towards her parents, towards her destiny. Burning her diary and throwing the remains into the river hadn’t changed her predicament, but it had freed her from so many terrible memories. There didn’t seem to be any need for another dream diary. Since the Scottish Valaya had been defeated and its leader Cathy Duggan killed, Sarah’s dreams had all but disappeared. At first it had been a relief, after the fraught few weeks when she’d been under nearly constant attack and dreaming like never before – but the truth was that the eerie silence that filled her nights was making her increasingly uncomfortable. Was it the quiet before the storm?
Sean would know. In those few short months he, as Harry, had become her family, her world. Because her “cousin” was living with her, Juliet allowed Sarah to stay in her home, abiding by her parents’ will. She would never forget his arrival during these worst of times, to give her a ray of hope in such darkness.
But he had lied. Harry Midnight was dead. Sean Hannay was his real name. Sean Hannay was the man who had pretended to be her cousin, had stolen his identity, the man who might have killed him, too. She couldn’t be sure.
Sarah’s anger at Sean’s betrayal had been so great she had nearly used the Blackwater on him, the deadly Midnight power that could dissolve any living creature, but she had stopped herself in time. She shuddered at the memory of how close she had come. She refused to listen to his reasons, she refused to speak to him at all, and had sent him out of her house, out of her life. The night Cathy Duggan was finally killed was the last time Sarah had seen Sean.
She missed him terribly.
Despite everything, she missed him every day, every hour. Not even Nicholas could fill his absence, even as persistent and as heady as his presence could be. But Sean was a liar. He had made his way into her home, into her heart, on false pretences. He wasn’t her cousin, he wasn’t a Midnight – he was someone else, of whom Sarah knew a name and nothing more.
Sarah felt that her upset must be written all over her face, and turned towards the car window, letting her hair fall between her and Juliet and cover her like a curtain.
She didn’t want to have anything to do with Sean ever again.
She wanted to hear his voice.
She wanted him to come back.
She wanted him to go away, and disappear forever.
She didn’t know what she wanted.
And in the middle of this swirling galaxy of Sean thoughts stood Nicholas.
It was Nicholas who’d explained all that Sarah’s parents and Sean hadn’t told her, in their vain attempt to protect her. He had told her about the existence of other Secret Families, about the Sabha, the Secret Council that bound them together, and how the Scottish Valaya, the coven they had destroyed, was just one of many throughout the world.
She was still in danger; Nicholas had made that clear. But she had him on her side. Of all the humans and Surari she had encountered over the past months, nothing and nobody could compare to him. The way he mastered the Elementals, the spirits of the elements, bending them to his will; the way he could call those blue flames to burn from his fingertips; the way he seemed to make her forget everything just by looking into her eyes … He had saved her life by killing Cathy, and now he was saving her from being completely alone. He had proved himself to her, over and over again.
And still there were times, even now, when Sarah felt utterly bereft, as if there was an abyss opening right in front of her feet.
Is this what love is?
Sarah had no answer. Nicholas was, after all, her first boyfriend. Was this love, this heady feeling, this sense of burning up and not caring about anything, anyone but him? Not caring for herself, either. Still, in spite of her doubts, she couldn’t stay away from Nicholas. He had been there for her when nobody else was. And she was happy, wasn’t she? As happy as she could be in the mess her life now was.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
And there he was, Nicholas, waiting on the stone steps of her house. Sarah could feel Juliet’s gaze burning into her back as he put his arms around her and kissed her.
“Well done.” Nicholas waved to Juliet over Sarah’s