Dark Heart Surrender (21 page)

When we reached a familiar clearing, I rewarded him by releasing him from his lead. He bounded off excitedly.

‘Not too far,’ I called, smiling at the sight of the big dog lumbering through the trees. Bobby was getting old – he wasn’t moving as fast as he used to.

A sudden sharp breeze picked up and the leaves flew up in a flurry. I looked up at the sky and saw the clouds moving quickly and the colour turning from blue to grey and a kind of pinky-grey – the sun struggling to be seen amongst all the movement.

‘What’s happening to us?’ I whispered. ‘Why can’t we go back to how we used to be. Go back to Nissilum …’ I realized in that moment how much I wanted to be lying by the river where the Water Path was – where it all began for us. I pictured Dalya’s mischievous expression: curious, intelligent. I shut my eyes, letting the breeze stroke my face, and all of a sudden it felt like everything was slowing down. My thoughts, time …

I snapped my eyes open. The woodland trees had disappeared, with their brown leaves hanging on for dear life in the face of autumn’s work. In their place was the bountiful green foliage of different, bigger trees. Oaks. A rush of breath came up my throat and I looked down, knowing I would see the water, gurgling on its way to a sea somewhere.

I was back. Back on Nissilum. But how?

It looked like the Water Path was deserted, and so incredibly peaceful, but I sensed something behind the trees. I peered at them. Something was there.

And then from behind two large oaks, walked a figure I recognized. A little taller, fuller in figure, but the same lustrous dark hair and dark eyes, coming towards me, with a cautious smile on her face.

‘I don’t know how I got here,’ I told her, smiling back.

‘I do.’ She reached me and I saw she was not a child any more, she was a young woman. With a waist and a bust and at least three inches on me.

She sighed happily and then her arms were round me. She smelled like Luca used to – woody and clean.

‘I brought you back,’ she said, drawing away. ‘I mean, you thought of me, I felt it intensely. You had a picture of me in your head and you wanted to be back here, at this very spot. And it was so powerful, that I pulled you here. All the way here.’

‘I’m so glad,’ I said and felt the tears coming again. I shook my head to be rid of them. ‘I can’t tell you how good it is to see you.’

‘Is there something wrong?’ Dalya’s eyes were anxious.

‘Oh, Dalya,’ I breathed, relief flooding through me. ‘I don’t know what’s happening. Luca is … different. He’s under some kind of spell.’ Unlike my mother, I knew Dalya wouldn’t dismiss my fears.

She looked thoughtful, tucking her hair behind her small ears. ‘My father is worried, too,’ she said after a bit. ‘Luca came to see him a few weeks ago asking a lot of questions …’

‘Yes. I remember. He told me.’ I sighed. ‘The Vulpecula.’

Dalya’s eyes widened. ‘You know about them?’

‘Bits.’ I shrugged. ‘I know they’re supposed to be extinct. And that there was a big drama between your breed and theirs.’

‘Ulfred hasn’t told me everything,’ she admitted. ‘But enough to know that if we – if any of us Hunters – come into contact with them, there is an old grudge they are harbouring.’ She paused. ‘Up until now we thought we were safe. That they had all died out. But then Luca said …’ She stopped, probably not wanting to voice her fear out loud.

‘I think they are living on Mortal Earth,’ I said seriously. ‘I have no proof, nor does Luca. But I think he was right all along. He had this feeling and he found something – a necklace covered in blood. It was miles from anywhere, in a place that no one in their right mind would go to. Not anyone who wears a necklace like that, anyway.’ I looked up at her. What had been a paranoid fantasy seemed to be getting horribly real.

‘So what does Luca want to do?’ Dalya asked.

‘I don’t know. Not any more.’ I swallowed, before adding, ‘The thing is, I think they have already worked their evil on him. And I don’t know where he is. He didn’t come home all night.’

Dalya stared fearfully at me. ‘I don’t understand.’

‘We went to a club with this brother and sister we’ve got to know.’ I shuddered. ‘Ade and Polly. Beautiful, eerie-looking redheads. They’re adopted. Apparently. They have this strange aura about them and some kind of power. It’s like whenever I am near them, I can’t think straight. And I left Luca with them last night.’ I put my hands over my face. ‘I should never have done that.’

‘Jane.’ Dalya gently pulled at one of my hands. ‘We need to speak to Ulfred. Maybe he will know what to do.’

‘I hope so,’ I whispered, a pit of anxiety forming again in my stomach. ‘I hope it is not too late.’

L
uca was in the back seat of Ade’s car, lying across the width of it. He opened his eyes, and the headache hit him like a mallet. He sat up … The rest of the car was empty. It was daylight outside, though he had no idea where he was. The car was parked in a small clearing next to a gate. To the right of it was a large empty field, sad-looking, despite the blue sky.

He rubbed at his head gently. It still hurt. And he felt so weak, a horrible taste in his mouth.

A shadow fell across the passenger window. He saw it out of the corner of his eye. When he turned, he saw Polly, still wearing the clothes she’d had on the night before. She’d taken off all her eye make-up and her face looked ethereally naked – almost childlike, the colour of her eyes stark against that porcelain skin. She pressed her face up against the window, then opened the door.

‘Here.’ She held out a plastic bottle of water. ‘Drink.’

Luca stared at the bottle, then shook his head. ‘I don’t think so.’

Polly crouched down and he saw she was wearing Ade’s jacket. Her long red hair hung in spirals. She gathered it up in one hand and coiled it into a knot at the back of her head in a skilled, swift motion. With her hair off her face, he could clearly see her prettily pointed chin and wide cheeks, two angular yet elegant ears.

Luca thought he was going to be sick.

‘You really should drink,’ Polly said, as though she was genuinely concerned. ‘You’re dehydrated.’ She shook the bottle a little.

Luca didn’t move to take it from her. ‘Where’s your brother?’ he asked instead. ‘And what are we doing here?’

She unscrewed the cap on the bottle and took a long swig. ‘It’s just you and me, I’m afraid.’ She got to her feet and put one long leg into the car, followed by the other. Once she had shut the door, she sat, holding the water bottle, staring in front of her. In profile, her lips pouted beautifully. Luca looked away, determined to keep his wits about him.

‘I know who you are,’ he said eventually, shifting subtly away from her as he spoke.

‘You do?’ She turned to him, her eyes wide. ‘And who is that?’

‘The Vulpecula,’ he said, staring straight into those eyes.

Polly’s expression told him nothing. She simply screwed the cap back on the bottle. Then she sighed.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she said. ‘But then, I am feeling a little worse for wear.’ She smiled. ‘It was fun last night, wasn’t it?’ Her delicate nose twitched a little. ‘Once you started to relax.’

Luca tried to recall the events of the night before. He remembered dancing with Polly – her hips against his body, her arms … He stopped thinking, knowing that she was doing it again. She was removing all his rational thoughts, leaving only basic, primal thoughts. Desire. He became very aware of her legs next to his.

‘Well, it’s been nice talking to you,’ he said, refusing to look at her. ‘But I have to get home. Jane will be going out of her mind.’ Thinking about Jane, he felt a mixture of guilt and dread. To his surprise and his dismay, he didn’t feel anything else. He shook his head and reached out for the door handle to his left.

‘Don’t go,’ Polly said softly. ‘It’s so peaceful here.’

‘I feel terrible,’ he said, his back to her. ‘What happened last night. It was wrong.’

‘You didn’t seem to feel like that at the time,’ she said. ‘I know when a boy wants me. And you wanted me. Last night – and this morning, for that matter.’

‘This morning?’ He jerked round to face her. ‘Nothing happened this morning!’ But the truth was he couldn’t remember … He felt cold with a kind of panic. Had something else happened?

She put her cool hand on his, her long graceful fingers beginning to twine with his. He tried to pull his hand away, but found he couldn’t. Flashing into his head came images of Polly’s naked arms around him, her pale, taut body pressed against his. Had that happened? Or was she making him think it did?

‘I know how long you’ve been waiting for Jane,’ she whispered. ‘Didn’t it feel good not to hold back any longer – to be free?’ Her lips curled into a conspiratorial smile.

Luca realized her face was changing, her mouth shifting, expectant, her teeth flashing – and a sudden visceral quality came over her expression. Her nose twitched again and her eyes narrowed out. She seemed to be smiling, but it was more feral than that. It was a hostile baring of teeth. The kind of stance a wild animal takes with its prey.

Somehow he found the strength to pull his hand from under hers and open the car door.

Once he was out, he knew only that he had to get as far away as possible from Polly. He started to run, his legs like lead, a whooshing sensation in his head – the ache giving way to a now familiar fuggy feeling.

‘Don’t worry,’ Polly called after him from the car. ‘I won’t tell Jane what we did. Your secret is safe with me.’

Slowly, the further he got from her, the stronger Luca began to feel, until finally he was running, bounding down the rough country road, blood pounding in his head. He ran for miles, gaining ever more strength, hoping that he would reach somewhere familiar and find his way back to Jane’s house.

Out of nowhere a truck rounded the corner, driving slowly, but still a shock. Luca stopped suddenly, panting. He held out his hand for the car to stop, seeing with relief the familiar driver.

‘Luca!’ Jack Jonas stepped down from the truck, an expression of simultaneous relief and confusion on his face. ‘What’s happened? I’ve been driving round everywhere looking for you.’ He came towards Luca, putting his hand on his arm. ‘Never mind. Questions later. Let’s get you home.’

In the car, Luca found himself trying to hide the shaking overwhelming him.

‘I lost track of time,’ he said. ‘And before I knew it, it was morning …’

Jane’s father stared ahead. ‘I understand,’ he said. ‘Though it’s a long time since I was in that kind of … predicament.’

‘Nothing untoward happened,’ Luca supplied quickly, ‘if that’s what you’re thinking.’

Mr Jonas looked almost amused. ‘Untoward? No. You’re a good lad, Luca. I trust you.’

Luca nodded relieved, but the guilt he’d felt earlier grew in dimension. How was he going to explain this to Jane? Would she ever believe he had done nothing wrong? As Luca stared up at the morning sun outside, he realized he had absolutely no idea if he had betrayed Jane or not. But the thought that he had broken his precious code of honesty and trust, something he had been raised to believe in wholeheartedly – the thought that he might have destroyed that, was devastating.

They may not be admitting who they were yet, but the Vulpecula had found a way to wreak revenge on the Hunters: by sabotaging the most precious thing in Luca’s world.

He turned and looked behind him at the fields – half expecting Polly to be in pursuit, relieved when all there was was empty landscape.

But as he turned, Jack braked suddenly, swearing under his breath.

‘What the—’ he started, and Luca paled at the sight in front of them. Jack stopped the engine and got out of the car. Luca stayed where he was, glaring at the figure in front of the car.

Ade stood, his T-shirt a little torn, with what looked like scratches across his face. His skin was paler than ever. Though Jack was talking to him at the side of road, Ade’s eyes were rooted on Luca inside the truck.

Luca stared back. Whatever game Ade was playing, he looked like he had Jack’s sympathy.

Mr Jonas moved back to the driver’s side of the truck, opening up the door; he shook his head at Luca. ‘Poor kid’s been attacked.’

‘Attacked?’ Luca stiffened, unable to keep the sceptical look off his face. ‘By what?’

Jack puffed out his cheeks. ‘A group of drunken lads apparently – it happened after you all left the club last night.’ He looked over at the boy. ‘Well, you were there, I guess you must have seen it happen.’

Luca frowned. ‘I … No … I didn’t see anything.’ He bit his lip. He couldn’t remember anything that had happened after he had passed out after that glass of water – which hadn’t been water, obviously. The next thing he remembered he had woken up in the back of Ade’s car.

Not that he could let Jack Jonas know that. Whatever Ade was up to, Luca would have to go along with it if he was going to avoid awkward questions.

‘Is he OK?’ he asked, trying to inject some concern into his question.

‘Superficial I think.’ Jack glanced back at Ade. ‘He has a black eye and he seems a bit out of it.’ He sighed. ‘Lucky we found him.’