The Sentinel (The Sentinel Series)

by Holly Martin

  When I opened my eyes I was in bed. It was dark outside. My digital clock told me it was nearly midnight. Two figures were silhouetted against the limited light from the window. The snow outside was making it lighter than it should have been at this time of night, but still it was very dark. Or maybe it was just the tiredness that made it seem dark. My eyes closed again, against my will, but the hushed voices in the room, piqued my interest.

  ‘Is she ok?’ That was Seth. I was sure of it.

  ‘Yes, I think so. Jasmine looked her over, she said she was just tired from using all her powers for the first time. Seth I’ve never been so scared of losing her before. You should have heard her scream, it was horrific and there was nothing I could do to stop it, to help her.’ That was Quinn.

  Seth. I had to talk to him, to apologise, to say something to make the events of this afternoon ok. I had no right to go traipsing about in his head, digging through his personal feelings, thoughts and dreams. How do you apologise for such a huge invasion of privacy. I wondered, dryly, if Clintons might do a line in such a card. I pictured the card alongside the usual birthday, anniversary, congratulations cards, the ‘I’m sorry I looked at all your thoughts’ card. It couldn’t even come close to covering what I had done.

  ‘Seth,’ I muttered, trying to force myself up into a sitting position.

  ‘Yeah I’m here honey.’ I saw him approach the edge of the bed.

  I saw the shadow of Quinn leave the room, to give us some privacy no doubt.

  ‘Seth come here.’ I reached for him feebly, finding it very difficult to even lift my head, from the pillow. But even without my powers I knew he would come. He slid on to the bed next to me and I wrapped my arms around him. He hugged me tightly. He was so warm that as soon as my head was lying on his chest, sleep threatened to consume me again. I fought against it.

  ‘Seth, I’m sorry,’ I mumbled, my eyes closing and my breathing becoming deep.

  I felt his hot mouth kissing my forehead. ‘Eve, I could see what you saw today, and I could see that thick golden rope between us. There is nothing you could ever say or do that could break that rope, that bond. I love you. I always will.’

  ‘You’re right, there’s nothing that can break us.’ I knew he was right. He tightened his grip around me and the sleep, like his arms, enclosed me.

  *

  I woke again later wrapped so tightly in Seth’s arms I could barely breathe. He was so hot and as such I was burning up too. He was fast asleep and I wriggled around a bit to free myself from his grip.

  I opened my bedroom door and Lucas turned round to look at me. I hadn’t realised that I would have one of my Personal Guard on duty outside my bedroom. They were taking their job very seriously.

  ‘Hey, you feeling better?

  I nodded, my brain clearing itself of sleep.

  ‘What you doing up, you should be resting?’ His eyes cast over me with concern; obviously me blacking out had caused some anxiety amongst my Guardians.

  ‘I’m fine, I’m just getting a drink.’

  ‘I’ll get it.’

  ‘No you won’t. You’re here to protect me, not serve me.’

  Lucas smiled. ‘Stubborn little thing aren’t you?’

  I couldn’t help the smirk that twitched on my lips. And grumpy too. ‘Can I get you anything while I’m down there?’

  ‘Yeah grab me a banana or some kind of fruit.’

  I wandered through the lounge and into the kitchen, Caleb, Mason and Alexandria watched me go, almost suspiciously. Did they not sleep?

  I grabbed a glass and filled it up but as I leaned back against the counter to drink it, a figure at the back door caught my eye. I whirled round to see a man looking at me through the window. I dropped my glass in shock and it smashed on the floor. I leapt back to avoid the small tidal wave that sploshed over my feet and when I looked back up he was gone.

  Alexandria and Caleb were at my side instantly, though I wasn’t sure if they had slid or just ran.

  I laughed, dryly. ‘It’s ok, sorry. I saw one of your Guardians at the back door and it gave me a bit of a fright.’

  ‘One of our Guardians?’ Alexandria moved to the door. ‘Someone you know?’

  ‘No. Not one I’ve seen before, but it must have been one of mine. He was definitely Deus and no one else knows I’m here.’

  Caleb forced a smile onto his face. ‘It probably was. You should go back to your room while we check it out.’

  It was silly. I had to get used to this constant vigilance. I grabbed another glass of water and a banana and headed back upstairs.

  ‘Problem?’ asked Lucas, taking the banana.

  ‘Just trying to get used to my protective detail.’

  Caleb sped up the stairs in a blur. ‘Abe was out the back, he said there was no one else there.’

  I shifted, uneasily. ‘I didn’t imagine him Caleb.’

  Lucas frowned. ‘You saw someone at the back door?’

  ‘Yes a Deus.’

  ‘There was no one there Eve, the back garden was empty. Abe hasn’t seen anyone else all evening.’

  Seth appeared from the bedroom looking all dishevelled and lovely which caused Caleb’s eyebrows to shoot up. I blushed though I had nothing to be embarrassed about.

  ‘Everything ok?’ Despite his hair sticking out at all angles and looking very crumpled, his eyes were alert and wary.

  Caleb quickly filled him in.

  Abe came running up the stairs. ‘Eve, I swear to you, no one has been in the back garden. I would have seen them if they were.’

  ‘I’m not doubting you Abe but…’

  ‘Well clearly you are.’ He took a step towards me. ‘Do you think I would let anyone near the house, do you think I would put you at risk like that?’

  ‘Hey, back off,’ Lucas’s voice was calm, but the threat was implicit.

  Abe took a step back, clearly reprimanded.

  I was still very tired and I just wanted to crawl back into bed now. ‘Look, maybe it was a trick of the light, maybe it was over tiredness that made me see something that wasn’t there. But whatever it was, you guys have clearly got everything under control, so if you don’t mind I’m going back to bed.’

  I went back into my bedroom and after a few hushed mutterings from my Guardians, Caleb and Abe went back downstairs.

  ‘Seth is going to stay in there with you tonight,’ said Lucas. ‘He can sit in the chair or… well I’m sure you guys can work that out. And I’ll be right outside if you need me.’

  I nodded.

  Seth, unabashed, followed me in and closed the door.

  I got into bed and held up the duvet for Seth. It seemed right somehow. He lay down next to me and after a few seconds he pulled me into his arms.

  ‘You did see someone at the back door didn’t you?’

  ‘Yes,’ I said, honestly.

  ‘So… either Abe has lied about there being someone there or he has been negligent and wasn’t keeping as good an eye as he should have been.’

  ‘Seth I don’t want to think badly of my Guardians, they’ve pledged their lives to me.’

  He was silent for a moment.

  ‘There’s another option.’

  ‘I like that. What’s the other option?’

  ‘You have powers that we don’t fully understand. We don’t know yet what you will be able to do, which powers will manifest themselves and which will always lie dormant. Maybe you have the ability to see people that others can’t.’

  I felt my heart quicken at the thought of this. ‘There are people out there that you guys can’t see?’

  ‘Not that we know of.’

  ‘That’s not a better option Seth. I’d rather Abe was negligent than there being people that you can’t see. We can’t fight against an invisible race.’

  ‘No. But I’m sure if there was an invisible race we would know about it by now.’

  I winced because that only left the first two options.

  And Seth knew it too
. ‘I’ll have a word with Eli tomorrow.’

  He pulled me tighter against him and I knew that for now, at least, I was safe.

  *

  ‘Stop it,’ said Seth, a smile playing on his lips.

  ‘What?’ I tried to look innocent.

  He subtly nodded to Eli who was glaring at me in the rear view mirror. I sighed and let the small flame in my hand wink out. Eli had already told me off that morning for practising my powers of telekinesis on my breakfast bowl. He wanted me supervised when I used my powers but I was keen to get to the church and get started.

  We were in a new car today, a gleaming white BMW 4x4. I think Eli still missed his silver Land Rover. The roads were icy and Eli was forced to go slower than he would have liked. Of course I was getting the blame for that too. I’d heard him mumble something about me making it sunny rather than icy and treacherous.

  Abe’s car was following close behind, they were going to pick up Persia and her sisters as Persia’s mini wouldn’t make it to the church in this weather.

  Lucas wasn’t with us today and I found myself missing him. Maybe he would join us later.

  ‘Is Lucas having a day off?’ I asked Mason.

  ‘We don’t have days off Eve. We are pledged to you for life,’ he said, clearly insulted by this slur on their character.

  Alexandria turned round to talk to me. ‘Deus don’t need a lot of sleep, an hour a night or a day a week. Lucas seems to be more in tune with you than the rest of us so he is on duty at night too. He is sleeping today but he probably won’t need to sleep again now until next week.’

  I looked back at Abe in the car behind.

  ‘And there are others, it’s not just my Personal Guard is it?’

  ‘There are many Guardians pledged to you. There are the Outer Guard, Abe’s team, they maintain the perimeter on the house, make sure no one enters or goes near that shouldn’t be there. There are many that were part of the secret, your teachers, doctors, dentists. At the moment they are maintaining this cover as we don’t want too many things to change around you as people might start to notice. There are others who have normal jobs, that are ‘on call’ so to speak. If we need them, they’d be here. There are some at the Fort, training the new Guardians.’

  ‘There are different teams too,’ Quinn said, sitting on my other side. ‘There are the Putarian and Reaper teams. They are Guardians that are tasked with rescuing the Donum and the Zekis from the Reapers when they can find them. They’ve got very good at tracking them down, though sadly there are still many that they don’t find. There are Guardians tasked with killing the Putarians as well. The Assassins. As hard as the Putarians are trying to purge the earth of anyone none pure, the Guardians are searching the earth for any Putarians and killing them. The team searching for Putarians round here is the biggest as that is the most immediate threat to your life.’

  The Oraculum really were covering all bases. I had to be alive at the end.

  Eli glared at Quinn and I gathered he shouldn’t have said that last bit.

  As we rounded a bend, the car slithered on the ice, but as Eli skilfully got it back under control, Abe’s car slammed into us from behind. Our car skidded over the verge and plunged into the frozen canal. My scream was trapped in my throat as water sloshed over the windscreen and we were faced with a murky green underwater world.

  Glass smashed behind me, raining down shards of painfully sharp confetti on top of us. I fumbled with my seatbelt. We had to get out and quick. Though to my surprise, Seth’s hands stilled my own. I looked up into his calm eyes.

  ‘Stay where you are. The Guardians have this under control.’

  I heard the front door being opened and I saw Alexandria disappear into the icy green depths below. Water sloshed into the foot well making the car tilt and sink quicker. Eli climbed gracefully out of the driver’s seat and past me into the back of the car, making the car level out again. For the first time I noticed Mason was missing, but judging by the huge hole in the back window he had obviously bailed out as soon as we had hit the water. Suddenly, like a film played in reverse, the car slid upwards out of the water as unseen forces pushed it from below. I looked round as a heavy weight suddenly latched itself onto the bumper. Mason was at the back of the car, standing on the bank pulling it out of the water and with the help of Alexandria who was pushing the car from the front the car was soon safely back on the bank again.

  I looked around in shock at Seth and Quinn who had sat calmly by my side throughout as if we were at a trip to the movies. I wasn’t even wet.

  ‘They really do have everything under control don’t they?’

  Seth grinned as he got out. ‘Always.’

  I got out. My Guardians didn’t even have a scratch on them, though Alexandria was soaking wet. Though I was sure if I had just climbed out of a canal I would look like a bedraggled sea monster, Alexandria looked like a beautiful mermaid. I shrugged out of my coat to wrap around her, she must be freezing, though to my surprise Eli beat me to it.

  ‘I’m fine,’ Alexandria protested with embarrassment but at a glare from Eli she wrapped herself into his coat.

  Eli looked at his car. It was no longer gleaming white, it was covered in a thick layer of brown and green slime. He looked back up onto the road and his face changed to one of pure anger as he marched up to Abe who was standing in shock by the side of his car. He looked very young all of a sudden and I wondered how old he actually was.

  Abe held his hands up defensively. ‘Eli, I’m so sorry, I just lost control on the ice.’

  Eli grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and slammed him up against the car.

  I didn’t want this, it was an accident and Abe was going to get beaten to a pulp because of it.

  Eli suddenly seemed to change his mind and he released him, though he flashed me a glare of annoyance and I realised he had stopped because I’d wanted him to.

  ‘Take Alexandria home to get a change of clothes and take the BMW to get checked out. We’re taking your car,’ Eli said to Abe as he marched round to the driver’s seat.

  Seth ushered me forwards and I was quickly bundled into Abe’s car with my Guardians and Quinn surrounding me. Eli slammed the car into gear and took off up the road, leaving Abe and Alexandria standing on the roadside.

  *

  We got to the church and Quinn was despatched to pick up the sisters. We were already two Guardians down and Eli didn’t want to lose another one to pick up Persia.

  ‘Can I practice my powers while I wait?’

  ‘No.’ Eli clearly wasn’t in a good mood. Though apart from his brief lapse yesterday when he had smiled during the snowball fight, I hadn’t seen him in a good mood since we had met.

  I wasn’t going to be put off. ‘How about something with the weather? I didn’t harm anyone yesterday doing that.’

  ‘You blacked out,’ he said, pointedly.

  ‘That wasn’t calling the snow, that was using my shield.’

  ‘Regardless, we should wait for Persia.’

  I sighed and as I turned back to face Seth I saw him step forward to take up the mantle.

  ‘Eli, Persia won’t be here all the time. It would be a good idea if Eve can get a handle on some of her powers by herself.’

  Eli scowled but Seth pressed on.

  ‘We’re here to protect her if it goes wrong.’

  ‘I think the more we know what she is capable of, the better equipped we will be at protecting her,’ said Mason and I was surprised by the subtle wink he gave me.

  I looked down to hide my smirk.

  Under duress, Eli nodded. ‘Very well, but something small.’

  I closed my eyes and thought about the wind. I visualized it blowing through the church, causing the discarded autumn leaves to dance and swirl.

  My hair blowing gently made me open my eyes, I had certainly done something. The trees outside rustled, the leaves fluttering frantically. The trees bowed, fighting to stay upright in the gust that was getting stro
nger. And then the wind ripped through the church, howling loudly like the dead that were buried beneath the gravestones had risen again. It pulled at my clothes and my hair. I laughed loudly and ran outside so I could feel the full force of what I had done. The wind tore around me and I raised my arms so I could feel its strength on me. My Guardians quickly surrounded me, though they remained unmoved and unaffected by the torrent tearing around them. The wind wailed and moaned as it flooded through the graveyard like a tidal wave. The branches snapped and leaves flew round me like confetti. I could barely stand up it was so strong. But then a sparrow blew past me, fluttering helplessly in the gale, its wings bent at an odd angle and I realised what I was doing. How arrogant I was. I had to be more responsible than this, my powers had consequences. I immediately wanted the wind to stop and within seconds it died down, until the graveyard was silent once more. I cast around for the sparrow, not sure what I would do if I did find it. Maybe it was lucky for the sparrow that I didn’t, I would probably cause more damage than do good for it.

  Suddenly we became aware of a man standing in the graveyard watching us. He was tall and was wrapped in a long blue cloak.

  Eli swore under his breath and walked down to meet him.

  ‘Who’s that?’ I whispered.

  ‘Samuel,’ muttered Mason, though I was still none the wiser.

  ‘I believe there was an incident this morning,’ said Samuel as Eli bowed his head slightly.

  ‘Nothing we couldn’t handle.’

  ‘It shouldn’t have happened at all.’

  ‘I handpicked the Personal Guard, the other Guardians you send me are nothing to do with me.’

  ‘Are you doubting our ability to choose the right Guardians for the job.’

  Eli clearly chose his words carefully. ‘The Guardians in charge of her protection are all strong warriors, they are willing to die for her. Some of them have more enthusiasm than skill. Abe is very young. I was surprised that someone so young would be put in charge of the Outer Guard.’

  ‘He showed tremendous promise.’

  ‘He still does, but…he’s not there yet.’

  ‘I shall remove him. Take him back to the Fort.’

  Eli sighed. ‘He can stay, but maybe we could put someone else in charge. Matthew maybe or Noah.’