by Holly Martin
Zach touched his side, gingerly and I hopped back on one foot, tears smarting my eyes. He grinned at me. ‘Touché Eve, I take it all back, when you’re done saving the world, I’d be happy to have you fight at my side.’
I grinned. ‘I haven’t had a good fight like that for ages. Thanks Zach.’
I looked at Caleb, who was standing there aghast, and I realised that blood was running down my face.
‘Zach, have you never heard of throwing a fight?’ he muttered, angrily.
Zach frowned. ‘You taught me that I should never go easy on my opponent; if you never mean for your attacks to hurt, then your opponent will never know how to defend themselves for real.’
‘Yes but she’s the bloody Sentinel, we’re pledged to protect her, not crack open her skull and break her foot.’
‘Caleb, it’s fine, I knew what I was getting myself into.’
‘Yeah Caleb, besides, she’s got some fire in her. I kind of figured Seth was only with you for the prestige of going out with the Sentinel, but you have a courageous heart. I can see what Seth sees in you.’
I blushed furiously.
‘Now, since you’ve clearly broken at least two of my ribs, do you mind giving me a hand up to the infirmary?’
I staggered over to him, putting an arm round him, and he leaned on me heavily, I winced as the pressure added to the pain in my foot. I hopped a bit, trying to regain my balance but we were not going to make it to the infirmary like this.
‘Caleb, I’m going to slide us to the infirmary, I’ll see you back in my room in a bit, and for goodness sake, don’t tell Seth about any of this,’ I gestured to my injuries.
Zach grinned. ‘No tell him, it will really make him angry, I love it. Oooh when you tell him, show him this image, me with my arm around his girlfriend, he’ll love that.’
I elbowed him in the ribs and he winced. Then I closed my eyes and holding tight to Zach, I pictured the infirmary, then stepped through.
Cassidy nearly leapt out of her skin when I landed in the infirmary. I saw Freya, her young daughter, come running up the infirmary towards us. In the five months I had known Freya, she still had that wide eyed excited look every time we met.
‘Oh god, what happened, Eve are you ok.’ Cassidy ran over to me as Freya just grinned at my presence. ‘I heard what happened in Cyprus, but I didn’t think you had been injured.’
‘Cassidy, its fine, just a few sparring injuries, nothing to worry about,’ I grinned, trying to put her at ease.
She halted, and turned her angry eyes on Zach. ‘You did this to her?’
Zach nodded, wincing.
Cassidy stepped forward and smacked him round the back of the head. ‘It’s bad enough that my ward is filled with injured guardlings every day, but now you’re beating up the Sentinel, a girl that’s half your strength. Where’s your manners? Did Seth or Eli do this to you,’ she gestured to his injuries. ‘Because you certainly deserve them?’
‘No actually, the girl who is half my strength did it to me; she’s not as feeble as she looks.’
Cassidy looked back at me. ‘You did this to him?’
I nodded, sheepishly.
‘Good, maybe you’ve knocked some manners into him. I’ve never heard of anything so ridiculous,’ she muttered, as she moved her hands to my head, the warm, fizzy feeling penetrating my skull. ‘And you should know better picking a fight with one of the Guardians.’
‘He’s only a guardling, he’s not full grown yet,’ I smiled at Zach. He scowled at me, nudging me playfully.
Cassidy moved her hand to heal my cheek, which was slightly bruised, and then knelt to heal my foot. Freya took my hand and healed a small cut that I didn’t even realise I had. I smiled at her.
‘Did you really beat him up?’ Freya asked, her eyes wide as dinner plates.
I nodded.
‘That’s so cool.’
‘No it is not, young lady,’ Cassidy snapped, as she turned her attention to Zach. ‘I feel like I should leave you injured to teach you a lesson,’ she muttered, though she reached up to heal his head anyway, then moved her hands to his ribs, pushing the bones back into place painfully before healing the bone completely. She seemed to take a bit too much pleasure in the pain she had caused him when pushing the bone back.
‘Now I don’t want to see her in here again with injuries one of her own has inflicted on her. Do I make myself clear?’ she glared at Zach.
Zach beamed politely back. ‘Crystal.’
We made our way out the infirmary, Freya waving inanely at us as we left.
‘I should walk you back to your room,’ Zach said. ‘The rules clearly say you should not be without a Guardian at any time.’
‘I think I can make it back to my room safely,’ I rolled my eyes. Eli and his strict rules.
‘Humour me,’ he smiled. ‘I’ve already upset Caleb today, which has no doubt got back to Eli by now, so I’ll probably be back in the infirmary again later, and then there’s Seth to deal with too. If I leave you unprotected as well, I might as well pack my bags and leave the fort now.’
I sighed and nodded. We walked up the stairs in companionable silence.
‘What did Cassidy mean, what happened in Cyprus?’
I sighed sadly. ‘Me and Seth went to Cyprus today, it was supposed to be a break for me after I was poisoned yesterday.’
‘Yeah I heard about that. We were the ones who were searching for Riley.’
I tried to ignore what they would have done to him if they’d caught up with him. I pressed on.
‘Well almost as soon as I landed a Putarian tried to kill me. Seth killed her, but the worst part was how he acted afterwards. He was so angry, so cold. At that moment, there was no love there, just this Guardian, devoid of all emotion. I’ve never seen that side of him before.’ My throat contracted painfully, as I thought back to how Seth had looked at me in that room.
Zach pursed his lips thoughtfully. ‘I’m connected to Seth in ways I so wish I wasn’t, and though it pains me to defend him, he loves you so much that if he lost you, I don’t think he could carry on. After you were poisoned, in the short time that he thought you were dead, I could feel him dying as well, his heart just giving out. The way he acted in Cyprus, it’s a defence mechanism, if he thought for one minute how close he came to losing you again, it would just bring him to his knees, literally. In that moment, I suspect he had to act with his head, to think like a Guardian, logically, calculated, detached; his primary function is to protect you, to get you out of there. If he acted with his heart, he wouldn’t even be able to do that.’
‘Yes but I don’t want a boyfriend who will protect me, I want one who will love me,’
‘Unfortunately, the two are not exclusive; he can’t love you and not protect you.’
I sighed. We had reached my corridor at this point. I turned to face Zach. ‘I had a great time this morning, will you fight me again?’
Zach suppressed a smile. ‘I’m supposed to fight for you, not against you.’
‘Oh well if you’re too scared.’ I turned away, waiting for him to take the bait like I knew he would.
‘Fine. Next time you come back, I’ll show you a real fight,’ Zach said, and walked off.
I nodded to my guards as I entered the corridor and then I noticed Seth waiting at the end. He seemed to glare at me as I got nearer. Had Caleb told him about my sparring, or was he still angry over what had happened in Cyprus? I stopped and looked at him. I ached for him, I missed him so much right now and he was standing just ten metres away from me. He turned and walked away from me, into our room, and shut the door behind him.
This was ridiculous; I followed him into the room and shut the door. He was staring out the window.
I sat down on the edge of the bed, furious at him for treating me this way. Whilst he was furious at me for reasons I couldn’t fathom, according to Zach, he was furious at me because he loved me.
‘Things are going to change. I’m not going
to pander to your every whim anymore.’ He turned to face me. ‘I was trying to balance keeping you happy and keeping you safe. Now your safety is my number one priority. I don’t care about anything else.’
My eyebrows shot up. ‘You don’t care about my happiness. Well that’s nice.’
‘You don’t seem to care about your own safety at all.’
‘That’s not true.’
‘What happened today should never have happened, we should never have gone to Cyprus and I’m an idiot for letting you go. It’s not going to happen again. You are never leaving this fort again.’
‘So I’m a prisoner here.’
Seth ignored me. ‘We’re going to change the way your food is tasted, two people will taste it several hours before you eat it.’
‘Urgh, so I get to eat cold congealed food that other people have already mauled.’ This was ridiculous and he knew that.
‘We’re going to intensify the guard too. You will always be with two Guardians at any one time including when you sleep.’
‘No way, I’m not having someone watching me sleep.’
‘You don’t have a choice.’
Anger ripped through me and far off over the hills I heard thunder rumble. ‘What about us. Those times when we’re alone, when you kiss me and hold me, are we really going to ruin those beautiful moments with Eli or Lucas standing over us.’
Seth shrugged coldly. ‘If that’s what it takes to keep you safe. I’m not sleeping in the same bed as you either. I can’t keep you safe if I’m asleep. We’ll work in shifts, take it in turns. Eli and Mason can stay with you tonight.’
Seth slipped his knife onto his belt. It was a symbolic gesture; he’d never wore a knife before. But now he was my Guardian not my boyfriend. He walked out, closing the door firmly behind him. I stared at the door in shock.
Lightning lit up the sky outside, flickering against the black clouds.
What the hell just happened?
*
I lay in my bed steadfastly trying to ignore Eli and Mason sitting in the window seat, who were both studiously watching me as if I might literally burst into flames at any second. I hated Seth so much right now. The worst thing was I couldn’t actually sleep without him. Every night in the last five months since we had moved to the fort, I had laid with my head on his chest, wrapped tightly in his arms. I had sort of envisaged doing that every night for the rest of my life.
I rolled over stubbornly to face away from them. I would sleep without him. I didn’t need him. I closed my eyes and focussed my healing power on the back of my brain, the part responsible for deep sleep and instantly, in my dreams, I found myself on my beach in Mexico.
I lay there for a while, watching the clouds move slowly across the sky but all I could think about was Seth.
Voices from the outside world yanked me from my sleep and when I opened my eyes, he was lying next to me. His jaw was clenched as he stared up at the ceiling. My eyes scanned past him and I realised I wasn’t in my room anymore.
I sat up and looked around in confusion. ‘Where am I?’
‘My room,’ Seth said.
‘I think you’ll find your room is the one you share with me.’
Seth glared at me
‘Did I slide here, whilst I slept?’
‘Apparently.’
‘Then stop looking at me like I’ve broken some kind of rule, I didn’t do it deliberately.’
I heard shuffling across the room and turned to see Eli and Mason had repositioned themselves in here now. I rolled my eyes. This was going to have to change, there was no way I was kissing Seth whilst they were watching and there was no way I could live without kissing Seth for the rest of my life. But as I had nearly died twice in two days I was resigned for Seth to be overly cautious for the next few days at least. After that it was going to change whether he liked it or not.
I just had to prove to him I was safe here.
I lay down with my head on his chest, wrapping my arms round his neck. It hurt a bit that he didn’t hold me back but I didn’t care enough to release him.
Seth sighed and pulled the duvet over me. I smiled into his neck, it was a small victory.
*
I was walking up the stairs in the fort, seemingly heading back to my bedroom. Just ahead Seth was laughing and talking with a woman, it took me a few moments to realise the woman was me. This in itself should have been enough to tell me it was a dream but there was something different here to the dreams I normally have. The colours were more vivid, the images surrounding me were more real, defined. I reached out to touch one of the walls as I walked past and I could feel the roughness of the stones against my fingertips.
I followed Seth and the other me down the corridor and into our room. Immediately they started kissing as they moved over to the bed. I could see that even Seth was a little surprised by the ferocity of the kiss. I had never kissed Seth like that before; I mean we’d had passion but this was something different, it was almost like watching someone else, this wasn’t me at all. Except it was.
They fell onto the bed and she sat up, straddling him, ripping open his shirt. And he let her, he watched with surprise but he didn’t try to stop her.
Suddenly, without warning, she yanked a knife, a black twisted knife, from the back of her jeans and plunged it straight into Seth’s heart. I screamed and ran forward to stop her but as my room faded around me, the last thing I saw was Seth’s expression of hurt and betrayal.
Chapter 3
A scream ripped from my throat, a loud, piercing, torturous, agonizing scream. Pain so immeasurable ripping through my veins, my skin, my heart. Grief tore through every cell in my body. I had never felt agony like it.
The room around me was in darkness. I was sobbing uncontrollably, unable to catch my breath, my throat had closed, and I couldn’t get any air to my lungs.
‘Evie.’
Hands were around my arms but I fought them off
I formed a ball of light in my hand, and let it float above me, and I could see Seth, looking worried next to me. I reached out to touch his face, his lips, his heart, touching him all over, as I sobbed hysterically.
Without thinking I straddled him, ripping his shirt open to check his chest for injuries and he let me. He lay there, just like he had in my dream, letting me take what I needed. I pressed my hands against his heart, feeling the solid, unyielding skin completely intact. But it wasn’t enough, I filled myself with all of my healing power and let it course through him. But as soon as I connected with him in this way, I could feel how alive he was; healthy, strong, uninjured, safe and I let my powers go.
‘Eve, are you ok?’ Eli asked.
I couldn’t even breathe, to answer. I let my head fall into my hands and I cried, relief and grief coursing through me in equal measures.
‘Give us a few minutes,’ Seth said, quietly.
I heard them leave, the door closing behind them.
Seth sat up, taking my hands from my face and gently wiped my tears away with his thumbs. He trailed his hand down my cheek, stroking his thumb across my lips as he’d done to me a hundred times before.
I leaned forward to kiss him, suddenly fearful he would stop me as he’d barely been speaking to me hours before. But before I could get close to him, he was already leaning up to kiss me, his mouth meeting mine hard, taking my face in his hands. I was still sobbing and shaking as I ran my hands down his smooth chest, feeling his heart thundering against my fingertips.
I heard him moan softly against my lips as he pulled me down next to him onto the bed, not taking his mouth from mine.
I let my light wink out, leaving us in darkness, but the kiss continued long after the sobbing had stopped.
*
I woke early the next morning wrapped tightly in Seth’s arms, just as it should be. I looked up at him and saw he was already awake, though on closer inspection he probably hadn’t slept at all.
He smiled at me briefly when he saw me awake but then h
is face grew serious. I didn’t know if I could bear any more fighting, especially not after spending the whole night in that beautiful, deeply intimate kiss.
But when he spoke he wasn’t angry anymore, he was concerned. I could see it in the tenderness of his eyes.
‘Want to tell me what happened?’
‘I dreamt that you died.’ I swallowed the lump in my throat. ‘That I killed you.’
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. ‘I know I can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but I hardly think I’m in danger of being killed by you. It was just a dream, but your reaction to it…’
‘I don’t think it was a dream, I think it was a premonition, a prophecy.’
I waited for him to dismiss this idea but he didn’t.
‘What makes you think that?’
I loved this man so much. He didn’t doubt me for one second.
‘It was different to my dreams, this felt so real. Dreams are blurry, this was vivid. It’s going to happen Seth, I’m just not sure when.’
‘You’re going to kill me.’
I shook my head. ‘It wasn’t me, I know that now. She looked like me, but she wasn’t.’
There was no way that I could ever harm Seth and the way that she had kissed him had been nothing like the way we had ever kissed. Even last night, the way we had kissed had been so incredible, so passionate, but it still hadn’t been anything like the way that she had kissed him moments before she murdered him.
I felt the tears rise in my throat again, I had to stop it.
‘Hey.’ Seth took hold of my chin and forced me to look at him. ‘I’m not leaving you. I promise you that.’