form and his spirit life would begin. A warm body, lips that smiled, the need to eat and drink and sleep – a girl who smelled and felt like life.
Until she fell asleep, and the dark closed on him again. He considered waking her up and throwing her out, but he had no energy left for that – the voices were crippling him already.
There was no escape.
You might think that being a Dreamer is a curse, Sarah, and it is – but you have no idea what it’s like to be born of a mortal woman and of the most powerful Surari of all time. Try that, then you’ll realize that in comparison, being a Dreamer is as easy as breathing.
Nicholas sat up on his bed and took his head in his hands, moaning softly. The voices from the Shadow World were ripping his mind, refusing to be silenced any longer.
The night was spent in agony.
A few painful, burning hours later, the blue-haired girl woke with a smile, make-up strewn on her face. With her eyes still closed, she stretched out her arm and felt the sheet beside her, looking for Nicholas. But the bed was empty.
He was sitting on the floor in a corner, his arms around his knees, sunken, red-rimmed eyes. When he saw she was awake, he got up without looking at her, crossed the room in his bare feet and stood framed in the doorway.
“I’m going out. By the time I come back I want you gone.”
Evening Star
A hidden place
Heather and myrtle
Gorse and mist
The in-between
Take me there with you.
Sean
I hold Elodie against me again. My mouth feels strange, stretched into a smile like that. How long has it been since I last smiled? Or laughed? Even the sound of my voice right now, so happy, seems to belong to someone else.
And then a terrible dread hits me: that the heir Elodie was protecting, Aiko Ayanami, is dead, and that’s why she’s here.
I take her by the shoulders and look into her eyes. “Aiko?”
“Aiko is alive.” And then she corrects herself. “She was alive when I left. One of the Gamekeepers I lived with is looking after her. But …”
“What happened?” I urge her gently.
“A Gamekeeper – a friend – was killed.” Elodie clasps her hands over her mouth, her voice laden with unshed tears. “She was so young. Marina Frison was her name. I had to go, Sean. I couldn’t hide away any longer. We must do something more than just protect the heirs. We must do something more.”
She’s getting distressed, her eyes feverish all of a sudden. I hold her hands against my chest. “Yes, yes. We must. But first, come on, come and sit near the fire. You need something to eat, and some sleep. You look terrible.”
“Thanks!” She smiles in the midst of her tears.
“No, no, that’s not what I meant …” I lead her to one of the worn, threadbare sofas.
“I know. I do look terrible, though.” She leans against me as we sit. “I’ve been feeling strange lately. I’m sure it’s just the strain of hiding, watching, waiting …” She shakes her head. “Never mind. Sean, there’s something I need to tell you.” Her brown eyes burn into mine. “I have seen Sarah’s death in a vision, on my way here.”
I stop in my tracks, my heart in my throat.
“She was being murdered. I couldn’t see his face, the killer’s, I mean. I don’t know what he was doing, but Sarah was dying right there, slowly in front of him.”
I feel a terrible cold invade me, sharper and crueller than the winter cold outside, in spite of the sweet-smelling peat burning on the hearth. I stand and stoop in front of the fire to turn the peat with the metal tongs. “When?” My voice is deadly calm, deadly quiet, though my heart is beating so hard I think the whole world can hear it.
“I don’t know. I couldn’t spot any clues, when, or where.”
“And the man? Who was he? A demon?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t make out his features.”
How far in the future is Elodie’s vision? And who is the man, or demon, who’s destined to do it? I walk to the window, watching the purple sky turning orange over the hills as dawn breaks slowly. “I must go and see Sarah. I must tell her. She’s not …” I take a deep breath. “She won’t speak to me.”