Tide (31 page)

More ravens landed in front of Nicholas and Elodie, blocking their way down the path – a sea of feathery black, dotted with hungry eyes.
No!
Nicholas protested silently. But it was too late. He barely had time to call Elodie’s name, when the ravens took to the air, and, quicker than the eye could see, they were on her. Elodie screamed and fell to her knees, a moving blanket of black, oily feathers smothering her. In seconds drops of her blood began to stain the ground.

Stop!

Why? Why do you want them to stop, Nicholas?

It was his father’s voice.

Nicholas clutched his head in his hands, the blinding pain of the brain fury ravaging him all of a sudden – just a hint, not its full force, but painful enough.

“Nicholas!” Elodie called desperately, trying to beat the ravens away from her eyes with her arms. Her body was crawling with birds, black and crimson mixing in a terrible kaleidoscope on the ground.

You need to stop, now.

But the ravens wouldn’t listen. They were ruled by a higher power now, one they had no choice but to obey.

“Nicholas!” she implored again, her strangled voice muffled in the grass.

Leave her. Leave her!
Nicholas looked around in desperation as blast after blast of pain shot through his head. And then he thought of something, the only argument he could use.
They will find out who I really am!

They will know soon anyway
, came the reply.

Despair filled Nicholas’s heart. There was nothing else he could do. The ravens were going to peck Elodie to death, just as they’d done to Cathy, as they’d tried to do to Elodie once before.

His moans of pain as the brain fury burnt in his head echoed Elodie’s.

But not yet.

A sudden gust of air hit Nicholas, followed by the sound of beating wings far too close. When he opened his eyes, he was astonished to see the ravens flying back into the sky. His father must have called them back.

He threw himself beside Elodie’s bloodied body, ignoring the agonizing pain in his head.

“Oh, Elodie,” he murmured.

She couldn’t hear him. She was lying curled up, unconscious. Quickly he gathered her in his arms and ran towards the house, bracing himself for attack every time he heard a distant cawing, his head still sore from his father’s punishment.

Only Niall was in the kitchen when Nicholas pushed the door open and staggered in, and he paled at what he saw. Nicholas’s voice was croaky, broken. “The ravens again.”

Quickly Niall took Elodie from him, horrified as her blood began to stain his chest and arms. “The ravens?
Your
ravens?” He sat down on the settle next to the range, careful not to jostle her.

“It was me who saved her,” Nicholas said brusquely.
You’ll know the truth soon, Niall, but not yet.

And then Elodie opened her eyes, and from the shelter of Niall’s arms, she called a name. But it wasn’t Niall’s, and it wasn’t Sean’s.

“Nicholas.”

Disbelief showed on Nicholas’s face.
She called me. Me.
He looked at Niall, then into Elodie’s battered face. “I’m here,” he said hoarsely.

“Have the ravens gone?” she whispered.

“Yes. They’ve gone. You’re safe.”

“I shouldn’t have asked you.”

“Shhhh. Don’t speak now,” he said, resting a hand on her head. The look between them was so intense that Niall frowned, sensing something unspoken in the air. He was about to speak when Sarah stepped into the kitchen. Her eyes were red-rimmed, but they widened when she saw the strange scene – Niall with a bleeding Elodie in his arms, Nicholas’s hands covered in blood, his hair matted with it.

“What happened? Was it the demon-bird again?”

“No. No. Elodie and I … We went for a walk. It was the ravens.”

“The … ravens? I don’t understand.” And then Sarah saw Elodie’s ravaged skin. “Oh my God.” She took the girl’s bloodied hand.

Nicholas’s words tumbled over each other as he struggled to find a way to explain. “Sarah. The ravens have turned. The Surari control them now. They don’t do my bidding anymore. If you see ravens or wildcats, you must be very careful.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Why?” said Niall. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“What do you mean?” asked Nicholas.

“Why have the ravens turned against you, Nicholas?”

“How should I know? I don’t know anything more than you, Niall!” he growled.

“Nicholas.” Sarah walked over to where he was standing and put a soothing hand on his arm.

I know. You don’t need to tell me. You’ve made your decision. You’re leaving me. You and Sean are together now.
“Where is Sean?” he asked, bracing himself for the answer.

But it wasn’t the one he’d expected.

“I don’t know. I have no idea,” Sarah replied, avoiding his gaze, her voice strained.

Nicholas looked at her, surprised, but she would not meet his eyes.
Something must have happened between them, it’s not what Elodie and I thought we saw.

A huge wave of relief swept over him– and at the same time he realized that the pain in his head had vanished. There was no more screaming in his mind, no more reproaches, and no more brain fury. He staggered slightly, overwhelmed by the sense of escape. Somehow, by some miracle, his father and the Shadow voices must have believed him when he said he needed the ravens to protect his secret by letting Elodie survive the attack. They couldn’t have known that Nicholas genuinely wanted to save Elodie’s life. They must have sensed Nicholas’s rage and despair when Sean and Sarah embraced, the rush of blood thirst. They must have believed that his doubts about his place in the Shadow World had vanished, that the old Nicholas was back. But he wasn’t out of danger yet.

In an instant, Nicholas closed his mind to his true feelings and replaced any hint of relief with images of Elodie in pain, prostrated on the grass, screaming. He invoked memories of hatred, of darkness, of the people he had hurt and killed over the years – he filled his mind with all that his father wanted him to be. The Shadow World needed to believe that he was still on their side. This would buy him a bit more time.

“I’m going to take Elodie to her room,” said Niall, gently lifting her into his arms again. “Sarah?”

“I’ll get the med stuff,” Sarah replied, and hurried out.

Nicholas went to follow, but Niall gave him a withering look. “No need for you to come,” he said firmly. But before he had left the kitchen, the injured girl spoke.

“Nicholas,” called Elodie softly.

“I’m here,” he said. “I’m coming.”

And there’s nothing Niall can do about it.

*

Niall laid Elodie on her bed and Sarah saw to her wounds. They both flinched when they saw what the ravens had done to her back, pierced with tiny lacerations, her flesh shredded, the skin hanging loose in little bloody flaps.

“Tell me exactly what happened, Elodie,” Sarah asked gently as she bathed the wounds.

Elodie struggled to speak, such was the pain. Her breathing was shallow. “We were walking. They attacked me. Like they did on the beach that day. Maybe I’m marked. A mark that only they can see.” She shivered, thinking back to the swan she’d seen many years before, in her childhood.

She had gone for a walk on a lakeshore with her parents; before her father could lead her away, before her mother could shield her eyes, she’d seen a dead swan, its chest torn open, lying bloodied on the pebbles. And right there and then, she’d had a premonition – that one day, she’d be the swan. One day she’d be the one lying there.

“Nonsense. You’re not any more marked than the rest of us,” Niall said, stroking her hair with a gentleness that made Nicholas’s heart tighten. “I used to dream of ravens when I was a boy. They weren’t nice dreams. I hate ravens,” Niall continued.

Elodie yelped as Sarah dabbed at her wounds. “Is everybody else safe?” she asked. “Where is Mike? Where is Sean?”

Sarah flinched. “I don’t know,” she murmured. “Try and lie still.”

Niall walked to the window and looked at the sky. “The ravens are still out there,” he said in a low voice, “and so is that bloody demon-bird, and who knows what else. Sean can’t go wandering off on his own like this. I’ll find Mike and we’ll go and bring him back.” He placed a kiss on Elodie’s forehead and strode out of the room.

“Take care!” Sarah called after him.

“Will do!” His footsteps faded into the distance, and then they heard him calling Mike’s name.

“Sarah. What happened between you and Sean?” whispered Elodie after a few moments, her voice muffled by her pillow.

Nicholas’s heart skipped a beat. He waited.

Sarah shook her head, concentrating on the task at hand. “Nothing happened. And nothing ever will.” She kept her eyes solely on Elodie’s wounds, then she pulled the bedclothes carefully up to the nape of her friend’s neck. “Rest now, Elodie. If you need me, just shout and I’ll be straight up. Thank God you’re safe,” she added, and a rare look of affection passed between the two girls.

“Are you OK?” She then asked Nicholas, unable to read the look in his eyes.

He nodded. “Yes. I’ll sit here with Elodie for a bit. If that’s OK with you.”

“Yes. Stay,” murmured Elodie. She lay as white as a sheet, her eyes feverish with pain.

We have done this to her
, thought Nicholas in despair.

He made a promise to himself. Never again would he be part of the King of Shadows’ world of pain.

Same planet, two dimensions

The love that wasn’t meant to be

Sarah

Just when I was about to make my choice, just when I was about to tell Sean that I was ready, that I knew what love was at last, he told me that he’d abide by the rules.

Secret women cannot marry Lay men.

Sean and I can never be together.

But none of those rules make any sense to me now. Everything has changed, the old order of things has crumbled. None of us is who we thought we were, and still, Sean is clinging to the old world as if its laws still stand.

I tried to tell him that it makes no difference to me whether he is a Lay, or half-Secret, or even an Elemental, for all that matters. I don’t care whose blood runs through his veins – he is Sean. My Sean.

But in the garden today, once I’d explained what I’d discovered in the letter, he told me that he believes in the rigid structure on which the Secret Families base their existence. He told me he agrees with Morag that the powers Secret Families hold should be nourished and protected, and that we should breed among ourselves and not dilute our powers. Yes,
breed
, like pedigree dogs, or prized cattle. When I protested that I didn’t care about my powers, he said that he couldn’t bear to be responsible for the loss of the Blackwater. That I should marry Nicholas, or Niall, or any other surviving Secret heir, but that it could never, ever be him. Never anyone with Lay blood in them.

He held me one last time, and then he walked away.

Nicholas came into my room as I was trying to gather my thoughts.

“Sarah.” He took my hands in his, and without warning he tried to kiss me.

I turned away. “I’m sorry,” I heard myself saying.

I think he understood at once.

To see the devastation in his face broke my heart, but at least I wasn’t living a lie anymore. If Sean and I could never be together, I didn’t believe I could ever love anyone else. I couldn’t deceive Nicholas any longer. I couldn’t deceive myself any longer.

“I’ll wait. I’ll wait for you to change your mind,” he said, clutching my hand.

I had never seen him like this. “Nicholas, I’m sorry, but I won’t.”

“Sean,” he growled.

“No. There’s no one. There can never be anyone, Nicholas. I’m a Midnight, and believe me, it’s a lot better for everyone if the Midnight line stops here with me.”

Watch while what was in the dark

Is cast into the light

Watch while the secrets we kept

Don’t choke us anymore

While Elodie rested and Sarah and Nicholas talked upstairs, the others were gathered in the living room. Sean and Mike were chatting quietly by the fireplace; Niall was lying on one of the sofas, his arms crossed behind his head; Winter, having entered while Niall and Nicholas moved Elodie upstairs, was sitting in an armchair near the window, as if she wanted to be halfway between inside and outside, near the freedom of the windy beach. She had tucked her legs under herself, and her silver hair was flowing freely down to her waist. With the moonlight shining on her, her eyes gleamed silver too. She’d been spending a lot of time at Midnight Hall – just like when her mother was the housekeeper there, and she had played with Mairead every day.

Niall was trying to catch glimpses of her when he thought nobody noticed, but Winter knew, of course. She was quite aware of the effect she had on the opposite sex. There was something wild and beautiful about her that never failed to entrance.

“Will you come and explore with me, Niall?” she said suddenly, her clear gaze on him and a smile playing on her lips. Mike stifled a smile, his eyes darting from one to the other. What was happening, what had been slowly happening since Winter had arrived on the scene, was clear for everyone to see. Unlike Sarah, Winter was an open book, her feelings and desires always plain for everyone to see.

“I haven’t been in the grand hall for years. I want to see what it looks like now,” she continued.

Niall rose at once. “Sure thing!”

Upon seeing him so eager, Mike couldn’t suppress his smile any longer.

“Let’s go, then,” said Winter sweetly, and Niall’s cheeks flamed scarlet.

“Have fun,” called Mike mock-seriously. Niall ignored him.

“This place is huge,” Niall murmured as they stepped out into the corridor. “It’s at least double the size of our family home in Skerry.”