The Veritas
Page 31
Taking a deep breath and getting himself under control he stared in the direction Olivia and Scarlett had disappeared.
‘I hope you know what you’re doing Sam,’ he muttered under his breath, ‘because if you’re wrong, we’ve just dressed them as steak and thrown them to the lions.’
Olivia and Scarlett kept running, skidding to a halt when two men blocked their way. They turned abruptly but two more appeared in one of the archways, and then two more and more, until they were surrounded.
Scarlett reached around her back for her staff, while Olivia flexed her hands feeling her power flood her body.
They both froze when they heard a slow clap, watching warily as two of the men parted and a dark-haired man emerged. It was strange, he looked neither young nor old. In fact, Olivia couldn’t really pin his age at all, which was unusual for her. He wore complete unrelieved black, from his shiny shoes and suit to his shirt and tie. His face was unremarkable, but there was something about him, something that tugged at the back of her mind. She didn’t recognize his face, but she knew that she knew him from somewhere.
‘You won’t be needing those glamors,’ he told them with an amused smile, ‘I know exactly who you are… Olivia and Scarlett… An angel and a Guardian. Well it’s not often we have such distinguished guests.’
‘And you are?’ her eyes narrowed.
‘Jonathan Faraday,’ he inclined his head. ‘I’m glad we finally have the chance to meet Olivia.’
‘Great,’ she replied with a smile, ‘glad we could be so accommodating, now if you’ll just hand over my husband we’ll be on our way.’
‘Oh, he’s not here,’ Faraday smiled pleasantly in return. ‘He’s safely tucked away somewhere else. You didn’t really think I’d risk such a prize, did you? The only person in existence who can complete the prophecy. No, no, no,’ he tutted, ‘I’m not taking any risks with him. But I needed a lure to bring you here. It’s you I want, your friend Scarlett is a bonus though, so thank you for that.’
‘Why?’ she asked, ‘what do you want from me?’
‘Oh Olivia,’ he shook his head, slowly, ‘there are so many things.’
Olivia reached behind her slowly, wrapping her hand around Scarlett’s wrist firmly.
‘Sorry to disappoint you,’ Olivia grabbed for the compass which was still sitting on top of her clothes.
But as she wrapped her fingers around it, she felt Faradays fingers close around hers, and his face inches from hers.
‘Not so fast Olivia,’ he whispered.
In that second there was something, flashes of memory, something in his eyes, in the tone of his voice when he said her name. It was somehow familiar, but she couldn’t place it. She didn’t have time to puzzle it out, as she tried to yank her hand out of his strong grip, she pulled hard crashing into Scarlett and then next thing she knew they were both falling.
It was dark and suffocating. Scarlett’s hand was the first to thrust through the frozen soil and claw her way out, her head broke the surface, as she coughed, reaching down she grabbed Olivia and dragged her up through the layers of soil. Olivia’s head breached the surface and she spat out a mouthful of earth, dragging in a deep lungful of air. Trying to blink the dirt out of their eyes, they climbed, scrambled and clawed their way out of the ground.
When they were finally free, they rolled onto their backs in the freezing night air, chests heaving, watching as their breath was expelled as billows of mist.
Olivia shuddered violently.
‘It’s freezing,’ she croaked as she rolled over and pushed herself upright, ‘where the hell are we?’ She glanced around and noticed that the ground was hard and covered in a thin layer of frost. ‘Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t it July?’
‘Yeah,’ Scarlett breathed looking up at the stars winking to life in the night sky.
‘Then why is it winter?’
Scarlett blinked, realizing it wasn’t stars, it was snow. She brushed away the first few errant flakes as they touched her skin and sat up, staring at her surroundings.
They looked as if they were in some kind of urban park. Running alongside of the grass they’d just dug their way through was a pleasant little winding path. Surrounding them were trees and shrubs and just visible through their winter branches were black iron railings, enclosing the little garden.
Olivia pushed herself to her feet and brushed the dirt from her jeans, feeling Scarlett stand next to her. Scarlett crossed the little path and headed toward a bench, picking up a discarded newspaper and brushing the fine layer of snow off it.
‘Where are we?’ Olivia asked as she crossed the path and joined her.
‘We’re still in London,’ Scarlet replied as she stared at the paper.
‘Oh well,’ Olivia frowned, ‘I suppose at least that’s a little luck, we could’ve have ended up anywhere.’
‘It’s not luck Olivia,’ Scarlett shook her head, ‘at least not of the good kind.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘We may still be in London,’ she turned the newspaper around so Olivia could see the front page, ‘but it’s November 2nd, 1862.’
Olivia’s eyes widened as she reached up and fumbled with her clothes.
‘What?’ Scarlett asked in concern, ‘what is it?’
‘The compass, I don’t have the compass… and without it,’ Olivia breathed, her eyes wide with sheer panic, ‘…we can’t get home.’
Coming Soon!
The Guardians Series 2
Book 3
Necropolis
Coming Late Summer/Early Autumn
Date to be Confirmed
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