Eternal Hope (The Hope Series) (38 page)

“Eight… ugh.” Daniel raked both his hands back through his hair. Having just fought off twenty Immundus and probably killing more than a few of them, now was the perfect time to leave Malibu and get the hell out of Dodge. Except they couldn’t leave because Farley had tried to kill Anna, and they were both out in the ocean- somewhere he couldn’t go get them. He inched closer to the water line, flinching when the cold wash hit his bare toes.

“Can you see them?” Tess asked.

Daniel shook his head. “Seriously, why did neither of you try and stop her?” he snapped.

“Because she looked like she was on the war path. And besides,” Tess explained, “I hardly expected her to dive into the Pacific and start swimming towards Japan, did I?”

Daniel clasped his hands together in front of his face, biting down on his thumb knuckle. This was the very worst thing that could ever have happened. The very, very worst. He clenched his eyes shut, trying to calm the frenzied hurricane of panic that the souls inside him had whipped themselves into. They were losing it, and Daniel could barely hear himself think over them. He clenched his eyes shut.

“Just… shut up,” he whispered.

“I haven’t said anything yet,” a voice responded, close at his back. Daniel let out a sigh so big his shoulders sagged.

“What are you doing here, Kayden?”

The blond boy looked harrowed, an empty husk of a person. If it were possible for a messenger slash angel slash dead person to lose weight, Kayden definitely had. He gave Daniel a small smile.

“You know why I’m here.”

Daniel scowled. “She’s fine. She’ll be back in a minute.”

“She’s
not
fine. I have to go and get her. She’s my only responsibility in the whole world.” The solemn way Kayden spoke was devoid of any attitude. It was the truth. Daniel’s stomach pitched and heaved. A sob built in the back of his throat. “She’s my only responsibility too.
I
have to go and get her.”

Kayden shook his head. “I don’t think you can.”

“Is she going to drown?”

A heavy look pulled down on Kayden’s features. “In a few minutes. She’s not gone under yet, but she will. Anna will knock her out, and then…”

“Then I
can
do it. I will.” Daniel took a deep breath. All journeys started with one step, and his first step into the ocean felt momentous. And terrifying. And paralyzing. Kayden waded in beside him.

“Are you sure?”

He nodded, swallowing hard. His hands were shaking.

“Okay.” Kayden laid a hand on his shoulder. “But hurry.”

Daniel looked at him. “You’re going to let me? If she dies, the Quorum will make you suffer.”

“I know.”

A hard smile formed at the side of Daniel’s mouth. “I get it. You still want to die, don’t you? This is London all over again. You don’t think I’ll be able to get to her in time.”

Kayden’s eyes rounded out. He looked pale and deathly where the moon leached the colour from him. “I want to live, Daniel. Things are different now. I want to redeem myself, and I want you to be okay. I’m not letting you go because I doubt you’ll succeed. I’m letting you go because I
know
you
will
. Now, go.”

A wave surged around Daniel’s feet, almost unbalancing him. He looked at Kayden, trying to discern whether this was a trick. Kayden stiffened, his face freezing in an expression of alarm. “Anna just knocked her out. Go.
GO!
”

Daniel stormed into the water. The waves were strong, trying to wash him back to shore, but with every breath he pushed forwards. Fear made his heart thunder, but it wasn’t the fear of the water this time. It was the fear of losing her. It worried its way into every part of him, infecting him, stealing his ability to think. All he could do was swim. The water seemed intent on fighting its way into his lungs, but he couldn’t focus on that.

The sand fell away beneath his feet and he thrust his way through the water, pulling himself further out with every stroke. He saw Anna first. She looked wild with fear. Her arms smashed down into the water over and over again, like she was trying to grab hold of something in order to stay afloat.

It took all of two seconds to work out what she was trying to use; Farley floated face down right next to Anna, and every time Anna started sinking beneath the waves she used Farley to push herself back up. Daniel seethed. He swam forward, kicking until it felt like he’d dislocated his knees and ankles, and then he kicked even harder.

Anna looked relieved when she spotted him. Actually
relieved
, like he’d come to save
her
. The whispers in his chest hissed, demanding he do something. This time he didn’t deny them. A burning hot flash of light tore from his hand, striking Anna on the temple. A look of abject surprise formed on her face. She gasped in a wheezing breath before letting go of Farley and sinking below the waves.

He didn’t wait to see if she came back up again. He grabbed hold of Farley and spun her over in the water, immediately seeing that her lips and the rims of her eyelids were painted a delicate shade of blue. A strangled noise rose up out of his mouth. He brushed the slick of black hair out of her face and pulled her to him. There was no time to waste trying to revive her here. The shore was fifty feet away. If he didn’t get her back to it, everything was lost. He caught Farley up and cut through the water with his other arm, careful not to let her face submerge.

The waves that had worked against him on the way in turned their favour now, helping guide him in with every forceful push. Each second felt drawn out, though, and it seemed that he was never going to make it. He could see Grayson and Tess on the sand huddled together, watching with obvious anxiety. But where was Kayden?

Daniel kept pushing, kept rushing forward. They were almost at the beach when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. The pale blaze of Kayden’s hair flashed between the waves only five feet to his side. Behind him he towed a body, as wet and bedraggled as Farley. A small part of Daniel was thankful that he’d saved Anna. Another part of him was spitting mad.

The feeling of loose sand beneath his feet was a relief so palpable it made his body tremble. Daniel staggered back to dry land, carrying Farley in arms. When he sank to his knees, he gently placed her on the ground and fell forward, opening her mouth to check her airways. They were clear. She lay there with a look of peace about her, her dark hair coiled like sea snakes wrapped around her neck and plastered across her face.

Tess ran forward and collapsed by her side, reaching for her neck. “There’s a pulse.”

Daniel shoved her back. He’d literally never given mouth to mouth before, but nothing in the world was going to make him stop until Farley breathed again. Her lips were cold and firm, nothing like they usually were. For a long time nothing happened, and just when panic was really beginning to set in, a thready, wet rasp escaped from her lips.

Daniel’s chest threatened to explode under the intense release of pressure storming through him. The whisperers inside him began shouting, screaming with relief. Farley’s body bucked as it expelled the seawater from her lungs, and yet her eyes remained firmly closed.

“Why isn’t she opening her eyes?” Tess cried, pulling at Farley’s arm.

Kayden appeared, drenched and silent, at their side. “Because she’s not there right now. She’s somewhere else.”

Daniel let his head fall forward into his hands. “But she’s going to be okay, right?” he breathed through his fingers.

“Yeah. She’s going to be fine. She’ll come back when she needs to.”

“And Anna?”

“She’s going to be fine, too.”
Kayden’s sodden sneakers appeared right next to Daniel. “Are
you
going to be okay?”

When Daniel looked up, Kayden was holding his hand out to him, wearing a worried frown. Daniel considered it for a second before accepting it and standing up.

“Yeah, bro. I’m going to be okay.”

Simeon was walking down the corridor, five paces ahead of her. The sound of his footsteps echoed closely off the walls, making them feel tighter than they really were. Farley recognised the corridor: it was the one she’d run down when she’d seen Oliver in the Tower, the circular one leading off to the Quarters. Now, though, trailing behind Simeon, it seemed claustrophobic and narrow, the air stale and lacking in oxygen. She jogged forward to catch up to him.

“Simeon?
Simeon!
” she hissed. He turned and looked at her as though her presence was completely normal. The torches on the walls cast small circles of dingy yellow light, washing the corridor in a dim glow. Their effect wasn’t quite enough to properly illuminate the tunnel, but it was enough to turn Simeon’s rich brown hair black. He wore a simple tunic that cut off above his knees, completely unlike the regular shirt and pants she’d seen him wear before. He looked nervous, twitchy.

“What are you doing here, Farley?”

She skipped up alongside him, caught at that awkward speed between walking fast and jogging. “I don’t know. I-” Her head hurt. Like,
really
hurt. She was having trouble focusing on anything other than how tight everything was down here and the fact that it was so hard to breathe.

“I told you not to come back until you could answer my question. I trust you’ve worked it out?” Simeon said curtly.

She nodded her head. “Yes, you… I
...” Can’t remember. Tell him the answer. Tell him the answer.
But she couldn’t remember the question, let alone the answer. Her temple throbbed like she’d been on the business end of a baseball bat, and the walls pushed in from either side, threatening to crush her.

“Why does this corridor feel so tight?” she asked.

Simeon flashed his warm brown eyes at her. “I hate it down here. I never got used to it. The walls are always closing in, the ceiling’s always ready to fall down.”

Farley faltered, scanning up and down the walkway. Just at the cusp of the bend Saxon appeared, following slowly behind them. His hands were folded behind his back, and he was trailing along like this was nothing more than a casual stroll in the park. He was obviously used to the panic that pervaded this memory, but Farley wasn’t. She’d never felt so claustrophobic in her whole life, and she’d lived down in that cramped hangar for weeks. When she spun around, she barrelled straight into Simeon’s chest. He stood right behind her, pulling an annoyed face.

“What is the answer to my question, Farley?”

Her heart was beating like a jackhammer, which made it even harder to think. She opened and closed her mouth. “I don’t remember.”

“Remember or leave,” he said. Down the hall Saxon had stopped following and was keeping a safe distance, refusing to come any closer. Farley narrowed her eyes at Simeon.

“I can’t.”

He tilted his head, cocking it one side. “I asked you what this place was? Do you know?”

“Yes, I…” She swung her gaze from Simeon to Saxon. Both of them watched her with intense curiosity. She felt like Alice growing too big for the room after she’d polished off the ‘
eat me’
cake. The whole tunnel appeared to pull long and thin, shrinking in height and width. Her hands broke out in a nervous sweat.

“What is this place, Farley?” Simeon repeated, growing irritated.

“It’s… I...” Simeon stepped forward, placing his hands on the tops of her arms. He was pushing her backwards, a cold glint in his eye, when everything snapped into place. Farley finally blurted out, “It’s a prison! This place is your prison!”

Simeon dropped hold of her, watching her with a soft satisfaction. Farley touched her fingertips restlessly to her throat, like that would somehow make it easier to breathe. “You’re trapped in here, aren’t you? You can’t get out?”

Simeon nodded slowly. The concept of the mad Simeon locking the sane one away was the only thing that made any sense. But did he know that was the reason he was trapped? His expression was enigmatic.

“I can’t leave.” He spun on his heel and started off down the corridor again. Saxon started walking too, and for a moment Farley considered waiting for the other man. Somehow, she didn’t think Simeon would like that. She hurried to catch up with him and reached out for his hand.

“Wait!”

At her touch, Simeon froze to the spot. He looked down at her hand holding his like it was the most alien thing in the world. Farley let go.

“You said if I figured out what this place was, you’d take me anywhere I wanted.”

“Yes,” he whispered, “to any of the places stored within my memory.”

“Good. You have to get me out of here.” The panic attack inspired by Simeon’s dislike for underground spaces was kicking her ass.

“Where do you want to go?”

“Anywhere. Somewhere above ground.” As she said that, a thought forced its way into her mind. “Take me to the time when you underwent your rites. I want to see that.” Maybe it was morbid curiosity, and maybe it was something else, but as soon as she latched onto the idea, Farley was determined to see it. It was relevant- everything inside her said so.