And just as important: how had the search spell failed to identify them?
41
YORK, ENGLAND
We couldn’t risk staying at the house, so we decided to move to a new location. Before the sun came up Ceriden had left. Shortly after that the rest of us rode out in convoy, Lucy, Holly and I riding in Belinda’s Audi, following Giles’ Chrysler 300 and tailed by Jade driving Eleanor’s gleaming Lexus.
I knew the route. Belinda had taken Lucy and I to this place just a few days ago. I wondered how much money had been drained from my bank account in that time by those circling sharks that masqueraded as the government. And when would Lucy’s headmaster decide to call me in person? Did any of it matter?
We were trying to save the world here.
The yawning black hole that was my fear of failure sent a snapping beast into my brain. It reminded me that I couldn’t take all this. It said the power inside me was not my friend, promised I would fail them all at the end of days.
When we all went down to Miami for our Last Supper.
And Lucy? My daughter entertained thoughts about becoming a shade. She saw the romantic side of it, the sweet, dark pain. How had it come to this? I wondered when events would drive her to the point of decision.
When we all went down to Miami…
Why the hell had I been chosen anyway?
Gravel crunched under the slow-moving wheels as Belinda brought the car to a stop outside Ceriden’s front door.
“We’ll catch up,” Belinda put a hand on my arm and then spoke directly to the other two. “Go straight inside. Ceriden will be waiting.”
I breathed deeply to calm my nerves. Holly gave me a concerned look as she exited the car but said nothing. Lucy practically flew into the mansion.
“I wanted to talk,” Belinda said into the resulting silence.
“I get that.” I noticed her t-shirt was simply black today. No legend.
“It’s not easy for me. This, I mean,” she pointed at me and then at her. “Us,” the cars leather seats creaked as she changed position. “I’m usually pretty flighty. . .a fickle bird, unreliable, but never forgotten.”
“And the knowing will forever ruin the person that met you.” I said.
“Something like that,” Belinda exhaled. “What I mean is I don’t usually hang around.”
“Why?”
“It’s the rule I live by. The rule – no ties, no relationships. Because I’m not gonna live forever.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Don’t you, Logan? I’m a fighter. I face off with monsters nine days a week. Sooner or later I’m gonna come up against something I can’t beat,” she paused and looked at me sadly. “I won’t make anyone grieve for me.”
I saw an unattainable desire for companionship crush the light out of her eyes.
“Grieve?” I repeated. “So you don’t want the responsibility of knowing that you have to survive.”
“I don’t want to leave anyone behind.”
I held her sad gaze. “You don’t want to care.”
“Logan, I will die young. It is inevitable. I’ve known that for years. It’s why I live my life to the full. Every hour of every day. It’s why I made that mistake…” she faltered. “With Ken.”
It wrung my heart to see Belinda, of all people, diminished like this. And now I understood, or thought I understood, the motive behind it. “I get it,” I said. “You live. You have fun. You move on. It saves you from knowing that someone’s gonna cry for you when you’re gone. I get it.”
“Until now.”
“Sorry?”
“Until I met you, Logan. Sounds corny, doesn’t it? Crazy mad. But I guess you’re the exception to The Rule.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
“Ken was meaningless,” Belinda said. “You are not.”
“Ah, Belinda,” I said, leaning forward so I could frame her perfect face with my hands. “What the hell am I letting myself in for?”
***
In the end I went to bed around nine a.m. I dozed restlessly for a few hours in my new bed and started awake early in the afternoon. I explored Ceriden’s mansion, a warren of over-decorated, extensively modernized, rooms. It must have cost millions to convert. Through the open door of one room I thought I saw Kate Moss and Bridget Hall, draped across a velvet chaise-longue, laughing and sipping champagne. When they beckoned to me I turned tail and ran. In another room I saw a set of ethereal twins with jet-black hair that reached their hips. They were laughing and running feathers up and down each other’s semi-naked bodies. Shades, maybe. Servants of vampires. It made me think about Mai, who seemed a likeable girl despite her obvious undead flaw, and about her relationship to Lucy.
Was Mai courting Lucy?
Or was Ceriden?
I thought about the Maseratis, the Lamborghini I’d spied in the three-car garage. The sparkling Tiffany collection. The Bvlgari wall clocks. What was the salary for this ‘save the world’ gig anyway? I mean, one of those wall clocks could probably save my business.
Around another corner I came across Tanya. I smiled. “Thanks for helping out the other day.”
“Your daughter is sweet. But mixed up, I’m afraid.”
I rolled my eyes. “Long story.”
“I guess. Well, we seem to have some time-”
I felt my stomach clench. “Not yet.”
“That’s okay, Logan. Just- don’t take too long about it. She needs to hear what you have to say.”
I nodded and turned away, unable to say more. I felt Tanya’s eyes follow me until I turned the corridor, but it didn’t feel like the weighty stare of judgment. It felt more like, what?. . . Sorrow? Loss? I wondered what Tanya Jordan regretted.
I ended up in Lucy’s room. I thought about visiting Belinda’s, but Lucy came first and although my daughter and I were almost back on speaking terms, I still hadn’t tackled her in depth about the ‘Shade’ issue.
I locked Lucy’s door behind me. I perched on the edge of her bed, watching her sleep.
“I love you, baby.” I whispered. She would always be my baby. How could a father ever truly express the depthless love he felt for his daughter?
Tears shone in my eyes as Lucy came awake.
“Dad?”
“Hi.”
Lucy rubbed her eyes and sat up. “Everything okay?”
“Yes,” I reached out and stroked her hair. “Don’t worry. We’re safe here.”
“No more Kisamis?”
“No more,” I agreed.
I saw her face cloud over. “What will happen to Myleene and the others?”
The house in York was being ‘cleaned up’ even as we spoke. I didn’t go into detail. “They’ll be buried,” I said. “After.”
“You mean if we survive.”
“When. Look, Lucy,” I couldn’t hold back any longer, nor think of an easy way to say it. “A Shade is not a person. After the consummation, they cease to feel. They cease to care.”
Lucy looked at me for a long time. “That’s not true,” she said at last. “A Shade is loved by its Master, and loves in return. It is a lifelong bond, and once made the Shade will never feel loss or despair or loneliness ever again.”
“That’s not living.”
“Living’s overrated.”
I wondered where she was getting this from. Nights of conversation, perhaps. With Mai. How long had it been going on? And what was Ceriden’s agenda?
I wondered again if a vampire courted its Shade. “Oh, Lucy, if living is overrated,” I said. “Then why the hell are all these good people putting their lives at risk to save the world? Tell me that.”
“Dad?” Lucy said then. “Why are you saying this?”
I was being shut out. “Is Mai filling your head with this…this shit? Is Ceriden? God, I love you, Lucy, you’re my daughter. Please don’t push me away. It can be fun again.”
“I’m tired,” Lucy turned away from me and pulled the sheets over h
er head.
I watched her a while longer, unaware I was crying until tears began to sting my eyes.
Help me be a better father.
I held a sacred image in my mind of a much younger Lucy dancing around the kitchen table with her mum, aping every movement Raychel made, both of them clowning around to some old pop tune- Video killed the radio star, I think it was.
I smiled in memory now as I entered Ceriden’s kitchen. Younger days, older days, awesome days.
Days of happiness.
Long gone.
My eyes sought the whisky bottle. Hello, darkness, my old friend. Another old song. My life in poetry, measured and defined by music.
The bottle gleamed at me, an amber charm. It had been a while. I walked over to the shelf. I picked up the bottle, contemplated the lure.
“Your future lies in that bottle,” a voice said behind me. Holly.
“I don’t have a future,” I said, and right then I believed it. Avert Armageddon or not, my life was over. I was heading back down to the Yawning Cave where monsters dwelled.
When we all went down to Miami…
Hello, darkness-
Then a voice said, “But we do…I hope.” and I turned.
Belinda stood behind Holly in the doorway, looking afraid, unsure whether to smile or frown.
My friends, I thought. My friends were always saving me.
Sooner or later, I was going to have to return the favor.
42
YORK, ENGLAND
That night, Ceriden had his house staff cook a six-course meal. I took my seat between Lucy and Belinda, and straight opposite Felicia, and held up my glass of Barefoot Merlot.
“To meeting new friends,” I said. There was a bond that joined us now, and when Felicia saluted me back with the same toast others around the table heard and raised their glasses.
“To new friends,” it was a poised moment, sad and heartfelt. I locked eyes with people I barely knew, people I would soon be fighting alongside and trusting my life to, and I felt faith flow through me.
The waitresses came out. Conversation struck up, glasses clinked and cutlery scraped away at plates. The laughter rose and fell and people like Ceriden, Jade and Lysette showed themselves confident enough to regale the entire table with stories, whilst those of us who were less outgoing sat back, satisfied with chatting to our neighbours or just soaking up the atmosphere.
It was one of those nights that come along rarely. Something unplanned and unexpected that turns out to be one of the best times of your life. I was with Lucy and others who mattered to me.
Life had turned on a dime for me, a dime that turned into a silver dollar. Since the night of the treasure hunt, I had become close to people who cared and were more focused than anyone I had ever met. Raychel and all the shitty baggage that came with her memory had regressed further into the past. I had the now to worry about. I had my daughter to worry about. I had new friends and millions of people to worry about.
The night went on and the courses kept coming. We all applauded Milo, the Head Chef- an absolute man-mountain of a vampire. Kate Moss wandered in and shared a toast with us and told a few catwalk stories; the wine flowed and the conversation turned, and all the time, through the merriment and the camaraderie and the bonding, there wasn’t a person in that room who wasn’t just a bit sad, voices husky and emotions a little bit shaky, because we all knew that no matter what happened in the approaching final battle, not everyone would survive.
***
The next few days were a dangerous mix of boredom and chaos. Humanity was informed of the existence of Ubers. Every news outlet cried indignity and tried to milk the chaos for circulation, every so-called ‘expert’ jumped on the band-wagon. There were speeches by the President, by the British Prime Minister, by the Pope. You name it; if you appeared credible you were courted by the press, or by the government, to share.
We watched it all unfold from the safety of Ceriden’s mansion. It was expected that the world would react with disbelief, then with amazement and fear, and then with some violence and curiosity. Our expectations were pretty much met.
Lucy continued to act cool around me. Tanya helped by lightening the mood, and by distracting my daughter from the attentions of Mai. I wanted to confront the vampire woman, but now felt fearful of how Lucy would react if I did. Belinda stayed close and supportive but didn’t push it. Ken avoided me like the plague. Johnny Trevochet and I agreed to bury our differences for the greater good.
I took great pleasure in refining my new power on my various housemates.
Meaning Ken.
For example, as Ken started up the stairs, I thought shove, and sent a little gust of power that sent him sprawling against the wooden risers.
And another: as Ken opened a can of Bud, I thought fizz, and shook it so violently that foam and beer spurted out, leaving him dripping and red-faced.
“Focusing,” I explained. “Just focusing.”
He took it well, though. Later, Johnny and I raised him three feet off the ground. It took all our concentration and growing finesse to move him against his will out the front door and into a heavy rainstorm. But we managed it.
After that I gave him a break. I concentrated on rearranging bottles and mugs on shelves and artistically billowing the curtains.
Kinkade kept up a steady flow of stunning information. Unbelievably, at New Babylon, Loki was planning to open the Gates of Hell. Lesser fiends would spew forth. We would then be in the fight of our lives. Earth would be on the brink.
Kinkade explained how the Destroyers would have to invoke lesser Gods first, Gods like Coyote- the God of Mischief- and Abominata- the God of Corruption- themselves beings of immense evil and unutterable power that, when summoned alone, could raze a small country. The Destroyer’s would then bind these Gods and coerce them into helping summon forth the world-killer – Gorgoth.
Troops were being deployed to Miami. The army. The marines. You name the acronym – FBI, NSA, SWAT, CIA, it was on its way there.
The endgame, magical, lethal, cruel and terrifying, was coming.
I was sitting on the sofa with my feet stretched out, watching Sky’s new daily segment of ‘Uber News’, and trying to hone my power to the point where I could tickle Lysette’s bare feet, when a pair of bronzed arms slapped the cushion beside my head.
Tanya leaned over. “News from the kitchen,” she said. “We’re going to Miami. Tomorrow.”
I felt my heart twist. “Miami? Are you sure?”
“That’s what they said. It’s time. Kinkade says the remaining Destroyers are already there. So we have to go too.”
“You overheard all this?”
“Well, yeah,” Tanya tried and failed to look sheepish. “Anyway, the point is – Belinda saw me. Then asked me to tell you something. She wants to see you. Upstairs.”
I grinned, then wiped it away, but couldn’t keep the smile out of my eyes. “Right.”
Tanya gave me a knowing look. “Something about this last night not being meaningless.”
43
YORK, ENGLAND
She was wearing her leather trousers and a t-shirt that read ‘If It Wears A Skirt- You Can’t Afford It.’ She stood by the window, a heady vision with moonlight framing her figure. Her eyes sparkled when I closed the door.
“Lock it, honey cake.”
I felt a rush of anticipation, a shiver of fear. This was the first woman who’d stirred me since Raychel left. I wanted to know what drove her, and why she laughed and cried and did what she did.
I walked over to her. “God, I’m nervous.” I laughed.
She leaned forward and hugged me. Tingles shot down my spine when she trailed a finger across the nape of my neck.
“Does that help?” her lips brushed my right ear. “Or this?”
I rubbed her back softly, then slipped my hands under her t-shirt and started to graze my nails gently across her skin. She shuddered, pressed herself against me. The heat of her body
made my heart race. She locked her hands behind my neck and kissed me on the mouth.
I hesitated for only a second and then kissed her back, hard. Her mouth was cool and slightly sweet. I put a hand behind her head and let her hair fall between my fingers. She lifted my t-shirt up and I felt her nails on my back. We were both breathing heavily.
She unzipped my jeans and pushed them below my hips. I said, “Wait.” and shuffled back a little.
“New party trick,” I said.
And, feeling a little foolish standing there in the puddle of my jeans, I concentrated my power and motioned for Belinda to retreat towards the window. The night pressed into the glass behind her, occasionally shot by a riot of white as the outside lights flashed on and off.
In a moment, without touching, I had tousled her beautiful blonde hair, raised her t-shirt, and started to inch down the zipper on her pants. Belinda stared at me with a mixture of mischief and disbelief. I focused on the silver zipper, slipping it down a centimetre at a time until it came to a stop.
Belinda put her hands on her hips and pouted. “Now whatcha gonna do?”
With an effort that popped out droplets of sweat across my forehead I snicked open the button that held her pants together. Now the two halves fell apart.
“Sweet,” I said.
Belinda wriggled until the trousers slid down to her ankles. “I can be, but not tonight, Logan.”
I pressed her up against the glass. Our passion, restrained, yet deep and meaningful, fired my adrenalin and brought my heart to life again.
For a while the Yawning Cave retreated, and all the dark things gnashed their teeth and crawled away from a new light.
Oh, Christ, I thought later. I’ve gone and fallen again.
How ironic. On the night before we all went down to Miami to start a confrontation none of us might survive.
***
I woke in the dead of night, staring up at the ceiling where violent shadows flickered in harmony with the swaying trees outside the window. For a moment I blinked in confusion, not recognizing my room. I sensed the weight of someone beside me, something I hadn’t known for years, and was transported back to a past where Raychel and the dark things that kept her memory lived.
The Chosen Trilogy Boxset Page 17