by Sharon Sant
The rain beat at Ellen’s face and hands as they picked up speed and her fingers began to numb as she clasped them together, holding on to Luca. But, somehow, leaning on his broad back and feeling the warmth of him next to her was comforting, despite the fears that plagued her and the cold that seeped into her bones.
They had been back on the road for twenty minutes when a loud knocking sound interrupted the rhythm of the engine. The bike started to veer, Luca struggling to hold it on a straight course. He eased back off the throttle.
‘What is it?’ Ellen shouted.
‘Don’t know,’ Luca shouted back. He pulled in to the side of the road, killed the engine, and climbed off.
‘Looks like the front wheel,’ he said, bending down to inspect it.
‘Can you fix it?’ Ellen asked.
Luca kicked the support into place and held out a hand for Ellen to get off the seat. ‘I don’t have anything to fix it with. I probably didn’t tighten it enough earlier.’
Ellen put her hands on her hips and stared at him. ‘That’s just great. Can you do anything right?’
‘If I hadn’t got you giving me daggers I would have made sure it was fixed before we started out.’
‘So, it’s my fault?’
‘In a word, yes.’
Ellen stamped her foot in frustration. ‘I hate you!’ she squealed.
‘Right now I’m not fancying you too much either,’ he shot back.
Ellen bit her lip and scanned the landscape. The road followed the contours of the sweeping blade of shingle that connected the mainland to the island of Portland. At either side of the causeway lay the churning sea. She glanced back at Luca, who had removed his helmet and was wobbling the wheel around trying to see if he could construct a temporary solution.
‘Will it get us there?’ she asked, trying to bring her voice back to a civil tone.
‘I daren’t risk it.’ He ran a hand through his hair. ‘I’m sorry, Ellen.’
‘We must be close; we’ve been on the road for an hour.’
Luca squinted against the rain. ‘I saw a sign a while back that said three miles.’
Ellen pulled off her helmet. ‘We’re closer than that, I think. It’s at the top of that hill somewhere. I can do it on foot,’ she said, tying her hair back.
‘It’ll take you ages,’ Luca said, glancing up at the land rising ahead of them.
‘Not if I run it.’ She ripped off the leather jacket and threw it to him before breaking in to a sprint.
Luca watched her set off down the road. He wavered for a moment, wondering whether to try and fix the bike after all. Running had never been his strong point and he doubted he’d be able to keep up with her, especially on those gradients. He tinkered ineffectually for a minute with the wheel, pulling it this way and that, trying to get it stable, but without success. He looked up; Ellen’s silhouette was already becoming a speck in the distance. With a heavy sigh, he dragged the bike off the road, into a ditch of shingle, and ran after her.
Jacob had grown cold and stiff sitting in the rain. He cracked his knuckles and blew into his hands to warm them. Perhaps he had been mistaken after all? Beginning to feel slightly foolish, he channelled some of his energy to dry himself off for a crumb of comfort while he waited. The waves lashed the rocks below in a lulling rhythm as the skies grew darker and the rain beat harder. Jacob closed his eyes and concentrated on the sounds, bringing his breaths in line with each crash of the sea on the cliffs to calm his fraught nerves.
He had lost track of how long he had spent like this when he heard a voice in his head and opened his eyes.
‘Not here,’ Jacob said, standing up. ‘There might be innocent people passing, I don’t want anyone else dragged into this.’
Makash swept into an amused bow. ‘Then walk with us, Watcher.’ He turned towards the narrow path that followed the coastline, barren despite the fields that swept to rocks below. Alex glanced at Jacob curiously as they followed.
‘You know why we have come?’ Makash asked as they walked.
‘I’ve dreamt this moment. I think Alex has too,’ Jacob replied quietly, trying to catch Alex’s eye. She stared straight ahead as he concluded. ‘You’re going to kill me.’
‘And you don’t mean to do anything about it?’ Makash asked.
‘What can I do? You get what you want and you leave my family in peace. And Kya is more powerful than me, even now when she has yet to become Watcher. All that, and the help you give her, means I don’t have a chance. Astrae is already yours.’
Alex glanced across at her brother as he spoke. He didn’t look scared.
‘This is far enough.’ They had walked the coastal path for ten silent minutes before Makash halted them on a rocky outcrop.
Jacob’s gaze slid over the landscape, taking in the cubed caverns of the quarry, the wave-blasted layers of fossilised rock that formed natural steps leading down the cliffs to the sea, a cluster of bright wooden huts. The lighthouse stood implacable in the distance, its shape hazy in the sheets of rain.
His attention turned back to Alex. He ran a hand down his face to clear it. The frantic beats of her heart echoed in his own chest. He reached out to her, trying to reason with her but she blocked out his thoughts. He could guess why.
Makash turned to Alex. ‘Do it now.’
She stepped towards Jacob hesitantly. He had only one chance to talk her round, to save her from the deed that would blacken her heart for ever.
‘It doesn’t have to be like this,’ he said.
‘It has to be exactly like this. How else will I get what’s due to me?
Jacob wiped the rain from his eyes. ‘We can work together, that’s how. We’re not like Dae and Makash. They fought for power and Dae thought the prophecy meant we would fight for power too. But he was wrong. He was wrong to separate us. We’re connected Alex, in ways even we don’t understand ourselves. I know you feel it.’
She shook her head. ‘It’s too late to change anything now. You didn’t grow up as a reject. It’s ok for you to talk like that because you didn’t get my life dumped on you.’
‘You don’t have to be a victim, Alex. Life might seem cruel, but you don’t have to let it swallow you without a fight.’
‘You know nothing of cruelty!’ Alex cried. ‘You were the golden boy, the one in the good box.’
‘I don’t know why Dae and Kela did that. Nobody will ever know now. I didn’t ask for it,’ Jacob said quietly. ‘And I can’t change it.’
‘Enough of this,’ Makash cut in. He moved his lips to Alex’s ear. ‘Remember your birthright; remember what we came here to do. None of us can deny our destiny, and yours was written long before you were born. You cannot be weak now.’
‘So you keep telling me…’ Alex gave Makash a withering look but his words had the desired effect. She turned her attention back to her brother, her features harder.
Jacob groped for something to gain her trust, some gesture that would make her see he was on her side. He took off his amulet and held it out.
‘It’s the most precious thing I have and without it I’m worse than useless against you.’ He stepped forwards. ‘Take it.’
She stared at him. ‘Why?’
‘Because I’m on your side. We’re family, and this belonged to our parents, so I’m giving it to you. It’s right that you have it.’
She slowly raised her hand to take the chain. The amulet swung from her fist and she held it up to look closely, trying to contain the emotion that was transforming her eyes into something that would give Jacob hope where there could be none.
Makash gave a cold smile and struck his hand into the air, knocking Jacob to the ground. ‘Not so clever without your trinket.’ He turned to Alex who was still gazing at Jacob’s offering. ‘What are you waiting for? Kill him.’
Alex lowered the amulet and raised her other hand. Jacob could see her shaking. ‘It’s too late, Ioh,’ she said slowly, her gaze drifting to where he lay. ‘There’s no way
out now. For either of us.’
Nineteen: The Circle Closes
Ellen shot a brief glance over her shoulder and saw Luca chasing her. He looked exhausted, soaked to the skin but he was gaining. There was a tiny part of her that was amused – she knew how much he hated running and this must be killing him. Even so, she pressed on, her long legs keeping a steady, easy rhythm.
At the brow of the hill, the first chubby lighthouse showed in the distance. Ellen remembered that there was another one further on with a single red stripe - that was the one she was looking for.
She glanced to her side, secretly relieved to see that Luca had caught up. Despite the bravado, whatever was waiting on that cliff top, the thought of facing it alone terrified her.
Minutes later, they saw the second lighthouse rise from behind the bank of fields. The sight spurred Ellen on and she picked up the pace, forcing Luca to pick his up too. Together, they tore down the entrance road, past the near-deserted car park, towards their destination.
Ellen halted at the boundary wall of the lighthouse. She stood with her hands on her hips, scanning the landscape while Luca bent over, wheezing.
‘I can’t see him,’ she panted, wiping rain and sweat from her eyes.
Luca shook his head, still unable to speak. He concentrated on regulating his breathing and finally managed to cough out some words. ‘Can’t you… can’t you feel where he is? Like you did that time at school?’ He stood to face her and pushed his soaking hair away from his forehead.
‘I’m trying,’ she replied tetchily, ‘but something’s different this time.’
‘You’re knackered, that’s what’s different this time,’ Luca puffed.
Ellen ignored the jibe and continued to search the surrounding area for a sign. ‘If I was Jacob, where would I go?’ she murmured to herself.
‘The tea shop?’
‘Don’t be stupid,’ Ellen snapped.
‘He might have gone in for a warm. I know I would.’
She rolled her eyes at him. ‘He won’t be in the tea shop, Luca.’
‘You know,’ Luca began, ‘you really aren’t making yourself very likeable today.’
‘I don’t care. Jacob’s in trouble and if we don’t find him it may be bigger than anything we’ve seen before.’
‘What we’ve seen before will take some beating,’ Luca observed wryly. ‘How can you be so sure? How do you even know he’s here?’
‘I’ve been right in the past, haven’t I?’
‘Yes, but –’
‘Luca, please…’ her voice softened and she held his gaze. ‘Trust me? I can’t do this without you.’
He let out a long breath. ‘I never could say no to you. I swear it’ll be the death of me.’
She threw him a tight smile. ‘I know. I’ll make it up to you one day.’
‘You’d better think of something good,’ he gave her a weak grin. ‘So, what do we do?’
Ellen wiped her eyes and appraised the landscape again. With the leather jacket discarded she was left wearing only a thin sweatshirt, and now that she had stopped running the cold rain was making her shiver. Concern spread over Luca’s features, but with a soaking jacket himself, there was little he could do for her. The sooner they could either find Jacob or be certain that he wasn’t actually there at all, the sooner they could get off this miserable, windswept outcrop.
‘I suppose we’ll have to search the old fashioned way,’ she said.
‘I don’t think I’m going to like the old fashioned way, am I? It’s going to involve getting even wetter and colder, isn’t it?’
‘Yep,’ she said, turning to the coast and starting to walk. She stopped and faced Luca again. ‘No… maybe if I try to think about my dream, I could recognise a landmark to help us.’
Luca hooked a thumb at the mass of white and red stone standing at the cliff edge. ‘I don’t think they get more landmarky than that…’
‘Hush,’ Ellen interrupted. ‘Let me concentrate.’
‘I don’t suppose you can concentrate somewhere dry?’ Luca said hopefully.
Ellen ignored him and screwed up her eyes, thinking hard. ‘It’s close to the sea…’
‘Not sure that helps us,’ Luca observed, ‘as we’re practically surrounded by sea.’
‘Shut up.’
Luca fell silent and hugged himself in a vain attempt to keep some of his body heat in.
‘The path was muddy and there were little huts and a sort of cave in the cliffs,’ Ellen said slowly. ‘And a big hole in the land, like a quarry or something…’ She opened her eyes and looked around again. ‘This way.’ She skirted the wall of the lighthouse, Luca following, to stand at its sea face. There she surveyed the landscape once more. ‘Let’s try that way,’ she said, turning to her left.
They paced the sodden ground.
‘It’s starting to look familiar,’ Ellen said.
Without waiting for Luca’s reply, she picked up speed, now breaking into a jog as they hit the gravelled path. Luca followed her lead until they were both running, paying no heed to the divots and holes that threatened to break a bone. Ellen’s confidence grew with every step.
‘This looks right,’ she said, pulling at a branch. ‘I think we went up behind those huts…’
‘We went behind the huts?’ Luca panted. ‘You talk like it’s already happened.’
‘Not yet,’ Ellen said, ‘but it will.’
Luca swallowed hard but could find no reply.
The path became slick with mud as it melded with the surrounding soil and their feet slid as they raced along it. Luca cursed as he lost his grip and his foot twisted.
‘This is crazy! Are you sure you aren’t just making this up as you go along?’ He shot her an exasperated glance.
‘I’m sure this is right. It all looks kind of like my dream now.’
‘Kind of?’ he grunted. ‘If I’m getting this wet, I want to hear definitely, not kind of.’
Suddenly, she halted. Luca stopped too, watching her.
‘What?’ he asked.
‘I feel something…’ she said, unable to prevent her eyes squeezing closed as she shuddered. ‘Alex… she’s here.’
Luca blanched. ‘Are you sure?’
Ellen had already begun to tear along the path again, without reply, her feet splaying on the soft mud as she ran. Luca gave chase, calling after her.
‘Wait, Ellen…’
She glanced back once, and then the loose semi-circle of huts gave way to open ground and she froze. Within seconds, Luca was by her side, staring too. He gripped her arm.
‘Don’t do anything stupid,’ he breathed in her ear.
She stared at him. ‘We can’t just stand here.’
‘Ellen, he can deal with it.’
‘Jacob!’ Ellen screamed and wrenched her arm free, bolting across the grass towards where Jacob lay. In the time it took her, there was no thought, only a primal rush of fear. Alex turned her face to the distraction, her hand still outstretched as she watched Ellen approach.
‘Stop!’ Ellen cried. ‘Please, Alex, don’t…’
‘Keep away,’ Alex called as Ellen drew closer. ‘This is between me and him.’
Jacob wrenched himself round. ‘Go back, Ellen, please.’ His eyes widened as he saw Luca following in her wake. ‘God, Luca, come and get her…’
But Luca couldn’t hope to reach her in time. He stood and watched helplessly as Ellen skidded to a halt and dropped to her knees, throwing her arms around Jacob. He tried to prise himself from her grip. ‘Please… I don’t want you hurt.’
‘I’m not leaving without you,’ she said, dragging him to his feet with a strength he never could have believed she possessed. She held him firm and shot a defiant look at Alex. ‘Why are you being like this? What’s he done to you?’
‘Where do you want me to start?’ Alex sneered.
Ellen watched her closely. ‘Do you think,’ she began slowly, ‘that Jacob would have come searching for you if he didn
’t care about what happened to you? Doesn’t that count for anything?’
‘He was looking for me, missy,’ Alex fired back, ‘so that he could build himself a life with you and send me off to do his dirty work.’
‘You’re saying you don’t want to go to Astrae?’
‘I don’t have to explain myself to you.’
‘I know that,’ Ellen said, her tone becoming persuasive. ‘I just want to understand.’
Alex faltered. ‘They’ll never make me Watcher while he’s alive.’
‘Is that what you want?’
‘I want to belong somewhere; I want to be valued.’
Ellen eyed the amulet. ‘He gave you that?’
Alex lifted her hand and the amulet swung in her eye line.
‘It’s the most precious thing he has,’ Ellen pressed, ‘the only thing left of your parents.’
‘Yes. And mother dearest gave it to him, not me.’
‘That wasn’t Jacob’s doing. He was just as much a victim as you –’
‘Enough!’ Makash interrupted. ‘Why are you wasting your breath on this girl, Kya?’
Alex held a hand out to him. ‘I’ll do it in my own sweet time, uncle.’
Ellen glanced at Makash, gripped by a new sense of urgency. Though she could not understand the language he spoke, there was no mistaking the menace in his tone. But, she was encouraged by the fact that Alex stubbornly gave her reply in English. Maybe Makash’s hold on her wasn’t as great as he liked to think.
Jacob pulled Ellen by the wrist and positioned himself as a shield between her and Makash. ‘Ellen,’ he pleaded, ‘this is crazy. You and Luca need to get out of here now.’
‘You both got landed with a life you didn’t want,’ Ellen continued to Alex, ignoring his pleas, ‘but you have a chance to change it together, to make it work, to make it right this time so you’re both happy.’
‘Are you stupid? I told you, I can’t be Watcher if he’s still alive.’
‘How can you be sure? Have you tried? Or have you just listened to what your uncle tells you? You know he lied to Jacob at the start, tried to manipulate him like he’s doing to you?’ Ellen extracted herself from Jacob’s protective embrace; her instinct was to go to Alex, to hug her, to show her that she could belong somewhere if only she’d stop pushing them away.