Tide - By Daniela Sacerdoti Page 0,96

they widened when she saw the strange scene – Niall with a bleeding Elodie in his arms, Nicholas’s hands covered in blood, his hair matted with it.

“What happened? Was it the demon-bird again?”

“No. No. Elodie and I … We went for a walk. It was the ravens.”

“The … ravens? I don’t understand.” And then Sarah saw Elodie’s ravaged skin. “Oh my God.” She took the girl’s bloodied hand.

Nicholas’s words tumbled over each other as he struggled to find a way to explain. “Sarah. The ravens have turned. The Surari control them now. They don’t do my bidding anymore. If you see ravens or wildcats, you must be very careful.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Why?” said Niall. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“What do you mean?” asked Nicholas.

“Why have the ravens turned against you, Nicholas?”

“How should I know? I don’t know anything more than you, Niall!” he growled.

“Nicholas.” Sarah walked over to where he was standing and put a soothing hand on his arm.

I know. You don’t need to tell me. You’ve made your decision. You’re leaving me. You and Sean are together now. “Where is Sean?” he asked, bracing himself for the answer.

But it wasn’t the one he’d expected.

“I don’t know. I have no idea,” Sarah replied, avoiding his gaze, her voice strained.

Nicholas looked at her, surprised, but she would not meet his eyes. Something must have happened between them, it’s not what Elodie and I thought we saw.

A huge wave of relief swept over him– and at the same time he realized that the pain in his head had vanished. There was no more screaming in his mind, no more reproaches, and no more brain fury. He staggered slightly, overwhelmed by the sense of escape. Somehow, by some miracle, his father and the Shadow voices must have believed him when he said he needed the ravens to protect his secret by letting Elodie survive the attack. They couldn’t have known that Nicholas genuinely wanted to save Elodie’s life. They must have sensed Nicholas’s rage and despair when Sean and Sarah embraced, the rush of blood thirst. They must have believed that his doubts about his place in the Shadow World had vanished, that the old Nicholas was back. But he wasn’t out of danger yet.

In an instant, Nicholas closed his mind to his true feelings and replaced any hint of relief with images of Elodie in pain, prostrated on the grass, screaming. He invoked memories of hatred, of darkness, of the people he had hurt and killed over the years – he filled his mind with all that his father wanted him to be. The Shadow World needed to believe that he was still on their side. This would buy him a bit more time.

“I’m going to take Elodie to her room,” said Niall, gently lifting her into his arms again. “Sarah?”

“I’ll get the med stuff,” Sarah replied, and hurried out.

Nicholas went to follow, but Niall gave him a withering look. “No need for you to come,” he said firmly. But before he had left the kitchen, the injured girl spoke.

“Nicholas,” called Elodie softly.

“I’m here,” he said. “I’m coming.”

And there’s nothing Niall can do about it.

*

Niall laid Elodie on her bed and Sarah saw to her wounds. They both flinched when they saw what the ravens had done to her back, pierced with tiny lacerations, her flesh shredded, the skin hanging loose in little bloody flaps.

“Tell me exactly what happened, Elodie,” Sarah asked gently as she bathed the wounds.

Elodie struggled to speak, such was the pain. Her breathing was shallow. “We were walking. They attacked me. Like they did on the beach that day. Maybe I’m marked. A mark that only they can see.” She shivered, thinking back to the swan she’d seen many years before, in her childhood.

She had gone for a walk on a lakeshore with her parents; before her father could lead her away, before her mother could shield her eyes, she’d seen a dead swan, its chest torn open, lying bloodied on the pebbles. And right there and then, she’d had a premonition – that one day, she’d be the swan. One day she’d be the one lying there.

“Nonsense. You’re not any more marked than the rest of us,” Niall said, stroking her hair with a gentleness that made Nicholas’s heart tighten. “I used to dream of ravens when I was a boy. They weren’t nice dreams. I hate ravens,” Niall continued.

Elodie yelped as Sarah dabbed at her wounds. “Is everybody else safe?” she asked. “Where is