Shadows (9 page)

‘Bitch,’ Rafa says under his breath, catching up to me. He grabs my elbow. ‘Act like it’s a prank, or this is all going to turn bad, real quick.’

‘She took Maggie.’ My heart is smashing against my ribcage. I might also be hyperventilating.

‘And we’re the only ones who can get her back. We don’t want the cops here.’

Jason and Tommo reach us at the same time.

‘What just happened?’ Tommo looks Rafa up and down. ‘And who are you?’

Without Maggie, I’m completely exposed. ‘This is Rafa. He’s a mate of my brother’s.’ But Tommo is more interested in an explanation for Maggie’s departure, so I say the first thing that pops into my head. ‘That girl was Jason’s ex.’

Jason blinks.

‘Wow.’ Tommo turns to him. ‘What’s her drama?’

Jason doesn’t miss a beat. ‘Not enough attention from her parents.’ He’s already got his car keys out.

‘Yeah, but—’

‘Seriously, this is what she does. She tried this with my last girlfriend too. I found them at the pub half an hour later trading stories about me.’

Tommo looks back at the track where they disappeared. ‘That didn’t look like she was inviting Mags for a drink.’

‘It’s all show. She’s just making sure I got the message.’

Tommo tosses the dregs from his plastic cup. ‘I’d call that overkill.’ Someone calls out to him. He half-turns towards the fire.

‘We’ll sort this,’ I say. ‘Leave it with us.’

Rafa catches my eye, nods in the direction of the forest. ‘I’ll go this way, see if I can catch them before they get to the car park. You should come with me.’

Yeah, because I’d trust him right now not to shift with me, and leave me on the other side of the planet.

‘I’ll go with Jason.’

Rafa mutters something I don’t catch and then veers off into the trees.

Tommo stews for a few more seconds, then nods and goes back to the party.

On the way to the car, I look around for Simon. He’s
sitting by the fire, watching me. Hurt. Angry. I look away.

The music is muffled as soon as we slam the doors.

‘What the hell happened?’

Jason jams the key into the ignition and starts the car.

‘We had our backs to the trees. She came out of nowhere.’ He drives onto the dirt track and guns the engine. ‘I think she hit me with a rock.’ He holds his hand out to me; his fingertips are covered with blood.

I dial Maggie’s number. ‘Straight to voicemail.’

‘What are we going to do?’

‘I’ve got a few ideas,’ Rafa says from the backseat.

I nearly jump through the windscreen. Jason jerks the steering wheel, and gravel sprays up from the tyres. Trees loom dangerously close. He brings the car back to the centre again and glances at Rafa in the rear-view mirror.

‘How on earth can you do that in a moving vehicle?’

‘Practice.’

I twist around in my seat. ‘Where have you looked?’

‘Your place, mine and the park. Nothing.’

‘She shouldn’t be caught up in all this,’ Jason mutters.

I shake my head. ‘Neither should you.’

‘I told you being out here was reckless,’ Rafa says. ‘If you’d stayed with me none of this would have happened.’

‘Bullshit,’ I all but spit at him. ‘Taya could have grabbed Mags while she was asleep. The end result’s the same.’

The black forest falls away as we reach the bitumen. Jason puts his foot down and we’re at the bungalow in minutes. I know Rafa’s already been here, but I still check everywhere, calling Maggie’s name. I leave her room till last because I know she’s not in it. Her bed and work table are strewn with bolts of cloth and half-finished projects. An unfinished scarf is draped over her chair. Cherry red. A sketchbook is open on the floor next to a dirty coffee cup and a chewed pencil. Pages alive with fuchsia and gold, summer dresses and skirts. I haven’t seen these designs before. I flick the page. Men’s clothes. A lightweight suit. Colour swatches are stuck to the page. Notes made neatly. Then, in a messier hand as if she’s revisited the page later, there are wings drawn on one of the models. Rough, beautiful wings. My breath catches.

In the kitchen, Jason is in Rafa’s face. ‘Where is she?’

‘How would I know? I’d take a step back, Goldilocks, if you don’t want to bleed some more tonight.’

Jason holds his ground for a few seconds, his chest rising and falling. And then he steps away.

‘How about an educated guess?’ I ask Rafa.

He shrugs. ‘Somewhere sanctioned by Nathaniel.’

‘The Sanctuary?’

‘Probably.’

Sheet lightning momentarily flares in the roiling sky. The storm is almost on us.

‘Then go there.’

He laughs without humour. ‘To the Sanctuary? No chance.’

‘Why not?’

A large rumble shakes the house.

‘I haven’t set foot there in ten years, and I’m sure as hell not changing that now.’

‘Then take me.’

‘No.’

I stare at him. ‘You’re a selfish prick, you know that?’

‘And you’re naive. You don’t even know what the Sanctuary is, do you?’

‘Well, here’s a thought: explain it to me.’

His fingers flex. Almost a threat. ‘It’s an old monastery,’ he says. ‘In the Piedmont mountains. It’s got a dozen buildings and hundreds of rooms over three floors. If she’s there, she could be anywhere. I wouldn’t know where to look.’

‘You could ask someone. You must still have
some
friends there.’

His eyes harden. ‘I’d never give Nathaniel the satisfaction. I’m not grovelling to him—or anyone else.’

‘Then what
are
you going to do?’

Rafa pushes off from the bench. ‘You two stay here. I’ll be back.’

‘Don’t you dare disappear or I’ll—’

He’s gone before I finish my threat.
‘Shit!’

I throw open the kitchen window. A gust of cool air hits me, and the smell of rain. It’s close by. This time the lightning is forked, and the thunder that follows rattles the plates stacked on the sink.

‘Taya wants me, not Mags. She won’t hurt her.’ I’m trying to convince myself as much as Jason. I tap my fingers on the dish rack, my mind racing. ‘Daisy!’

Jason is right behind me. ‘You have her number?’

I’m already scrambling to get my phone out. The call goes straight to voicemail. I tell her what happened, leave my address and then hang up.

‘That’s it. I’m out of ideas.’ I collapse at the table.

Jason goes to the sink, drinks a glass of water and comes back to the counter. Then he moves past me to the door. Then back to the sink, then the counter and the door again.

‘That’s not helping.’

He nods, and pulls up a chair next to me.

‘I can help,’ he says.

‘What are you talking about?’

He swallows. ‘Give me your hand.’

I blink. ‘Why?’

‘Please, just give it to me.’

He guides my fingers under his hair to the nape of his neck. To the shape of a crescent moon.

‘I can go after her. I just need to know where the Sanctuary is. Exactly where it is.’

I open my mouth. Close it. Try again. I’ve got nothing.

Jason lets my hand drop. ‘I wasn’t found with the others. No one knows I exist.’

I vaguely remember Rafa saying something about the possibility of other offspring.

‘But you can shift?’

‘Not with as much precision as the others, but I get by.’

I stare at him. Really see him for the first time.

‘Why did you come to Pan Beach?’

‘To find you.’ He holds his palms up by way of apology. ‘I’d heard about you and your brother and—’

‘What do you
want
from me?’

‘I’m just looking for my father like everyone else.’

‘You lied.’

‘No. I don’t tell
anyone
what I am. I’ve hidden from Nathaniel for nearly a century and a half because I don’t want to get dragged into his apocalyptic politics. But if it means getting Maggie back—’

‘You used Mags.’

‘No, it’s not like that. I didn’t know I could still feel this way about a woman.’ He rubs his hand over his eyes. ‘This is a mess.’

I let him stew.

‘You’ve never been to the Sanctuary?’ I finally ask.

He shakes his head. ‘I’ve heard about it, and know roughly where it is, but it’s difficult for me to shift somewhere I haven’t physically been.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘If I get somewhere normally—plane, train, whatever— I can shift there again. It’s like I bookmark it.’ He shrugs. ‘I’ve been able to shift blind over small distances if I know enough about the location. If you can get Rafa to give you details about the Sanctuary, I’ll go there myself and bring her back. He doesn’t need to know.’

‘What about Taya? Can you fight?’

‘Not like them. I wasn’t raised and trained with the others. I’ve kept to myself—’

‘Are you even a lawyer?’

‘Among other things. I’ve had time to pick up some qualifications over the years.’

Something’s still missing here. ‘How do you know about the Fallen and the Rephaim then, if you never joined them?’

‘My mother told me about my father—’

‘I thought all the women died.’

‘Not true.’ He pauses. He’s struggling with something. ‘I grew up in Italy in a tiny fishing village. When I was five, I climbed the tallest sycamore tree in our garden, and got stuck. Mamma stood underneath for hours, trying to talk me down. She finally lost her patience and yelled at me. I lost my grip and fell. I landed on my feet without a scratch, let alone a sprained ankle. I wanted to tell everyone I could fly, so she had to tell me the truth about who I was.’ Jason taps the table. ‘She said an angel appeared to her when she was walking along the beach at dusk. Mamma was the daughter of a fisherman—a good Catholic girl. She figured it wasn’t a sin if she gave herself to an angel, and she didn’t plan on telling anyone about him. But then a month later she found out she was pregnant.’ The cracking of thunder booms above us. ‘She said I couldn’t tell anyone because there were other angels who would find me and hurt me.’

There’s a knock at the front door.

‘Gaby, please,’ Jason whispers. ‘Don’t say a word to anyone.’

It’s dark on the front deck and the breeze coming through the screen door is stronger now, and cooler. I flick on the front light and find myself staring at the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.

I open the door, utterly distracted. He’s got the cheekbones of a model, soft lips and short, dark, styled hair. In the dim light, he looks like he’s come from a photo shoot. I’m taking all this in, which is my excuse for staring. I don’t know what his excuse is because he’s just as fixated by me.

‘Gabriella.’ His voice is deep, and breaks a little as he says my name.

I shouldn’t be surprised he knows who I am, but it still rocks me. I rest a hand on the doorframe.

‘And you are?’

Something passes across his face. Disappointment?

‘Daniel.’

I close my mouth. The guy Rafa hates. Another Rephaite.

‘Do you know where Maggie is?’

‘Yes.’

‘Is she all right?’

‘She’s unharmed.’

‘Bring her back. Now.’

‘We need to talk.’

‘Make it quick.’

I step back and direct him down the hall. He hesitates,
and then moves ahead of me. He smells woodsy, musky. Like Rafa, he looks about twenty. He’s dressed like he’s on his way to dinner: expensive jeans, collared shirt and square-toed boots. He’s not as tall as Rafa, or as broadshouldered, but he walks like he doesn’t expect to fail. He falters, though, when he sees Jason.

I introduce them. ‘Jason is Maggie’s boyfriend.’

Their handshake is brief. Daniel turns his back to Jason. ‘Is there somewhere we can talk in private?’

Another crack of thunder. The sky lights up.

‘This is as private as it’s going to get.’

‘But—’

‘Jason knows about the Rephaim.’

Daniel’s cool expression doesn’t change. ‘How is that possible?’

I move around him, forcing Daniel to face both of us. ‘Taya and her idiot mate weren’t very subtle. She threw me into a tree with inhuman strength, broke my ribs. Mentioned someone called Semyaza—so we did some research. And then she showed up at a party, snatched up Mags, and disappeared into thin air. All in front of Jason.’

Daniel is watching me with unnerving intensity. ‘But who told you about the Rephaim?’

When I don’t answer, he twists his lips. ‘Rafael. And where is he now?’

‘Looking for Maggie,’ I say. ‘Is she at the Sanctuary?’

‘You remember it?’

I pick up a damp tea towel and hang it on the hook over the bench. ‘Until two days ago, I thought I was a backpacker, so, no, I don’t remember it.’

‘Can you still shift?’

‘I wouldn’t know how.’

‘But you
have
shifted recently?’

‘I had to, after Taya worked me over the other night.’

He waits.

‘I was in bad shape. Rafa took me.’

‘Where?

I shrug. ‘I passed out.’

I don’t tell him about the second trip. I don’t know him and he doesn’t fit the picture I’ve been putting together of the Rephaim. He’s more controlled than Rafa and Taya, guarded.

‘Do you know where Maggie is or not?’

He nods. ‘You have to come with me.’

‘Why not bring her here?’ Jason says.

Daniel doesn’t take his eyes from me. ‘Because it’s up to Gabriella to secure her freedom.’

‘Why?’

‘Because this is all about her.’

Of course it is. My stomach flips.

‘Why should I trust you?’

‘You used to, with your life.’

Heat flares in my chest. ‘Did I? So you must know what Jude and I were doing when we went missing.’

‘You remember him?’

‘Answer the question.’

Daniel takes a step closer. ‘Do you remember what happened with your brother?’

‘All I remember is a car accident, which apparently never happened. So, again, no, I don’t remember. Now answer my question. Did I tell you what Jude and I were planning to do?’

He watches me, impassive. ‘No.’

‘Then I couldn’t have trusted you that much.’

We eyeball each other. He wins.

‘I want my friend safe and sound.’

‘Then come with me.’

Jason touches my arm. ‘Maybe you should wait for Rafa.’

I frown at him. A minute ago, he was in Rafa’s face, and now he thinks Rafa’s our best option? Rafa had his chance to take me.

‘I don’t have time to wait.’

‘Make sure you tell him she’s with me,’ Daniel says.

I have a blinding urge to punch his perfect nose.

‘Gaby, don’t go. We’ve got more to talk about.’

‘I’m coming back.’ I want to sound confident, but my throat is already closing up.

Daniel waits for me to look at him. ‘Come to me,’ he says.

It’s an order. I don’t move.

He sighs, and it’s the first sign of real emotion since his brief lapse at the front door. ‘Please.’ He holds out a hand.

I take it, surprised to find his fingers a little clammy. Did I do that, or is it just the storm?

He laces his fingers through mine. ‘Don’t let go.’

‘This is it?’ I panic, remembering the wild sensation of shifting with Rafa.

‘As long as we’re in contact, I won’t lose you.’

I close my eyes. So, no need for intimate embraces then? Rafa’s really been having fun with me. I grip Daniel’s hand as huge rain hits the tin roof, drowning out everything else.