Night Shade (29 page)

‘She’s not done anything wrong!’

It’s crowd mentality. Where normally they’d turn a blind eye to the Mayor’s antics and believe his lies, the involvement of popular and kind-hearted Ashley is too much. 

‘Enough!’ he blusters. ‘I’m not going to hurt her! I just want to talk to her, that’s all!’ His voice carries across the square.

The guards, sensing the imminent danger, abandon their posts around the fountain and fan out into the crowd to quell any further dissent. The sight of their hands on their batons is enough to send a lot of the people into scared silence – but it doesn’t work on everyone.

‘Come with me, Ashley,’ I hear the Mayor say. ‘I’ll sort all this out for you. I won’t harm a hair on your head, I promise.’

She’s pale and stuttering. ‘I ... I don’t know what any of this is about.’ Her eyes fly to mine in confusion.

I can barely look at her. Instead, I jerk my head, praying that Lilith is ready. Dante and Bron are watching me.

‘Mayor!’ Lilith’s cold yet oddly musical voice rings out.

There are stifled shouts and I can see people recoil. I guess I’m not the only one to find the woman creepy as hell. From my vantage point, I spot the crowd part and Lilith glide through. At least one of the guards moves forward to stop her but she fixes him with such an icy glare that he stops in his tracks.

Ignoring both Esme and Ashley, she walks up to the Mayor and places her hand on his arm. He yanks it away.

‘Get out of here!’ he shouts. ‘This is not your place!’

She frowns at him. ‘But you told me it would be. I grow tired of waiting.’ She licks her lips. ‘It’s time to keep your promise. Let’s make this town ours.’

‘I said no such thing! Guards! Get this thing away from here!’

I crane my neck round. All the guards appear indecisive. One of them seems to make the decision to do as he’s told but several people in the crowd hold him back.   Kevin appears and stares for a moment at Ashley’s pale face before shouting, ‘Let Lilith speak! What promises have you made, Mayor?’

‘She’s lying,’ the Mayor spits. ‘There’s something going on here and I’m going to get to the bottom of it. You all know better than to trust a succubus.’

Ohhhh. So that’s what she is. It makes sense: she’s a demon who appears in dreams to seduce men and drain them of their health. I feel a trickle of unease. She may not have been the best person to make a deal with.

There’s a murmur of agreement. Sensing the tide turning against her, Lilith raises her voice. ‘I speak the truth. I can prove it. I know his name.’

The crowd hushes. Lilith smiles. ‘Malpeter,’ she whispers, although I’m certain everyone can hear it.

Several of the guards stare in the Mayor’s direction. Their reaction isn’t lost on the others.

‘It’s true!’

‘He’s colluding with her!’

There are cries and angry shouts. The Mayor, struggling to regain control of the situation, holds up his palms. ‘People! You know me! This is a conspiracy which...’ He stops as someone throws a clod of earth that strikes him on the head. His rage is palpable; it’s as if someone has flipped a switch and whatever mask he’s been wearing has slid away. Something indecipherable flashes in his eyes. He spins round and, in the split second before his hand reaches inside his pocket, I notice the tell-tale bulge and gasp aloud. It’s too late to do anything about it. He whips out a revolver and starts waving it around.

‘I keep you all safe!’ he roars. ‘Without me, you are nothing!’

There are a few screams and some people cower but not everyone is afraid. Some people, including Dante and Bron, approach him. The Mayor fires off a warning shot and people scatter. He grabs Ashley and holds the gun to her head. The crowd melts away until only Esme, Dante, Bron, me and a few guards, including Kevin, remain. Fear descends upon me; I didn’t realise there were guns here. I should have known. I’ve just placed everyone’s lives in danger.

We watch the Mayor to see what he’s going to do next. I notice that Lilith has already made her own exit. I guess she’d made her point. I slide down from Salib’s statue and wade through the fountain to join the others.

‘Come any closer and you know what’ll happen,’ the Mayor threatens.

‘Mayor, calm down,’ Bron says. ‘Why don’t we do as you suggested and go inside and talk about all this?’

‘I’m done talking!’ he snarls. ‘Honestly, the effort I make to keep you people in line isn’t worth it.’ He jabs a thumb in Dante’s direction. ‘You should have stayed in the forest, traitor.’

‘You’re the traitor, Mayor,’ Dante responds smoothly. ‘It’s just that now everyone is starting to recognise it.’

‘Weak! You’re all weak! Don’t you know what we could achieve if we tried? All the power, all the wealth? Even if you want to live your lives as inconsequential beings, don’t you know what will happen if you get rid of me? You’re all idiots! If you really are a dreamweaver,’ he says, shaking Ashley, ‘then just think about what we can do.’

‘I’m not!’ she squeaks. ‘I didn’t do anything in the castle! It wasn’t me!’

‘Of course not,’ the Mayor says slowly, his eyes swivelling towards me. ‘If what that bitch Lilith said was a lie, then everything else has been a lie too. You’ve been a busy girl, Zoe Lydon.’

Esme looks at me slowly as comprehension dawns. I ignore her and meet the Mayor’s gaze. ‘It’s over.’

He smiles, although it doesn’t reach his eyes. ‘Don’t be so naïve. It’s never over.’ He moves the gun to one side and fires. Kevin rushes forward and, for one horrifying moment, I think Ashley has been shot. Dante and Bron lunge for the Mayor but the remaining guards intervene.

As a vicious, no-holds-barred brawl starts, the Mayor’s eyes glitter. Then he raises the gun again, the barrel pointing directly at me, and shoots once more. Pain slams into my shoulder and I feel myself falling backwards. I only just manage to stay upright. That bullet may only have nicked me but he’s reloading and preparing to shoot again.

I do the only thing I can do. I run.

This isn’t the end. It isn’t even the beginning of the end, but it might just be the end of the beginning.

Winston Churchill

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T
he Mayor isn’t going to stay behind and use his gun to attack the others. It’s me he wants; I could see it in his eyes.

The Travellers who packed the square to watch the action have almost all gone. I see a few pale faces from behind walls and cottages staring out at me with wide, terrified eyes but for the most part, the streets are clear. I’m aware of the Mayor’s heavy feet pounding after me. He fires another shot but his aim is off and it smashes into a nearby house, knocking off a chunk of plaster. With my heart hammering in my chest, I speed up.

I no longer have a plan. I’d expected everything to play out in the square, with either the Mayor being denounced or me being dragged away to be dealt with in a back alley. Now, as I run, it’s instinct rather than forethought that leads me towards the forest.

‘Stop!’ The Mayor roars. I duck my head down and keep running. ‘You won’t get away with this!’

I push on, making the final cobbled crossing before the line of dark trees.  I hear the gun go off again just as I make the transition between sunshine and darkness. A second later, I’m sprinting through the woods, weaving in and out of the towering oaks and firs while dirt sprays up from my feet.

Part of me thinks I should stop and force myself to wake up but if I do that, all this will be for nothing. I need to make sure the Mayor is finished once and for all. Keeping an eye on my trail of tree-etched Zs, I think through the possibilities. There has to be something I can do.

I’m so caught up in panic that I don’t notice the trap in front of me until it’s almost too late. At the very last second, I catch a glint of steel and react, leaping over it. My toes catch its edge and I stumble. If my hands hadn’t still been bound, I might have avoided falling but I can’t stop myself and I land heavily on the cold ground. I roll right in a bid to get away but it’s too late: the Mayor is in front of me, panting hard and pointing the gun in my face. For an old man, he’s pretty spry. This is what I get, I think dully, as I stare at the muzzle. This is what happens to someone who’s been housebound for almost two years and whose only exercise is jogging up and down a staircase every so often.

‘You think you’re so clever, don’t you?’ the Mayor sneers. ‘Making everyone think that little Ashley is the heroine of the hour. You’ve caused me a lot of problems, you know. It’ll take days, weeks, to win back everyone’s trust. But I will do it.’ He glances at the nearest Z. ‘It’s a shame. You really are a dreamweaver. We could have worked together. This could have been the most powerful zone in the Dreamlands. We could have changed the future together. Instead, you’re never going to wake up.’

‘Kill me,’ I hiss. ‘The other Travellers have seen you for what you are. My death won’t make a difference.’

He laughs and shakes his head. ‘They’ll come around. They always do. And I’m not just going to get my revenge by pulling the trigger. I’ve got your boyfriend.’ Confused, I blink up at him. He laughs again. ‘You forgot about that, didn’t you? Once I knew which town you lived in, it took no time to locate him. After all, you’d already told me his name. I might not have found you in person but it hardly makes a difference now. Poor little Adam McDonald.’ He smirks while my innards turn to ice. ‘So you see, I’m in control here and I’m in control there. Once I’ve taken care of him, I’ll go back and take care of your mother too. She’s not quite the accomplished liar that you are.’

The fear that I’ve been keeping at bay threatens to overwhelm me. ‘You can’t hurt them,’ I whisper.

‘Oh yes I can. And I will.’

Oh God. I stare at him mutely. I’ve fucked everything up.

‘What did you think was going to happen?’ he asks curiously. ‘Were you going to kill me in the square? Was that your plan?’

‘No. I’m not a murderer. I’m not you.’

‘You thought discrediting me would be enough?’ Scorn drips from his voice. ‘And what about when the Department showed up? What do you think they would have done?’

‘What?’

His amusement is plain to see. ‘You still think this is it, don’t you? That this forest and that town are all there is. You’re not very bright, are you, Zoe? There are twenty-four towns just like this one.’

I start. ‘What do you mean?’

‘You didn’t think about different time zones? About why all those buildings are so quaint and Eurocentric? I’m in charge of this one. The Department is in charge of them all.’

‘I thought the Department worked for you,’ I stammer.

The Mayor raises his eyebrows. ‘It would be nice to think so, wouldn’t it? Unfortunately it’s the other way around. It’s just as well your plan didn’t succeed. You think I’m a monster but I’m a kitten compared to the Department.’ He shakes his head. ‘Not that you’ll ever live to see them, of course. It’ll cause me a few issues and it won’t be easy explaining how I managed to execute the only dreamweaver who’s wandered our way in decades.’ He shrugs. ‘But I’ll come up with something.’ He raises the gun. ‘Goodbye, Ms Lydon.’

I squeeze my eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable. At least it’ll be quick. I hope my death inside a police cell won’t cause Rawlins too many problems. She was only doing her job after all. But before I hear the trigger click, there’s a sudden screech and a thunderous patter of hooves. I open my eyes and see the dark shape of Pegasus barrel forward, her horn impaling the Mayor in his stomach. She jerks her head and he’s thrown against the nearest tree. His eyes bulge and he clasps the wound, the gun dropping to the ground. ‘Oh,’ he gasps. ‘Oh shit.’

I scramble to my feet while Pegasus whinnies and flips her mane. I half run, half fall over to the Mayor, my hands covering his in a bid to staunch the bleeding.

‘You...’ he whispers, ‘you won’t escape the Department.’ His face goes slack.

I gaze at him in panic, then start thumping his chest. ‘Goddamnit!’ I yell. It doesn’t matter what I do, though: there’s too much blood. He’s gone.

I look at the unicorn. A single drop of blood falls from the tip of her horn. She whinnies again, as if to tell me that now we’re even. Before I can respond, she wheels round and gallops off, swallowed up by the darkness.

I hated the Mayor. He was a vile, murderous creature who deserved to be locked away but Dante was right: killing someone is a far different proposition to thinking about it. I didn’t really want the Mayor dead. I stare at his unseeing eyes, struck by unexpected sorrow.

‘Salib,’ I tell the Mayor’s corpse quietly as realisation hits me. ‘Salib told me not to trust the Department. He never mentioned you until the letter.’  The Mayor is right. I’ve not made anything better. In fact, they are probably about to become a whole lot worse.

There’s a crashing noise and I hear branches snap as footsteps rush towards me. Dante appears, his eyes raking my face. When he sees I’m alright – physically, anyway – he relaxes and glances at the Mayor. ‘Pegasus?’ he asks softly.

I nod. He reaches down to help me to my feet.

Bron’s white face emerges from the trees. ‘Zoe! What happened? Are you hurt?’

Dante moves away, folding his arms. Bron grabs my shoulders and gazes into my face, smoothing away my damp hair.

‘I’m fine,’ I manage.

He exhales in relief, then envelops me in a hug. ‘I’m so sorry we weren’t here. The Mayor’s guards got in the way. I can’t believe it’s over. I can’t believe we’ve won.’

There’s a gaping chasm in the pit of my stomach. All I can think of is what the Mayor told me about the Department. He was right: this is far from over.

Bron cups my face then leans down and brushes his lips against mine. ‘You did it, Zoe. You really did it.’

I meet his twinkling blue eyes but I still can’t speak properly. I shake my head and step away, realising that Dante has vanished.

‘Well,’ says Esme, as she emerges. ‘This is rather unexpected.’ She gazes at the Mayor and back to me. ‘I didn’t think you had it in you.’ Despite her calm words, I can see that her earlier desperation hasn’t dissipated. There’s a question in her eyes; she wants to know why she is still here when all the sleepers have gone. But she’s awake here. I don’t think my trick with them will work with her.