My Heart be Damned (14 page)

“
Amerie
!” Marshall shouted. “You’ve gotta jump out. NOW!”

The roof caved down towards my head, and I grabbed at the seatbelt, trying to pull it out. Damn it – why wasn’t it coming off? The car began to slow its rolling, and I could make out the sights around us. I saw why we hadn’t hit a tree; we’d crashed through a clearing where a vast lake glistened under the moonlight, and we were heading straight for it.

“
Amerie
, now,” Marshall yelled again.

He threw open the car door and dove out just as the car rolled again onto the already caved roof. Hanging upside down caused all the blood to rush to my head. Frantically, I pressed at the button so hard that it snapped, but the belt remained fastened. The car lurched and rolled again, and I froze. Everything seemed to slow down, as the water got closer and closer...

Then the lake swallowed the car whole. Icy, dirty water spilled in through the cracked windows and filled up the car. It was so cold, so thick that I gasped, and water rammed its way down my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to tell myself not to panic. I could get out of this.

I opened my eyes, staring out into the dark abyss. The water licked at my stinging cuts, and my head began to feel light. This was it. Damn this Porsche and its faulty safety devices. Then the seatbelt loosened around my chest, and my eyes flew open in surprise. Marshall was there, holding my dagger in one hand and part of the seatbelt in the other. He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the car. With me tucked safely
under his arm, he swam for the surface, his powerful legs getting us there in fluid strokes.

Marshall saved me. Marshall saved me. The thought wouldn’t leave me alone. I almost drowned, and Marshall had saved me. The surface was still pretty far away, though, and I desperately needed air. I thrashed against Marshall and his arm loosened. There was no strength left in me, at least, not enough to swim. I began to sink, and I shut my eyes, my whole body shutting down. Marshall had tried to save me, anyway.

“
Amerie
, wake up,” someone shouted shakily.

My heart jolted and water rushed up my throat, demanding an escape. I turned and choked it up onto the grass beside me.

“Oh my God, you’re alive,” Marshall said. His arms pulled me up so that he was squeezing me against his chest. Hugging me. “I thought you were dead.”

I allowed him to hold me as I tested out my body. My throat burned, and my eyes were sore. I flexed my fingers and wiggled my toes in soaked shoes. Everything still worked. It was strange; I should have felt weak, groggy, but I felt alive and strong.

“I’m...I’m fine,” I muttered in disbelief, pulling back from him.

He stood up and helped me to my feet. “You sure? We need to get outta here. Can’t be long until they swarm us.”

I focused my hearing, and sure enough, I could just make out voices in the distance. “We’re miles away from home with no car. How’re we gonna get back?”

“There’s a train station about a mile down that way.” He pointed through the trees. “Think you can make it there?”

“Yeah, I can make it. I might nearly have drowned, but I’m fine.”

“Okay, okay.” He held his hands up. “I was just trying to be polite or whatever. Chivalrous.”

“You? Chivalrous? Are you feeling okay?”

He started walking, and I had to jog to keep up with him. The voices of the Damned were getting closer. I shivered and wrapped my arms around my cold, wet body. I sucked in a deep breath and sped up. I hoped that the Damned didn’t know there was a train station nearby and that they were already there waiting for us. Otherwise, we were well, and truly, screwed.

Chapter Thirteen

So, Who Are You?

The town that the train station was in, turned out to be not too terribly far of a walk, but it was an uncomfortable one. Neither of us spoke, both too fixed on listening out for our attackers. Were they hiding somewhere, waiting to sneak up on us? Had we lost them? I imagined them swarming the lake, maybe wondering if we’d both drowned. The thought made me smile.

I wondered, then, about the attack. Before I’d heard the voices of the Damned closing in on us, I’d not known for sure whether the assault on the car had been an accident. Now I was positive this was the work of the Damned from Thorpe Park.

“Why are they after me?” I demanded.

Marshall stopped and slowly turned to look at me. I wanted to scrub the sadness in his eyes away somehow. Sad for me? Or, sad for himself?

“Not now,” he muttered. He pointed to the entrance of a dingy little train station ahead. “Let’s make sure we’re safe before letting our guards down.”

I nodded and shivered, allowing him to wrap his arm around me. The contact was nice, familiar. It made me feel like with Marshall at my side, I could face anything.

We walked up a little concrete hill together, passing a row of closed shops that sold touristy memorabilia and clothes that were at least two years out of season. So far, I hadn’t seen anything remotely interesting in whatever tiny town we’d stumbled across. It was deserted.

There weren’t any ticket barriers at the train station, either. Their version of a ticket office was a hole in the wall that had its shutter down, so we didn’t have to buy a ticket, which was lucky seeing as I had no purse or bag. There were only two platforms. We headed to the first one and looked up at the display monitor. Only five minutes until the next train into the city. With a grateful sigh, I flopped down on a wooden bench, and pulled my knees up to my chest, eyes locked on the brick entryway.

Marshall perched hesitantly beside me.

“They asked me to protect you.”

My eyes widened. “What? Who did? The Sisterhood?”

“No, the
Teletubbies
did. Of course, the Sisterhood.” Marshall rolled his eyes at me, and it took all of my will power not to shove him off the bench. “Anyway, when you fell off the map, they worried for you. I...
kinda
owe them a
favor
. And you’re it.”

“If I fell off the map, how did they know how to find me?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

“This is the Sisterhood we’re talking about. They’ll eventually find you. They always do. Because your mentor...”

I looked down at my hands. “You can say it, you know. She’s dead. My mother’s dead.”

He hesitated. “Okay, because your mother died, they need to find you a new mentor. But it’s difficult because it has to be someone who’ll mesh with you. They’re finding it tough because you’re
sucha
...
sucha
...a stubborn brat.”

This time I did shove him. “I don’t want a mentor. And I don’t want a babysitter, or whatever you are. Tell them that I said thanks, but no thanks.”

The train pulled in at the platform, and I leapt up, excited about the warmth I hoped the inside would bring. We found an empty carriage, and I grabbed the seat closest to the heating vent. My clothes had started to dry, but between the cold and filth, they were turning crispy.

Marshall sat in front of me, and I turned and stared out of the window. Him... babysitting me? It didn’t make sense.

“You can’t say no to The Sisterhood,” he said gently. “There is no disagreeing. They will bring down such a wrath upon you that you’ll wish you just agreed. They have the Harbingers of Death at their disposal.”

“You think I don’t know that?” I spun to face him, my hands balled into fists on my lap. “You think my mother left me ignorant to what The Sisterhood can really do? She told me about the Harbingers of Death. That they come down on their stupid demonic horses and end you. Told me all about The Sisterhood’s stupid secrets and rules. Of course, they lead with fear. It’s how they get what they want. I can’t even tell my dad or my brother about myself. Because they won’t allow it. No one outside of the damn Hunter Circle can know. It’s a bunch of bullshit.”

Marshall leaned forward, taking one of my hands. “I know it’s not fair,
Amerie
. But you were born for a reason. Not many can say they were born for a great destiny. Others will live. Then they’ll die. They won’t do anything as meaningful as us.”

I shook my head, yanking my hand back. “So what’s your deal? You’re not a Hunter by blood. Unless you’ve had a sex change. So where’d you get the strength and speed from?”

“My mother’s a Hunter,” he answered. “Hunters aren’t supposed to pass their abilities to boys. But she did. Somehow.”

My eyes widened. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Wow. What did the Sisterhood do? I’m surprised they never hauled your ass in for examining and stuff.”

He leaned back against the dusty seat. “We fell off the radar too. Just like you did. When they found us again, I made a deal with them. Spare our lives and leave us alone, and I’ll allow them to call on my help once. No questions asked...”

“Why did they use their one shot with you on me?”

He shrugged. “Maybe they saw something in our future.” I ignored the cheesy wink he gave me.

“Let’s not get it twisted – I’m not your mentor. I don’t have the time or patience for that crap. I’m just here to make sure you survive until they find you one. And, by the way, you’ll make it a whole lot easier on me if you train once in a while.”

“I already told you – I don’t need a mentor or training because I quit. What don’t you get about that?” I snapped.

“You can’t just quit,
Amerie
. There is no quitting.”

“I’ll make a deal with them, like you did...”

“I was an exceptional case,” he said quickly. “My mother is retired – she’s too old to hunt now. She’s supposed to be a mentor. But she’s...sick, so she can’t mentor anyone. And me? I’m a guy. We’re not allowed to be Hunters.” He paused, making sure he had my attention. “But you,
Amerie
, you’re in this for a while. They’ll keep tracking you down, and they’ll make you do it.”

I shook my head again, not wanting to hear it, not even acknowledging that he’d mentioned his sick mother. “Stop, Marshall. I didn’t choose this. I don’t want to do this. Quitting is the only thing that makes me feel that I have some kind of control over my life.”

“Not many Hunters want to Hunt,
Amerie
. Also, not many have bounties hanging over their heads.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What?”

“I’ll make you a deal,” he said. “Train with me, learn how to properly protect yourself, so you don’t die before they get you a real mentor, and I’ll make this bounty go away. I’ll help you kill Seal.”

“I don’t care about Seal,” I lied, though my blood had run cold just at the mention of his name.

“You will care.”

“Oh, I will, will I?”

He hesitated. “Yes.”

I shook my head and turned away from him. “Whatever, Marshall. Say what you want but there is nothing that’ll make me want to start Hunting again.”

“
Amerie
, please. Don’t make me say it like this...here.”

I turned to face him, my hands balled into fists. “Just stop, okay? Like I said, there is nothing you can say that’ll make me want to -”

“Seal killed your mother.”

The train lurched to a stop at a deserted station. Everything fell silent. Only the dull pounding of my heart filled my ears. Seal killed my mother. The same Damned sending others to kill me?

I swallowed a few times, making sure I wasn’t about to cry. “Why?”

“I’m not actually sure,” Marshall muttered. “No one is. All we know is that he used your mother’s blood for something, but it wasn’t enough, and now he wants yours.”

Turning away from him, I glared out of the grime-stained window. Goosebumps ran across my skin, and I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to warm up.

“I should move away,” I decided, gulping down the tears threatening to surface. “If the Damned are after me, then I should get away from people who could get hurt.”

Marshall crossed the carriage and sat next to me. “No,
Amerie
. That’s not the answer. They’ll follow you wherever you go. You need to defeat Seal. That’s the only way. And I’ll help you. I promise. I’ll train you and get you ready. Once Seal is dead, the bounty dies with him. The Damned won’t be seeking you out anymore.”

“But I quit,” I whimpered helplessly. “I don’t wanna die doing this.”

He grabbed my hand, drawing circular, soothing motions on my skin with his thumb. “You won’t die. Not if you know how to defend yourself.” He hesitated. “Don’t you want revenge for your mother? Seal killed her,
Amerie
, and now you can kill him.”

I bit down on my lip. How many nights had I dreamed about finding the Damned who’d killed my mother? Hurting it as it had hurt her? I never wanted to admit it before, but she’d be disgusted with me for quitting if she were still alive.

She wasn’t, though, and she’d left me all alone to deal with powers I couldn’t properly control. She left me without a mother.

“I want to know why he picked her,” I whispered. “I need to know.”

Marshall nodded. “I know someone who can help us find out.”

“The Sisterhood?”

“No. Let’s keep them out of this. They’ll want us to do it their way, and I have a different way in mind.”

“Okay.” My throat felt dry, hoarse. “So, what, we train? Train until I’m ready?”

“We train,” he agreed. “Leave it up to me. I’ll sort everything out. You just have to turn up and give me full enthusiasm. Okay?”

The train lurched to another stop, startling me. Was I making a huge mistake by agreeing to this?

We didn’t speak much for the remainder of the long journey. At one point, I drifted into a restless slumber, jumping straight out of it as soon as the train stopped at yet another station. I had so many questions going through my brain. Some Marshall could answer, and some he probably couldn’t, but I was too mentally exhausted to try him.

Once we finally got back into the city, Marshall jumped the next station’s tube barriers with me, and we sat, side by side, all the way back to my house. He walked me to my door like a perfect gentleman. Until he opened his mouth.

“Should I come up?” He winked. “I’ll let you cook me breakfast in exchange for a night of passionate love making.”

“You’re an animal.”

“Just wait and see.”

I turned and pressed the buzzer to my house. No keys, no phone, no money.

“Before you go,” I said, still holding my finger on the buzzer. “I want my dagger back. I know you have it.”

Marshall slid his hand behind his back and pulled my dagger out of his trouser belt. He flashed it in front of my eyes, teasing me, before laying it out on his palm. “It’s nice. Real silver. And Blessed.”

“My mum bought it for me.”

“Hello?” My dad’s groggy voice sounded through the intercom.

I indicated for Marshall to keep quiet and grabbed the dagger before he could tease me with it again. “Sorry for waking you up so late, Dad, but I left my keys at Mercy’s. Buzz me up.”

He didn’t answer, but the door clicked open. I stepped in, holding the door open with my back. I almost didn’t want to leave Marshall. Not now, when I knew that we had so much in common.

“Well, goodnight,” I said. “And,
erm
, sorry about giving you such a hard time.”

He shrugged. “I like it. Keeps me on my toes.”

“Yeah, okay.” I turned to head in.

“
Amerie
?”

“Yeah?”

“We should start training tomorrow. I’ll meet you once your shift at The Hut is done.”

“What should I bring?”

“Nothing. I told you that I’d sort it all out. Just wear comfortable clothes. I’m not gonna go easy on you. I don’t care how rusty you are.”