by Holly Martin
‘Every time you come into my body, or the body of anyone I love, I will come into yours. Every time you so much as scratch me or even think about hurting me or my family, I will hurt you even worse. It seems you have a very low pain threshold, I’m quite prepared to push you straight over that threshold every time I am in you.’ I took hold of one of my fingers, one of his fingers and snapped it backwards, the bone breaking satisfyingly and painfully.
Adam wailed in my head.
‘And you saw how the Guardians reacted to you today, next time they see you they will be under strict orders to kill you, instantly. So don’t even think about coming into my home and taking Quinn back. They will destroy you.’
Adam whimpered.
‘And let’s not forget the obvious difference between me and you, I have access to your powers,’ I let a small flame form in my hand so he could see it and then let it wink out. ‘Whereas you can’t do anything, it’s really quite pathetic,’ I mocked him as he had done to me earlier. But I wasn’t ready to leave him yet. He had put me through hell over the last few weeks and though I would need him at the end, I needed him to know I meant business now. I looked round the room, and saw a knife lying near to where Quinn had been held. I walked towards it, picked it up and without thinking I stabbed the knife hard into my leg. I screamed in pain, but Adam screamed louder.
‘That’s for Quinn,’ I said maliciously. I took the knife out and stabbed it back into his leg again. He roared with pain. ‘And that’s for Alexandria.’
‘I will kill you Eve. The next time we meet face to face, I won’t bother with all the torture stuff, I will kill you.’
‘I look forward to it.’
And I left him. Bloody, broken and crying.
And woke back up in my own body.
Seth was still holding me down, but he was talking to Eli and didn’t notice my return. I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. He leapt in shock and turned to face me angrily.
‘Hey baby,’ I smiled, leaning forward to kiss him on the mouth. Seth leaned back so I couldn’t reach him.
I pulled a face, then I noticed Quinn standing shakily, looking at me warily and my heart soared, he had come back to me at last.
‘It’s Eve, she’s back,’ Lucas said.
Seth released one hand. I used it to trace his lips with my thumb and he released my other hand.
I gently pushed Seth off me and stood up and ran straight into Quinn’s arms, nearly knocking him over with the force that I hugged him. I saw Lucas helping to hold him up in his weakened state. As I hugged him, I visualized my golden wall of light coursing through him, healing his every cut, bruise and burn.
‘I love you Quinn, I don’t know why I never really told you before, but I love you, and you’re never allowed to leave me again, do you hear?’
Quinn held me tight, kissing the top of my head. ‘I promise, I won’t and er sorry for kicking you.’
I grinned. ‘That’s ok, it was Adam’s body you kicked, just another bruise for him to deal with, along with a few other injuries.’
I turned to Eli. ‘I’m sorry for scaring you. I never meant to take control of Adam’s body and I knew it might be my only opportunity to bring Quinn back. But I think I’ve actually solved our problem. I had a few words with Adam whilst I was in him, I don’t think he’ll be back. He won’t risk it again, not now he knows I can do the same to him. We’ll have to be a bit cautious till Cain gets back but I think it’s over.’
Eli frowned. ‘It would have been more appropriate if you had warned us Eve, and I’ll believe it’s over when I see it. We won’t drop our guard.’
‘I’m sorry,’ I repeated. ‘And if you want to keep up the vigilance that’s fine.’
Eli nodded, still a little annoyed about Adam’s sudden arrival.
I hugged Quinn again, and he held me so tight I could barely breathe, but right then I didn’t care.
*
Weirdly Cain didn’t come back, I tried to find him in my dreams but he was never asleep when I was. But Adam never came back either. Five long days passed, five days where I slept long and hard, with blissfully quiet dreams. My Guardians kept up their watchful presence, but I think even they were starting to get a bit bored by the uneventful nights. I entered Seth’s dreams a few times, partly to see if I could, partly because I liked his protection, it was safe in Seth’s dreams. We would walk along beaches and through the woods, it was quiet and peaceful. So I was surprised, when I entered his dreams one night to find him back at the fort.
I took his hand, as he was standing by the pool, looking up at the building as it towered over us. He smiled down at me, as I leaned into him.
‘What are we doing here?’
‘Eve, the Guardians, those that were pledged to you, and those that were pledged to the Oraculum, most of them have returned. The first few arrived the day after we came to see Cain, when Helez tried to kill you, since then there’s been a steady stream of them. Eli hadn’t really given it much thought before. They had left you, so as far as he was concerned they were no longer part of your life. But now there are more Guardians at the fort than we’ve ever had before, they’ve all come back for you, to protect you again. I guess it was on my mind before I went to sleep.’
‘Why didn’t anyone tell me?’
‘Evie, it wasn’t a priority. You not killing yourself, you actually getting some sleep, that was a priority, not a bunch of Guardians who can’t decide which side of the fence they want to play on this week. Next week they might decide against you again. Eli just figured it was one of those things we would deal with if and when we ever went back. But eighty seven of them have just turned up tonight.’
I felt my eyes bulge as this. ‘Eighty seven? Now that I should definitely have been told.’
Seth tutted. ‘Zach told me, just as you were falling asleep. As you getting as much sleep as possible is still one of our main priorities, I figured I would tell you in the morning, rather than wake you up, but since you’re here…’
I smiled wryly.
‘Trey is amongst them,’ Seth said. ‘My older brother.’
‘Really, that’s great, I finally get to meet him.’
Seth couldn’t disguise his grin.
I smiled. ‘You’re excited about seeing him aren’t you?’
‘We always got on so well when we were children, then he moved away and I never saw him after that, but yes it would be good to see him again. You’ll like him Eve, he’s like Zach in many ways, just without all the annoying immature arrogant bits.’
I scowled. ‘I like Zach, I wish you weren’t so hard on him.’
‘Sorry. Anyway, we don’t have to go back if you don’t want to.’
‘We should probably go back. If Cain ever comes back he knows where to find me, not that I really need him now. Adam seems to have gotten the message.’
‘He could just be lulling you into a false sense of security, and when your guard is down, he’ll strike again.’
‘True, we’ll have to continue to be careful, but I don’t think he will risk it, he really does hate pain. But the Guardians, the hundreds of them back at the fort, they’re there to protect me. I really should take as much protection as I can get, not just the unwavering loyalty of my personal guard.’
Seth nodded. ‘And Lucas thinks, with your new strength, we should go and get Persia soon so she can guide you to use it.’
I smiled. ‘Lucas just wants to see Persia again, he misses her,’ I frowned. ‘I do too, I’ll get them tomorrow.’
We walked slowly back round to the slopes at the back of the fort, where I normally fight with Zach.
‘Is Zach ok?’
Seth nodded. ‘He’s in charge there, he’s loving it, being in charge of fully fledged Guardians, I think it’s gone to his head a bit. He especially loves that he is in charge of Trey. Trey’s taking it surprisingly well.’
I smiled. ‘I still need to kick his arse, as I promised him. That should bring him down a peg
or two.’
‘If you want, I’m more than happy to do that for you,’ Seth grinned, clamping his arm round my shoulders.
‘No, I’m quite looking forward to doing that myself, another little job for tomorrow I think.’
We lay down looking up at the cloudless blue sky and as they always did in Seth’s dreams, it wasn’t long before his hot lips found mine.
I woke the next day and explained my plan to go back to the fort to Eli. Surprisingly, considering his attitude to the Guardians that left me, he thought it was a good idea too. I left a note for Cain, just in case he did decide to return at some point and gathered my Guardians and Quinn together so we could slide to Persia.
She leapt in shock when I landed next to her on the beach, then she ran forward to hug me.
‘Eve, hey, are you ok?’
I held her tight. ‘Yes, I am now, I’m sorry I left you here, are you guys ok?’
‘We’ve been fine, though I’d be happy not to eat anymore fruit for a while.’
I smiled. ‘Are you ready to go home?’
‘Yes, but not yet, we’ve got something to show you.’
Persia took my hand and started pulling me, weirdly just like she had in my dream. I followed her and my Guardians followed me, including Jacob and Thomas. She pulled me to the steep cliff face, but as I got close I realised that steps had been cut into the sides, leading all the way to the top.
‘We haven’t been idle, Eve, whilst you’ve been fighting Adam, we’ve been busy. With a lot of Guardian strength and some of my powers we did this,’ she pulled me up them and I followed, stunned, the steps looked so neat, as if they had been cut by machine, we reached the top and my heart leapt.
‘And we did this,’ Persia beamed.
Standing on the edge of the cliff was a white building, my home.
‘How…’
‘Cut from the cliffs, this took a bit more of my power, and a lot more of their strength, and it’s not finished, nowhere near, the outer walls are done, the roof needs more work and the insides need to be divided into rooms and then there’s a lot of painting to be done but…’
‘Persia, it’s perfect, it’s beautiful, thank you so much,’ I turned to Jacob and Thomas. ‘Thank you.’ They all smiled.
‘Can I go in?’ I asked, quietly, staring at my home in shock.
Persia nodded.
I took Seth’s hand and led him through the empty archway that would eventually be the front door to our home. I headed through what would be the lounge, the kitchen and the bedroom. In my mind I could see how it would look when it was finished.
‘Now, I’m ready to go home,’ Persia said, having followed me in. I turned to face her and smiled when I saw Lucas with his arm round her, glued to her side.
I nodded. ‘Let’s go.’
Persia nodded, suddenly looking embarrassed, awkward.
‘Persia what?’ But as I said it I knew.
‘Izri wants to come back as well,’ Persia said, quietly.
I swallowed uneasily.
‘She’s better now, she feels awful about how she reacted to Caleb’s death, you know it was just the grief, she’s really sorry and wants to come back, to help you, to stand with you once more… if you don’t want her to though, I’ll completely understand.’
I frowned. ‘Do you still see that future of Izri living here on the island with us?’
Persia nodded.
If I was to believe in that happy future then Izri obviously came back into my life at some point, so this was as good a time as any.
‘I need to talk to her before she comes back,’ I said, remembering how Helez had knelt before me and pledged to me, then tried to kill me a few minutes later. Though I trusted Persia and if she said Izri was loyal to me, then I believed her.
Persia nodded.
I headed back out to the cliff top and explained to Eli that we were going back to collect Izri, which was received with a scowl but he nodded reluctantly.
We landed in Persia’s kitchen and for a moment there was chaos as Persia’s mum and dad first hugged her, then me like I was also their long lost daughter but then the crowd parted and Izri was standing there.
Immediately she was on her knees before me. ‘Eve, I’m so sorry,’ she said awkwardly, her eyes not meeting mine.
‘Izri…’
She looked up at me, and I knew she was genuine. ‘I want to pledge to you again, I will pledge that I’ll never leave your side again, that I…’
‘Izri, that’s not necessary, I trust you.’
She faltered. ‘You do? After what I said, after how I acted, you trust me?’
I nodded. ‘You were loyal to me for months, well years actually, even before I knew my destiny. The fact that you want to pledge to me again is enough for me.’ I pulled her to her feet. ‘Let’s go home.’
Izri hugged me tightly, and I hugged her back.
Goodbyes were said, then everyone shuffled forward to take hold of me and I slid us all back to the fort. It loomed above us, but I smiled at being back, it really did feel like my home. The island would not be home until the world was saved. Although I would definitely be popping back there in between.
My Guardians started making their way back towards the fort. I leaned up, kissing Seth on the cheek. ‘I’m going to see Zach.’
He nodded. ‘Just be careful Eve, it’s been a while since you fought him.’
‘But I have the added benefit of being able to heal myself mid fight.’
Seth scowled slightly as he kissed me on the head.
I released his hand and slid to Zach. Unfortunately as I landed at his side, he and Deacon were in the middle of a fight, and as Zach ducked to avoid a kick to the chest, I managed to get Deacon’s foot in my face and was on my back staring at the sky a second later. I smiled wryly, so much for being careful.
Zach’s grinning face and Deacon’s worried one loomed over me.
‘What you doing down there?’ Zach laughed as he helped me to my feet.
I rubbed my face, gingerly, the cheekbone was quite obviously broken, I quickly healed it before Deacon realised.
‘Sorry Eve,’ Deacon said. ‘I don’t mind kicking you in a fair fight, but to have my foot in your face, just because you slid at the wrong time is a bit unfair.’
‘It’s ok,’ I gave Deacon a friendly punch. ‘How are you guys?’
‘We’re fine,’ Zach said, pulling me into a big bear hug. ‘How are you? Seth said the latest drama seems to be over.’
I nodded against him. ‘Yeah I think so,’ I pulled away, and looked around at the other Guardlings amidst their training. They were getting so big, I had only been gone a few weeks and the boys I had left behind had now grown into young men. Large young men. Zach was huge now, almost as big as his brother.
‘I’m ready for that fight now Zach, I hope you’re ready for a good beating.’
Zach laughed, he bowed his head slightly and fell into the cat stance. Deacon quickly scooted out of the way.
I stretched my arms above my head, watching Zach, his eyes not moving from mine.
Suddenly though his eyes flitted behind me, a feint no doubt, but as his grin fell off his face, I quickly whirled round. But Zach was suddenly in front of me, Deacon and a few other nearby Guardlings also blocking me from something.
‘Where is she?’ a voice I recognised, growled. A voice I hadn’t heard for five days.
‘Step back,’ Zach said. The Guardlings were tense, silent, all signs of humour suddenly gone.
‘Zach it’s ok,’ I said, trying to fight my way through the bodies of Guardlings. ‘It’s Cain, it’s ok.’
‘No it’s not,’ Zach said.
I fought my way to the front, but Zach held me back. I peered round Zach’s arm and my heart leapt. It was Cain, but he wasn’t alone. Standing with him were almost all of the remaining members of the Oraculum though Sebastian was strangely not amongst them. Leon and Matthias I was fine with seeing, but I was less than enthralled to
see Jonah and Nathaniel.
Cain spotted me and stormed towards me. The Guardlings held him back, which he was clearly not happy with.
‘Cain, what’s going on?’ I said, tentatively coming out from behind my safety curtain.
‘Eve…’ Cain said.
Nathaniel tutted angrily at the continual Guardling presence, blocking them from me.
I glared at him, then turned my attention back to Cain. ‘What are they doing here, it was bad enough you bringing Helez to me, he pledged to me and tried to kill me just minutes later, but that was your home, this is mine and they’re not welcome.’
‘Eve…’ Cain started.
‘I want you to leave,’ I eyed Jonah and Nathaniel. ‘This is my home and you have no right to be here.’
Nathaniel stepped forward angrily. ‘No right? We created you, we created your home, we have every right…’
‘Nathaniel!’ Cain said, angrily.
‘And you also disowned me, removed the responsibility of being The Sentinel from my shoulders and passed it to my sick, evil little brother instead, any rights you had, you lost when you tried to kill me and then disowned me, you are nothing to me now, so leave…’
‘Eve for goodness sake, will you just listen,’ Cain said, clamping a hand over my mouth. I saw his mouth twitch with amusement at my stubbornness.
Zach was less than happy with this though, he leapt forward with a growl. ‘Take your hands off her now, or you will lose them.’
‘How dare you speak to a member of the Oraculum like that,’ Nathaniel fumed and with a flick of his hand Zach was sent flying through the air. With a snarl Deacon leapt for Nathaniel but he too was sent flying through the air. They both landed hard on the grass, groaning with the bones that had no doubt been broken.
A furious rage erupted in me and I threw Nathaniel back across the grass. I was at his side, as he landed, standing over him. ‘How dare you come here and treat my Guardians like that, you will leave now or I will make you leave,’ I opened my hand and a large flame erupted in my palm.
Nathaniel stared up at me, his eyes bulging incredulously. ‘You’re threatening me?’
A loud whistle grabbed my attention, I quickly shielded myself against an attack from Nathaniel and whirled round to see the source of the noise.