Darque Wants (87 page)

*****

The park in Dorchester. Second bench on the left. Tomorrow at midnight. Do not contact the police or she will die.

The distorted, twisted voice she had heard on the other end of the phone still echoed round Athena Keene’s brain and replayed like a stuck record. She stared again and again at the text, and the picture that had come attached; Deme, her twin sister, tied to a chair with a gag in her mouth, a bruise on her cheekbone and her tear stained face red and puffy from crying, her eyes wide with fear for the terrifying situation she had found herself in. And all because of her.

Thena felt an arm creep around her shoulders and she forced herself to look up from the phone and into the face of the only man who was stopping her from going insane right now. Dorian Quinn. Strikingly handsome and charming, he had wooed her from the get go, and Thena had fallen hard. Now, they were embroiled in a deep conspiracy together, a murky mystery that kept getting more dangerous and more confusing by the second.

“Don’t worry,” he assured her, reaching out with his other hand and taking the phone out of hers. It was probably for the best. Re-reading the message over and over wasn’t helping. “We’ll get her back. And we won’t let him get away with this.”

Him. Montgomery Shackleton. The only problem was, he was a high up government man, a shadowy figure whom apparently no one had actually ever heard of, but who could get away with everything and anything he liked. And now he had kidnapped Deme.

“We were getting too close to the truth,” whispered Dorian. “We’re obviously scaring him.”

“No. I don’t think anything scares him. He just wants this.” She raised up her hand and placed her palm down on the artefact that was around Dorian’s neck. An original stolen item from Howard Carter’s 1922 Tutankhamen dig, it had belonged to Lord Carnarvon until he died, and had been passed down through the generations, finally falling into the hands of Dorian’s grandmother after she had picked it up in a second hand bric a brac store, not realising the true extent of its powers. Now, Shackleton was after it, to complete his collection and raise himself to even more elevated heights in society. He already had one piece; there were two of them still out there, and he would go to any lengths to get them, as they were quickly learning.

“Then we’ll give it to him,” Dorian shrugged. “We don’t need it anyway. It’s just a silly old necklace.”

Thena sighed and looked out the window. They were on the train, heading back up north to Dorchester from London, their trip cut slightly short by the phone call alerting them to Deme’s kidnap.

It was the following day now, and the meeting was that night; that night at midnight, in the park. It would all be over then. She would give him the necklace and he would give her Deme. Then they could all go home and forget this whole thing had ever happened.

She slipped her arm around Dorian’s back and leaned into him, clinging to his side. “I wouldn’t be able to get through this without you.”

“You don’t have to.” He squeezed her gently.

She looked up at him, almost adoringly, looked deep into the pools of his dreamy eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart. Come here…” He ran his hand up her back and into her hair, then brought her closer for a kiss, leaning down to press his lips to hers.

Instantly, they were both hit by a vision.

Thene had had ‘the gift’ all her life, but until meeting Dorian, who shared it, she had viewed it more as a curse than anything else. Now, it helped them, and had led them to new discoveries; exposing hidden conspiracies and bringing them closer to the truth. When they kissed, or touches, their visions were maximised, especially when Dorian was wearing the necklace, and now was no exception. Neither of them were sure where the visions came from, or why they happened when they did, but they had little say in the matter and could do nothing but accept them and learn from them if they could.

In the antechamber, 1922. Lord Carnarvon and another unknown man fighting over the three pronged artefact they had found on the floor of the tomb. Howard Carter watching them both with astonishment.

Dorian broke from the kiss first. They had both seen that same vision before so it was nothing new to them, but perhaps, if they kissed some more, the vision would be furthered, and they would see more.

“Again?” he asked, quickly glancing round the train carriage to see whether many people were watching them. It had only intended to be a quick, comforting kiss to show Thena he was there for her, not a full on public display of affection.

She nodded. She was intrigued too. Was there more to this that they had yet to see?

The artefact breaks into three pieces. Lord Carnarvon picks up two, the unknown man runs off with his.

Quick footsteps racing through the sand as the man races away.

His hand clutches at the artefact.

Thena wrapped her arms around Dorian’s neck and sat up for more, tilting her head into it and slipping her tongue into his mouth, no longer aware of their surroundings.

The artefact sat on a desk; the same unknown man at that desk, reading a newspaper and having a cup of coffee.

Then, the desk is empty, the artefact gone.

The man is lying dead on the floor, blood everywhere.

Thena jumped back from the kiss with a jerk at what they had seen. “He…he died?”

“That was a lot of blood,” Dorian whispered, his eyes wide.

“Do you think…do you think he was murdered?”

“For the artefact?”

“Kiss me again,” she begged, crashing their lips together once more.

Inside the offices of Harvey Jenkins Snr, four men are standing in front of his desk. He is holding the artefact in between his finger and thumb.

“This piece on its own is not enough!” He is agitated and angry. “I need more. The powers are too reduced. I need that other piece, do you hear me? I need it! You have to get it! I don’t care what you have to do! Kill him and take it!”

Then, those same men, only this time, in the house of the man from the tomb, the body still on the floor, the blood still everywhere as they search around every corner of the house, ransacking it; upsetting draws, sending papers flying, searching all over the place for the artefact, growing increasingly desperate.

“It’s not here,” one of them announces. “He must have hidden it somewhere.”

Dorian and Thena broke from the kiss and stared at one another in amazement.

“Harvey’s father had that man killed,” whispered Thena.

“Yeah. He actually ordered it himself. He actually said kill him.”

“All because of the artefact.”

“People are prepared to kill for it, it would appear,” Dorian frowned. “That’s what power does to people. It drives them crazy. It becomes an obsession. It drives otherwise ordinary men to commit foul acts.”

She squeezed his hand. “Harvey Jenkins Snr and Montgomery Shackleton are really no different, are they? They’re both prepared to kill for the artefact. To kidnap, to murder, to steal, to do whatever needs to be done to get their hands on it.”

“Yes.”

“Both of them have ordered the deaths of others in order to get the pieces.”

“That’s right.”

“We can’t let them,” said Thena flatly.

“What?” Dorian blinked, looking at her. “We…we don’t have a choice. Deme-“

“Deme wouldn’t want me to let such a powerful artefact fall into the hands of a psychopath,” Thena interrupted. “And surely you don’t want that?”

“Well no, I don’t,” Dorian admitted. “But…I don’t see any other way. I don’t know how we can do it.”

Thena thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. “Neither do I. But…even if we give it to him in order to get Deme back, we can’t let him keep it. We can’t just allow this to be the end of it.”

“No, no, I completely agree.”

“It’s just…two powerful. He already has one piece, if he gets ours too…”

“In the wrong hands, something like this could be totally devastating.”

“And Montgomery Shackleton is definitely the wrong hands. That’s agreed then, is it?” asked Thena, looking at him for confirmation. “We’re going to do everything in our power to stop him.”

“Agreed,” said Dorian with a smile, gazing at her proudly.

That settled, they tried to spend the rest of the journey thinking about something else, although it was incredibly difficult with everything that was going on. Thena stared out of the window and watched the countryside whizz past, then Dorian got them both a couple of coffees and a muffin, determined to make her eat despite her insisting that she wasn’t hungry.

“You need to,” he urged. “I’ll share it with you.” He sliced it in half and offered her a bite, even raising it up to her lips for her. “Please.”

Thena sighed and relented, knowing that Dorian was only trying to help, and glad of it. She was relieved when they finally pulled up into Dorchester station though; just wanting to get the whole thing over and done with, despite having still several hours to wait until their meeting in the park at midnight. They had the entire day at their disposal, and she wasn’t quite sure how they were going to spend it.

To her complete surprise, John Delaney was on the platform waiting to meet them off the train.

Her and John had met at the museum and had dated for nearly two years. She was fairly sure he’d wanted her to marry him at some point, but Thena’s heart had never really been in it. For the longest time, she believed that there was no such thing as love, and that dating John was what she’d have to settle for in life. She’d been more concerned with her work and moving onwards and upwards with her career than relationships and falling in love. Until she’d met Dorian.

Things between her and John hadn’t exactly ended particularly well, which was why she was so surprised to see him waiting for them.

She cleared her throat and awkwardly walked over, sensing that Dorian was hanging back behind her, also aware of the tension between the three of them.

“John…what are you uh…”
Doing here.

“Thought I’d come meet you,” he shrugged.

More to the point, how did he even know what train they’d be on for certain? Had he just been waiting there all morning? Would he have continued to wait all day until they’d arrived? A shiver shot down Thena’s spine. How creepy.

“I heard all about the kidnap, obviously,” he continued. “I want to help in anyway I can.”

“Well uh…that’s um…that’s good of you, John, but…I’m really not sure there’s anyway you
can
help. I mean, it’s pretty simple really. We just have to go and meet them tonight. It’ll be fine, really.”

“Deme’s been really supportive to me the past few weeks, since you ran off with lover boy here.”

She could hear the spite and bitterness in his voice, creeping through despite the pleasant exterior he was attempting to put on. It was just a front. He was still as angry about the breakup as previously, it would appear.

“Yeah, she’s always liked you,” said Thena. It was true. Deme had even encouraged them to stay together, not trusting Dorian initially. “Still, I honestly don’t think there’s anything you can do.” She was a bit reluctant to involve him given their history together and how awkward things were between him and Dorian.

“What’s this kidnapping all about though?” continued John, nothing if not persistent. “Why would anyone want to take Deme? What has she ever done to anyone?”

“I…it’s…complicated,” answered Dorian, being purposefully vague.

“What do you guys know about it?” John demanded. “It must be something to do with you two. It is, isn’t it? I’m not some kind of idiot, you know. They contacted you first. Did they ask for something? Have you got to give them money or…is it something else? I can help, I can take it for you, it might be dangerous.”

He was rambling on and on like some kind of mad man, and it was slightly disconcerting. Thena had only realised how slightly mentally unhinged John was when she’d split up with him and he’d hurled a cup across the wall in an unpredictable display of anger. The way he was acting now was probably all something to do with the breakup still, she reasoned. He had taken it very badly.

“It’s not going to be dangerous,” she insisted. “We’ll be fine. And now um…we really should be going. Dorian and I have a lot to do today before we meet the kidnappers.” That wasn’t true in the slightest. They hadn’t actually planned anything specific; she just wanted to get away from John before he could ask them more prying questions about the kidnapping that they couldn’t avoid, but as she moved to walk away, he grabbed her by the forearm and tugged her back.

“Wait a second. I was just wondering actually, Thena…whether you’d like to go for a drink with me. After all this is over.”

Thena was flabbergasted. She couldn’t believe his nerve. He’d practically just asked her out right in front of Dorian, with no shame about it at all. She blushed and glanced quickly at Dorian, embarrassed on his behalf. He seemed a bit shocked too, but not angry or annoyed in anyway. She turned back to John.

“Listen,” she began. “You don’t seem to be getting this but…me and you? We’re finished. We’re not going to get back together. I love Dorian and I’m with him now. How I feel about Dorian…it makes me wonder whether I ever loved you at all. I honestly don’t think I did, and I’m sorry to have to say that aloud but…I think it’s about time you heard a few home truths.”