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Authors: Sarah Alderson

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Paranormal

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BOOK: Severed
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Evie chewed her lip, contemplating what he’d just said. She didn’t look that convinced.

‘It’s true,’ Issa said.

Lucas looked at her, startled. He hadn’t expected Issa to back him up on this one.

‘We don’t see everything,’ she said. Was that a pointed look she threw his way before she turned back to Evie? ‘I only catch glimpses. To see someone’s future it helps to be near them or touching them. Or to be connected to them in some way.’ Another look in his direction, which made him turn his head and start admiring the cushions strewn along the back of the sofa. ‘And even then,’ he heard Issa sigh, ‘Lucas is right, things do change according to the choices that people make.’

That one was definitely aimed at him. He took the hit. He deserved it.

‘OK, enough about Sybll shortcomings,’ Flic interrupted. ‘Are you going to tell us what the hell happened?’ She was leaning against the wall by the window, her arms still crossed, shooting daggers at him and something altogether more lethal at Evie. It had been a year since Lucas had seen her. She hadn’t changed one bit. She was still sharp as a shadow blade. And just as unforgiving. He was only glad that she hadn’t answered the door armed with one.

‘Yeah, I’d like to hear what happened, so I know what may or may not be coming,’ Jamieson added, winking at Issa.

Lucas studied the boy lounging on the beanbag. He was a Shapeshifter. Easy to tell; the scent of him and the extra-fast heartbeat gave it away. Lucas normally didn’t have a problem with Shapeshifters. Neena was a Shapeshifter and the only member of the Brotherhood he actually liked, apart from Grace. He felt a sudden sharp pain in his side as if someone had twisted a knife into his gut. He still didn’t know what had happened to either of them – whether he should even be thinking about them in the present tense. He shook his head. He needed to focus. There was nothing he could do for them now. And everyone in the room was looking at him expectantly.

He took a deep breath. ‘I was sent to kill Evie.’ No one said a word. He continued, ‘The Brotherhood had been looking for her for a long time. Seventeen years to be precise.’

‘Why?’ Flic interrupted, staring Evie up and down, her top lip curling in a sneer.

‘She’s the last full-blood Hunter,’ he answered.
And she’s the White Light
, he thought to himself. He carried on before Flic could say anything more. ‘We were ordered to kill her before she could gain her full power – before she was fully trained and had made her first kill,’ he said, watching the reaction from the others as he spoke.

Jamieson had drawn himself up to a sitting position, and was leaning forwards, resting on his elbows and studying Evie as though she was an exotic beast. Issa was perched ramrod straight on the sofa, as motionless as she was expressionless. Flic, he noted, had finally stopped scowling. Now she was frowning at him.

‘The first time we tried to kill her we failed,’ Lucas went on, remembering the attack behind the diner and how Evie, still a stranger to him then, had fought back, surprising them all. He remembered Shula lunging towards Evie and how he’d darted forwards and pushed Evie out of the way. Later he’d tried to kid himself that he had only saved Evie from Shula’s acid grasp so that he could kill her himself. Except here she was standing next to him, still alive, and here he was, ready to do whatever it took to keep her that way. Killing her had never been an option. It had just taken him a while to figure that out. He realised he’d stopped talking mid-sentence and that the others were sitting there hanging on his words, waiting for him to finish.

‘Tristan sent me back to Riverview to spy on Evie and the other Hunters who were training her,’ he said, leaving out the part where he had convinced Tristan to let him go, arguing that as he was half-human he’d be able to pass undetected. ‘So I did,’ he said, glancing at Evie out of the corner of his eye. ‘I spied on her and watched her train.’ He paused, swallowing uncomfortably, ‘Until one day Tristan told me time was up and I needed to kill her.’

‘And?’ Flic demanded, hands on hips. ‘What stopped you?’

Lucas frowned, not sure how to answer in a way that wouldn’t have his sister launch a round of expletives at his head.

‘He couldn’t do it,’ Issa said softly, before he could open his mouth.

Lucas shrugged. It was an answer. And it was the truth. At least, as much truth as he was prepared to tell them. He didn’t expect Flic of all people to understand. And besides, it was something that he himself couldn’t even put into words. How could you describe a feeling that made every other feeling and thought fade to nothing? How could he explain the reason he’d chosen to walk this line, even though it would inevitably lead towards his death, when it
wasn’t
reasonable? It was just a need that ran so deep, that owned him so completely, that no other action was conceivable. There was Evie and there was keeping her safe. And there was nothing else in between. If such a notion had come from anyone else he would have told them they were insane and to seek psych treatment. So he could understand Flic’s fury. But there was nothing he could do about it.

‘That doesn’t explain why the rest of the Brotherhood are dead,’ Flic shouted.

‘The Brotherhood turned up just as we were leaving,’ Lucas carried on quietly, ‘and we had to fight our way out.’

‘You got bitten?’ Jamieson asked, pointing to Lucas’s neck.

‘Yes,’ Lucas said, his fingers reaching instinctively to the puncture wounds there. At the time it had felt as if two sharpened, acid-coated needles had been shoved deep into the vein. ‘But I’m fine. I wouldn’t have been if Evie hadn’t been there,’ he added, glancing at her. She raised her eyes and he saw the shadow of a smile pass across her lips.

He only vaguely remembered the sensation of falling, the pull from the shadows, the way it had felt dissolving into darkness. And then Evie’s weight on top of him, shocking him back, until he felt the hard ground beneath him once again. His face had been buried in her shoulder, and her hair, falling over them like a curtain, had almost blocked out the soft whisper of steel slicing through air above them.

‘Damn Thirsters,’ Jamieson said under his breath. ‘There’s more and more of them coming through.’

Lucas looked up sharply, ‘What?’

Jamieson stared at him in wide-eyed surprise. ‘They’re coming through in droves. You haven’t heard?’

Lucas shook his head. At the Mission the Brotherhood had been cut off from everything, focused only on their training and on tracking down Hunters.

‘It’s making things really difficult for the rest of us,’ Jamieson went on. ‘We’re just trying to get by, you know, trying to keep a low profile, and they keep advertising the fact there are unhumans in town. It’s not good for the rest of us.’

‘Advertising how exactly?’ asked Lucas, simultaneously knowing and fearing the answer.

Jamieson gave him another look, this time noticeably grimmer. ‘You know Thirsters – they’re not exactly fussy eaters. People are disappearing. Not just humans. There’s talk that they’re feeding on the rest of us too. Particularly Shapeshifters,’ he grimaced.

Lucas nodded. Shapeshifter blood was reputedly the most sought-after blood in all the realms because of the way it tasted.

‘It’s not just Thirsters coming through. We’ve seen Mixen around too,’ Flic added, her nostrils flaring in disgust.

‘And one or two Scorpio. Though it’s harder for them to pass.’

‘Why are they coming here?’ Lucas asked, turning to Issa for the answer.

‘Why?’ Flic hissed, before Issa could speak. ‘Why do you think? Why are we all here? Because the Shadowlands suck. Because the Shapeshifter realm is being overrun by bloodsuckers who’ve drained their own lands dry and are after a tasty snack. Why wouldn’t they all come here? Scorpio can get into fights and actually win. Thirsters can eat whatever they want without getting banished. Mixen can get their freak on and no one bats an eyelid. Everyone’s so off their head in this town or so used to seeing crazy shit no one notices them. Who wouldn’t rather be here than stuck in their own realm? Even with all this going on, even with Hunters doing their damndest to exterminate us,’ she threw Evie a look, ‘even with Thirsters and Mixen and Scorpio running around like they own the place, I still choose here.’

‘Maybe everyone’s trying to get through while they can,’ Jamieson muttered.

‘What do you mean?’ Lucas asked.

‘There’s a rumour going around,’ Jamieson said, his eyes flashing nervously around the room. ‘People are saying that the way through is about to close.’

Lucas felt Evie stiffen behind him. ‘What else are the rumours saying?’ he asked casually.

‘I don’t know. I think I heard something about some kind of prophecy? But if what you said just now about Sybll not being right all the time is true, then maybe it’s bull. Who knows?’ He shrugged again. ‘All I know is that it’s getting really crowded in this part of town. And going out at night’s starting to feel about as dangerous as walking naked through a crowd of angry, sexually frustrated Mixen.’

‘Aren’t Mixen always sexually frustrated?’ Flic remarked under her breath.

‘What else did you hear about this prophecy?’ Lucas asked, ignoring Flic and trying to keep the urgency out of his voice.

‘Nothing much really,’ Jamieson said, shaking his head. ‘It was just talk. I didn’t pay it much mind. I mean people are always talking about stuff – who’s fighting who, who’s bitten who, who’s been banished from the realms, who’s got connections among the Elders, who’s dating a Shadow Warrior …’ He tailed off, his eyes darting in Evie’s direction.

‘I heard something about a White Light.’

Lucas turned slowly towards Flic.

‘Some Shifter at the club said she’d heard a Sybll talking.’

‘The White Light will come and will sever the realms,’ Issa suddenly whispered.

Flic snorted, ‘What the hell does that mean?
Sever the realms
?’

Lucas dropped quickly to his knees by Issa’s feet. ‘Issa, what else do you know about this?’ he asked.

‘What’s it to you?’ Flic demanded, moving invisibly to stand by his side. ‘Why are you so interested in this prophecy?’ Her eyes narrowed at him in suspicion.

Lucas looked up and held her gaze, ‘Don’t you think severing the realms would be a good thing, Flic? You’re the one who’s just been talking about how dangerous it’s getting with all the unhumans coming through and
getting their freak on.

‘Wait up, I’m confused,’ interrupted Jamieson. ‘I thought Issa and Lucas were just trying to convince us that Sybll prophecies don’t always come true – that we can change things. So why’s everyone getting worked up about something Shakespeare could have written?’

‘This prophecy is different,’ said Issa, standing up carefully and stepping around Lucas, careful not to touch him. ‘It’s never changed. Not through all the ages. It’s one of the marked prophecies.’

‘The what?’ Lucas asked, suddenly on his feet.

Issa had stopped in front of Evie. ‘There are some prophecies that were written down thousands of years ago,’ she said. Her voice, if he wasn’t mistaken, had an edge to it – something similar to excitement, though an excited Sybll was something of an oxymoron. ‘There are maybe a dozen, fewer, all from the same Sybll, and every single one of them has come true so far. She predicted the Shapeshifter rebellion almost nine hundred years ago, Hiroshima, the massacre of the Originals, every major event in the last thousand years across all the realms. These prophecies, ones made by her, are known as the marked prophecies.’

Lucas looked over at Evie. She turned her head at the same time and their eyes locked.

‘But if the Sybll knew all these things were going to happen why didn’t they try to stop them? I’m sure there’s a fair few million people who’d be happier and, oh, let’s see – maybe
still alive
– if they had,’ Flic snorted.

‘Sybll don’t interfere, Flic, you know that,’ Lucas answered tersely.

‘It’s not our role to change the fates of the realms. We just observe,’ Issa added.

‘What are you people? UN Peacekeepers?’ Flic snapped back. ‘So who the hell is this White Light?’ she yelled, throwing her arms in the air, ‘Does anyone even know? Did this great wise foreseer of the future think to give us a name? Or a date for when this severing might be occurring?’

‘No, no one knows when or who it will be,’ said Issa. ‘The prophecies were broken into fragments and scattered many years ago. I only know one fragment of it, passed down through the generations. You need to find the rest for it to make any sense.’

‘How did the Sybll manage to lose the other bits? I mean, you guys actually have foresight. You didn’t see this day coming? The day when we might need to know the rest of it?’

‘The Sybll didn’t want it falling into the wrong hands, Flic,’ Lucas spoke up for her, frowning as the pieces of the puzzle all slid into place. ‘It doesn’t matter, don’t you see? To them, it’s going to happen anyway whether anyone tries to stop it or not. If people knew who it was or when it was going to happen they’d try to stop it. And, if Issa’s right, if it’s marked as she says, there would be no point. It would be futile.’ As he said this last part he turned to look at Evie. If it was as Issa claimed – if the prophecy was marked – then Evie was safe. She couldn’t be harmed. At least, not until she had fulfilled the prophecy. Lucas turned quickly to Issa. ‘Do you know where we can find the other parts, Issa? All we have to work on is a verse that we read in a book belonging to the Hunters.’

Issa was staring at Evie now. ‘I know only that the White Light was said to be a child of two warriors. The last Hunter.’

Flic’s mouth fell open. She rolled her eyes and groaned. ‘You have got to be kidding.’

‘Are you saying what I think you’re saying? Jamieson asked, standing shakily. ‘Is it Evie? Is that who the prophecy is talking about? Is it her?’

‘Yes,’ Lucas answered. ‘She’s the last pureblood Hunter.’

‘She’s the White Light,’ Issa said in wonder.

‘And yet, dear brother,’ Flic said, glaring at Lucas, ‘despite knowing this, you still didn’t find enough reason to kill her.’ She moved in a heartbeat, so fast she was just a blur. But Lucas anticipated her and was quicker, his hand reaching and pulling Evie behind him, out of Flic’s reach.

BOOK: Severed
13.21Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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