Glow

by Joss Stirling

  The dad with the spike in the nose joined them. ‘That your little girl stuck out there?’

  ‘Yeah, she’s mine.’ Any doubt or resentment Theo might have felt about the role that had been forced upon him evaporated as soon as he saw Meri was at risk.

  ‘Take my motorbike helmet—and you can borrow my jacket. ‘ The dad slipped out of his leather one. From its condition and customised design, it was a prized possession.

  ‘Thanks, mate.’

  Theo pulled on the helmet and stabbed at the door release. Taking a deep breath, he sprinted across the pavement. His feet threatened to shoot from under him as soles crunched balls of ice, but he managed to keep his balance. Pellets struck his body with what felt like the velocity of bullets and pounded on the helmet. One stone smashed against his shoulder and he went down. Picking himself up before his body was pounded like steak under a chef’s tenderising mallet, he staggered the final distance. Through the visor he could see Meri watching him with open-mouthed shock. He reached the shelter and took two strides in before taking the helmet off.

  ‘You OK, love?’

  She sprang up so she could cling on to him like a monkey. ‘Theo, you came!’

  ‘I’ll always come for you, Meri.’ He was conscious of an ache in his shoulder and he wondered if the impact had done something to his collarbone. But that didn’t matter. He’d done what he had to do as her guardian and that made him feel at peace with any consequences. He sat down on the dry spot she had crouched in and hauled her onto his lap. ‘We’re a team. You know that.’

  She rested her head on his chest. She was shaking. ‘Thanks, Theo. I was so scared. The hail is all bouncy—I thought it would get me. But you shouldn’t’ve broken the safety rules. You might’ve got hurt.’

  Ah, taken to task by an infant. ‘Sometimes rules have gotta be broken, love.’ He decided that probably wasn’t a good parenting moment. ‘Just by grown ups. Not by little moppets who always should do just what Theo says.’

  She chuckled, catching his hypocrisy.

  They sat in the shelter until the emergency services arrived a few hours later to evacuate them under the weather shield that came as standard kit on fire engines. They sheltered as the biggest storm of the century took hold, the tidal surge flooding towns and cities, overwhelming the Thames Barrier, deluging Central London and other northern European cities. They sheltered as the freak high tide took the beach from St Ives and never gave it back.

  Theo and Meri sheltered in the school playground at the start of what would be called the Flood. No life on Earth would ever be the same again.

  1

  Night crept closer, eating away at the January afternoon. Kel Douglas leant on the rail on the middle deck of the luxury yacht and watched the west coast of France slip past. It was an unfamiliar landscape of half-drowned fishing villages and ports creeping inland to higher ground and new lagoons creating salt marshes. The wind was bitter, flecks of snow stinging his cheeks, but even so he didn’t want to go inside. Meri was occupied in one of her interminable briefings from the Tean council and Kel definitely would not be welcome. To be alone in a crowd, that was his new status.

  ‘Do you ever think of jumping ship?’

  Kel started. He hadn’t heard the crewman approach which was bad news because he was living on his wits. He couldn’t afford his instincts to go to sleep now. He studied the man who had spoken, assessing the danger. The sailor was lean like a wolfhound, with grizzled hair and weathered features, one of the old hands onboard rather than the fresh-faced recruits who had volunteered in London. He wouldn’t be easy to take down if it came to a fight. ‘Cabot, isn’t it? From Portugal?’

  ‘Yes. Why do you want to know?’

  ‘No reason.’ Only that Kel liked to remember those who might stab him in the back.

  The man returned to his line of questioning. ‘So do you think about it? Leaving?’

  Unlike the others on board, the man was getting far too close to him. Most avoided Kel because he was one of their enemies, one of the race called the Perilous. He wasn’t naive enough to think Cabot’s approach was a friendly gesture. He moved a few paces further down the rail. No one else was in sight. ‘Why would I? I mean, we’re all one big happy family here, aren’t we? Haven’t you got somewhere you ought to be?’

  ‘No, I belong here.’

  The challenge was too obvious to be ignored. ‘Until Meri says otherwise, so do I.’

  ‘Go now. Do it before it’s too late.’ The guy wasn’t giving up.

  ‘Why?’ Kel sensed something was off about the man. Cabot wasn’t really interested in the conversation at all. Kel tensed, his Perilous markings beginning to tingle. Strip back his sleeves and Kel would bet they were beginning to flare. ‘What’s it to you?’

  ‘Because if you don’t, someone is going to make you.’ Even before he finished his words, Cabot lunged and grabbed Kel around the thighs, pushing him back towards a gap in the railing. Cabot clearly had rugby training, not martial arts—so that gave Kel an advantage. He countered by going with the momentum, controlling the fall so that he got his feet in his opponent’s stomach and boosted him away. Cabot got more than he bargained for when he hit the chain across the disembarkation point and went over the side—the very spot he’d been pushing Kel towards.

  Kel swore. That had been far more effective than intended. ‘Man…over board!’ he gasped. He grabbed a floatation device and scanned the waters. There! A head bobbed above the grey sea, already behind the swift passage of the yacht. He threw the ring but it fell short. Cabot would have to swim for it. ‘Man over board!’ This time he found his full voice.

  Lights went on along the side of the ship and the siren sounded in six short bursts. Footsteps thundered in the stairwell as the rescue party headed for a lifeboat. Cabot had one arm over the ring: he was going to be OK. Incident now out of his hands, Kel rested his palms on his knees, bent forward. His back was a wolf-pack of aches, all howling for his attention. He’d landed on a thick snake of a rope going to one of the anchors. That’s what happens when you let your skills rust, he told himself. You almost get taken out by an old timer.

  He heard lighter footsteps heading his way. He didn’t flinch as he recognized them. He stood up and opened his arms in time to field Meri as she flew towards him.

  ‘Are you all right? When I heard the siren…I thought it could be you…oh, Kel!’

  ‘I’m fine. You’re almost right. The idiot did try to throw me over the side; I returned the favour with more success.’

  Meri’s expression went from concern to fury. His girl had been on a crash course on toughening up over the last month. ‘Who did that to you?’ she snapped.

  Kel gestured to the sailor who was now being winched up the side of the ship. ‘A guy named Cabot. I’ve not had any run-ins with him before so it’s not personal. I think he’s just the one that pulled the short straw and was told to deal with me. You know, like the mouse who gets asked to put a bell on the cat?’ He tried a smile but his face wasn’t cooperating.

  ‘Stay here.’ Meri squeezed his arm and wheeled round.

  ‘And here was I thinking I’d go take on the men that want me dead,’ he murmured, but not so she would hear.

  ‘I want that man charged with attempted murder!’ she declared fiercely, standing in front of the crew who surrounded their half-drowned champion. Kel knew her words were powered by anger; normally, Meri hated putting herself forward. She’d be amazed later that she had the guts to speak out so boldly.

  Cabot returned her look defiantly, the fire of resentment smouldering in his gaze.

  ‘Miss Marlowe, you can’t punish him for tripping and falling overboard,’ said the captain, hurrying over to keep the peace.

  ‘Don’t play games with me, captain. He tried to kill Kel.’

  God, I love her, thought Kel. Taking on all-comers to keep him safe. Taking no bull from anyone.

  ‘I’m sure your…’ the captain’s eyes slid to Kel, ‘…com
panion misunderstood.’

  ‘Like hell he did!’

  ‘Then it’s his word against my man’s.’ The captain folded his arms.

  Dial it down, darling. We’re outnumbered. Get what you can; don’t ask for the impossible. Right now, telepathy would be handy, Kel thought. He couldn’t undermine her position by being seen to give her advice.

  Even without a telepathic skill, Meri had come to the same conclusion. ‘Is this vessel mine or not, captain?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes—or it will be when your claim is verified.’ The captain smiled like a guy who has spotted a loophole in legislation. ‘And that won’t happen until after we reach our destination.’

  Kel shook his head. The captain clearly didn’t understand his passenger. Wrong move, sucker.

  Meri drilled a forefinger into the captain’s jacket. ‘But you’ve been told to act as if it is mine, am I not right?’

  The captain frowned, his ‘Get out of Jail’ card vanishing. ‘Well…’

  ‘Yes or no?’

  ‘Yes, ma'am.’

  Meri removed her finger. ‘Then get rid of him. Put him ashore right now, just as long as he is gone. And you…’ she now spoke to the attacker directly, ‘…if I find you within ten miles of Kel, then I’ll deal with you myself. Got it?’

  Her threat wasn’t too impressive as she stood only a few inches over five feet but to Kel’s surprise Cabot looked scared. ‘Yes, I understand, ma’am.’ He even bowed.

  Meri shook her head in disbelief. ‘You can call me “ma’am” and still try and harm one of my friends? I do not understand you people.’ She shuddered, abandoning that conundrum for another day. ‘OK, everyone, I’m not leaving deck until I see his sorry ass in a lifeboat heading for shore. Do it!’

  Kel wanted to applaud. She was as good as her word and waited with arms folded while her orders were obeyed. She was making the crew her enemy but, as they were already confirmed ones of his, Kel guessed she didn’t care.

  The outboard motor of the lifeboat hummed and all watched as Cabot was banished to the French mainland. Someone had found him a dry jacket and doubtless he’d be given cash to see him to a Tean Sympathizer colony. He wouldn’t suffer enough for Kel’s liking.

  ‘That was not wise,’ said the captain.

  Meri held his gaze. ‘What wasn’t wise? A crew member trying to kill my friend, because I’m sure that’s the only thing you could’ve meant?’

  ‘Yes, ma’am. Of course.’ He gave her a sardonic smile. ‘Am I dismissed?’

  ‘Yes, you so are, Captain.’

  ‘You heard her, men. Go about your duties.’ The captain stalked off like a cat whose tail had been shut in a door but he had too much dignity to admit to the pain.

  Meri turned to look back at Kel and tried a shaky smile. ‘How did I do?’

  She was coming down off the adrenaline rush that had enabled her to confront such a formidable set of opponents. In a minute, she’d realize how many problems she had made for herself, and for him. On the other hand, facing problems alive was far better than having none because he was dead, floating facedown in the Atlantic.

  ‘You did great, champ. How about a film and a pizza to celebrate?’ Kel asked. ‘Let’s give formal dining a miss for once.’

  ‘Oh God, yes please. Do I get to pick the movie?’

  ‘You certainly do.’

  ‘Right. Let’s go for a classic. Wonder Woman.’

  ‘And she’s right here.’ He kissed her lightly on the cheek, breathing in the subtle scent that was hers alone. The cold knot in his stomach began to unravel. It wasn’t his first brush with death after all.

  ‘Thank you, Kel.’

  ‘For what?’

  ‘For staying with me even when things like that happen.’ She jerked her head to the boat heading for the mainland.

  ‘Of course, I’m staying with you. I’m not going to let those Teans get me down. I’m Perilous after all—programmed to resist. There’s only one little Tean I can bear.’

  ‘That’s a relief—that I’m bearable, I mean.’

  ‘You are so much more than that.’

  Meri smiled and took his hand. Ignoring the disapproval of the crew, they retreated to her cabin, shutting the door on the hostility outside.

  A few days later, Kel found himself gravitating to the railing of the ship once more. His life was on repeat: Meri in a meeting, him at a loose end and being drawn to the place where he’d almost died. He heard someone approaching but a glance over his shoulder told him that this was not a person he had to worry about.

  ‘You all right, lad?’ His only friend on the crew slapped him on the back. Big Ben, formerly an owner of a barge internet cafe in St Katharine’s dock and now one of the most loyal members of Meri’s entourage, had started their friendship by reluctantly threatening to kill Kel; now he protected Kel as best he could from the hostility from the others on board. Shame he hadn’t been on duty when Cabot had struck.

  ‘Yeah, just peachy, Ben.’ Kel turned so his back rested against the side and folded his arms.

  ‘Lil'chick won’t be long now. Meeting was almost over when I left.’

  ‘She sent you to check up on me, didn’t she?’

  Ben gave one of his half smiles, revealing a gold tooth that replaced one he’d lost in some brawl years ago when they still used gold for dental work. A bear of a man who looked like a retired pro-wrestler, Ben had a surprisingly soft voice for someone of his size. ‘That predictable is she?’

  Kel nodded. He might question many things, but never Meri’s feelings for him.

  ‘You can’t blame her worrying, lad, not since Cabot tried to throw you over the side.’

  ‘Don’t remind me.’ Was he tempting fate by standing here so much? It must be a perverse streak that made him continue to dare the crew. ‘You only took me on board in London because she made you, didn’t you?’

  Ben shrugged. ‘’Fraid so. She’s asking too much. No offence, lad, but a Perilous, even a nice one, will cause nothing but trouble. That’s why we told her not to push it.’

  ‘So you should’ve left me on Tower Bridge, when my family were shooting at us?’

  Ben rubbed his jaw. ‘They weren’t shooting at you.’

  ‘Didn’t feel like they were being super-friendly though, did it, not while I was hanging over the Thames and you pulled me to safety? That’s when you lost your chance of stopping me coming on this merry little voyage.’

  ‘Yeah, well, I’m soft. Couldn’t let you plunge to your death now, could I?’

  ‘Cabot would’ve stamped on my fingers and laughed.’

  ‘We’re not all like him.’ Ben’s tone lowered so there was no chance of being overheard. ‘Kel, she can force us Tean Sympathizers and the Teans on the council to allow you here for the moment but you should know that it’s damaging her standing. She’s not as secure as Francis had her think when he told her about the inheritance.’

  Kel nodded. ‘I know. I’m not stupid. But what do you expect me to do about it?’ The Sympathizers like Ben were those with Tean ancestors who had pledged to preserve the last of their culture; those with more than half Tean blood from their ancestors were allowed to call themselves Tean and held more power. The difficulty for them though was that Meri was the only one to be the offspring of two full-blood Teans, which made her the heir to their fortune. With this at stake, there was no question in Kel’s mind that they would try to stop him walking into their kingdom of Atlantis at her side, and would make more attempts to get rid of him. The Teans would fight harder than ever to keep from a Perilous the knowledge of the exact location of their headquarters. Meri just didn’t want to accept that. Kel wasn’t sure he even wanted the responsibility of the knowledge. It would make him even more of a target than he already was for both Teans and his former comrades in the Perilous.

  ‘How’s this going to work, Ben?’ Kel asked, despair edging in like the iron grey clouds overhead. ‘We’re living in Cloud Cuckoo Land, aren’t we, thinking
we can do this?’

  Snow settled on Ben’s bushy black eyebrows. ‘I don’t know, lad. You and Meri are trying something that’s not been done before. Teans and Perilous don’t get together for a good reason.’

  ‘That she can kill me with her touch? But she wouldn’t.’ Once long ago they had been the same people sharing the same land; then the two races had taken separate evolutionary paths with the Teans emerging as the masters. Teans had better UV vision than Kel’s people, enabling them to see the peril-coloured skin markings his kind exhibited after puberty. They could also push their power into a Perilous, making the markings visible to normal sight, then burn them from the inside out. Death was painful and unstoppable once a pure-blood Tean like Meri latched on to a Perilous, which was why his people wanted to hunt her down and end her as a threat. The Perilous had almost succeeded in killing off their former overlords. Meri was believed to be the last person alive who it was certain could pass this trait on to another generation. Kel had betrayed his own people when he had aided her escape.

  ‘I don’t think she’d harm you on purpose,’ agreed Ben.

  ‘But you think she might by mistake?’

  ‘You’re both playing with fire.’ Ben sighed and leant next to Kel. ‘Lad, think what it would do to her if she did make a mistake. She’d never forgive herself if you got hurt.’

  It was worse somehow to hear his own doubts voiced by someone he knew to have his best interests at heart.

  ‘What should I do?’

  ‘All I’m asking is that you give it serious thought. You’re the only one who can make this call. Meri’s path is set as far as she is concerned. Lil'chick is no pushover. She’s going to take you with her, no matter what we say. You’re the only one who can change that.’

  That was as close as Ben had come to telling Kel he should leave.

  ‘Ben, what are you really saying?’

  ‘You think this is bad, being on board this yacht? Well, that’s just peanuts to what it’ll be like for you on Atlantis.’ Ben wiped the snow from his face. ‘As we saw the other day, I can’t be on hand to protect you all the time.’ He patted Kel’s back. ‘Don’t stay out here too long or you’ll freeze—and then Meri really will be upset.’