Half Lost (The Half Bad Trilogy #3) - Sally Green Page 0,30

down, Nathan,” Celia says, her voice low and quiet.

I swear at her.

“There are some White Witches, supporters of Annalise, who think the best way to defend her is to focus on you. They say the law must be applied equally.”

“You want to arrest me? Is that it? For eating my father’s heart after she shot him?”

“You can’t be treated differently. I have to take you to answer the charges too. You can explain. I don’t think it will—”

“You going to put me in a fucking cage?”

And I know they’d love that, all the Whites would love to see me in chains. And there is no way, no way, I’ll ever let them do that to me again. And before I know it there’s lightning shooting out from my hands, hitting the ground to either side of Celia’s feet, and then I breathe a ball of fire and Celia is already stepping back from me as the flames burst between us.

And then her noise fills my head and it’s agony and I hate it and I’m on my knees.

She stops it quickly, though.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Nathan. I don’t want to use my Gift on you, but I will have to if you don’t calm down.”

I look up at her and get back on my feet. I hate her noise so much and all I know is I’m going to stop her, stop everything. She’s never going to use her noise on me again.

Never.

I rub the palms of my hands together and feel the world moving, and I move my hands faster and faster and then stop. I hold my hands close to my head and think of stillness.

There are no noises at all now. All is quiet. All is still.

Celia is standing in front of me, her face calm, concentrated. Gabriel is staring at me, still angry. Nesbitt is poised on one leg as if he was backing away and Greatorex has her gun pointed at me. And further back from that group are all the trainees. They must have heard the shouting and come to watch and listen. Most look afraid; one looks gleeful. Donna is there too, her hands still tied, looking serious.

And I walk away from them. I don’t know how long time will be stopped for. I don’t care. There is no way they’ll get me in a cage.

I walk away and behind me I hear shouting. Time has started up again. I run.

Drugs

I’m sitting in the forest. It’s getting late. I’m not sure what to do. I haven’t hurt anyone. But I could have. I was close to it. And I spat in Gabriel’s face. How could I have done that?

It’s almost dark when I hear footsteps. They stop, then they get louder, clumsier. He’s making sure I know he’s coming, and when the footsteps get nearer they stop again and a voice calls out, “That was some fancy magic you did back there, mate.”

I don’t answer and after a minute Nesbitt comes and squats next to me.

“No one could work it out at first. It was like you’d vanished into thin air. Gab said you must’ve done the trick with stopping time.”

“Yeah.”

“Nice!”

“Yeah.”

“So, anyway, a few of us thought we’d see if we could find you. And . . . so . . . here I am. Mind you, it wasn’t hard ’cause as usual you left a trail a mile wide.”

“I’m not trying to hide. I just needed to think.”

“Yeah, well, that’s understandable.” Nesbitt manages to stay still and silent for half a minute and then says, “They won’t put you in a cage. Celia won’t let them. She said that.”

I’m not sure what to believe, though I don’t think Celia would lie to me.

Nesbitt adds, “Van won’t let them do it either. Nor me, and definitely not lover boy. And I don’t think Greatorex would be too happy about it. You’ve got more friends than you think.”

I wonder if that’s true. If I have friends how come I always feel alone?

“Is Gabriel still mad at me?”

Nesbitt hesitates and then says, “On a scale of one to ten, I’d say he’s at nine and a half.”

“So, it could be worse then.”

“He’ll calm down.” Nesbitt nudges me and says, “The best thing about arguments is the making-up after. I see a big reconciliation ahead for you two: you apologize and he takes you into his arms and—”

“Nesbitt, shut up.”

We sit in silence for a bit and then I ask him, “So, what’s the