my nerves. “Humanity’s survival may be a futile cause to some, but it’s something I’m willing to die for.” He shrugged. “And you will. That thing around your neck will kill you.” I looked him steady in the eye. “I know.” He stilled, his eyes narrowing. “You knew when you agreed to do it?” I nodded. He exhaled. “Well, it looks like you worked you magick Erebus. What was it this time? The slightly aloof demeanour with flashes of interest, or did you play the mentor card, pulling her close but holding her at arm’s length?” This time? My scalp prickled and I looked to Erebus, took in his tense jaw, the tightness around his eyes, and a terrible sense of premonition washed over me. “What is he talking about, Erebus? What does he mean?” Erebus didn’t take his eyes off Baal. “Nothing.

He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Baal shook his head. “It makes sense now. Why you were so willing to take your chances. Why you refused to consider giving up, or increasing the tithe. You had an ace up your sleeve. A hybrid soul.” I looked from Baal to Erebus, but neither was paying me any attention, locked in their own verbal, or in Erebus’s case, non-verbal battle, so I looked to Vale who’s turned down mouth and sorrow filled eyes told me everything I needed to know. I’d been manipulated. I pushed back the sheets and swung my legs off the bed. “I think I’ll go to my room now.” Erebus, silent and stoic, didn’t try to stop me. Baal was another matter entirely. “I’m sorry, Kenna. I truly am, because your sacrifice will be for naught.” I brushed past him, inhaling his scent; liquorice and cinnamon, and then I was running down the corridor, begging the fortress to take me to my room.

*** He didn’t come to see me, to explain or to deny. He didn’t come, and my heartache morphed to anger and determination. Why the lie? Why the manipulation? These were my people that needed saving. I would have done this eventually—in fact I had been about to do just that when he’d been called out to the settlement. But there was that little voice again—would I have considered it if I hadn’t developed feelings for him, if I hadn’t begun to admire him? I grabbed a pillow and held it over my face and then screamed. It didn’t matter what my motivations may have been before, because in the end I’d done it, not for my people, but for him. I was no hero. I was a sap. “No!” The pillow was ripped from my grasp, and Sabriel’s baby blues burned into me. “You will not belittle what you have done. Your soul will not wither quietly into the night. You will not be

forgotten like the others.” I was lying on my back, but his words had me propping myself up on my elbows. “Did you know about the others?” “No. If I had I would have demanded he let me remove you from this place.” He hung his head. “Erebus is a good, noble djinn, and his actions have always been in favour of humanity. Your immunity to the dream pool was a sign that you may be a hybrid soul. I may despise him for pushing you to condemn your soul, but I cannot say I don’t understand.” I swallowed the bitter taste in my mouth that his words had spawned. “He didn’t have to lie and manipulate, he could have explained and simply asked.” “And would you have given your life in an attempt to protect mankind?” I’d been asking myself this same question since I’d found out, and now I was certain. “Yes, once I’d had a chance to get my head around it. Once I knew how dire, how desperate the situation was, I would have.” I sat up so we were

eye to eye. “I would do anything to protect my family, to protect all the people I love, and yeah, when I found out how the flame reacted when I worked out what it could mean scared. I tried to ignore it, but then, just Erebus and his clan were due to go out

to me, I was before to the

settlement to kick the Shadow People’s ass, I’d decided to tell him the truth. It just turned out that I never got the chance, and then . . . you know the rest.” I grabbed my pillow back, shoved it against the headboard behind me, and flopped back against it. “So these others, they were like me? Mixed DNA?” Sabriel nodded. “Yes, the djinn call them hybrid souls. There aren’t many of them. I spoke with Baal,” his lips tightened, “he told me that Erebus has done this twice before.” Had he made them care for him too? I wanted to ask but bit back the words, not ready to admit what a fool I’d been. “And what about the clan? Samson was so angry with me being here. He acted all confused about how I could understand their language, how I

was immune to the pool. Was that a lie too? Were they all in on it?” Vale’s kind face came to mind and my stomach tightened. I’d actually grown fond of him. “I’m not sure. From what I’ve gathered, Samson was unhappy with their role for a while. If he knew what Erebus planned to do it would explain his derision of you—your presence meant that he would be forced to continue in his duty.” Sabriel shrugged. “But he could have been oblivious too. The only way of knowing for sure would be to ask one of them.” I wouldn’t be going home. I wouldn’t get to see Bella or mum again. I was trapped here with a djinn who’d done nothing but pretend to care for me, and soon I would die. “How long have I got? How long did they last?” “A year.” A year . . . Instead of going home in a year I would be dying. My stupid eyes began to prick and I blinked away the pathetic evidence of my weakness. Fuck crying.

I took a deep shuddering breath. “I just wish I could see Bella and mum one more time, you know, to say goodbye properly.” Something dark passed across Sabriel’s face, and my stomach tightened with anxiety. “Sabriel? What’s wrong? What aren’t you telling me?” Sabriel looked away, his expression conflicted. God, what more could there be. “Tell me. Please.” He plucked at my sheets. “I overheard Vale giving Erebus his weekly report and he mentioned your sister.” “What? They’ve been keeping tabs on my family?” “It seems so.” “What did he say?” “Bella is seriously ill. She’s in intensive care at Memorial hospital.” “No . . . that can’t be right. Bella’s never sick.” I was on my feet. “I have to go! I have to see her.” Sabriel looked to the door as if expecting Erebus to come barging in at any moment. “They won’t let you leave.”

“They won’t be able to stop me!” I stormed toward the door, but Sabriel slammed his hand against the wood, preventing me from opening it. “Stop and think, Kenna, if you alert them to your intentions then they will be on guard. You need to find a way to slip out.” There had to be a way out of here. The shutters rattled. Of course. I pushed passed Sabriel and ran onto the balcony. “Fargol. Fargol I need you!” The night was silent—a place for death and its harbingers—and the sound of Fargol’s mighty wings cut through that stillness. He landed like a ghost, his grotesque face twisted in inquiry. “Fargol, you know everything about this fortress, about the Evernight. Is there a way out of here? I need to get back to the human realm. My sister is really sick and I need to get to her.” His gaze fell to the collar at my neck. I touched it briefly. “Yeah, I know I’m bound, but Erebus takes sojourns to the human realm all the time, the binding isn’t affected is it?” “No, it isn’t,” Sabriel said from his position by

the shutters. My eyes filled with tears and I brushed them away angrily. “I know I’m going to die, but why can’t I do that from home? Why can’t I be with my family? Why can’t I be there to hold my sick sister’s hand?” Fargol looked up to the sky. “Fargol not like Kenna to cry. Fargol not like Kenna to die. Fargol has a window and he will take you home.” A window? As in a breach? My heart beat a little faster. “Can you take me now?” Fargol inclined his head. I had a way out. I was going to escape.

CHAPTER 37 BRETT

B

rett knocked on the door to Kenna’s house and waited for Mrs. Carter to answer. Since Kenna had been taken away as a tithe, Brett had made it a point to come over at least once a week to hang with Bella and Malorie. It made him feel closer to Kenna, and he figured he owed it to her to take care of her family. Besides, over the years he’d grown to love them as his own. Both his parents had been killed when he was a teenager and his uncle, a man with little time for kids, had taken him in. He’d given him a roof over his head but little else. If not for the Fearless, Brett would have been all alone. He rang the bell again but there was no answer. Strange. Malorie had known he was coming. He flipped open his phone and dialled her mobile number which went straight to voicemail.

“Excuse me?” Brett glanced up to see Mrs. Butler, the old woman from next door, peering over the fence. “Yes?” “If you’re looking for Malorie and that sweet girl of hers, they were taken away early this morning in a med carriage.” “What?” Brett’s heart stuttered. “Do you know why?” Mrs. Butler shrugged. “Not sure. But it was the little girl, poor dear, that they had on the stretcher.” Bella! “Thanks, I have to go.” He began to walk away and then realised he had no idea which hospital they’d been taken to. He turned back to find her watching him in anticipation. “Memorial hospital, hun.” He gave her a thumbs-up and headed back to his ride. He’d just slipped on his helmet when his radio buzzed. “All units report to base immediately.” Shit! He revved his engine and veered away from

the kerb. This better be bloody urgent!

CHAPTER 38

F

lying above Evernight, the wind in my hair and Fargol’s hands around my torso, was exhilarating. Up here, away from all the

lies and secrets, I finally felt a little like myself. It was as if distance from the ground had snapped the cord of disconcertion that had been binding me. Binding. I touched the collar lightly as the empty feeling crawled back into my chest, but then Fargol was swerving sharply. My hair whipped into my eyes and when I pushed it aside we weren’t in Evernight any longer. Far below I could see the Times Bridge, lit up like a Christmas tree and pulsing with everlight. “Kenna must direct Fargol.” I scanned the world below until I found what I was looking for. “See that building way over to the left, the one with the flat roof and a red circle painted on it?”

“Fargol sees it.” “That’s where I need to be.” Fargol rose higher, turning his body in the direction we needed to go and then we were moving directly toward the hospital. *** Using my long hair to hide the conspicuous cuff around my neck, I made my way through the corridors of the hospital looking for the intensive care unit. I wasn’t dressed in any outlandish way— black slacks and a black long sleeved t-shirt—but I found myself on the receiving end of several curious looks. Had the cuff changed something about me? I ducked my head and kept walking, following the signs for intensive care. They led to a locked door with an intercom system. I pressed the call button and waited. The speaker crackled and a female voice answered. “Can I help you?” “Yes, I’m here to see my sister. Bella Carter.”

“And you are?” “Kenna Carter.” “One moment please.” One moment the corridor beyond the thick shatter-proof and fire-proof glass was bare, and the next a woman with wild silver-blonde hair was running toward me. “Mum!” I pressed my hands to the glass. The door buzzed open and we fell into each other’s arms. Mum squeezed me so hard I thought she’d crack my ribs, and then she pulled back, brushing my hair from my face with trembling fingers. “You’re not supposed to be here, baby girl. You weren’t supposed to see this.” “What? What do you mean?” Mum pressed her lips together and shook her head, dislodging the tears that had been clinging to her lashes. “It doesn’t matter. You need to go back now.” She touched the collar at my neck. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m here to stay for as long as I have. Take me to Bella.” Mum sighed. “Fine. But only for a moment.”

She led me into a corridor lined with private rooms made of glass, and stopped at the third door. “Just a minute or two, Kenna. Then you have to go.” She pushed it open and ushered me inside. The room reeked of antiseptic. Bella lay, eyes closed, ashen and silent in the bed. Her body seemed smaller . . . fragile under the hospital blankets. I stepped up to the bed and her lids fluttered open. “Kenna? Kenna. You came. I knew you’d come.” She smiled weakly. Oh god . . . she looked so frail. “Mum said you couldn’t come but I told her . . .” She coughed—a hacking painful cough. It lasted several seconds and then she laid back wearily, her chest rising and falling erratically. “I told her you’d come.” I perched on the side of her bed and took her hand. “I’m here baby and I’m not going anywhere.” Bella’s pale face lit up in a beatific smile, and my eyes burned. “I wanted to see you before I went to heaven.”

I stilled. “Who told you that? Who said you were going to heaven?” Bella looked past me to mum. My body was suddenly flushed with heat. I turned to glare at mum. “You told her that?” Mum’s bottom lip quivered and she pressed her fist to her mouth. I closed my eyes and exhaled before turning back to Bella. “We all go to heaven one day baby, but you are not going anywhere right now. I promise you.” Bella’s smooth forehead puckered in a gentle frown. “But my angel said so too. She said she would come get me when it was time, and we could fly.” A chill ran up my spine. A few months ago I would have attributed this talk to her sickness, a hallucination, but now I knew better, and the truth sent icy dread up my spine. I had to speak to Sabriel, get him to find out who this angel was. “Kenna, I’m so sleepy.” I plastered a smile on my face and squeezed her hand lightly. “That’s okay baby, you get some

sleep. I’ll be right outside.” She closed her eyes with a soft sigh and I watched as her breathing settled into the rhythm of sleep. I grabbed mum’s arm and dragged her out of the room with me. “What’s wrong with her? What is going on? Bella never gets sick. Ever.” Mum opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a low buzzing noise. She fumbled in her pocket for her phone and checked the screen. “Aren’t you supposed to have that turned off?” She held up a hand as she scanned the message before raising wide eyes to meet mine. “You need to leave. Now!” She was crazy if she thought I was running out on my sick sister. There was no way I was leaving her like this. I folded my arms across my chest. “I’m not going anywhere.” Mum’s lips thinned and her eyes lit up with a strange fire I’d never seen. She grabbed my

shoulders, her fingers digging in to my flesh. “That was Brett. The base has sent out a unit to pick you up. You can’t let them get you. You belong in Evernight. You belong with the flame!” My breath caught. “How . . . how do you know about the flame?” Her expression pinched. “There’s no time to explain, just get to Lauren. Get to Twilight. Lauren will help you. He knows . . . everything.” None of this made sense. “Kenna, please. Baby girl you need to go. You’re our only hope for the future.” Her phone buzzed again and she gave it a quick scan. “They’re pulling up outside. Go!” She fumbled in her pocket and pressed a few notes into my hand before shoving me hard. I stumbled back, away from Bella’s room and toward the exit. “Go!” I turned and ran. *** Fargol was gone. I’d had no intention of returning

to Evernight, but now I was kicking myself. A gargoyle would have been the perfect getaway vehicle. Avoiding the lifts, not wanting to risk getting trapped, I took the stairs. If I could get out of the building I could grab a ride to Market Borough, to Clovers. Maybe Lauren could help me get my ass out of Lindrealm. The stairs were slow going with my prosthetic. They could find me at any moment. Sweat broke out at the nape of my neck and along my hairline, blood thundered in my ears, and the clatter of boots grew louder. Shit. Someone was coming up the stairs. There was nowhere to run. I was smack back between floors, but I had to try. I began to climb. The boot-falls grew closer until they were practically at my back. “Kenna!” Brett? My best friend stood on the steps below me. His face was drawn. “I knew you’d come this way. Come on, we need to get you out of here.” He held out his hand and I stumbled down the

stairs to take it. He pulled me in for a quick hug and then turned his back on me and crouched. He wanted to carry me. There was no time for pride. I climbed on and we took the stairs two at a time. He set me down at basement level and we burst through the double doors into the garage. We’d barely taken a step when three Fearless Officers I vaguely recognised appeared from behind a blacked-out van. “Grab my arm!” I hissed at Brett. He didn’t question, just curled his fingers around my upper arm. “You bastard. I fucking hate you. You’re supposed to be my friend!” I kicked out at him with my good leg Brett’s expression smoothed out into his standard dispassionate one; his preferred expression of choice when dealing with a difficult client. “I’m Fearless first.” “Fuck you!” “Good work Donohue,” the Fearless with the designer stubble and overly gelled hair said. “Darius and Vince saw you take the stairs, and the

idiots thought you were aiding the target. I know she was a friend of yours, but I’m glad you proved them wrong.” Brett’s eyes narrowed, “And you? What did you think Karl?” Karl grinned. “Never doubted you, Man.” Brett snorted and shoved me at Karl. “Take her in. I got other shit to do.” For a moment I was confused. Had I just been played? But one look in Brett’s direction, and the sorrow in his eyes told me we’d just been plain unlucky. Karl grabbed my arm and I shook him off. “What is this? I’ve done nothing wrong. I came to see my sick sister. Besides, you’re supposed to be going after denizens. Do I look like a bloody denizen to you?” Karl shrugged his massive shoulders. “You were tithe and now you’re here. For all we know, you’ve returned with a host of denizen eggs inside you ready to hatch and tear us to shreds.” His shoulders dropped, and the arrogant lilt to his voice levelled out. “Look, it sucks, I know. What they did

to you was uncalled for, but we’re just following orders. The powers that be want you brought in, so I’m bringing you in. Now, do I need to cuff you?” “No. Let’s just get this over with.” I knew exactly what the powers that be wanted. They wanted information, and it was about time they found out the truth.

CHAPTER 39

T

hey’d left me stewing in the interrogation room for ages: no coffee, no water, nothing. Annoyance turned to anger,

which grew with each passing minute. I wasn’t a bloody criminal, so why were they treating me like one? I’d been a scapegoat and an unwilling spy. If anything I deserved an apology. My reflection glared at me from the mirror opposite. My hair was a windblown mess and my eyes were bright spots in an otherwise pale and pinched face. How many people were beyond that mirror watching me? I lifted my hand and gave them the finger. The door clicked open and a plump, rosy cheeked woman with a matronly demeanour, hair tucked neatly in a bun, slipped in. No clipboard or notepad, but she was carrying a cup of coffee, which smelled divine. She set it down before me, her rouged lips

pursing in a cat’s arse smile. “Hello, I’m agent Dean. I was horrified, absolutely livid, when I heard they’d locked you in here,” she perched her ample behind on the seat across the table from me. “I can’t believe they didn’t even bring you a cup of coffee.” Seriously? They were gonna try playing goodcop, bad-cop? I leaned in across the table. “Listen, let’s just cut the crap and get to the good stuff. You sent me over there to spy and die. Obviously I was unsuccessful on both counts, but I’m here now and I do have information. Do you want it or not?” This time her smile was genuine . . . Genuinely shark-like. Her plump face tightened into a sharper version of itself. “First things first, how did you escape?” “On a flying gargoyle.” I had to give her props, she didn’t even flinch. “And the tithe? What happens to them?” And so I told her. Everything I knew. Everything I’d learned and everything I had done. Her eyes landed on the collar at my neck.

“That collar binds you to a . . . magical flame.” “Yes. If the flame dies, the ceaseless army will be weakened and the hoard will push through the gate. Trust me, you don’t want that to happen. I need to get back.” She cocked her head. “Why? If what you say is true, you can sustain the flame from here just as well as you can from there.” She was right. But mum had told me to get back to the flame. I couldn’t tell her that though, not without dragging my family into this. “It’s different for me. I need to be with the flame.” She lifted her chin. “Ah, because you’re . . . a hybrid soul?” I nodded. “So we should just let you walk out of here?” “Pretty much.” Yeah, like hell she was gonna do that, but worth a try. “Well, I can see your sojourn into Evernight has given you a flair for story-telling.” Her shoulders lifted. “I have to admit it’s a fantastic tale, but that’s all it is, isn’t it?” It was her turn to

lean in. “We know what you are, and it isn’t human. We scanned you on arrival. What I want to know now is who the heck you are, and what really happened to Fearless Officer Carter?” What was she talking about? Of course I was human . . . a hybrid but human, unless . . . unless the collar had somehow changed me? Shit they believed I was an otherworlder! I held up my hands. “Listen, you don’t understand. It’s me, Kenna Carter. This collar must have altered me somehow—” “Or it’s some kind of djinn tech, a detonation device perchance?” Perchance? Who even used that word these days? I shook my head. “If I wasn’t me then why would I have gone straight to the hospital to see my sister? Why would I ask to leave here? I’m in the perfect place to,” I made bunny rabbit ears with my fingers, “detonate.” Her eyes lit up and her lips curved slightly Shit! I’d just brought my family into this. “Okay. Fine. Say I’m not me. I’m a . . . a terrorist sent by the djinn to blow you all up with this collar,

why keep me here? Send me back before this thing,” I pointed to my collar, “blows you all to smithereens. You can walk me through the gate yourself.” “You know what? On second thought, I don’t think that device is a detonator.” Man I was so confused. “No?” She smirked and shook her head. “Nope. I think Erebus got pissed that we sent a spy. He killed her and sent one of his dirty djinn in her place to spy on us. That device is some kind of recorder. A djinn video recorder. And we’re going to find out just what it is, and then we’ll use this incident to force Erebus to rethink the terms of his treaty. We will not lose any more humans to his tithe!” “There’s a no spying clause in the contract?” “There is a privacy clause in the contract. This clearly violates it.” Either she was really stupid or I was missing something. “Um . . . but didn’t you violate it first by sending me to spy on him?” She sat back and gave me what was fast becoming her trademark smug smile. “We didn’t

send you. You’re not human. We sent a tithe who is now dead.” She held up her hands. “Dead means no evidence.” “Except that I am alive and I’m me!” The door opened and two men dressed in white lab coats came in. They were carrying some kind of machine—a white box with several buttons and a screen. I dropped the veil to see the web of magick that encased it. It was probably embedded with runes. Now that the veil was down I could see more runes, glowing a dull blue etched into the walls of the room. For people who hated the otherworld and everything it represented, they sure employed a ton of otherworld magick. I pulled the veil back up, turning the white box back into a mundane machine and noted the long nozzle attached to it by a wire My stomach dropped. “What’s that for?” Agent Dean grinned. “That’s to make sure you don’t have anything to report.” The nozzle burst to life with a fizz and a laser blade appeared at its tip. Were they gonna stick me with that thing? My chair scraped across the floor as I backed up. The

door opened again and two guards strode in. They flanked me in warning—struggle and be held down. Fuck this. “You should have done your research, Dean. I hacked off my own leg. So if you think this is going to scare me then you couldn’t be more wrong.” The laser drew near and my heart slammed against my ribcage—the were aiming for my face. Great, a scar to match my birthmark was just what I needed. My stomach quivered and my breath grew shallow, but I didn’t move. And then he lowered the laser to my neck. The collar! They were gonna attack the collar! “No!” I jerked away and the guards grabbed at me, pinning me to my seat with brute force, their fingers digging into my flesh hard enough to bruise. “You don’t understand. You can’t do this. If you do this you’ll kill everyone!” A shadow of doubt flitted across agent Dean’s face, and she turned to the mirror as if for guidance. “Continue.” A voice crackled through the

intercom on the wall by the mirror. The laser came down, and sparks began to fly. I’m sorry. So sorry. I closed my eyes. The intercom on the wall by the mirror buzzed to life again. “Stop.” The laser was turned off immediately. “Agent Dean, you may stand down,” the disembodied intercom voice said. Agent Dean’s eyes widened but she covered her surprise pretty quickly. The door clicked open and two uniformed guards appeared. Agent Dean’s brows snapped together. “What do you think you’re doing?” “Commander Raine’s orders, please stand down agent,” one of the guards said. Commander Raine? The man who ran the whole Fearless operation? What did he want with me? The guards that had been pinning me to my seat released me and stepped back, making room for the new arrivals. They took an elbow each and hauled me to my feet. “We have instructions to transport the imposter to a secure location.” Agent Dean finally relaxed. “Of course. And

the device?” “Will be taken care of.” Her smug gaze landed on me. “Thank you for giving us the leverage we needed.” The new arrivals dragged me from the room. I caught a glimpse of a sterile white corridor lined with closed doors before I was ushered into a lift. The guard to my left pressed the button for the basement. I looked up at the guard to my left. “Where are we going?” No response. “What’s this commander like?” Nothing. Out of the frying pan and into the fire . . . one of mums little sayings. The lift came to a smooth halt and the doors opened without a sound. The guard reached for my elbow, but I jerked away, stepping out on my own steam. I was sick of being pushed around. Sick and tired. I wanted to go home to mum and her fresh baked bread and Bella and her homework. I wanted all this to be over.

The collar at my neck flared with heat, reminding me that wasn’t possible. I reached up to touch it, my fingers making contact with a deep scratch where they’d managed to graze it. I gritted my teeth and followed the first guard to a black stretch limo. Only a handful of people operated these beautiful machines—all high up government officials—and this was the first time I’d seen one up close. The door swung open and I was ushered in. The commander sat opposite me, green eyes flashing with mirth. “Baal? What the fuck?”

CHAPTER 40

B

aal watched me with an amused smile. The partition was up and the windows were tinted. If he wanted to hurt me he

could. No one would see. “You look like a frightened rabbit.” He rubbed his bottom lip with his thumb thoughtfully. “Although, I have to say the look suits you.” Today he was dressed in a cream shirt with the top two buttons undone to expose his smooth chest, and dark blue trousers that stretched across his thighs to hint at the muscle beneath. His shirt sleeves were rolled up over his strong forearms, and colourful beads hung at his wrist. The air smelled of liquorice and cinnamon, a comforting scent that had me even more on edge because of its soothing properties. I focused on remaining calm. He was a djinn, not the commander, so maybe there was hope. Maybe he’d been sent by Erebus to retrieve me.

“I wanted to see my sister. I’m ready to go back to Evernight now, you can take me back.” He cocked his head. “What makes you think I’m here to take you back?” “But . . . you’re here . . . parading as the commander . . .” His jade eyes flashed and his expression sobered. “I’m not parading as anything, Kenna. I am the commander.” He pressed a button on the armrest to his left, and the one to his right flipped to reveal a glass and a bottle of brandy. He poured himself a drink and took a sip. A quick look through the veil revealed a short balding man with a close-cropped beard and heavy brows, the only thing that remained of Baal were his startling green eyes, which in his old man disguise face looked kinda eerie. “You can’t be the commander, you’re a djinn.” He rolled his eyes. “Oh, the arrogance of humanity.” He swirled the amber fluid in his glass. “We’ve been around a lot longer than any human. In fact, this mortal realm was once our favoured

playground, until the big man himself banished us to the fifth dimension and gave this realm to his new pet, the humans. We’ve snuck in and lived alongside you on many occasions. The Event simply brought our existence into the light.” All stuff I knew, but what I didn’t understand was what he gained from the facade. “Why are you doing this? Why would you want to be the Commander of the Fearless?” He sat back, a small smile playing on his perfect lips. His gaze ran up and down my body. “It has its perks. There is plenty of beauty in this realm, and I am such a fan of beautiful things.” I shuddered. “Stop looking at me like that!” Beautiful wasn’t a word I or anyone I knew would use to describe me—my birthmark had seen to that. I’d been described as fierce and interesting, stunning, but never beautiful. He quirked a brow. “I thought women appreciated being admired.” “Not when they’re being held hostage by a crazy djinn.” He chuckled. “Very well. I will save my

perusals for a more appropriate occasion. In the meantime, to answer your question, I am commander because the Fearless are mine.” “What do you mean?” “I created them.” “You can’t just create people. You’re not god.” He shrugged. “Well, some females would beg to differ, but to clarify, I didn’t create the people, just the spell to infuse them with the necessary Fearless traits.” A spell? “Go on.” “It was pretty complex and it took its toll, but it was essential to the survival of mankind. I knew that our world would impact yours, that the destruction of our realm’s structure would lead to negligence, and that our denizens would find a way into this realm. I wanted to give you a fighting chance. The Fearless were my gift to mankind.” “But . . . Why would you even care? None of the djinn in your fifth dimension seem to give a crap.” “Oh, believe me the monopoly on ‘giving a crap’ about humanity doesn’t belong solely to

Erebus. There are others who care, many of which have little or no power to affect the balance of things. But I do. Ibris and I were . . . friends. His death came as a huge blow to me, and the resulting chaos could not go unchecked. I may not agree with our creator as to his choice of favourite, but he is my creator also, and I feel honour-bound to protect what he so lovingly crafted.” His lips curved in a soft smile that was at odds with the person I was starting to know. “Besides, living amongst you from time to time, I have come to develop a fondness of my own for this beast called humanity, and all the qualms that come with it.” He inhaled and exhaled sharply. “So I do my part. I take care of the Fearless, and I work at bringing peace to the fifth dimension in any way I can, because only peace will silence the hoard.” That wasn’t the impression I’d picked up from the conversation he’d had with Erebus in the library. “So you try convincing Erebus to abandon humanity and help you gain the throne?” I snorted. “Abandon us to the hoard and an ever-dwindling

supply of Fearless while you ‘work’ at bringing peace to the fifth dimension.” His lips twitched. “Someone has been a sneaky eavesdropping human.” His expression sobered. “I didn’t say my plan was perfect, and yes lives would be forfeit, both djinn and human, but the long-term outcome would benefit us all. Erebus is merely slapping a band-aid on the problem, one that keeps getting soaked in blood and needing to be replaced.” His eyes lingered on the collar at my neck and I reached up to touch it automatically. Baal leaned in. “I’m not a martyr like Erebus. I’m not into self-flagellation. He means well, but he merely treats the symptoms, not the cause.” He had a point, however twisted it may be. “So are you going to make more Fearless? Because last I checked ranks were pretty slim.” He frowned. “Yes, that’s something that I’m looking into as we speak.” “Good.” I sat back and crossed my arms. He smiled wryly. “I’m glad you approve.” He ran his eyes over the collar and once again

and I tensed. I hated being reminded of it, of what it meant. “What you did was very courageous Kenna, and I’m sorry my negligence put you in that position in the first place. It seems that senior management has been making decisions without consulting my office. Your name should not have gone on that list—spying on Erebus was a stupid idea, and one I would never have approved.” Well that was rich coming from him. I raised a brow. He arched one back. “What? My personal spying doesn’t count, but you shouldn’t have been forced to get involved.” I averted my gaze to stare out at the tinted streets as they whizzed by. “What I did was allow myself to be manipulated.” There was a long beat of silence. “No.” “No?” I turned away from the tinted glass and locked gazes with him. He leaned forward, scanning my face with those penetrating eyes. “I saw you the day you confronted Samson. Yes, you were bruised and

swollen, but I barely noticed your wounds. I noticed the defiance in your eyes, the determined set to your jaw, and I knew this was a woman who would fight for what she believed in. And you did. You fought for humanity by accepting that collar. Erebus’s . . . attentions simply made the decision easier.” He sat back, his lips lifting in a half smile. “So I guess you are here to take me back.” He inclined his head. “Erebus was very specific.” “And do you always do what Erebus wants?” He laughed—a rolling sound that made my stomach quiver. “Only when it suits my own purposes, and right now, as Erebus so eloquently put it, your soul is a battery we can’t afford to lose. We can’t risk your untimely death.” Erebus had said that? My chest ached. The tiny hope I’d been harbouring that maybe I’d been wrong about him flickered and died. I didn’t want these feelings anymore. I didn’t want to yearn for his silver-eyed regard, or his thunderstorm scent. I didn’t want to think about the touch of his fingers on my face, or the heat of his hands wrapped

around my waist. I wanted it all gone. But there was no running from destiny, and mum had been insistent that I speak to Lauren before I returned to the flame. Lauren had answers, and I was more than ready for them. I sat up straight. “I need to speak to someone before we leave for Evernight.” A buzzing filled the back of the limo. Baal flicked a switch by his armrest. “What is it Finley?” “Sir I believe we have a tail.” Baal rolled his eyes. “It looks like we’re being followed by government suits. Some smart overly cautious idiot obviously thought a security detail might be useful. There may be some dissention in the ranks in need of my personal brand of intervention. In the meantime, we’re going to have to get creative.” He tapped his chin and then his eyes lit up. “You’re going to have to escape.” “Escape?” I glanced about. “What do you want me to do? Jump out of a moving motor vehicle?”

His eyes narrowed. “No. That would be foolish. You can jump out at the next intersection.” He flashed me his even, white teeth. “And if they follow me?” “You evade.” He held out a business card. “Call me in a few hours and I’ll come for you.” Great! “Fine. Get me to Market Borough. I know a place I can hide out.” And get some answers. Baal pressed tin intercom button. “Finley, take us through Market Borough.” “Yes sir.” We rode in silence for the next ten minutes and then a thought occurred to me. “What’s your excuse for going via Market Borough?” “I’ll think of something. Besides, when they see the state I’m in they’ll have other things to worry about.” “What do you mean?” He held out his empty glass. “You’re going to attack me with this.” I plucked it from his fingers and turned it over in my hands. It was quality cut crystal, if I

thwacked him with it I’d definitely make a dent. “Don’t worry about hurting me. I can handle it, and it’s perfectly plausible that an old man such as the colonel could have been overpowered by a girl.” “They won’t buy it. They’ll ask questions” His eyes blazed. “They’ll ask no such thing.” My throat tightened and my next words dried up in my mouth. He leaned toward me, eyes still glowing eerily. “They won’t say a thing.” I couldn’t speak. Wait . . . what had I been going to ask? My head was filled with cotton wool. He blinked, releasing me from his hypnotic gaze. The glow ebbed and my tongue loosened. “What just happened?” “Different djinn have different abilities, and one of mine is the power of suggestion.” “Hypnotism?” “Oh, Kenna, it’s so much more than that.” He glanced out the window. “We’re here. You can jump out when we hit the market. Now hit me.” I stared at the glass and then at his beautiful

face. His lips curved in a smug smile. “What’s wrong? I know you’re short one leg, but did Erebus steal your backbone too?” I lifted the glass and swung it as hard as I could.

CHAPTER 41

T

he screech of a vehicle coming to a sharp stop and the clanging of car doors was followed by several voices raised in

alarm. Someone called for an ambulance, but I was already diving into the sea of bodies that made up the heart of Market Borough. I’d given Baal a good thwack; there’d even been some blood. But he’d taken it without flinching. The guy was made of steel. The limo had slid to a halt, and Baal had practically shoved me out of the vehicle. I lost myself in the crowd as best as I could; staying in the eye of the hubbub as I wound my way toward Clovers. The smell of spices, barbequed meat, and roasting peppers was heavy in the air. The weight of magick settled on my shoulders; it was thick in the atmosphere today, almost tangible. My stomach grumbled, reminding me that it had been almost

twelve hours since my last meal, maybe more. How long had I remained passed out after the binding? Here, in the centre of the Market, amidst the hustle and loud hum of conversation as buyers bartered with stall owners, I was just another body. No one looked twice at the girl with the wild hair, distinctive scar, and strange silver collar. I cut a left through the people soup and slipped down the alley that opened up on the same street as Clovers. The alley glowed with everlight posts and I moved fast, past trash cans and stairwells, keeping my head down, afraid that any moment someone would shout my name. I stepped out on the other side and took a left. The street here wasn’t as busy as the market. There were sit-down eateries, a few quaint coffee shops, and the odd knick-knack store. People milled about at a leisurely pace, stopping to look through windows or buy a cup of steaming coffee. The atmosphere was chilled, and I matched it with my stride. Even though all I wanted to do was run up the street and barrel into Clovers, the last thing I needed was to call attention to myself—the suits

would be canvassing the area soon, and the less memorable I was the better. So I stopped outside an antique store and pretended to study the pretty cuckoo clock in the window display, loitered for a moment by an old book store and feigned interest in a pristine leather bound copy of the Velveteen Rabbit, before heading straight into the glowing light of Clovers’ business sign. Pretty confident I hadn’t been spotted, I ducked into the bar. Valla’s mouth dropped open when she saw me. Her gold sequinned dress winked in the bar lights and her heavily made-up eyes grew round with shock. I made a beeline for the bar and she blinked rapidly before raising the barrier to let me through. “Kenna, my god!” Valla followed me into the kitchens and pulled me into her arms for tight hug. “Oh, babe, I thought you were a goner.” Breathe, just . . . breathe. Extricating myself I gripped her shoulders. “I need to see Lauren.” Valla’s lips turned down in a disgruntled frown. “Yeah. So do I.” “What do you mean?” Her hands went to her hips. “It means I’ve

been running this place by myself for the past month. Oh he checks in now and then—fly-by visits—but I can see it in his eyes, he’s not all here you know.” She tapped the side of her head and then flicked her sleek hair back over her shoulders. “Losing you really took a toll on him, but now you’re back maybe things can return to normal.” She paused and raked me over. “Wait . . . How are you back?” “I don’t have the time to explain. I need to find Lauren and then I need to get back to Evernight.” “Are you crazy? Why in the world would you want to go back to that cesspit?” “Long story. If it all works out I might tell you over one of your awesome cocktails one day.” She sighed. “Well, good luck. You know where to look for Lauren, and if you find him you tell him to either get his ass back here and help me, or give me permission to hire some more staff because—” “Hey! Is anyone back there?” Valla broke off and rolled her eyes. “Coming!” She took my hand. “I have no idea what the fuck is

going on, but good luck.” And then she was gone, and I was moving as fast as I could down the spiral staircase into the basement below. *** He didn’t come when I called him—no surprise there considering what Valla had said. I’d just assumed he would come when I called. Yeah. Arrogant much? My weary reflection stared back at me from the smooth surface of the mirror, and my eyes pricked with the dawn of a new understanding. I needed him. Not just the answers that mum had promised he would have for me, but him: his serenity, his assurance, his tenderness. I sniffed back tears and swallowed the lump in my throat. Dammit Carter, this is no time to get all weepy. Shake it off! Where there was a will, there had to be a way. I glared at the unresponsive mirror and a conviction began to blossom in my chest. If Lauren

wouldn’t come to me then I’d go to Lauren. I wasn’t human anymore. The collar had changed me. Maybe, if I willed it. Maybe if I wanted it enough . . . Closing my eyes I visualised his perfect face: his high cheekbones, warm hazel eyes flecked with sunshine, and the exact timbre of his voice. My fingers made contact with the mirror and began to tingle. Yes. This was it. A strange buzzing sensation moved over my fingers, travelled up my hand and across my wrist. Another step and my whole body was covered in tiny vibrations that made my teeth ache and my hair stand up on end. One more step and the tingle was gone. I opened my eyes to a small, sparsely furnished room. The desk and bookcases identified it as a study. Behind me the mirror sat innocuous and unassuming. So this was Lauren’s place. “Lauren?” Light streamed in from a window on the other side of the desk. I moved around it and peered outside. There was nothing but rolling emerald plains and clear mauve skies. If not for the vivid

colours I’d have assumed we were in one of the country boroughs of Lindrealm, but there was no hiding from the Something on the small oval photo portrait. A face

fact that this was Twilight. desk caught my attention—a frame containing a painted stared back at me with a

mischievous glint in her eyes—eyes that I saw every time I looked in the mirror. It was me, my face. Except in this portrait there was no birthmark to mar the creamy perfection of my skin. In this portrait I was beautiful. Had Lauren painted this? Was this how he saw me? A warm flush crawled up my neck. Placing the portrait back on the desk I let myself out into the rest of the house. *** It didn’t take me long to search for Lauren and come up empty—there weren’t that many rooms to search. Aside from the study on the first floor, there was one small bedroom containing a neatly made bed and a wardrobe. Next door was a washroom

comprised of a tub and sink. The ground floor was made up of a kitchen diner and a small sitting room which contained an easy chair, a small two-seater sofa, a fireplace, a coffee table, and a low bookcase. This was where Lauren lived. This was his home. It was a male space, minimal, efficient and unlived in. My heart ached as the pieces of his life fell together in my mind . . . This was the living space of someone who was very much alone. Aside from the portrait of me on his desk there were no other pictures or knick-knacks to suggest family or friends. Guilt clawed at my insides. Why hadn’t I once stopped to ask Lauren how he lived or what made him happy? Why hadn’t I made more of an effort to push past the barrier and force him to talk about his personal life? I’d come to visit him, sure, but only when I needed something—the mark reinked, information on a case, and most recently, a place to stay. Each time he’d been there for me, ready to shoulder whatever burden I was carrying. What kind of friend was I?

No friend at all. But there was time to make that right, to be a true friend. My stomach rumbled, so I wandered into the kitchen in search of food. The larder was pretty bare. Just a few stale rolls and some butter. It would have to do. The bread worked its magick and my tummy finally shut up. There was no way of knowing when he’d be back or even if he was coming back, but I was exhausted. A nap would help me think straight. Curling up on the sofa I switched off. *** Voices, garbled but urgent, woke me. A stranger glared down at me. I lashed out, knocking him upside the head, and tried to scramble off the sofa. He grabbed my arm and pinned me down. I screamed and footfalls echoed down the stairs. “Lauren you have an intruder,” my assailant

said. “What?” Lauren appeared at the foot of the stairs. “Lauren!” I slapped at the strange Twilighter’s hands, but his grip was relentless. “Bran, let her go. That’s Kenna.” Bran’s brows shot up and he released me and moved back. “Aye. I see it now, ‘cept for the . . .” he held his index finger to his face and wagged it up and down by his eye. “It’s a birthmark. And it’s fine, you can say it, but if you stare I’ll poke out your eyes.” He chuckled. “Lot more feisty than I recall.” Recall? We’d never met. Lauren took my hand and pulled me to my feet. “Did you not see me when you came in?” I indicated the front door. Lauren looked to the stairs. “We came through the mirror.” So it wasn’t just a direct doorway from the bar to here. I guess I was lucky I’d ended up where I’d needed to be.

“You found your way in.” His face was streaked with grime, but he smelled amazing. I leaned in and inhaled. “What is that?” Lauren stilled. “Just me.” I stared at him, wide eyed. “No. You’ve never smelled like that!” Lauren averted his gaze. Bran cleared his throat. “I’m gonna scavenge in your kitchen.” His steps receded. Had Lauren’s skin always been this smooth? Had his eyes always been this luminous? And his scent . . . It was intoxicating. A flicker of arousal licked at my belly. I reached up, desperate to caress his flawless skin. His eyes darkened, his lips parted, but then he pressed them together in a firm line and grasped my wrist before my fingers could make contact with his face. “We should talk.” He released me and stepped back, taking that awesome smell with him. Why was he taking it away from me? “Stop, just don’t come any closer.” He ran his hands through his hair. “Fuck!” The crass curse falling from his lips was

enough to smack some sense into me. I backed away. The scent dulled and my senses returned. “What’s happening?” A figure appeared behind Lauren. “You must be referring to Lauren’s mating call.” I recognised that heavy beard laced with grey, those stormy eyes and heavy brows—he was the Twilighter who’d used the black stone to send me to Erebus. “I know you!” He grinned. “Impudent human.” He offered me a mock bow. “Aaron at your service.” And then his previous words registered. “Mating call?” I looked from Lauren to Aaron, the former wouldn’t meet my eye, but the latter dropped me a wink before ambling off toward the kitchen. “Lauren?” “It’s nothing you need to worry about. Once every ten years, unmated Twilighter males let off pheromones that attract potential mates.” “So that smell?” “My pheromones.”

“But then why can I . . . Oh!” My mixed DNA. The left corner of his mouth lifted. “It’s alright. Just don’t get too close.” I nodded. “So have you . . . found anyone yet?” “I haven’t been looking.” He kept his gaze averted. “But enough about that, we have much to discuss. The fact that you’re here tells me that you’re ready to know.” He walked toward the steps. “Go wait in the kitchen. I just need to fetch something.” He took the stairs two at a time. He hadn’t seemed surprised to see me here. Mum had said he would have answers, but suddenly I wasn’t so sure I wanted them. *** Bran and Aaron were at the table stuffing their faces with stale rolls. I hovered in the doorway. “So, what have you guys been up to?” Bran swallowed and took a huge glug of water. “Reconnaissance.” He winked and Aaron laughed.

I noted for the first time how grubby their clothes were. Their beards hid the grime on their faces, but when I looked closer I could see it was there. “What kind of reconnaissance?” Bane opened his mouth to answer but Aaron cut him off. “No need for you to worry about that. You have your own destiny to untangle.” Before I could question them further, Lauren strode in. He moved past me quickly and came to stand by the door that led to the garden. “Here, this belongs to you.” He placed a vial on the table and moved back to the door once again. A shimmering ethereal white substance swirled inside the vial. “What is it?” “Your memories.” I looked at him sharply. “What are you on about?” He swallowed hard. “You’re not human Kenna.” God he looked so serious. “I know.”

“You do?” “I’m some kind of hybrid soul.” I pointed to the collar around my neck. “It’s why I can wear this thing. You do know about the flame right? Mum seems to think you know plenty.” The sombre expression didn’t shift. “I know about the flame. I figured, since you’re wearing the collar, that you know you’re a hybrid soul. But when I said you’re not human, I meant not at all. Your hybrid soul is made up of two sets of otherworld DNA.” Not human at all? That couldn’t be right. I’d kinda figured that mum was Twilighter due to her connection to Lauren, but my dad was human. I’d never met him, but mum told such wonderful stories about what an amazing man he was . . . was any of it true? “Kenna?” “Sorry I just . . .Who am I? What am I?” “You are the last living heir to the Ibris’ throne.” Had I heard him right? “Kenna, you’re part efreet.” His expression

grew animated. “You have a claim to the throne. Are you understanding me?” This couldn’t be happening. It was just too much. “How . . . How can you be so sure?” “Your mother is a Twilighter Kenna, and a long time ago, before Ibris fell, she was his lover.” My mother and Ibris? No . . . This was just too much. I was human . . . I had humanity. “You’re part Twilighter and part djinn—an unheard of combination. Twilighters tend to have a natural aversion to djinn, and even if they did decide to copulate they shouldn’t be able to produce offspring. You, Kenna, are an anomaly, and a closely guarded secret, until now.” He waved his hand in the vial’s direction. “Drink it and be whole.” “And you? How are you connected to all of this?” “The answers you need are in that vial.” “Fine.” I picked up the vial, unscrewed the lid, and downed the contents. “Well? What’s supposed to . . .”

“I don’t want to kill it!” “You’ll kill it if you want ta eat.” Aaron said. I shook my head. “I’d rather starve.” We were out in the wilds, just the two of us. This was my trial, my path to becoming a warrior. I hated this body, this male form that they had forced me into. But the black mages were insistent. To grow I must experience. Aaron shrugged. “Then you’ll starve.” He turned his rabbit, already slaughtered and skinned, on a spit. It smelled delicious, and surely Aaron wouldn’t let me go hungry. So I waited until his rabbit was cooked, watching surreptitiously as he cut up the meat and then almost sobbed with hunger as he gobbled it all up. He licked his fingers clean and dropped me a wink. “Sleep well, Dale.” My stomach grumbled, then growled, but I stood my ground. I would not kill an innocent animal for food. The rabbit in the sack hopped around for a good hour and finally went still. Hunger clawing at my belly, I carefully untied the bag. I didn’t want to kill the animal but a part of

me, the part that strived to survive, wouldn’t allow me to set it free either. The rabbit lay still and glassy eyed in the sack. Dead. It must have suffocated. Slowly, almost reverently I pulled it out of the sack. My stomach screamed out for food but I took my time, carefully cleaning and skinning the animal before spearing it on the spit. “You got lucky there boy,” Aaron said. I ignored him, still angry with him for making me do this. “I don’t enjoy the kill, but to survive we must sometimes make harsh choices, and—” “I don’t want to hear it!” I snapped. In this life my voice had yet to break, but my mind was sharp—decades old—and I was weary. “I don’t want to do this any longer.” “Baby girl, this way you won’t feel the passage of time. This way when the time is right we can give you back all your memories. All the

knowledge,” Ma said. “And who decides when the time is right?” I couldn’t keep the bitterness out of my tone. This time I was a woman in a seaside village saturated with the smell of fish. The black mages had left me alone, eager to watch me forge my own path, and I’d done well for myself—married a rich merchant who had unfortunately been killed at sea. He’d left me financially secure and I’d spent the next decade purchasing property and land until I owned two-thirds of the village. It was time to move on, because learning was the objective, and getting noticed was a prohibited. Ma smoothed my hair. “This way you won’t feel so trapped Anna.” I wanted it over. I wanted to be ready. I wanted to claim what was rightfully mine. “I don’t want to go. I want to stay here with you!” I clung to Lauren, a storm of tears gathering behind my eyes. Lauren pulled away slightly, forcing me to look up into his youthful face. “We still have time,

Brialla. Let’s not waste it with tears.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes and the storm broke. I clung to his shirt, sobbing into the soft fabric, knowing that from this moment on our time together was rapidly running short. “I won’t forget, Lauren. I’ll come back.” Our lips were a mere inch apart and I wanted him to finally do it, to kiss me, to claim me. All this time he’d kept a distance, loving me but never loving me, but now it was time for me to leave and be made anew. I needed this to ground me. I needed to remember. “Lauren . . .” It was a quivering demand. His eyes darkened, his lips descended on mine . . . “Will it hurt?” Ma nodded. “Yes baby girl, it will hurt, but you won’t remember the pain, and I’ll be there when it’s over. I promise.” I looked over her shoulder at Halle and Frederick, Lauren’s parents. Lauren hadn’t come. We’d agreed to say our goodbyes the night before,

below the stars with heated kisses and desperate caresses. My skin tingled at the memory—a memory which I’d now have to relinquish. “Are you ready?” Ma held out a vial. I took it, staring at the dark substance inside. “I’m ready.” And I was. I knew what I needed to do and who I needed to become to reach my goal. I needed to grow, learn and experience. But most importantly, I needed to live. I unscrewed the vial and tipped the contents into my mouth. The trance released me and I surfaced, filled with memories that felt strange and alien in my mind. Lauren’s chest rose and fell rapidly. “I’ve waited for this moment for so long . . . for you to remember me and what we had.” Yes, I remembered. I remembered it all, but it was like a movie I’d watched a long time ago and recalled fondly. The memories settled into the back of my mind as if they’d never left—my many lives and my first true love, Lauren. But the surge of

love and passion didn’t come. He was watching me expectantly, but after a few seconds his smiled died and his expression shuttered. He’d always read me so easily. What could I say? There were no words. He’d waited for me all this time . . . “I’m sorry. I really am. I just don’t—” “Feel it. You don’t feel it. I get it.” His lips tightened and he stepped into my personal space, forcing his scent on me and filling my head with a yearning ache. “Do you feel it now?” Oh, fuck. The pulse between my thighs throbbed with need. Yes. I wanted him. A hand clamped on my arm and yanked me away from Lauren. “No,” Aaron stood between us, his attention fixed on Lauren. “Not like this. Go get some air.” There was no arguing with that tone. Lauren dropped his head into his hands. “I’m sorry . . .” he stumbled back toward the door and out into the garden. Aaron pulled out a chair and asked me to sit. “I feel terrible.”

“Don’t. This is the way it was meant to be.” Aaron said. “Bran, Frederick, and I were charged to protect you as a babe. Lauren took the reins once his father passed.” “Yes I remember. You were members of the black mages.” “Good.” I smiled. “Aye, and the rabbit you wanted me to kill.” His eyes lit up with the memory. “You were a stubborn thing, still are by the sounds of it. I remember the day your mother came to us, carrying Ibris’s seed—carrying you. At first we were sceptical of her story, but then she birthed you. We were on the move, you see, the three of us charged with keeping her safe. I remember the moon that night, full and proud to guide us. You were born in an abandoned barn. No witness except the three of us and the moon herself. You burned so bright you lit up the night sky and we were forced to realise that we may be in possession of the one thing that could end the chaos in the fifth dimension. We’ve worked ever since to mask you, to hide you and

protect you, for if certain players were to discover your existence too soon then your life would have been forfeit.” I remembered now. As part djinn I’d needed time to mature and gain the world knowledge essential to the growth of my power, so that one day I could claim my rightful place on the throne. I remembered the first five lifetimes, never lasting more than a few decades, and never staying in one place too long. Then there’d been the pain of rebirth—over and over again until I was sick to my stomach of the cycle. “Once we agreed to store your memories you seemed more content. You and Lauren fell in love, despite Frederick’s best efforts, and then it was time to move you to the human realm. We planned on taking your memories again, but Lauren was a young man in love and argued with his father about letting you go. Why to the human realm, he said, why can’t she stay here with us until she’s ready? You overheard and we were forced to tell you the truth. You were devastated.: “But why move me? Surely Lauren had a

point.” “You were finally ready for the biggest lesson . . .” Oh god. “Humanity . . .” He grinned. “Yes. Humanity. To understand what made them tick you’d need to live amongst them, as one of them. If you were to truly grow as ruler of djinn, you needed to understand the nature of man. Only then would you succeed in enforcing the laws that protected humanity by making it untouchable.” “Humans are supposed to be a no-go area for djinn?” “Yes. Also for Twilighters, although in times of chaos the rules haven’t always been enforced. Ibris’s death brought chaos to all our worlds and it spread fast. You were reborn in the human realm, but it soon became evident that being in the mortal realm didn’t give you humanity.” Bran cleared his throat. “Your mother soon realised that humanity was linked to the mortal soul, and until you had one of your own you wouldn’t be able to fully absorb the essence of

humanity.” “So,” Aaron continued. “Your mother had another child with a human male.” “Bella . . .” My hands grew cold. I didn’t like where this was leading. “We bound Bella’s soul to yours, and through Bella you finally learned what it was to be human.” Bella was my humanity? All this time I’d been strutting about, arrogant because of my humanity, thinking I was better than the refugees that lived amongst us. Believing my life meant more than theirs, that I was special. Mums words . . . Cimren’s words . . . They surged up in my mind like a precognitive warning. Humanity was a gift that could be shared . . . just like Bella had shared hers with me. Through her I’d finally become the woman I was meant to be but . . . if Bella’s soul was bound to me like I was bound to the flame then . . . oh god . . . That’s why she was sick. The collar was draining Bella through me! I grasped the metal at my neck. “I have to get this off!” Aaron smiled sadly and shook his head. “It

was always meant to be this way, Kenna. Bella was always meant to be the sacrificial child. One life to save the many.” I tugged on the collar, my vision clouding, my eyes burning. I was doing this. I was killing my baby sister! “Please, there must be some way to save her.” “I’m sorry Kenna. I wish there was. But you can honour her memory by saving humanity. Don’t let her sacrifice be for nothing.” Her sacrifice? She hadn’t agreed to any of this, she was just a child, a child who looked up to her big sister. Who expected her big sister to protect her from all the monsters out there, and now her sister was the monster that was slowly killing her. “Kenna, you know in your heart what you need to do. You’ve always known it by instinct, and now you have your memories back you can be certain of your path,” Bran said. “It was the reason you put on that collar.” Aaron said “You were ready to sacrifice yourself to save humanity, even without remembering your true nature or purpose.”

Except I’d thought I’d be saving my sister too . . . I blinked back tears of impotence. I didn’t want this . . . didn’t want the memories or the responsibility if it meant losing her. She was the biggest piece of my heart. I couldn’t . . . I wouldn’t survive without her. “She can’t die. I can’t lose her.” Aaron pressed his lips together. “Dammit, Kenna, child, if she lives they all die. Every last one of them. Every man, woman, and child in Lindrealm will be consumed by the hoard. You know what you have to do. You know it.” Even if it meant killing a part of myself? Oh god . . . even if it meant killing a part of myself . . . I drew a shuddering breath and exhaled through my nose. “How much time does she have?” Bran shrugged. “I couldn’t say, but the closer you are to the flame the less it needs to siphon.” I remembered why the flame was so important now, what it really was. I needed to get back to it. Aaron had sent me to the fortress the first time with his strange black gem.

“Can you send me back?” “The portal stone only works once a year, on the day the tithe is collected.” Crap! It looked like I’d have to do it the hard way. I fingered Baal’s business card tucked in my pocket. “How will you get back?” Bran asked. “Don’t worry. I know a djinn who has connections. I should be fine. If not, I’ll head back here and we’ll have to take a trip through Twilight to get there.” They exchanged strained glances. “What?” “Cutting through Twilight is not an option,” Aaron said. “Why?” “We can’t risk you being spotted,” Bran explained. I didn’t have time for this overly cautious crap. “I’ve lived five lifetimes in Twilight, I think I know how to keep a low profile. Besides, these players you kept me safe from all these years won’t be looking for a human.”

“Aaron . . .” Bran said. Aaron shook his head sharply. They were hiding something. “Tell me.” Aaron fixed me with his steely gaze. “No. Now isn’t the time. But I give you my word that I will tell you everything soon.” There was no time to argue. I was on a clock. Bella was on a clock. I needed to get back to the flame to slow down its siphoning effects. It wouldn’t save her but . . . That was something I didn’t want to dwell on. I pushed back my chair and stood. “It was good to see you again guys, and thanks . . . for keeping me alive.” Bran inclined his head. “We may have helped hide you Kenna, but make no mistake, you are solely responsible for not losing your life.” His attention dropped to my leg. He knew about that? I stood a little taller. Yes, I was alive and I had a task to fulfil. ***

To leave without saying goodbye to Lauren would have been cruel. He sat on a bench in the garden watching the moon. “I have to leave.” “I know.” There were no words to sooth his pain and no time to think of any. “Thanks for protecting me and guiding me. Thanks for just being there.” He looked at me with a wry smile. “Every time you walked away, every time you said goodbye, all that kept me going was the thought of the moment that I would give you back your memories. I clung to the hope that you would remember what we had and that we would finally be reunited.” “I’m s—” “Don’t apologise. Please. This is not your fault. This is just . . . life.” He looked away, his face etched in moonlight. “The day you decided to be Fearless I knew we’d done the right thing. That you were on the right path and it would all be worthwhile to see you on the throne where you

belonged.” He dropped his gaze to my wrist and I followed it. The mark was all but gone now. “Did you know that Twilighters were made from angel tears?” I shook my head. He chuckled. “Well, that’s what they say. We burn bright and beautiful for eternity, and yet we are woven from sorrow.” He stood and smoothed down his pants. “I will survive your loss, Kenna. I promise you.” But his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Besides, there are battles to be fought right here.” His words should have brought me relief, so why did my stomach flutter with anxiety? “I should go.” “Goodbye Kenna.” I headed back into the house where a mirror was waiting to take me back to the human realm.

CHAPTER 42

V

alla was standing in the kitchen, her eyes glued to the tiny T.V. screen she kept in there for her breaks. Her lips were

parted slightly and her Adam’s apple bobbed up and down nervously. “Hey? What you watching?” It was an emergency broadcast. A reporter was standing on the Times Bridge with the gateway to Evernight behind him. Men in uniform ran back and forth before the gate, but the thing that caught my attention, the scene that had Valla gulping in fear, was the frothing dark mass that was gathering in the centre of the usually smooth gate. Swirls of crimson and purple laced through the seething mass. Tendrils of darkness began to seep out into the air. Dark laces of menace wove around the guards, and then they were firing on each other. Several other tendrils slipped away, over the city. “What the hell is it?”

It was my turn to swallow. “It’s the hoard.” *** I dialled Baal’s number for the third time only to get a busy signal. The phone lines were temperamental at best, and this madness had probably clogged our only network. Shit! This couldn’t be happening, shouldn’t be happening. The Everlight news station was going wild with reports of senseless violence breaking out all across the city. I dialled mum’s mobile for the second time expecting a busy tone again and almost ended the call prematurely when she answered. “Hello?!” “Mum! Mum it’s me, Kenna. Are you okay? Is Bella okay?” There was a rustling sound. “Kenna?” Bella said into the phone. “I feel better Kenna, but the angel said that’s bad.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “She told me everything.” My heart stuttered. “Oh, Bella . . .”

“You have to save them, Kenna. You have to save them from the biggest monster of all. I promise, it’s okay to let me go.” A sob caught in my throat. “I love you . . . I love you so much.” The rustling again. “Kenna! What did you do?” Mum asked. “Bella’s vitals started to stabilise. Honey whatever you did, whatever you think you’re doing, it’s not worth the life of every man, woman, and child in this city.” Her voice cracked. “I know you love Bella. I love her too, so very much, but this is how it needs to be. She won’t be alone. I promise you she will never be alone.” Commotion broke out in the background—a scream that seemed too close. “Oh dear god. I have to go. Kenna fix this!” The line went dead. I stared at the handset in my hand. My other hand went to the collar, to the laser-made crack that now marred its surface. The damage must have somehow severed my link to the flame. There was no time for speculation. Dialling Baal’s number from memory I waited. Yes! This time it rang. Pick

up, pick up, pick up . . . “Kenna.” How did he know it was me? “Yes. I need to get back to the Evernight asap.” “Where are you?” “Market Borough.” “No good. They’ve closed down the slip road and riots are breaking out in Market Borough as we speak. I’ve had to authorise the dispatch of every Fearless unit we have.” I glanced at the T.V. and saw the list of boroughs hit scroll across the bottom of the screen. A loud crash had both Valla and I jumping. Valla ran out into the bar and was back a moment later. “Someone threw a brick through the window.” She wrung her hands. “There’s a panic room in the basement behind the mirror. It’s big enough for the two of us. You coming?” “Kenna? Kenna, listen to me.” Baal’s tone was calm and steady. “Get up high. As high as you can.” “What?” “Just do it.” The line went dead.

Valla took my shoulders. “Are you coming?” Her eyes flashed in panic. I shook my head. “No, you go. I have somewhere I desperately need to be.” I watched her disappear down the spiral staircase, and then, taking a deep breath, I headed out into the chaos. *** Screams and crashes, firebombs and makeshift weapons. An old lady battering a young man with an umbrella, her eyes black veined orbs of horror. A young woman screamed in another woman’s face, every obscenity under the sun. I hugged the buildings, keeping out of the fray, watching the black smoke wind its way through the crowd, caressing people, turning them into feral beasts. The sun had almost set and the streets were growing dark—a pulsing mass of rage and anger. Oh god please let me be able to stop this. Get as high as you can, he’d said. I scanned the buildings, looking for the tallest one and then I

saw it—an apartment building eight stories high. It was the best I was going to get, but to reach it I would need to cut through the insanity. I would need to be touched by the hoard. My skin crawled. My breath quickened. And then I was diving into the madness. Someone grabbed my hair and twisted, making my scalp scream in pain and my eyes water. I spun and slammed the palm of my hand into the centre of their chest. A few more steps and I earned a kick to the shin. It knocked me off balance but I managed to stay on my feet, veering to the left a little until I was able to regain my balance. The smoke was all around me and yet it didn’t touch me. It was as if it either didn’t see me, or didn’t like me. I could live with that. And then someone punched me in the head. The world exploded with stars, and I hit the ground with my knees. The world spun and my vision blurred. “Get up bitch!” A kick to the ribs had me squealing in pain.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t do this. I wasn’t strong. I wasn’t special. I was just a woman with one leg and a desire to live. I was no saviour. And that’s when I heard them. The voices of my past: Dale, Anna, Brialla, and so many more —we died so you could live, you are the last incarnation Kenna, do not let our lives or our deaths have been in vain. The pain ebbed and my vision cleared. My veins flooded with hot adrenaline, and as if several hands were assisting, I rose to my feet. Nothing else but mattered but getting up onto the apartment building roof. Shoving, pushing, and punching, I barrelled through the crowd. No remorse, only antipathy. They were ants in my way, and if need be I would crush them. Breaking from the mass, I ran for the building. The door was wide open. I took the stairs: a machine, an automaton, here but not here. Eight flights of stairs and not a twinge in my leg. The rioting was background noise to the roar of blood in

my ears. Shoving open the door to the roof I staggered out into the evening air. My senses came rushing back—the horror of how I’d just behaved followed closely by the burning pain in my legs. I slammed and barred the door before collapsing onto the roof. I’d made it. With their help I’d made it. They hovered in the back of my mind—my alter egos— the people I’d once been. They knew the hidden parts of me. Baal, where are you? Get up high he’d said. My good leg throbbed with a dull ache, and a quick examination showed a laceration roughly thirty centimetres long. My hands trembled as I tried to staunch the blood. How hadn’t I felt it? What if it got infected What if I lost this leg too? The roof door reverberated with a clang that came from within. The crazy people were trying to get onto the roof! My alters buzzed and bustled inside my mind, but I knew they had exceeded themselves for today. They were tapped out.

The door clanged again and a dent formed in the metal. Adrenaline gave people immense strength, and the hoard was affecting people’s minds. Gearing up their fight or flight response. It was turning them into monsters. The dent grew with another clang. Soon the bolt would snap and they’d come for me. A fist of fear closed itself around my heart. You’re Fearless remember? Be Fearless. But I wasn’t, not really. It had always been a lie, and there wasn’t enough oxygen in the world to release the band around my palpitating heart. It’s okay, Kenna. Breathe. Just breathe. I knew that melodious voice. “Sabriel?” I’m here, and I won’t leave you. Get me out of here, please. There was a long beat of silence and then the whisper of a sigh. I can’t. You know I can’t. Anger was my closest companion and he reared his head now, roaring into the night. “Then fuck off! Just fuck off. What good are you anyway?” Silence followed, and I hoped he was gone. I

hoped I’d hurt him. As the door continued to bow, and the bolt continued to weaken, I looked up into the night sky —an inky blanket dotted with twinkling stars. I focused on the beauty and blocked out the cacophony of horrific sounds that drifted up from below and the demolishing of the roof door, much too close for comfort. I closed my eyes. A great gust of wind whipped my hair back off my shoulders and warm solid arms lifted me up into the air. Sabriel? No not Sabriel . . . “Baal . . .” His pulled me toward his unyielding chest and wrapped his arms around me. The air surrounding us was a cyclone that held us cocooned at its centre, and the world melted away. The soft whoosh and buzz of air pressed us closer together until there was no room for modesty. “How are you doing this?” His chest vibrated with a low guttural sound, and his lips grazed my ear. “I am the air, and the air is me.”

My stomach dropped. we were ascending. His grip tightened. “Don’t let go.” Hardly. I wrapped myself around him and closed my eyes, allowing myself to drift in the sweet intoxicating scent that was all Baal. “I will take you to the fortress. You must find a way to reconnect with the flame or we are all doomed.” I nodded into the hollow of his neck. He had no idea who or what I was, and I couldn’t risk revealing my hand now. I’d spent too many lives hiding from those that meant me harm, and Baal was a contender for the throne that was rightfully mine. I tilted my head back and looked up into his face, all angles and symmetry. “I know what I have to do.”

CHAPTER 43

T

he world re-emerged as we landed on my balcony. I unwound my arms from about his neck but he held onto me a moment

longer than he needed. Pulling away, I stumbled into the fortress. There was no time for thank you or goodbye. If the hoard got free it would annihilate not only the human realm but the Twilight realm, and eventually the fifth dimension. I had to get to the flame. Please, please take me to the flame. Please! The enchanted brick and mortar had to deliver me where I needed to be. I yanked open my chamber door and stepped onto the bridge leading to the flame, except . . . there was no flame. An ember glowed weakly in its place, so frail that if I moved too quickly it might blow out. I limped across the bridge, gritting my teeth around the pain in both my legs. The wound in my good leg was still bleeding and my prosthetic was rubbing my stump raw. The

flame ebbed and rose a little. Placing my hand to the glass did nothing. The connection was broken. Below me, dried-up husks floated in the dream pool. “You need to be with the flame,” Mum had said. The flame, which was the final essence of Ibris. Ibris, my father. My father. My flame. There was only one thing left to do. My eyes grew hot and my bottom lip trembled. “I’m sorry, so sorry Bella.” Opening the glass door, I reached for the ember. It rolled over my hand and up my arm, lapping at my fingers until my whole arm was alight. There was no pain, just an eerie sensation of being consumed. “I love you Bella. I love you so much.” I closed my eyes and exhaled, letting the flame do its thing. This was right.

I was killing my little sister. Allowing the flame to feast on her soul. It felt right. How could I live with myself? This. Is. Right. Pain exploded in my chest—sharp and sudden —tearing the breath from my lungs and leaving me unable to scream or whimper. I was an empty husk like the ones in the pool. I was darkness. But the darkness slowly filled with amber light. It surrounded me in a never-ending haze. The scent of sulphur attacked my nostrils and scraped at my throat. Where the heck was I? I’d figured becoming one with the flame would reactivate the bond. Power it up and give Erebus and his ceaseless army enough juice to push back the hoard and minimise the damage to the human realm, but for the first time it seemed my instincts had been wrong. I’d killed Bella . . . I’d sacrificed her life for nothing. No! This wasn’t fair. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Was this death? Yes, my spawn, this is death.

Spawn? This is the pit from which we rise. This is the pit into which we fall. This is where we slumber. Who the hell were we? But for you, peace is a long time coming. For you, there will be only death and heartache on a path that is yet undetermined. You will feel pain and sorrow, but there will also be joy, so choose now spawn. Would you remain in the pit or would you walk the path for us all? The disembodied voice hardly made going back sound appealing, and I was tired, soulachingly tired. The voices inside me pressed against the veil in my mind that kept them in check. No time to sit, Kenna, they said. No time to rest. Of course I agreed. Bella had given her soul so that the world could live. There was no turning back. Not now. Not ever. Someone whispered in my ear. Urgent words that I couldn’t catch. “I will walk the path.” My alter egos pushed harder, wanting out. Wanting in. ‘It’s time,’ Anna whispered.

‘Time for us to be one,’ Dale said. My instincts urged me to let them in. And yet a tiny voice inside screamed at me to hold fast to Kenna, to hold fast to my humanity, because if I let them in I would be one small lifetime in a sea of many longer ones. Kenna would be lost. I wasn’t ready to die. Not today. I summoned Bella’s face and held it in my mind’s eye—a burning reminder of who I was and what I stood for. Their intentions, their killer instinct and their political savvy was a palpable force exerting a counteractive influence on my mind. I could be that person; ruthless and unforgiving, a manipulator of epic standards, but then I would no longer be the girl who loved her baby sister. I would no longer be the woman who did something for nothing. I would no longer be human. The alters faltered. I’m sorry. I’m sorry but I can’t be you. I need to do this my way. I need to walk the path as

Kenna. Molten heat filled my veins. Burning and searing it forced me to arch my back, throw back my head and scream. The desperate sound echoed in my head, shook my bones, and rattled my teeth. The heat grew to a point where it was no longer heat but burning ice. I couldn’t take any more . . . No more. The agony ebbed, simmering down to a dull and not unpleasant buzz. I came to on the bridge by the glass enclosure. The flame was gone. My whole body crackled and fizzed with a strange energy. My scalp prickled where static raised my hair into a halo. Every ache and pain was gone. “It can’t be . . .” My head whipped up to lock on Baal. He was standing on the other side of the bridge, staring at me with huge green eyes. He backed up, faltered and then took two steps toward me. He was shaken. Of course he was shaken. I was shaken. “How did I not notice . . .? You have his eyes.”

I reached up to touch the spot under my eyes. Baal took a step toward me, but he was no longer the focus of my attention because they were calling me. My ceaseless army. I held out my arms to Baal. “Take me to the gate.” *** The ground below me heaved and writhed. The hoard was a lethal mass of viscous smoke. Up this close I could see the purple and crimson, the laces of mustard yellow—all the negative emotions spawned by the inhabitants of the fifth dimension. Baal’s grip around my waist was unrelenting, giving me a sense of security I’d soon have to abandon; because to do what was needed I’d have to jump into the furious fray. We flew closer, weaving, rising, and falling to avoid the surge of the hoard, and then I spotted him. Erebus.

Our training sessions had only given me a tiny glimpse of the grace and speed with which he was capable of moving. Down here, in the midst of all the chaos, Erebus was an unstoppable force. The ceaseless army surrounded him.—djinn made of obsidian wreathed in flame. Their faces blank masks of purpose, they cut through the hoard with razor speed. I felt the tug in my solar plexus, and saw Erebus falter. He looked up and locked onto me. The connection grew, reaching out to wrap itself around the ceaseless and push into Erebus’s chest. The world slowed to a crawl. The hoard lay beneath me, frozen in the moment. I was connected to it all. I blinked. The hoard surged. And Erebus threw back his head and roared. “Let go.” I said. Baal didn’t question, he simply released me into the eye of the storm.

CHAPTER 44

T

he hoard reached up to swallow me; its inky fingers winding themselves around me, eager to infect me with their

senseless wrath. I sank into the primitive smoke, ancient and powerful. My anger rose at its touch— desperate to be free—and then the fingers retreated abruptly. I was falling down, down, passing through the darkness at incredible speed. I turned my body, angling it, ready to meet the ground. I landed lightly, surrounded by the hoard. Viscous claws raked at the air, stopping inches from my face. Distorted faces reared out of the collective, their yawning mouths threatening to engulf me, and yet I was untouchable. Erebus’s roar echoed around me. I could still sense them beyond, on the edge of the hoard, fighting for the innocent souls beyond the gate. This was the first battle, the first challenge, and there was no way I was failing. The alter egos

within writhed and pressed and jabbed. Use the flame, use the light. My arms glowed and fizzed, and the light spread over me until my whole body was silver fire. Blood roared in my ears, lungs aching as the power built until it was a rolling tsunami ready to engulf and devour. It’s too strong, we’re too late—Erebus’s voice filled my head. No. No it couldn’t be. I wouldn’t let it. Power exploded out of me in a steady stream of radiance that pushed back the darkness, the rage, and the fury. It speared the hoard with shards of glorious silver. Yes! Yes! I threw back my head and expelled more power. More light. Somewhere, something screeched in anger. “It’s working!” Erebus’s voice was clearer . . . Closer. I wanted to turn to him but moving was not an option right now. This connection to my power was new and uncertain, so I held fast, my legs

quivering and my lungs screaming for air. “Don’t stop!” Erebus cried. I summoned Bella’s face. Her smile, her eyes twinkling with laughter, and more power surged up inside as if given renewed purpose. It exploded from my chest in an arch that sliced through the hoard like a chakra before boomeranging and slamming into me, knocking me back and almost breaking my concentration. The connection to my power stuttered. “Hold it, Kenna!” Erebus’s voice was close behind me. He was cutting through, making his way toward me. My knees trembled, stomach quivering as I desperately held the light, pushing more of myself into the attack, punching holes into the hoard’s writhing mass and forcing its retreat. The connection was slipping though, taking me with it, weakening my hold on the veil that held the alters at bay. They began to clamber—pressing and pushing and demanding. No! I couldn’t hold the power and hold them off. I wasn’t strong enough. I wasn’t . . .

Something sliced the air behind me and warm hands grasped my shoulders. I knew him from his liquorice scent. “It’s alright, Kenna. It’s enough. I’ve got you. Rein it in. Just rein it in.” His heat was a new force, lending me stability and the strength to begin the process of calling the power back into me. Enough . . . No more. I willed the silver fire back into my veins, and a stillness fell over the landscape. Then the power was rushing back into me, burning and wrapping around my heart to quell the alters’ voices. Baal caught me as I fell, swinging me up into his arms and cradling me against his chest. The hoard was retreating to lick its wounds, and the ceaseless army stood before the gate like a silent barrier. Erebus was running toward us. “What did you do? Why did you stop? We could have eliminated it!” What? It was too vast . . . I was so tired . . . “Back off Erebus! She’s done all she can.” “She could have eliminated it.” “She could have died!”

Erebus’s silver eyes blazed with impotent fury. “Kenna?” The truth was in his eyes. He didn’t give a shit about me, only for what I could do for him, and if I’d died fighting the hoard he wouldn’t have mourned me, he would have mourned the loss of my power. It was the final nail in the coffin of my feelings for Erebus. I turned my face into Baal’s neck. “Take me away from here . . . please.” Baal’s cyclone enveloped us and Evernight melted away.

CHAPTER 45

B

ella’s funeral was a small, intimate affair. If I’d had my way we would have broadcast her role in the survival of

humanity on the Everlight news station. There were no tears from me because she wasn’t gone. Sabriel told me so. “She was a shining soul, Kenna. One that met her destiny, and now she is at peace,” Sabriel said. “I want to see her.” “I’m sorry, but that isn’t possible. She has no memory of her life in the mortal realm. She is free from all attachments and pain.” I had to let her go. Tears wouldn’t bring her back. There was no wake, because mum was in no state to hold one, and I couldn’t bear the thought of all the hugs and shoulder pats that those events promoted. She was gone and nothing would bring her back.

Brett sat my kitchen table, his eyes haunted, and his skin pale. “It was painless right?” “Yes.” I leaned against the sink, watching the emotions play across my best friend’s face as he absorbed the fact that his lover was now nothing but an empty husk. “Thank you for telling me.” He pushed back his chair and stood, his huge frame eating up space. “Are you going to be okay?” He offered me a wry smile. “I should be asking you that question.” I shrugged. My heart was one big bruise and words were pointless. Brett stepped forward and enveloped me in a hug. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?” “I’m sure, I just . . . I just want to be alone.” “Yeah. I get that.” Brett kissed the top of my head and released me. “Call me if you need anything, ‘kay?” I nodded, my throat tight. The door closed softly behind him. I reached for the kettle. Mum was tucked up in bed and there was a world of cleaning up to be

done. My power had weakened the hoard and driven it back far enough to pull its reach out of the human realm. I’d given the ceaseless army a reprieve. Hospitals were full of the injured, streets that had been trashed were in the process of being cleaned up, and the Fearless were working double time to close the breaches that had opened during the attack. The hoard would be back once it gathered its strength. The battle was far from over. “Everlight, Kenna. You bleed everlight,” Baal had whispered into my hair as he’d flown me back to the human realm. A disturbance of air at my back, followed by the scent of liquorice, had me whipping around. Baal stood at my table, immaculate as always in his latest designer suit. “Hello, Kenna.” Think of the devil. I turned back to the kettle. I didn’t want to see him right now. I didn’t want to think about tomorrow. Today was for Bella. The world could wait.

I sighed. “What are you doing here?” “Today must have been hard for you.” “You got that right.” “I thought you may be in need of some company.” He sounded . . . unsure. I slowly turned to face him. “You came to keep me company?” He cleared his throat. “I attended the funeral and saw how distraught your mother was. I surmised she may not be in any state to console you this evening.” The slight furrow to his brow and the straight line of his lips told me he was deadly serious. “Do you honestly think hanging out with a djinn is going to make me feel even a tiny bit better?” I threw up my hands. “It’s because of the djinn’s failure to get along that there’s a hoard in the first place. It’s because of your kind that my sister had to die!” Baal cocked his head. “My kind?” His eyes narrowed. “Take a look in the mirror, Kenna. You’re no more human than I. In fact, you’re worse —a mish-mash of identities scrambling to discover

who she really is, and that, my dear, can be the most dangerous thing.” My heart stalled—did he know about the alters? He took a step closer. “You’re an unknown factor, part djinn part Twilighter, with the potential to protect or annihilate, and I was merely intending to offer you my support and guidance on a path which will be fraught with difficult decisions and danger.” I exhaled in relief. He was talking about my DNA. “Why should I trust you? You want the throne for yourself.” He inclined his head. “Yes that’s true, but only because there was no one worthy or powerful enough to claim it.” He leaned forward in earnest. “I want peace, Kenna,” His eyes swept up and down, “Whatever package it may come in. But the fifth dimension is a minefield of political backstabbery and lethal etiquette. And the Overlords are masters of deception. To navigate it alone would be foolish.” He pulled out a chair. “So, what’s it going

to be Kenna? Will you accept my hand of friendship or will you suffer alone?” My gaze dropped to his hand wrapped around the back of the seat, then back up to lock eyes with him. I didn’t know him well, but he’d come for me when I’d needed him, then he had pulled me back from the brink when I’d almost lost myself to the new power inside me. Plus he was here now. Was that enough to trust him? I flipped the kettle on. “How do you take your tea?” The chair scraped against the floor as Baal took a seat. “Milk, no sugar.” “So tell me Baal, what can you offer me?” He took the proffered cup and blew over the top to cool it before taking a sip. His brows shot up. “What is this?” “Some cheap stuff from the supermarket. I don’t know. Answer the question—what can you offer me?” He set down the cup. “Aside from all that I’ve already mentioned?” I nodded.

“I can offer you me.” I looked him up and down. “You’ll need to do better than that.” He smiled, showcasing his teeth. I noted how his canines were slightly longer than the rest, giving him a dangerous air. “Well?” “Trust me Kenna, in your quest for the throne all you’ll need is me. I’m more than my expertise, my knowledge, my army, and my time. With me at your side, djinn will stop and take notice. I promise you. I won’t rest until you’re on that throne.” I studied his rakish face. There was mischief in his eyes, a promise of wicked fun. Something inside me surged to the surface—a desire for risk, a desire to embrace danger. “Fine, I’ll allow you to help me.” “A most wise decision Miss Carter, a most wise decision . . .” I was now the everlight sword in a new battle, and I had a feeling that Baal would make an invaluable ally. To be continued...

Continue the journey with Kenna. Read the first two chapters of Into Evernight, book 2 in The Fearless Destiny Series below, then click the image to order your copy. CHAPTER 1 I hammered on the door to the two-story, red-brick, semi-detached residence. “Mrs Watkins, you need to let us in!” “Go away.” The voice was muffled by the wood between us. I backed out of the way. “We’re gonna have to break it down.” Brett was already holding the necessary lever tool, and it took him less than a minute to breach the lock. Mrs Watkins stumbled back as we strode into the carpeted entrance hall. “You’re not having her. You can’t. I won’t let you!” She rushed me, wildeyed and crazy-haired. Brett grabbed her shoulders to hold her back.

“It’s for her safety ma’am. If she stays here, she dies. I promise you, we’ll take good care of her.” The woman shook her head. “No, no. Please, she’s all I have.” She thought she was protecting her daughter, but in reality she was giving her a death sentence by not getting out of the fucking way. Sandra Watkins, thirteen years old and on the verge of blooming, was in terrible danger “If you don’t get out of the way now, you will lose her. A denizen attack could happen at any moment,” Brett said. “We’re safe. The house was remodelled two years ago, there’s nowhere for a breach to occur.” Dammit. Why the heck didn’t these people watch the fucking news? “The breach doesn’t have to be in the house. It could be two blocks away, or a mile, but as a potential Emergent, your daughter will be a target.” “No, that can’t be right.” I was done explaining. “Brett, keep her down here.” Shoving past, I took the stairs two at a time.

The state-of-the-art prosthetic I was sporting was pretty awesome. It fit like a glove, which meant no pain, and it was strong—super strong. It brought out the old Kenna—the one who could take on the world and win. I stepped onto the landing. “Sandra? Sandra! Hun, you need to come with us.” There were three bedrooms and a bathroom. The bathroom door was wide open, the room beyond empty. But the bedroom doors were closed. I pushed open the door to my left and stepped in “Sandra?” This looked like the mother’s room; dresser, double bed, clothes rack, and nothing more. I strode to the rack and pushed the clothes aside to make sure the kid wasn’t hiding there. “Kenna, suns going down!” Brett called from the bottom of the stairs. Yeah, sun down on the south side was dark. The luma shortage had left most of the boroughs without any luma at all. The streets were no longer safe for anyone. The second room—a small box room—was also empty.

Final room. She had to be in here. “Sandra, I’m gonna come in now.” I pushed open the door. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. I promise you.” She was sitting on her bed, wide-eyed and tearstained. “Are you going to take me away?” she asked. “Yeah, we are, but only for a little while. Just until you emerge, and then you can come right on home.” “But mum said … she said I’d never see her again.” “Your mum doesn’t have all the facts, hun. Look, why don’t you grab a few things and we can get going? It’s a really nice place and there are other kids your age there. Once you’re settled we can see about your mum coming to visit.” She nodded, wiping at her eyes. “Okay.” She walked over to her wardrobe. Behind her, through the window, the sky was a palate of dying reds and burnt oranges. It was a neat room for an almost teenager, with plenty of books and a small red radio that sat in a prize position on a dresser that held pretty nail varnish and a silver-handled

brush. I took it all in just as a wave of wrongness washed over me, an awareness of something other. The mother had said they’d remodelled but the wardrobe … She was gripping the handles about to pull. “Sandra. No!” I leapt toward her, knocking her out of the way just as the doors burst open and darkness embedded with a multitude of eyes exploded into the room. Sandra’s scream was muted by the rush of blood in my ears, by the whoosh of Frieda coming to life in my hands. Her cries were background noise as I swung, rolled, and came to my feet to stab and slice until the denizen was folding in on itself. Until it was no more. “Oh god, oh god.” Shit, she was shaking like a leaf. “It’s okay.” The thunder of boot falls was followed a second later by Brett’s huge bulk. He ground to a halt in the doorway, his eyes going from Frieda, to the wardrobe, and then to Sandra.

“We good?” he asked. “Yeah we’re good. Just need to close the breach.” “I’ll do it.” Brett set to work on the wardrobe. I turned to Sandra but she wasn’t looking at me, she was staring at her wrist. At the bud that was opening before our very eyes, and the word that would seal her fate. Fearless.

CHAPTER 2 “That’s the earliest it’s ever happened,” Brett said. “The powers-that-be are getting desperate.” I sipped my tea needing the caffeine. “We’re low on numbers.” My sleep had been sketchy recently, interrupted by some pretty weird dreams “But she’s just a child.” “Not anymore.” Brett stared at me unblinkingly. “You’ve changed.” “Now that’s an understatement. You know

what I am.” “Knowing and actually seeing it are too different things. The Kenna I knew would never have spoken so callously about throwing children into a war.” “I’m still me Brett, I just happen to know the shit we’re up against. If we’re gonna have a chance of surviving then we need to be prepared. All Emergents, regardless of age, will be trained, but active duty won’t begin until they’re sixteen, unless...” “Unless what?” “Unless circumstances give us no choice,” Brett exhaled and dropped his gaze. My stomach clenched, but I ignored it. This was the right thing to do, the only thing to do if we were going to have a shot at survival. “You know I’m right.” He blew out his cheeks. “Yeah, but it sucks.” The knot in my stomach loosened a fraction. “I know.” Everything was so life and death at the moment, so doomsday evasion that I really needed

a subject change. “So do you like what I’ve done with the place?” I leaned back in my swivel seat and opened my arms to encompass my office. The dark colours were gone, replaced by warmer red and gold tones. Brett grinned. “What I would have liked to see was Blane’s face when he found out he’d been demoted and transferred and you’d been given his old job.” “Yeah, that’s one snapshot for the album.” I tapped the side of my head. The official story was that I’d used my training to survive the Evernight and provide the government with the intel they needed to thwart the hoard attack. I was a hero. A promotion and a brand new spanking leg was the least they could do for me. Brett’s deduction that the denizens were targeting potential Emergents had gotten back to Baal, who’d used his connections to create a technomagical device allowing us to locate all potential Emergents. Every citizen’s blood sample

was held in a database. All the technicians needed to do was run the data through the device. The Fearless all shared the same genetic marker. The downside was that the marker only activated a few months before Emergent’s Bloomed, which meant that once we got a hit we were on a clock. Two months down the line we had it down to an art form—a secure facility to house the teens until they Bloomed, and specialised teams on call for extraction. It was all going to plan except for the fact we still had no idea who was responsible for targeting them. All we knew was that it had to be linked to the disappearance of Crawford –the mage responsible for the original spell creating the destiny blooms and the Fearless. We find Crawford, we find the culprit. “Has Lauren been in contact?” Brett asked. “Not yet.” Turned out that Baal knew the black mages, and Lauren was his contact in the Twilight. All intel indicated that Crawford was also in the Twilight, but as of yet the black mages had failed to locate him.

“It’s been almost three weeks since we last had contact,” Brett pointed out. “That’s what? Almost six months in the Twilight.” He shrugged. “Maybe Crawford just isn’t there,” “The Twilight is a big place, filled with endless oceans, wild forests, cities and villages. So I can imagine it might take a little time to find a single individual, and if someone powerful has him—is hiding him, or working with him—then finding him may prove impossible.” “You’ve been spending way too much time with your djinn dude.” “I haven’t spoken to Erebus in months.” “I meant Baal.” My cheeks heated and I averted my gaze. Of course he did. Get it together Carter. Baal had taught me so much in the last couple of months, like the fact that Twilight was ruled by three sovereign courts: Dawn, Dusk and Twilight. The Twilight court was the most powerful, and its king, according to Baal, was pretty fearsome. “Kenna? You still with me?” “Of course. I was just thinking about the other

world, about the fifth dimension.” Brett dropped his gaze, gnawing on his bottom lip. I picked up my mug of lukewarm tea and took a deliberate sip. It was a moment, one of many, where we were both reminded that my time in Lindrealm was numbered. In less than a month I’d be making a grab for the throne. In less than a month I’d be responsible for a whole new world. I would be helping bring about peace, but I’d be leaving behind this life. The one I’d chosen above all the others. Change of subject required. “So how’s Karl?” Brett’s cheeks went pink, and I stifled a giggle. “Yeah, he’s...okay.” “More than okay if your cowboy walk the other day was anything to go by.” “Kenna!” I couldn’t help it, he looked so horrified. The laugh came out as a series of snorts and then he was giggling too—like a bloody girl—and we were both in fits. My phone buzzed and beeped as a text was

delivered. MEET ME ON THE ROOF “I got to dash.” “You want me to hold the fort for you?” Brett asked. I nodded and fake knighted him with my mobile. “I hereby deputise you in my absence.” Yeah, we’d been doing this a lot. I had stuff to learn, places to see, and since the big boss was now a friend I got to do it in work time. I headed for the door, a tiny bubble of excitement mingled with anxiety expanding in my chest. I told myself it was because I would soon be airborne, and flying in the eye of a mini tornado just wasn’t my thing. But I suspected it was more to do with the arms that would soon be holding me Baal.

Click the link in the title or image below and order your copy of Into Evernight now.

INTO EVERNIGHT

Check out the other books by Debbie Cassidy The Gatekeeper Chronicles Marked by Sin Hunted by Sin Claimed by Sin The Witch Blood Chronicles (Spin off to the Gatekeeper Chronicles but can be read independently) Binding Magick Defying Magick The Sleeping Gods Series Forest of Demons Desert of Destiny The Shadowlands Series Written as Amos Cassidy Shadow Reaper Shadow Eater

Shadow Destiny

About the Author Debbie Cassidy lives in England, Bedfordshire, with her three kids and very supportive husband. Coffee and chocolate biscuits are her writing fuels of choice, and she is still working on getting that perfect tower of solitude built in her back garden. Obsessed with building new worlds and reading about them, she spends her spare time daydreaming and conversing with the characters in her head – in a totally non psychotic way of course. She writes High Fantasy, Urban Fantasy and Science Fiction. Debbie also writes dark, diverse Urban Fantasy fiction, under the pen name Amos Cassidy, with her best friend Richard Amos. Connect with Debbie via her website at debbiecassidyauthor.com or twitter @authordcassidy. Sign up to her NEWSLETTER to stay informed of upcoming releases.