Tide - By Daniela Sacerdoti Page 0,58

Bewildered by what just happened.

“Why did they—” Elodie began, but she never finished.

It happened in a split second – cawing, flapping wings, talons dancing in front of their faces, and Nicholas, his expression one of utter horror, raising his arms to protect himself. Elodie dropped to her knees, covered her face instinctively and shut her eyes.

Silence replaced the noise of the ravens as suddenly as they had attacked. As fast as they’d come, the birds were gone again.

Elodie turned to find Nicholas on his knees, his hands covering his face, blood dripping from between his fingers. She helped him up, and instinctively looked to the sky to make sure the ravens had flown away for good. But it was something else she saw – a strange figure twirling in the clouds, enormous leathery wings extended in the wind, like a monstrous glider.

“Nicholas,” she whispered. “Look up.”

Nicholas peered into the drizzly rain, his fingers feeling the slash in his cheek. My father must have been informed that I spared Elodie! He sent a Surari to kill her. “It’s a Surari I’ve never seen before. We need to run!” he said, grabbing her arm.

“What? I’m not running! It’s a demon, I’m fighting it!” she insisted.

Nicholas’s hold on her tightened. “Listen to me. I don’t know what that is.” And believe me, I know all species of Surari. “We need to run. Now!” He sprinted off, dragging her with such force she had no choice but to follow. She nearly fell in his impetus, but he held her up by the waist. They ran all the way back, catching glimpses of the sky, but the hideous bird was gone.

29

Turning Tide

Red as blood

White as snow

Black as black is

The wing of the crow

“She’ll be fine.” Mike reassured Sarah, and a look passed between him and Sean. Sarah intercepted that look, and it told her all she needed to know. Her gaze went from Sean to Mike and back, her temper rising.

“You’re worried about Nicholas harming Elodie! You still don’t trust him!”

“Sarah. I never made a secret of not trusting him, did I?” his tone was hard.

“You’re just—you’re just—” Jealous, she finished in her mind, but she couldn’t say. “Spiteful!”

Mike intervened – the peacemaker, as ever. “Hey, Sarah. Listen.” Sarah shook her head, arms crossed. “No, no, listen to me now, girl.

Elodie going with Nicholas kills two birds with one stone. We keep an eye on him, and Elodie helps him if there’s an emergency. Cool?”

“Whatever!” said Sarah sullenly. “I’ll carry our stuff upstairs.”

“I’ll help you.” Sean followed her into the hall where they’d left the rucksacks piled at the top of the grand staircase.

“No need.”

“What if whoever left the letters is hiding upstairs, Sarah? This is not the time to sulk!” snapped Sean.

“Don’t dare tell me off! I’m not a child!”

“Hey! Everyone! Guess what I found!” Niall emerged from the depths of the corridor.

“Where did you disappear to, on your own?” Mike scolded him.

“There’s a hundred rooms in this house. Seriously, it’s crazy. Anyway, I found a music room! With a piano and a harp in it!” Niall was beaming.

“Yes. They were my grandmother’s,” said Sarah with a bout of regret for not having brought her cello with her. “Can you play?”

“I can play anything, Sarah of mine!”

“Brilliant. Let’s have a dinner dance,” muttered Mike, taking hold of a bag.

Sarah threw Sean one final, scathing look, and lifted her suitcase. She stomped upstairs.

“I’ll play for you,” whispered Niall, brushing past her on the stairs. Sarah rewarded him with a smile.

They made their way onto the staircase, with its polished wood banister and carved stone steps. The wall beside it was full of portraits of long-gone members of the Midnight family, including the formidable Morag and Hamish, and on the landing, a huge stained-glass window coloured the light like a rainbow, tiny particles of dust dancing in it. An elaborate M in dazzling blue glass was at the centre of the window.

“That’s beautiful,” breathed Niall. “We have a fine house in Skerry, but this is just amazing.”

“Thank you,” said Sarah. “I always loved coming here.”

Another corridor lined with wooden doors, parallel to the one downstairs, led to the depths of the second floor.

“We have lots of bedrooms, as you can see. Share, or take a room each, it’s fine by me,” said Sarah. “I’ll be sleeping in my parents’ room,” she added in a small voice. She was daunted at the idea of seeing her parents’ things – at the same time, she couldn’t wait.

Mike opened