by Chant, Zoe
Something is wrong.
Delilah didn’t know how she knew it, but she did. Every instinct she had – and some she didn’t even know she had – was screaming at her, telling her that Euan was in danger.
It feels just like… just like when I knew, somehow, that wherever Rosie was, she was safe, she thought desperately, as together, she and Rosie made their way down the alley the gallery’s back door opened onto. Except it’s the opposite of that. Something very, very wrong is happening…
And somehow, she knew it was to do with Euan.
She hadn’t wanted to leave him alone with those two… people, she supposed, but she’d known she had to get Rosie out of the gallery and to safety. She hadn’t had any other choice – but now, her gut was roiling almost painfully, telling her to go back, go back, Euan is in danger.
Delilah glanced over her shoulder. No one was following them.
I can’t leave him there alone. But I need to get Rosie away from here.
“Rosie,” she said urgently, as they stepped out of the alley and into the bustling street. “You see that clothes shop over there? I want you to go in there and stay there. Just browse the clothes for a little while, okay? And if anyone comes to talk to you, you go straight to the security guard, okay? No matter what they say, you do not go with them. Not for any reason.”
Rosie’s eyes were plainly fearful as they traveled to the high-end boutique across the way before returning to Delilah’s face.
“Aunty Dela, what’s going on?”
“Nothing you need to be worried about, okay? I’ll explain it later. Right now, you just go have a look around the shop. I’ll be back in about ten minutes. If I’m not, you call your mum and have her come pick you up. Got it?”
Rosie nodded, clearly unconvinced, but the urgency in Delilah’s voice was enough to send her reluctantly across the street and into the shop.
Delilah took a deep breath as she watched her go through the tall glass doors. She knew those boutiques took security pretty seriously – hopefully it’d be enough to keep Rosie safe. She turned and ran back the way she’d come.
But what do I even think I can do once I get back to the gallery, if Euan really is in trouble? I can’t fight, I can’t even yell, really. There’s nothing I can do that Euan – who’s built like a brick shithouse and presumably trained for these things – can’t do better.
But try as she might, the terrible feeling in her gut that something was wrong just wouldn’t allow her to stop. Her feet moved themselves. Delilah honestly wasn’t sure she could have stopped them even if she’d wanted to.
Euan is in danger. I have to help him. Somehow…
She pushed open the back door to the gallery. Everything seemed quiet, though Delilah could hear low voices from somewhere further inside. Silently, she closed the door behind her, crept through the kitchen and out into the main body of the gallery.
It’s coming from the storeroom, she realized. She did work like framing and fixing hanging wires in there, as well as covering and storing works that weren’t currently on display. It was a staff-only area, but given how the two people had – somehow – gotten through the combination lock on the gallery front door, Delilah was pretty sure they didn’t care about that kind of thing.
Taking a deep breath, she sidled along the wall. She could hear a man and a woman talking, but the man’s voice definitely wasn’t Euan’s – it was too high.
Is Euan still even here? Delilah wondered, as she finally reached the open storeroom door and peeped inside.
She gasped, fear flooding her belly.
The two people who’d broken into the gallery were standing there, inhumanly tall and thin, with their strange silvery hair. And Euan was there too – but he didn’t look like himself. His dark eyes were oddly blank, as if there were no life in them at all. His movements as he raised his hand were jerky and disjointed. Something in his hand caught in the ceiling lights, shiny and silver.
Delilah’s mouth dropped open.
It’s an exacto knife – what is he –
She watched, horrified, as, with the same jerky motions, he raised the blade to his own throat –
Terror filled her. Delilah had no idea what was happening, she only knew she had to stop it. She still had no idea what she was even planning to do when she burst around the corner of the door, shouting, “Euan!”
Light filled her vision suddenly – the same bright, burning white light as the first night she’d met Euan and he’d bumped into her on the street, scared her half to death and made her drop her gelati all over him.
It seemed to sear her vision, but in the moment before it did, she saw the heads of the two tall, silver-haired people whip around to look at her, surprise and anger in their eyes – but then they too were swallowed up by the light.
Delilah blinked, looking wildly around her. The light seemed to be fading quickly, and she could make out the vague shapes of the things around her – the worktable, the covered artworks, and –
She sucked in a breath. The silver-haired man and woman were on their knees on the floor, clutching at their heads as if they were in pain. They didn’t seem like they’d recover quickly.
Euan –
Delilah looked around, finding Euan’s form quickly. He was also crouched on the floor, looking strangely bewildered, but he was in better shape than the other two.
We have to get out of here before they recover –
Delilah ran to Euan’s side, grabbing his arm and pulling.
“Euan – come on – we have to hurry –”
Euan looked up at her, clearly confused, but he nodded, staggering to his feet. Delilah hurried him to the door, yanking on his arm.
“Delilah – what was that –” Euan said, his voice husky as they stumbled out into the alleyway.
“I have no idea,” Delilah said truthfully. She hadn’t even thought for a moment – the bright flash of light definitely hadn’t been intentional, that was for sure. But she knew, somehow, that it had come from her. “But to be honest, I’m glad it happened, even if I don’t know what it is or why I can do it.”
Together, they emerged into the busy Sydney street. Delilah gasped in a deep breath, feeling like she hadn’t had enough oxygen in several minutes.
“Rosie –”
“I told her to go wait for me in that shop,” Delilah said, pointing. But evidently, Rosie had been watching from the shop window for them to appear, because she came hurrying out the door now, her face pale.
“I was just about to call Mum,” she told them, eyes wide. “What’s going on? Aunty Dela?”
“We can explain later,” Delilah said. She glanced at Euan. “What should we do now?”
“Right now, we have to get to the Agency offices,” Euan said, leaning away from her a little and putting more of his own weight on his feet. “We’ll be safe there.”
The journey to the offices was a blur in Delilah’s mind. All she could really remember was hurrying through the streets, glancing back over her shoulder for any sign of the silver-haired man and woman. They’d stand out easily enough even in the busy streets, with their height and hair color. She was almost certain that, even if she couldn’t see them, her new sixth sense for danger would have warned her if they’d been coming after them. But as far as Delilah could tell, they weren’t being followed.
They arrived at the nondescript entryway to the Agency’s offices, and Euan opened the door with his swipe card. They entered the lift, and it began to ascend.
“Aunty Dela –” Rosie said, her voice confused and fearful, and Delilah knew she’d have to give her some explanation for what had just happened.
Not that I really have any idea myself.
“I’m sorry if you were frightened, Rosie,” Delilah said, doing her best to give Rosie a reassuring smile. “Those people… they were robbers, and they broke into the gallery. It was safest for us to leave quickly.”
She had no idea why the man and woman had been there, and the
memory of Euan standing in the middle of the storeroom, his eyes blank and staring, sent a horrified shiver down her spine.
Delilah glanced across at him, searching his face, but, aside from the pallor of his skin beneath his tan, he looked like his normal self. His eyes were just as lively and warm as they’d always been, even if his expression was hard with concern.
What was that? What was going on in there?
She wanted to ask him right now what had happened, but she knew she should wait until Rosie wasn’t around. Her little white lie about those two being robbers hopefully wouldn’t be too frightening for her.
“Robbers?” Rosie said, wide-eyed. “Did you call the cops? Did they get caught? Did they steal anything?”
“I – yes, hopefully they’ll be caught,” Delilah said, not sure what else to say. “I don’t think they stole anything.”
“I could help you if you need to tell the police anything,” Rosie went on. “I saw one of them.”
The idea that one of them could have seen Rosie sent fear tingling down every nerve ending Delilah possessed.
“Did they see you?” she asked.
Rosie shook her head. “No. It was a woman, but she had her back to me. But I saw her hair. It was all, like, white and shiny.”
Thank goodness, Delilah thought. One look at Euan told her he’d had the same idea.
“Thank you, Rosie, but hopefully you won’t have to talk to anyone about it. We should be able to handle it,” Euan said.
Rosie looked distinctly disappointed that she’d have to miss out on giving her statement to the cops. “Oh. Okay.”
The lift pinged softly, and the doors opened. Delilah hadn’t thought about what it might mean to bring Rosie here to the Agency’s offices, even if she’d known there wasn’t really any other choice. To a twelve-year-old, however, it’d probably seem just like any other boring office space, and she wouldn’t take too much interest in it.
That was, of course, until the tiny flying horse flitted past them as they stepped out of the lift.
Wait, was that a tiny flying horse – ?!
Delilah stared, trying to catch a better look at the small, silvery form as it darted through the air in a flurry of feathery wings and shining mane and tail. The little creature turned, hovering in mid-air for a moment, before it tossed its head and let out a loud, defiant, meeh!
Oh my God, yeah, that’s a tiny flying horse, Delilah thought, feeling dazed, as it fluttered its wings and sped off, winding its way through the office cubicles.
“Ruby! Ruby, c’mon, don’t make me chase you!”
Delilah blinked at the sound of a voice she recognized, and turned to see – Hector? Was it? She’d had a lot to take in that night – jogging down the way towards them.
“Ruby!” he called again, looking around, before his eyes fell on them. “Oh. Uh. Hey.”
Euan shook his head. “Hector, is this bring your daughter to work day?”
Delilah felt like she’d stepped into a Disney film or something. But then again, given all she’d seen and learned about over the last couple of days, or even in the past quarter of an hour, why not a tiny flying horse? Honestly, it seemed like one of the more harmless things she’d seen.
Oh, but… Rosie doesn’t know anything about any of this –
Rosie was staring open-mouthed after the now-disappeared flying horse, her eyes as big as saucers.
“Aunty Dela –”
“Oh. Sorry about that,” Hector said, grimacing. “It’s Sunday, so I was working on some stuff here and I didn’t think anyone except Trent and Callan would be in. So I guess you met Ruby, then.”
Ruby…?
“Yes, we saw Ruby,” Euan said flatly. “You’re not great at the whole ‘keeping her a secret’ thing, are you?”
“Hey, she’s a toddler, not an inanimate object,” Hector fired back. “And Myrtle’s out doing field work, so I thought I’d bring her in to work. I didn’t know she’d get so bored and take off. Having a daughter is still pretty new to me, okay?”
A daughter…?
She remembered now what Euan had told her: that Hector’s adopted daughter was a – a – What did he call her? An alicorn? – who Hector had saved from people who were trying to smuggle her as a rare shifter type. At the time, she’d been too focused on other things to really take in the reality of it.
“Aunty Dela, what was that?” Rosie whispered to her urgently. “Where are we?”
“Rosie… um.” Delilah cast about for the right words to say. “This is where Euan works, and part of his work is with really rare animals. You just saw one then.”
“Oh, okay,” Rosie said, not sounding particularly convinced, and Delilah couldn’t say she blamed her.
Just then, the little winged horse – Ruby, Hector had called her – swept back into view, hovering near the ceiling. She really was beautiful, Delilah thought as she looked up at her in amazement. She was like a little dart of silver, come to life.
“There you are, Ruby!” Hector said, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked up at her. “You know you’re not supposed to run off like that. I said I’ll just be a minute, and then we’ll get you your snack. All right?”
Ruby fluttered a little, and was it Delilah’s imagination, or did the small meeh sound she made hold a note of contrition? She began to wheel her way downward, until her fluttering path brought her close to Delilah’s head.
“Meeh? Meeeh?”
Ruby seemed to bank in surprise, her small, whinnying chirrup becoming questioning. Delilah stared at her, not sure what to make of this, and watched as Ruby folded her wings suddenly and dropped to the floor in front of her, landing at Delilah’s feet. Immediately on landing, Ruby ruffled her wings as if neatening them, and then bowed her head to the floor.
Delilah wasn’t sure what was going on at all, but the first thought that popped into her mind was that Ruby’s gesture looked like a gesture of respect.
But… why’s she doing it in front of me?
“Huh. Wow. I’ve never seen her react that way to anyone else before,” Hector said, sounding surprised. “That’s weird. Usually she’s a total handful. Maybe she likes you.”
“Maybe,” Euan replied, his voice low. Delilah looked up at him to find his face grave and thoughtful. In the excitement and confusion of the flying horse, she’d momentarily forgotten about the man and woman they’d encountered in the gallery, and the strange way they seemed to have been making Euan lift the knife to his own throat…
Would anyone here have any answers about that? she wondered, as Euan turned to look at Hector.
“Hector, you said Callan was here too?” he asked.
Hector nodded, looking at Euan curiously.
“Get him,” Euan said. “There’s a few things I think we need to talk about.”
Chapter 13
Euan watched as Rosie, entranced, fed Ruby another spoonful of mashed apples from the jar on the table.
“So, she’s a really, really rare kind of horse?” Rosie asked, eyes wide as Ruby snuffled up the apple in record time, before meeh-ing for more.
“Yeah,” Delilah said. She was clearly a little uneasy at stretching the truth like this, but right now, it was safer for Rosie not to know too much. “She’s a secret though, Rosie. You can’t tell anyone about this. None of your friends at school – not even Amanda. Okay?”
“Amanda is a liar and she already told a bunch of my secrets to people,” Rosie said darkly. “So I wouldn’t tell her anything anyway.”
“Okay, well, no one else either, though,” Delilah emphasized. “Do you promise me, Rosie?”
Euan had given Delilah a thirty-second run-down on Ruby’s situation while Rosie had been getting herself a glass of juice from the fridge. She understood that Ruby’s existence needed to be kept between them. Ideally, Rosie wouldn’t have known about her either – but looking at how spellbound Rosie clearly was, it was hard to regret it. Her eyes shone as she fed Ruby some more apple.
“I promise, Aunty Dela. Cross my heart. I really won’t.” She carefully fed Ruby another spoonful of apple before looking up at Hector. “Can I pat her?”
“Sure,” he said with an easy smile. “She especially likes getting little rubs under her chin – but be gentle.”
“I promise I will,” Rosie said, before lifting her finger and running it softly over Ruby’s chin. Ruby responded with delight – stretching her wings out and tapping her tiny hooves on the table.
She’s so sweet, Euan thought as he looked at her. It’s hard to believe that she could be the same –
He shook his head, dismissing the thought. It wasn’t certain yet. It was only a suspicion he’d begun to have the more he thought about Lev and Alisa, and then the way Ruby had reacted to Delilah.
“Hector, there’s a few things I need to discuss with you, now that things are a little… settled,” Euan said. “Things about Ruby. Possibly.”
Hector gave him a curious, concerned look, but nodded. “Sure. These two seem to be getting along like a house on fire –” he nodded to Rosie and Ruby “– but…”
“I can take care of them for a while.” Trent spoke up from where he’d been leaning against the wall of the kitchen. “I love kids. And look, it’ll be a good break from the paperwork.”
“Thanks, Trent,” Euan said. After what had happened, he didn’t want to leave Rosie or Ruby without protection even for a minute, but he didn’t think it would be best for either of them to be part of the discussion he was about to have with Hector and Callan.
“You be good now,” Delilah said to Rosie as she stood, reaching out to ruffle her hair. Rosie ducked her head away a little, but she still gave Delilah a small, pleased smile.
“I will,” Rosie said. “But I’m a little bit hungry.”
“I can take care of that,” Trent said smoothly. “C’mon – let’s rustle you up some grub. There should be something around here you’ll like. I’ll cook it if you let me know what you want.”
Despite Trent’s obvious ease with kids and Rosie’s own delight with Ruby, Euan couldn’t blame Delilah for the long, anxious look she cast over her shoulder as they left the kitchen. He was still only just piecing together what had happened at the gallery in his own mind, and he had no idea what Delilah would have made of it all, apart from it being terrifying.