Peril

by Joss Stirling

  And then he looked up and found Meri standing in the snow right in front of him.

  Eco service in winter was a bitch but Meri loved every awful day of it. Her team was working on a patch of riverbank that felt more like an alien planet than somewhere within half an hour’s boat ride from Tower Bridge. A flat, wind-swept island, big grey East Anglian skies, this was the battlefield on which the ecological war was being waged. Fighting the rising tides on Canvey Island, heaping mud into embankments with mini-diggers, planting what Dexter called ‘habitats for wildlife’ and the rest of the team called grass: it all gave her a sense of purpose and the satisfaction of making a difference. Like every other sane teenager she hated the cheesy advertisements online and in the cinemas but she had a sneaking suspicion she agreed with the underlying message: the eco-service was doing a necessary job and people, at least on this vulnerable island in the Thames estuary, really were grateful. She was surprised she enjoyed it so much.

  The locals in the caravan park near the eco-works threw a party for the young volunteers on the last lunchtime before their Christmas break. The Idippy primary school, a miserably inadequate structure made up of portakabins, had been decorated with cutout snowflakes and strings of stout paper reindeers. The parents stumped up for crisps, sandwiches and fizzy drinks. It was like being five again, but as Meri had missed out on most kiddie parties due to trauma and then shyness, she found the whole event hilarious. That also might have been something to do with preloading on a bottle of wine sneaked in by Anna who had vowed it was the only way to get through the torture. Whatever the cocktail for success, Meri found it easy to chat, laugh and play silly games with all ages standing in her boot socks, as she had left muddy protective gear at the door.

  The late afternoon was spent back in overalls putting the equipment to bed for the two weeks leave. Dexter, team leader—and didn’t everyone know it—masterminded operations. A good-looking guy with sandy hair and tanned complexion, camera friendly square jaw with a little cleft on the chin, he made a perfect advertisement for the eco service.

  ‘Let’s crack on, people,’ he called cheerfully. ‘Looks like that cloud is going to dump a load of snow on us and I’d prefer to be snuggled up warm before that happens.’

  When he turned away to take a call, Anna rolled her eyes at Meri.

  ‘Herr Commandant has spoken. Let’s put this baby to bed.’ Together they hurried to pull the tarpaulin over one of the machines that wouldn’t fit in the shed. The wind picked up, carrying with it the first flakes of snow. Meri wrestled her end of the sheet down and tied it tight with a few heaves on the rope to the ring set in the ground.

  ‘Impressive. You wouldn’t’ve been able to do that a few weeks ago,’ said Anna, tying off her side.

  ‘Do what?’

  ‘Miss Peanut-biceps has actually got some strength now.’

  Meri flexed her arm, showing off her new muscles. ‘Funny what two months of eco camp can do to you. We should make a book and video, sell them as the next big Get-In-Shape regime.’

  ‘And they worried about childhood obesity twenty years ago. All they needed was to send us out for a couple of years, semi-starve us and treat us like slave labour and problem sorted.’

  Meri snorted.

  ‘So, you still on for the team Christmas night out, Em?’

  ‘You bet.’

  ‘Even though Dexter’s coming?’

  ‘I guess Christmas needs some irritating relatives to make it feel really authentic—he can be my stand-in.’

  ‘I think he wants to be more than your stand-in irritation. He looked at you when he talked about snuggling up.’

  ‘Get your mind out of the gutter, Anna Brackley.’

  ‘Just saying how it is, sister.’

  ‘Nope: don’t even speak it out loud. Speaking it puts that into my head and I really have enough bad dreams without that.’

  ‘Don’t worry, Boot, I’ve got your back. I’ll protect you from the handsome but yet disappointingly annoying pain in the arse.’

  ‘That can be my Christmas present then.’

  Back at the hostel showering off the estuary mud, Meri let her mind circle back to the conversation with Anna. Her friend was probably right about Dexter. He’d been making moves in her direction, sounding out if she had a boyfriend and what were her off-duty interests. She could hardly answer truthfully that, no, she was unattached as her last boyfriend turned out to be a mortal enemy and that her main interest was staying alive.

  Tucking in her favourite shirt, the one with the peril-coloured pattern, into a pair of black jeans, Meri checked her appearance in the small mirror in her bedroom. She thought that maybe her face had also changed a little over the last two months. Some of the strain had gone as she felt safe with her team. No one could creep up on her stuck out in the middle of the estuary and, if anyone tried, she now had friends who would come to her aid, no questions asked. That was what the team did.

  ‘Em, are you ready yet? We’re going to be late!’ called Zara.

  ‘Coming!’

  Her friends were waiting for her in the hostel sitting room. Anna was dressed down like Meri in jeans and a shirt, though Anna’s had a sprinkle of sequins for that festive feeling. Zara had gone uptown, wearing a plum lace dress over a black corset and leggings. She looked like a funky Christmas fairy, particularly when you factored in the silver lace-up boots with killer heels.

  ‘Did I miss the note about dress code? I didn’t know we were supposed to go as gothic Christmas tree decorations,’ said Meri with a grin for Anna.

  Zara slapped her arm. ‘You know, Em, the day I see you wearing something other than black, navy and brown, I swear I’m going to have a heart attack. Live a little: put this on!’ She pulled a red Santa hat from her coat pocket. ‘I was going to wear it but I think I’ll go with tinsel.’

  ‘For you, dear, anything,’ quipped Meri, pulling the hat over her ears.

  The eco team met up in Leicester Square right in the heart of the flourishing theatre and cinema district. Coming out of the station, Meri had a poignant flashback to her disastrous date here with Kel two months ago. She wondered what he was doing now?

  ‘Yo, team, bad news,’ said Phil, the guy who had been responsible for the itinerary for the evening. ‘I totally screwed up—forgot to make a reservation—and everywhere is booked up till January.’

  There was a round of ‘Oh Phil, you moron!’ from everyone until Dexter took charge, as usual.

  ‘Never mind, team, I know a place in Drury Lane that’s usually quieter than this. I’ll just ring ahead and get us a table. How many are we? Seven?’

  ‘Yes, squadron leader,’ muttered Anna.

  ‘Follow me. I know the way.’

  ‘I bet those are his absolute favourite words in the English language,’ she muttered to Meri.

  ‘But what I want to know is why the restaurant isn’t booked up like other places? I mean how bad does it have to be?’

  ‘Excellent deduction, Sherlock.’

  Dexter slowed so Meri and Anna had to catch up with him or look churlish.

  ‘Enjoying yourselves?’ he asked brightly.

  ‘Every minute. I just love wandering aimlessly looking for a place to eat with the snow falling,’ said Anna, brushing flakes off her black winter coat.

  ‘I know, it’s just so atmospheric, isn’t it? So Christmasy. How are you going to spend the big day, Em?’

  Meri blew on her fingers, cursing her oversight of leaving gloves behind. ‘No plans yet.’

  ‘Ah. Is it against your religion to celebrate it?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘She’s an orphan, Dexter.’ Anna shifted to put herself between Meri and their team leader. ‘Give it a rest, will you?’

  ‘Sorry. Sorry. Difficult subject. I get it.’

  Taking pity on Meri, Anna linked arms with Dexter and moved ahead. ‘So tell me where we’re going, Dex. Is it Mexican? I love Mexican, Dexican. And how many people exactly have died of food p
oisoning after eating there?’

  Meri smiled as Dexter spluttered his defence of his restaurant recommendation. He was just so serious about having a good time. She couldn’t work out why he was attracted to her as Meri spent most of the time out at the project making fun of having a bad time. In that she was his absolute opposite.

  Maybe that was it: he had fallen for the cliché of opposites attract? The magnetic pull went one way in this case.

  Her party straggled into single file as they hit the crowds in Covent Garden. The market looked really pretty with its Christmas lights in the shape of stars, fir trees dripping with glowing icicles, retaining a pre-flood glamour. Someone was busking on the corner—a talented someone from the audience he had gathered. Meri slowed, drawn in by hearing one of her favourite songs by Renaissance Man. Squeezing into a gap, she caught her first clear view of the singer.

  Kel.

  He looked amazing in the snow, guinea-gold hair shining in the Christmas lights.

  She hadn’t known he could sing, hadn’t known he played the guitar.

  You only knew him for a couple of weeks.

  But so much had happened in those two weeks it felt much longer.

  Rooted to the spot, she couldn’t think what to do. Theo had sworn Kel had stood up for her, wasn’t out for her blood like the others, had left Ade’s house because of her; but he was also a link to her hunters and she had promised herself she wouldn’t do anything that would give away her hiding place.

  Besides, after giving her a couple of the best kisses of her life, he would probably be scared of her now. Did she want to witness him flinch away from her touch? Should she even trust herself around him now she knew what she could do?

  Her moment’s indecision took away the choice of disappearing. His wild blue eyes met hers and he stopped singing. An awkward pause followed.

  ‘Forgot your words, mate?’ jeered an onlooker.

  Kel shoved the guitar back in the case, not bothering to collect up the coins people had thrown inside. ‘Sorry, show’s over. Don’t move.’ The last comment was to Meri.

  The crowd melted away leaving them standing facing each other. Snow had settled on Kel’s shoulders and hair.

  ‘You need a hat,’ said Meri. ‘Have mine.’ She took off the Santa one and held it out to him.

  ‘And then what would I do when you get cold ears?’ Taking it, he put it back on her head, letting his hands rest over her ears to warm them. ‘It’s good to see you. Merry Christmas, Meri.’ His lips quirked at the pun. ‘I guess that’s not very original?’

  ‘I’d be lying if I said you were the first person to say that to me. But Merry Christmas to you too.’

  ‘What are you doing here?’ He shook his head. ‘Actually, no, I don’t want to know. Don’t tell me anything. Just tell me how you are.’

  ‘Fine.’

  He raised a brow.

  ‘Really,’ she assured him.

  ‘But you’re…one of them?’

  ‘Yes. So, it would seem.’ Testing him and herself, she held out her hand. ‘Does it bother you?’

  Hesitating only a fraction, he touched her fingers. ‘You should remember to wear gloves.’ He lifted them to his mouth and blew on them. She could have loved him for that alone, overcoming his whole upbringing in a simple gesture.

  ‘Remembering gloves is one of those life lessons yet to sink in.’

  ‘Hey, Em, are you OK?’ Dexter strode up and threw his arm around her shoulder. Kel immediately stepped back and dropped her hand, expression blanking. ‘We thought we’d lost you.’

  ‘I’ve just run into an old friend.’ She didn’t want to—and couldn’t—risk giving names.

  Dexter had no such scruples as he sized up the competition. ‘Hi, I’m Dexter, Em’s team leader.’

  ‘Hey, Dexter. Nice to meet you both. I’ll see you around.’ Kel picked up his guitar case, grimacing as the loose money rattled against the wood. ‘I should probably find somewhere quiet and sort that out.’

  Dexter dismissed him with a nod. ‘Come on, Em, the others are waiting.’

  Glancing over her shoulder, Meri allowed Dexter to steer her away and towards their party. She knew exactly what Kel was thinking: that she was out on a date, that she’d moved on. Would it be better to let him believe that? Kinder in the long run? But for some illogical and completely insane emotional reason, she just couldn’t do it.

  She slipped out from under Dexter’s arm. ‘Sorry, Dex, but I really need to catch up with my friend—the chance is too good to waste. Tell the others I’ll text them when I know what I’m doing. Don’t wait for me to order.’

  Dexter put on his kicked puppy expression. ‘But Em—!’

  ‘See you later—or in two weeks after the holiday if we get caught up chatting. Have a good Christmas.’

  When she got back to the corner, Kel had gone. Desperate not to lose her chance now, she took a gamble that he’d consider his day over and would head for the nearest station. Weaving through the crowds, she caught up with Kel just before he entered Covent Garden Tube. ‘Kel! Please, wait!’

  He turned, eyes scanning the street behind her. ‘Where’s the boyfriend?’

  ‘He’s not a boyfriend, not exactly a friend either. I was out with a big party of mates and he’d been sent back to round me up.’

  Kel’s stiff body language softened. ‘OK then. That’s good.’

  ‘Can we go somewhere to talk?’

  ‘I’d like that, but it’s ridiculously busy and expensive round here.’

  ‘Let’s walk until we find a quieter spot then.’

  ‘Which way: north, south, east or west?’

  ‘South. Let’s find a spot by the river.’

  They walked side-by-side, the guitar between them. Meri had so much to say but yet wasn’t sure if she should say anything at all. Maybe she should just enjoy being with him this one last time? That didn’t seem enough though. She hadn’t had a chance to say goodbye because she had been in panic mode after his flare out. She didn’t want to leave him with the impression that she hated him for being what he was. He couldn’t help that any more than she could help her Tean inheritance. How could she tell him this when no words could capture what she felt?

  In the end, they both spoke at once.

  ‘Meri, I don’t—’

  ‘I’m sorry I—’

  Kel smiled and gestured for her to go first.

  ‘I just wanted to say that I was sorry I panicked on you. I didn’t know what I was dealing with. I just knew that the people who attacked my parents were patterned like you. It was a flight instinct kicking in—survival. I think I know you well enough to realize you wouldn’t hurt me but I wasn’t being rational.’

  He shifted the guitar to the other hand and took hers in his. She could feel his fingertips exploring the new callouses and rough skin on her palm. He wouldn’t ask, she knew that already. He would protect her by keeping ignorant. ‘You were right to run, Meri. My kind are trained to eliminate Teans. If I’d been taken by surprise, realized that night and not the next day, then maybe I would’ve reacted badly, more like the others did.’

  She hoped not. She was trusting her life to the conviction that he was different. ‘So there is a kill order out on me?’ The words caught in her throat. ‘It’s really hard to believe that Ade and the others would go that far.’

  ‘I can’t tell you what was decided—that would be betraying trust the other way—but I can say you must keep away from them. My advice is that you stay hidden, well hidden. Move if you can. Theo’s a weak point—they’ll watch him.’

  Meri knew what he was hinting. ‘If I cut myself off from Theo then I have no one. He’s my family. Can’t we negotiate peace or something with the Perilous? I don’t want to harm anyone.’

  ‘I know that, but they’re thinking about what happens if you pass on your powers to the next generation.’

  At least he talked about the Perilous as ‘they’, which confirmed Theo’s opinion that Kel had
not aligned himself with them. Still, it didn’t solve her main problem. It was like being caught in a tangle of barbed wire that cut each way she pulled to escape. ‘Children? That’s such a long way off. And why would my children want to kill anyone if we aren’t under attack?’

  ‘Call it a lesson learned after centuries of experience.’

  Meri remembered the torture photographs in the box. ‘But I think I’m the last. From here on any Tean DNA will get diluted, changed. I might not even be able to have children—might not want them. I’m eighteen: what do I know? Aren’t your people worrying unnecessarily? It’s all a bunch of “what ifs”.’

  ‘That’s not how they see it, but if it helps, I totally agree with you. I think we should declare peace. We shouldn’t push you into a corner where what we fear is made to happen by the fact that you have to defend yourself.’ Kel stopped outside a little cafe with windows looking out on the Thames. It was low tide so the abandoned buildings of the area that had been lost stuck out of the mud like a ghost town, all lights off. ‘How about here? That couple have just left so there’s a table in the window.’

  ‘Good choice.’

  When they had placed their orders with the waiter, Meri took Kel’s hand. She made herself trace the spiral on his wrist, telling herself it was beautiful rather than a threat. He got full marks for not shuddering and she hoped she got some points for overcoming her instinctive fear. She kept tight control inside, not daring to let any power leak out and put him at risk. It was hard though, like holding her breath underwater. She wasn’t sure what she was doing or if she was doing it right.

  She looked up into his blue eyes. ‘I’d never use my powers to hurt you. I don’t think I know how and I certainly wouldn’t want to.’