by HR Moore
They all laughed. ‘Fair enough,’ said Cleo, ‘but I’m not sure how we’ll get Marcus on side.’
‘Well I dumped him the last time I saw him, so I’m probably not the best person for the job,’ said Anita.
‘And I think he’s likely to want to punch me when he finds out Anita and I are together,’ said Alexander.
‘Well we’ll have to keep working on it. There must be someone Marcus trusts, we just need to find them.’
The doorbell rang as Anita and Alexander got up to leave. ‘That’ll be Gwyn and Henry,’ said Bas, ‘we’re going on a double date this evening.’
Anita’s eyes shot to Cleo, a mix of amusement and friendly scorn conveyed as Cleo averted her uncomfortable gaze, ‘Henry the Councillor’s son?’ she asked, mockingly. ‘The one you slapped in the street for standing you up because he was on a date with someone else?’
Cleo shoved Anita towards the stairs, ‘it’s a long story. I’m sure I’ll tell you all about it next time I see you, but weren’t you two just leaving?’
‘Alright, alright. We won’t stay where we’re not wanted,’ joked Anita, as she followed Bas and Alexander down the stairs. She reached the bottom step and was shocked to stillness at the sight of Bas and Gwyn’s lips locked together and Bas’ hand caressing the back of Gwyn’s neck. Anita forced herself forwards, suppressing a mild pang of jealousy and silently following Alexander out of the front door.
*****
Alexander and Anita sat cross legged at the back of the Spirit Temple, facing each other, close but not touching, eyes closed, minds merged at Anita’s centre. It was more intense than usual, Anita surprised that was possible, an electricity crackling through the air between them. Anita stood at the entrance of the yurt, Alexander sat where she usually found him, on the bed in the corner. He was, as usual, shirtless, but today his body seemed to call her to him. Whereas it normally sat there impassively waiting for her to act, today the muscles on his chest seemed more defined, more contoured, even more appealing.
He sat silently watching her, smiling as he felt her energy react to him. She moved easily towards him, all thoughts of the cylinder hidden somewhere in the inner sanctum of her mind forgotten. She reached him and climbed cat-like up in front of him, leaning forwards provocatively so her lips could find his. A trickle of desire started to snake around her insides, an agonising void left behind by its treacherous scales. Their skin touched and energy coursed between them like a toxic current that served only to intensify their already charged minds. She pulled away and flicked her grey eyes to his, sending a flirtatious challenge he responded to without conscious thought, rolling her sideways and pinning her to the bed with his weight.
He hovered over her as she slowly traced her fingers down the muscles at his sides, revelling in the effect such a simple movement had on him. He leaned forward, brushing his lips lightly over her collar bone, sending shivers of instant pleasure down her spine. She arched her back and he moved his lips to her ear, whispering, ‘I thought we were supposed to be looking for the cylinder.’
‘We are. But it’s not my fault you’re so distracting.’
‘I’m so distracting?’ he questioned, kissing her enticingly on the neck. ‘I’m pretty sure it’s not me,’ he said, sliding his fingers lightly down her neck, walking them across her chest, over her now sensitive breasts, tantalisingly across every rib, and through the contour of her waist, before skimming her hip bone, and coming to rest on the curve of her behind. ‘I’d say you’re the distracting one.’ He leaned in for a long, tender kiss, changing the tone of his intent. When he finally pulled away, he gently caressed her cheek before lifting himself off her, manoeuvring himself out of the bed and walking to the other side of the room.
Anita sat up, annoyed and frustrated, feeling a forceful desire to stamp her foot in protest, but she knew he had a point. They needed to find the cylinder and to do that they needed to concentrate. ‘Okay,’ she said, a little more testily than she meant to, ‘what do you suggest we do? We’ve already tried to locate the cylinder loads of times.’
‘We need a new approach,’ he mused, keeping his eyes off Anita’s goddess like form. ‘We need to work out the most difficult place to find in your mind. That’s the most likely place for it to hide.’
‘Well it’s not going to be somewhere full of Body, nor Spirit, so we can safely assume it’s somewhere full of Mind, which will also make it most difficult for us to find.’
‘Yes, but let’s hope not impossible. Maybe we should start in the most Mind orientated places we’ve found so far and see if we can find a link from there.’
‘Okay,’ Anita agreed. It seemed like the best place to start. ‘The boat then.’
Reluctantly Alexander agreed. He wasn’t keen on going to the boat owned by Marcus’ grandfather and the place Marcus and Anita had last meditated together, but it was the only choice they had.
Alexander cleared his mind and Anita led them to the boat, where they found themselves sitting, knees touching, in the stern, sails reaching up like wings into the flawless blue sky above. Anita leaned towards Alexander, saying, ‘it’s so beautiful here don’t you think?’ before kissing him absently on the lips. She found it so liberating that in here nobody else could see them, or hear them, or interrupt them, and she delighted in the shivers of energy racing through her as Alexander kissed her back, running his fingers up her spine and into her hair as he pulled her ever more urgently to him. They broke apart, eyes alight, as Anita stood up and moved to sit on top of the entrance to the cabin, putting some deliberate space between them.
‘So what now?’ she asked, looking out at the crystal turquoise ocean behind them.
‘I don’t know. But the boat is the main Mind component here, so maybe we should take a look around inside?’
Anita agreed and they made their way under the beautiful teak deck into the small cabin below, where they found themselves in a cramped galley with a compact table surrounded on three sides with green seating. There was a stove, a sink, and a number of cupboards containing everything from navigation equipment to bits of string and old bolts, to champagne glasses, but nothing that linked them to other places in her mind. After they searched the galley, they split up, Anita venturing forwards towards the bow, where she found two cabins and a bathroom, and Alexander taking the stern, where he discovered a large stern cabin complete with double bed and its own private bathroom. Neither found anything of interest, only berths without bedding and more storage lockers, but then neither of them were fully concentrating on the job in hand, each more than a little preoccupied by the proximity of the other. They headed back above deck and agreed to call it a day. Although they didn’t admit it out loud, neither of their hearts were really in the search, making progress unlikely and more searching futile.
Anita pulled them out of the meditation and they opened their eyes to find themselves back in the Spirit Temple, a small crowd of people nearby, watching them from a distance. Alexander and Anita couldn’t fathom why; they had never attracted this kind of attention when they’d meditated here before, but they didn’t hang around to find out. Alexander quickly helped Anita to her feet, both of them trying to ignore the concentrated flow of energy coursing through their fingertips, and led her to the stone in the centre of the Temple that covered the steps down to Alexander’s rooms. The stone slid aside as they approached and Alexander ushered Anita in front of him before following her down the spiral steps that led to his study below.
‘That was weird,’ said Anita, as she slouched back into one of the beaten up old leather armchairs. ‘What do you think was going on?’
‘I don’t know. But if I had to guess I’d say it was probably something to do with Amber or Austin.’
‘Why?’ asked Anita, defensively.
‘Because until a few days ago, you were going out with Marcus, which afforded you a certain amount of, if not protection, then courtesy. Now that’s gone and being seen in public with me is only going to
rile them further.’
‘That’s ridiculous. Marcus convinced them I wasn’t trying to steal anything and they let me go.’
‘That’s not quite how I remember it,’ laughed Alexander. ‘Marcus blackmailed Austin to make him release you, and he had to do that because you were in fact trying to steal something.’ Alexander’s voice was terse; he didn’t really want to discuss the heroic actions of Marcus that had led to Anita’s freedom.
‘Okay, so let’s say, for arguments sake, Austin has people spying on us and reporting back. For what possible purpose?’
‘Austin has been looking for the real Body Descendant for quite some time. That’s why we all came to Empire in the first place, because Christiana wanted to find you, to tell you who you really were, and Austin killed her when he found out her true purpose.’
‘Austin killed Christiana?’ Anita repeated, shocked. ‘How could you possibly know that?’
‘Because I was there when it happened,’ he replied, dejectedly. ‘I was on my way to see her and when I approached, I heard Austin and Christiana arguing. I hid to listen and when Austin found out what she was really in Empire for, he suffocated her with a cushion.’
‘Why didn’t you do anything?’
‘Because Christiana was a reader, she knew I was there but didn’t appeal for my help. I think she wanted me to know what happened so I could carry on what she had been trying to do herself. If I’d revealed myself to Austin, he would probably have had me killed by now too and my bloodline would be over.’
Anita sat silently contemplating his words for several minutes before responding. ‘So you think Austin knows I’m the true Body Descendant?’
Alexander smiled, his eyes mocking her as he replied. ‘It’s not like there are a great number of candidates and you haven’t done much to dispel suspicion.’
‘Well what was I supposed to do? Lose the Chase? Shy away into the background and let everyone think I’d been beaten by a bunch of Descendants?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why do you persist with this crap? By now you should have realised I’d rather put myself in danger than let them think they’ve won.’
‘But they will win unless we get smarter. If we try to take them head on, we’ll lose.’
‘So what do you suggest we do?’ Anita asked, aggressively. She knew he had a point and she wanted to hear it, she just wasn’t yet able to give up the way she would normally tackle things.
‘I don’t know exactly, but we need to lay low for a while. We need time to find the cylinder, Bas and Anderson need time to find a way to send the relic back, and we need a strategy to find out what the Institution are really up to. Most of all, you need to stay away from Marcus, Austin and Amber, and limit how much you’re seen in public. If Austin finds a way to get you out of the picture before we figure out how to send the relic back, then sending the relic back becomes impossible and the prophecy’s over; we fail.’
‘Okay, fine, I’ll lay low for a while, and don’t worry,’ she said provokingly, ‘I promise I’ll stay away from Marcus.’
Chapter 6
‘I thought I’d find you here,’ Austin whispered menacingly into Helena’s ear as he placed two whisky glasses on the bar in front of her and sat down on the stool beside her.
‘Oh damn, am I that predictable?’ she replied contemptuously, the dimly lit bar hiding half her face in shadow as she continued to look forward, sipping her existing drink. It was 2am and the bar was practically empty, the Jazz band still going strong, but the music now a mellow ripple caressing the room, at stark contrast with the frivolous volume and pace of the hours that had preceded. Several couples danced around the floor, several booths were occupied, but everyone ignored everyone else, all enjoying the anonymity this place was famous for. Jack’s was in the centre of Empire, but not in the well-to-do Temple Mews or one of the well-manicured surrounding streets. Jack’s was on the other side of the river, home to the not quite so well-heeled, where unsavoury behaviour was the order of the day.
‘It’s where you go in times of trouble, or in times when you’re looking to find trouble come to think of it,’ he smirked as he took a large gulp of his whiskey. ‘Seeing as your latest ploy didn’t exactly go to plan, I didn’t doubt you would be here.’
‘Latest ploy?’ she asked easily.
‘You want to play games with me? You and I are the only two who know what’s in the cylinder Anita tried to steal from me, and I sure as hell didn’t put her up to it.’
‘I think sometimes all that power might have gone to your head. Conspiracies everywhere. Amber bumping people off whenever a theory gets out of control.’ He shifted in his seat, his anger plain for her to read and Helena smiled inwardly, delighting that she still had the ability to wind him up.
‘Tell me why then, out of all people, Anita, the girl you took under your wing for so many years, finds her way into my family’s vault and picks up the one thing you would so dearly like to have.’
‘Firstly, she is no longer under my wing. Secondly, I didn’t even know you had a family vault. And thirdly, she’s always been too curious for her own good, so maybe that’s the reason why.’
‘If you’re going to lie, you could do me the courtesy of trying harder than that,’ he hissed.
She turned her head to face him, her eyes now inches from his. ‘Why don’t you just get Amber to interrogate her?’ she asked ponderously. ‘If Anita is guilty, I’m sure your attack dog will be able to force it out of her.’
Austin grabbed Helena’s arm, spinning her body towards him. ‘Don’t be so foolish. You think you’re immune because of some long ago history between us?’
‘Long ago? You’ve got a short memory.’
‘Helena, I’m being serious.’
‘I’m terrified,’ she said slowly, leaning in to him so their foreheads were almost touching. ‘Simply shaking with fear,’ she said seductively, as she moved forward and took his bottom lip between her teeth. She bit hard enough to enrage him, but gently enough not to do any damage, smiling brazenly as he tore away, his eyes a sea of rage as he reached out and wrapped her throat in his hand.
‘I know Anita is the real Body Descendant,’ he said threateningly, tightening his grip, pulling her towards him.
Helena cocked one inviting eyebrow. ‘That’s news to me,’ she said, reaching a hand up to stroke his cheek, ‘but if you want to take this much further, we should probably find somewhere more private.’
Austin paused, searching her face, although he wasn’t sure what for. He pulled her lips to his, kissing her roughly before driving her away. He stood up, drained his glass and turned to leave. ‘Watch your back Helena, if you carry on like this, even I won’t be able to protect you.’
*****
Anita met Cleo by the river. They walked Thorn several miles along the bank, the springer spaniel jumping in and out of the water after sticks they threw for him. They stopped by a section of rapids where they idly watched the frothing water making its turbulent way over the rocks. Alexander had been called to Kingdom with the rest of the Descendants and Councillors for an emergency meeting. Kingdom was starting to witness protests at the rising food prices and Austin had finally relented, agreeing to start crisis talks on what should happen next.
‘How are the talks going?’ asked Cleo, throwing a stone into the rapids. ‘Dad says not well.’
‘I don’t know. I haven’t heard a word from Alexander since he left and Bas hasn’t sent any messages back either.’
‘Well let’s hope Austin finally sees sense and they start trying to do something.’
‘Unlikely, but fingers crossed.’
‘So have you found the cylinder yet?’ asked Cleo.
‘No. We’ve looked for it a few times but we never seem to get that far. Meditating with Alexander isn’t the most productive exercise,’ she said meaningfully.
Cleo laughed. ‘I can imagine. Tricky predicament.’
‘I’m not convinced Alexander is the
right person anyway. He thinks the cylinder is most likely to be hiding in the most difficult location to find, which for me, would be a Mind dominated place. We’ve only found Spirit and Body places, apart from the boat, which has some Mind in it as well, but I’m not sure either one of us really knows what we’re looking for and it’s not like I can go and see if Marcus wants to meditate with me to find the cylinder.’
‘Well what about me?’ said Cleo, offhandedly, as though it wouldn’t be a big deal if Anita said no. She continued, before Anita had a chance to respond, ‘I mean, you and I did get to the boat in a previous meditation, and if you need a Mind who’s in on what you’re trying to do, you’re limited for options.’
Cleo was about to continue when Anita jumped in smiling, ‘of course. It’s a great idea.’
‘Really?’ asked Cleo, shocked. ‘You’re happy to meditate with me?’
‘Of course!’ Anita nodded, confused. ‘Why wouldn’t I want to meditate with you?’
‘Well I’ve never successfully meditated with anyone before so who knows if I’ll be any use at all.’
‘There’s only one way to find out,’ said Anita, shifting so she faced Cleo, cross legged on the soft earth. ‘Come on. Cross your legs, close your eyes, relax and breathe deeply. Just let your mind go and I’ll guide us to my centre.’
Cleo did as she was told, but when they both arrived in the meditation, they weren’t at Anita’s centre, they were on the boat in the middle of the ocean. ‘Well this is unexpected,’ said Anita, looking around her. ‘Most of the time I have to go to my centre before I can come anywhere else.’
‘But your centre would have very little Mind, so it makes sense with me here we would end up somewhere a bit more balanced?’
‘That must be it,’ she replied.
‘So what do we do now?’ asked Cleo, looking around in wonder at her surroundings. Anita remembered the first time she had properly meditated with Alexander, so gave Cleo a few moments to take it all in.