by Holly Martin
‘If you ever do something like that to her again, I swear I’ll…’ started Eli, furiously.
‘What Eli, you’ll kill me? Death will be welcome I assure you.’
‘Eli, please,’ I said, though I knew there was going to be some consequences for Seth’s actions.
Eli reluctantly released Seth and turned to me.
‘Are you hurt Eve, did he hurt you?’ Eli was clearly itching to make good on his promise.
I shook my head. ‘I’m fine.’
Seth stood looking at me for a moment. ‘I’m going for a walk, I need some space for a while.’
I nodded, numbly. There were no words of comfort I could offer him. I watched him go and sat down on the bed. But then I got up and ran out the door after Seth. He was already half way down the stairs. I ran after him. ‘Seth wait.’
He turned back as I drew level with him. ‘I…’
This was easier to explain with actions rather than words, so I reached up to kiss him. He kissed me back, almost fiercely, a small growl coming from his throat as he pushed me back gently against the wall, the kiss continued for a moment, before he pulled away, he leaned his forehead against mine for a second, staring into my eyes.
‘Will you be back tonight?’
He nodded. ‘You can count on it.’
I smiled, sadly as he kissed me briefly on the lips again then without looking back, he turned and walked down the stairs.
I turned back to my room, and saw Quinn standing in his doorway. He glared at me, somehow putting the blame solely on my shoulders for the failure of his plan.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said, quietly.
Quinn turned away from me, slamming the door behind him.
It was then that I noticed Persia, standing in her doorway too, she was so small in comparison to Quinn, it was no wonder my eyes had been drawn to him first.
‘Hey,’ I said, drawing level with her door.
She smiled warmly at me, taking my hand and squeezing it.
‘Do you not hate me as well, everybody else does.’
‘No Eve, and despite what you may think Quinn doesn’t hate you either.’
I sighed.
She leaned forward to hug me. I held her tight for a moment then went back to my own room. Eli and Lucas were still waiting for me.
I felt so sick. Nerves and stress churning away in my stomach and I realised that sickness had been there for several days. I sat down on the bed and let my healing powers flow through me just in case I had some kind of bug but as soon as I let my healing powers wink out, the sickness returned.
I was exhausted too. With everything that had happened over the last few weeks, the disturbed nights with the Putarian attacks and the lack of sleep from all the stress, it was no wonder I was tired. It wasn’t late but with the listless waiting for the end of the world and my impending death, I didn’t feel like I had the energy to do anything.
I lay down on my bed facing away from the astute eyes of Lucas and Eli but without Seth there was no chance I was falling asleep.
For want of something else to focus on rather than my own morbid thoughts, I reached out for Lucas’s mind. I was shocked to immediately feel how utterly heartbroken he was. I reached out for the bond of the rest of my personal guard and could feel they were all distraught. They had felt this way when Caleb and Alexandria had died. They were grieving for me and I wasn’t even gone yet. I was a part of them now as much as they were a part of me and this was going to hit everyone hard. The hope that they were all going to be able to carry on with their lives after I had gone was crushed. With the way they were all feeling, it’d be a long time before they would ever get over this.
Chapter 15
I was still lying on the bed a few hours later, not finding the energy or motivation to move. Seth had returned and was lying behind me, his arms round me as he peppered kisses over my neck and shoulder. Lucas was still sitting in the room with us and I wasn’t sure if it was because he didn’t trust Seth to be alone with me or whether he just didn’t want to leave me alone either.
There was a knock on the door and I sat up as Lucas went to answer it. Quinn was on the other side. He didn’t look at me, he was staring at Seth.
‘Can I have a word?’ he said, his voice empty, hollow.
Seth sighed, but nodded as he climbed off the bed and they disappeared out of the room.
I turned back to Lucas, perplexed, but Lucas was frowning.
‘Can we trust them?’ Lucas asked.
I felt my eyebrows shoot up.
‘Eve, I don’t mean that they would ever hurt you, of course I don’t. I mean can we trust them not to try anything stupid again.’
I started to nod, but then stopped. Could we? Where Seth seemed almost resigned to my fate now, Quinn had not taken the failure of their first plan well.
I quickly lay down on the bed. ‘Only one way to find out.’ I closed my eyes and projected. I followed Seth and Quinn down the stairs, neither of them saying a word to each other. Seth took the door out on to the roof and Quinn followed, they closed the door behind them, though this prevented me with no problem. I watched as Quinn paced back and forth, until he finally rounded on Seth.
‘What’s our next plan?’
Seth sighed. ‘There is no other plan Quinn, she’s going to die, we have to accept that.’
Quinn growled. ‘You’ve given up.’
‘What would you have me do? She’s determined to see this through, and the only way to stop her is to suppress her powers, but I’m not drugging her again, I can’t. You didn’t see her last time, she was so ill, vomiting, burning up, God her heart was pounding so quickly I actually thought she might have a heart attack. And then those drugs you gave me that were supposed to make her better, actually made her have some kind of fit. She lay in my arms, shaking, convulsing and I thought that was it, she’s actually going to die, and I did that, I nearly killed her, there’s no way I’m putting her through that again.’
‘I didn’t realise… I never knew the drugs would do that,’ Quinn said, quietly, looking down at his feet.
‘Oh mate, don’t blame yourself, it was mainly my idea to kidnap her, you just provided the drugs. I would have got my hands on something if you hadn’t come along to help, maybe something that would have killed her. There’s nothing else we can do Quinn.’
‘Well maybe if the Oraculum came down from their high thrones to help her, she wouldn’t have to do it alone, she wouldn’t have to die.’
‘According to Cain, all the Oraculum will be dead by the time the end comes, besides, their combined power is just a tiny drop compared to the ocean of strength that Eve has. What could they do to help?’
‘So that’s it then, we’re just going to let her die?’ Quinn was fierce.
‘We don’t have any choice. If I could save the world in her place, I would, but I can’t. This is her destiny, she was created for this very purpose, we have to let her go Quinn, I’m sorry.’
Quinn stared at Seth in shock and anger, but when there was no more conversation forthcoming, Seth turned and walked out the door. I quickly went back to my body and woke up.
‘Well?’ Lucas said. ‘Can we trust them?’
‘Seth yes, Quinn no,’ I said hurriedly, before my husband came back.
Lucas sucked his breath in.
I scrabbled up. ‘Lucas don’t—’
The bedroom door opened and Seth came in, shutting it quietly behind him.
‘You may want to keep an eye on Quinn,’ Seth said, sadly. ‘I fear the plan of trying to save you is not over yet, not for him.’
Lucas stood to go, but I moved to stand in his way. ‘Lucas don’t make a big deal of this, please. We’ll make sure he’s never alone with me, we’ll be careful, but I don’t want him to know, nor Eli and the others. Let’s just keep this between us. Quinn will be heartbroken if I start to distrust him now. My time with him is short, let it end on a positive note, please.’
Lucas hesitated but t
hen nodded.
‘I’ll talk to him, when he’s calmed down. I’ll try to talk to him again, try to get him to see sense,’ Seth said.
‘Thank you,’ I said.
‘I still don’t entirely trust you either, Seth,’ Lucas said.
‘And I get that but I can assure you I’m not going to do anything to put her at risk or hurt her again.’
Lucas scowled at him for a moment and then he left the room.
I leaned my head against Seth’s chest feeling so tired and a little bit dizzy. He scooped me up and carried me to the bed and then lay down next to me, kissing my forehead softly.
‘I never tell you enough that I love you,’ he said.
‘You do, you show me every day with your actions. I don’t doubt the love you have for me Seth. But I hope you realise how much I love you. It breaks my heart that I won’t have that future with you.’
‘I know.’
He kissed me softly and wrapped me in his arms and finally I closed my eyes and went to sleep.
*
I woke the next morning and immediately ran to the bathroom to be sick. What the hell was wrong with me? The drugs that Seth had given me were no longer in my system so it didn’t make sense that I was still feeling sick.
As I lay on the floor, resting my head against the cool tiles, Seth scooped me up onto his lap.
‘Are you not well?’
I let my healing powers flow through me but there wasn’t anything wrong. Unless it was something that my healing powers couldn’t heal.
‘I’m not sure, I think it’s just stress. There’s nothing wrong with me that I can tell.’
I stood up, shakily and washed my face and cleaned my teeth, then I stepped into the shower and let the spray wash over me in an attempt to make me feel better. It didn’t work.
I went back out into the bedroom and there was a large breakfast waiting for me. I quickly got dressed and sat down next to Seth to eat it. It wasn’t long before I had devoured the whole lot. I was so hungry.
‘Your stomach looks swollen,’ Seth said.
‘Is that your not so subtle way of saying I’m fat,’ I joked, as I lifted my hoodie and stared down at my stomach. It did look slightly bigger. I prodded at it and it felt hard.
As Eli and Mason walked into the room, I quickly pulled my hoodie back over my belly so they wouldn’t see it. I didn’t need them to worry about yet another thing about me.
‘I’m going to go and see Zach,’ I said, quickly, avoiding Seth’s pointed gaze at me. If there was something wrong then Eli needed to know. But what could I tell him? I had no idea what was wrong with me. ‘I’ll go and see Cassidy on the way back just in case,’ I said in Seth’s head and this seemed to mollify him, slightly.
I gestured for Mason to follow me out and we were joined on the stairs with Rhesa.
I followed Mason down the stairs, but my eyesight was suddenly fuzzy. I saw Mason stop to talk to someone but I couldn’t tell who. The wall to my left seemed to lean out towards me and I caught it to stop it from coming out any further, but I couldn’t get a good grip and my hands slid sideways down the wall.
A strong hand was around my arm, pulling me back up. ‘Are you OK?’ came the gentle voice of my husband, his breath warm on my forehead.
‘Is she OK?’ Mason asked, coming closer.
‘I’m fine,’ I muttered, unhooking my arm from Seth’s grasp.
‘You don’t look fine, you’ve turned grey,’ Mason said.
I pushed Seth away from me. ‘Are you following me?’
Seth caught me round the waist as I staggered forwards. ‘No Eve, I was going out for a walk.’
I sat down on the stairs, and Seth helped me, then sat down next to me. ‘You’re freezing,’ he said, taking of his sweater and pulling it over me. ‘Mason, could you see if you can find Cassidy—’
‘It’s just stress. I have two more days before I face the end of the world, and two more days before I die. I’m entitled to be a bit stressed out about it. There’s nothing wrong with me. I’ve checked.’
‘Well could you get a glass of water then,’ Seth asked Mason.
Mason hesitated, unsure whether to leave me alone with him.
‘I’ll go,’ Rhesa said and flittered off down the stairs.
I closed my eyes. How could I face the end of the world feeling like this? If this was any other job I’d be calling in sick, but I knew I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t even put it off until I was feeling better.
‘I love you so much,’ Seth said in my head.
‘I love you too,’ I said quietly, opening my eyes, I looked at him, though his face was one of confusion.
‘I didn’t say anything,’ he said.
‘You did, in my head.’
Seth shook his head, adamantly.
‘Great, so I’m hallucinating voices in my head now.’ I closed my eyes again, what was wrong with me?
Seth was silent again, but eventually he spoke.
‘I was thinking it Eve, but I definitely didn’t say it telepathically. I would have to reach out for you, and I know I didn’t do that.’
I opened my eyes again and looked at him in confusion. ‘I read your mind?’
Seth shrugged. ‘Your powers are getting stronger every day, maybe this is a new development.’
‘Maybe.’ I wasn’t convinced.
‘Can you read Mason’s?’ Seth said.
I listened, not really sure what I did before to enable me to hear Seth’s thoughts, or what I could do to recreate it. I stared at Mason but I could feel or hear nothing from him.
I shook my head.
Seth smiled slightly. ‘Maybe it’s just me.’
I looked at him, and found myself smiling too. ‘I can feel and read Lucas’s mind. Maybe that ability is stretching to you too.’
The smile fell from his face. ‘Even if it is only for two more days.’
I felt my smile fall off too and I stood up. ‘I’m going to see Zach.’ I needed something to distract myself.
‘You feeling better?’ Mason asked as I left Seth behind.
I nodded. It was a lie, the dizziness had passed but I still felt rough.
I trotted down the steps and headed round the back of the fort. There was only a handful of Guardlings training now, which is what I expected, but I was glad to see, after our little chat the day before that Zach and Deacon were amongst the Guardlings still there.
I jogged to Zach’s side, and he stopped fighting as I drew near.
‘Will you fight me?’
‘No.’
He hadn’t even considered it. I scowled.
‘Eve, you look rough. To be honest you look like you’re about to pass out.’ Zach tried to explain.
‘She nearly did a few minutes ago,’ interrupted Mason. I glared at him.
‘Then there’s definitely no way I’m fighting you today, did you sleep last night?’
‘A little,’ I lied
‘Well try to sleep a bit more tonight and I may fight you tomorrow.’
I tutted my annoyance.
Eli suddenly appeared out of the air. ‘Are you OK?’
I nodded, confused.
‘Seth said you nearly passed out.’
I groaned, could nothing be kept a secret anymore?
‘She did,’ Mason said. ‘And she threw up this morning.’
‘Something’s not right,’ muttered Eli as I turned away from them.
Zach looked at me with something that looked like pity, but not, I quickly realised, because I was sick, but because of the unwanted attention.
‘We need to get Cassidy to look at her if she can’t heal herself.’
I walked closer to Zach, trying to ignore the conversation going on behind me.
‘Seth says she’s tried but she can’t find anything.’
‘Want to go for a walk?’ suggested Zach, gently.
I turned back to look at Mason and Eli discussing my health quite vehemently. I looked back to Zach. ‘A r
un would be better.’
Zach nodded and as he did Deacon flittered to his side.
I turned back to tell them where I was going, but they were so deep in discussion now, they probably wouldn’t notice that I had gone.
‘Come on,’ I said, quietly.
I started jogging and Zach and Deacon fell in on either side. I pulled off Seth’s sweatshirt, and tied it round my waist. We started running again, and I quickly picked up speed heading for the woods, the two boys easily matching my pace. I listened only to the rain splatting against the leaves, my feet squelching in the mud.
‘So you’ve not been well?’ Deacon asked.
I shrugged, not really wanting to talk about it.
‘What are your symptoms?’
‘Want to play doctor and guess what’s wrong with me? It’s just stress, I’m sure of it.’ Though the stress was manifesting itself in the weirdest way. I sighed. ‘Dizziness, tiredness, I was sick this morning, I nearly passed out. My stomach is swollen and hard. I’m emotional…’ As the words fell out of my mouth, and the sick realisation of what was really wrong with me slammed into my mind, I faltered in my step and fell head first into the mud.
Zach laughed as he helped me up. ‘You’re so clumsy Eve, are you OK?’
I felt numb as I stumbled away from him. ‘No, please no,’ I muttered.
‘Eve?’ Zach said, suddenly concerned.
I pulled Seth’s sweatshirt from my waist, and held it to my nose, breathing in his scent. Seth, he would be heartbroken.
I felt drunk, my legs wobbly, my body was moving, but I was no longer in control. Zach caught my arm as I staggered but I pulled it from his grasp and slid back to my bedroom. I fell onto my bed, shaking, crying, pulling Seth’s sweatshirt to my face, sniffing it, breathing him in, then my body went limp. But weirdly I hadn’t projected, I had somehow been pushed to the back of my own mind, I was paralysed.
I heard a soft swishing, but I couldn’t turn to see who it was. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t even blink.
Zach came into my vision, looking at me with confusion. ‘Eve, are you OK?’
I couldn’t answer, I was trapped in my own body.