First Light (28 page)

‘I didn’t ask you to come here with me. If I am not mistaken, you guys all tagged along.’

Laith’s eyebrows shot upwards. ‘That’s a bit rich.’

‘True though,’ Kalen looked grimly at Nash, who was shaking his head at the exchange. They were all on edge when Laith had a bee in his bonnet.

‘I think you have a personal reason to be here.’

‘I don’t care what you think.’

‘I’m right though, aren’t I?’

‘Man, shut up, will you? He’s kicking my ass right now and you are not helping my concentration.’ Nash stared at the board for a long time before making his move. Kalen moved to checkmate immediately.

‘Damn, you’re the only one who beats me at this.’

‘Not often, this is a victory for me.’

‘We should leave soon,’ Laith continued. ‘We’ve lingered here too long, become too complacent.’

‘We are leaving soon,’ Kalen answered, resetting the board. Ace took up Nash’s position opposite him. Winner stays on was a long game, but they were not short of time to kill.

‘Good,’ Laith sounded both jubilant and surprised. ‘That’s good! Where are we going?’

‘I
am going to a place further up the East coast. Clanots Ocean.’

‘What? I meant that we have to get out of England. Let’s go to Italy, Greece, Norway even. Why would we stay here?’

‘Do what you like, I’m going to Clanots Ocean.’

Laith fumed silently in the corner, but Kalen knew he’d follow. None of them wanted to be alone, as much as it would probably be safer if they were.

***

‘So what are we doing?’ I asked as we walked in.

‘Dinner to start with, I cooked spaghetti,’ Kal pointed to the spread on the table. There was a huge bowl of pasta at each end, a dish of steaming red sauce in the middle and even a salad.

‘I didn’t realise you could cook.’ I struggled to hide my surprise.

‘Ah, you think I’m only good for one thing,’ he said with resignation.

I started to fumble an apology, when the serious look fell away from his face and he burst out laughing.

I glared at him. His joking wasn’t something I was used to.

‘You’re right,’ he said when he’d stopped chuckling, ‘I can’t really cook. Ace helped – or I suppose I helped Ace. The boys are looking forward to seeing you. They’ll be here soon.’

‘Great,’ I smiled hesitantly. I hadn’t hung out with them all since they’d been back and knowing they weren’t all as enthusiastic as Kal about their return made me nervous.

‘Relax, Red,’ Kalen eyed me kindly, reading my mind. ‘Then tomorrow as you don’t have to work until the afternoon, I thought maybe I could teach you how to drive.’

‘I can already drive,’ I pointed out.

‘Well, clearly you can or you wouldn’t have turned up at my house like a mad woman in the middle of the night. I would, however, like to ensure you can drive
well
. What d’you say?’ His blue eyes were warmer than usual as he stared at me, waiting for my answer.

‘I think I say, thank you.’

‘Great. Let’s eat.’

Laith didn’t join us and though Denver made some excuse for him, I could tell it was to try to keep me from feeling bad. Despite his absence the evening was upbeat and happy and they didn’t seem to hold any resentment towards me. It was a huge relief.

‘You know, Denver, you have an admirer,’ I said after we’d eaten.

He looked skeptical. ‘It’s not you, is it? Because he may be smaller than me, but I know better than to get into it with K.’

I looked at Kalen, who was rolling his eyes, but all other eyes were focused on me now, so I continued. ‘Um, no, it’s not me. It’s my friend Alexandra, from work.’

He paused for a moment’s reflection, and then his face brightened. ‘Oh, the blonde babe from the club, that night a couple of months ago? With the short hair?’

‘Yeah, that’s the one.’

‘Smoking hot,’ he smirked. ‘Good to know, Ron, thanks.’

‘I didn’t say you could do anything, I just thought I’d let you know.’

‘Ha!’ Nash spoke directly to me for the first time all evening.

‘You can’t tell D a thing like that and not expect him to do something about it. That girl’s in trouble now.’

I must have looked as worried as I felt because Kalen was stifling a laugh.

‘Not that sort of trouble, Red. Just Denver-dating trouble – you may want to warn her to stay well clear.’

‘Dude?’ Denver interjected.

I smiled to show I understood, but I regretted saying anything. I didn’t want Alexandra to be one of Denver’s one-night stands. I’d have to warn her about him.

After Ace and I had washed the dishes, Kalen came into the kitchen and asked me if I wanted to go home. I didn’t, but I figured it would be weird if I stayed the night so, reluctantly, I agreed.

‘I can drive you, or we can walk into town if you like? It’s a nice night. Then I can put you in a cab.’

I accepted the walk, wanting nothing more than a way to prolong my time with him.

We hadn’t even got half way to the town centre when Kal put his arm around my waist. It should have felt good, but as he did it he leaned into my hair and told me to walk faster. My mouth dried up. His eyes were even more focused than usual, his gait determined. A flash of fear bolted through my body.

‘What’s wrong?’

Before he could answer me, I knew. Five men with baseball bats came out of the bushes and walked towards us.

31 – Revenge

‘Red, listen to me, they’re behind us too.
I need you to run. We’ll run together. Turn left when I squeeze your hand.’

His words were a blur. I had no time to digest what was happening, within a second my hand was being squeezed and I took a sharp left as I’d been instructed. We sprinted across the main road, my hand firmly in his. I didn’t look back, but I was very aware of the sound of their feet pounding behind us. They were gaining on us and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get my legs to move as fast as Kal’s. We would never outrun them. Sprinting around a corner, we found ourselves in a dark alleyway, blocked at the end by a high metal fence.

As we reached the wire mesh, he looked at me urgently. ‘I’m going to lift you. I need you to grab the top of the fence and pull yourself up. You’ll fall to the ground on the other side, so make sure you bend your knees on impact. Then run!’

I shook my head. ‘No way, what about you?’

‘I’ll follow you, but you can’t wait for me. Don’t look back, don’t stop running until you reach town. OK?’

I whimpered pathetically.

‘Ronnie, you have to do as I say.’

I nodded and he interlocked his fingers in front of me so he could hoist me upwards.

‘I’m sorry,’ I whispered.

‘I’m
sorry, Red, this is all because of me.’ His voice was grim. I wanted to tell him that none of it was his fault, but there was no time to try to make him feel better. I had to focus if we were going to get away.

Jeering sounded from the other end of the alley, as Kal elevated me upwards. I grabbed at the top of the fencing. My fingers found the metal I was after, wrapping desperately around it, but my hands were sweating. I slipped. Falling back heavily into his arms. Our eyes met, just as at least fifteen large shadows rounded the corner. There was no time to run and no way out. Standing me up straight, Kalen stepped in front of me.

‘Red,’ he whispered, ‘when I start fighting, I want you to run past us. I won’t let them touch you. Do not stop running.’

I felt myself slump miserably as he moved forward to protect me.

‘Not so funny now, is it, mate?’ said of one of the masked men as he approached us. I couldn’t recognise their voices, but obviously the same men Kal had fought in the bar were back for revenge. And they’d brought some serious back up.

‘
I don’t remember laughing,’ Kal replied aloud, using his false British accent. His amiable temperament told me he was trying to get out of the predicament without a fight. Somehow, that made me even more terrified.

‘Oh, you were laughing, mate. You won’t be soon,’ said the smiling balaclava.

‘Please just leave us alone,’ I pleaded. Kal quieted me by touching my arm, moving me further behind him.

‘Please leave us alone,’ they mocked in unison.

‘Are you really going to try to hurt a young girl here in the middle of town? Don’t you think that’ll attract far more attention than you’d like? That the police will let that go?’ He asked calmly, never taking his eyes off of the one who appeared to be the leader.

‘Not
try
mate.’

‘He’s right Joe,’ one of them whispered.

‘Shut up!’ the leader hissed. ‘Don’t say my bloody name!’

‘Why don’t you let her leave and we can sort this out, you and me.’

The voice responded acidly, ‘Not gonna happen. You’ve had this coming to you, boy. After what you did to our crew if you think you’re walking away from this, you’re sadly mistaken. We have a reputation, you know? Now you and your bitch girlfriend are gonna learn some manners.’

A guttural snarl came from within Kalen. ‘If you hurt her, I promise it will be the last thing you ever do.’

‘Let’s see, shall we?’

Kalen grabbed my arm. ‘Run,’ he growled.

The pack descended and Kalen shoved me forcefully to one side. I flew some distance, crashing to the ground. Shifting so I could see what was going on, I got to my feet and pressed my back against the wall. The instant one of them reached him, Kal grabbed a metal dustbin lid and backhanded it into the attacker’s face. He fell to the ground. Then Kal spun, kicking one of the others before breaking another’s arm and using him as a battering ram into the next. The bin lid was used repeatedly, and then thrown like a Frisbee. The metal disc hit one of our attackers in the neck, he fell to his knees clutching at his throat and struggling to breathe.

At the same time, one of the men turned in my direction and with a grin he launched himself at me. I braced myself. Kalen was behind him in an instant, throwing him backwards. Very soon, Kal had them all in one corner of the alley, either fighting him or cowering from him and he’d barely broken a sweat. I felt a surge of pleasure and admiration – the pathway was open for me to run as I’d been instructed.

But then a baseball bat connected with the back of Kal’s legs. No sound escaped his lips, but he collapsed forward. The hyenas leaped on him instantly, beating down with their weapons until I lost sight of him completely.

His words rang in my head:
‘Don’t stop running’
. Part of me wanted to oblige. I wanted to run and never look back, but I was rooted to the spot. I couldn’t leave him there.

I was waiting – hoping – for him to get up and start fighting again. When he didn’t, I scanned the ground frantically. What looked like the handle of a pickaxe was lying beside a large masked man Kal had managed to knock unconscious. With one more glance into the fray, I leaned over the body and picked up the heavy piece of wood. My hands trembled.

I don’t remember much else, bar running into the din and launching the weapon down with all my strength. I had no idea if I was hurting them, or just succeeding in making them angrier. Somehow though, a path suddenly cleared and Kalen pushed through. He was battered and torn, with blood covering his once beautiful face, but he was alive! Relief washed over me, but it was gone just as quickly when I noticed the anger and distress that swept across his features as our eyes met.

Then something cracked against the back of my skull and my world turned black.

32 –
Gone