Chapter 31

SORCERESS

Cate sprinted along the damp, empty streets. She hurdled painted picket fences and tore through hedges, oblivious as thorns gouged her arms and face. When she finally paused at the familiar red door of Eve’s house, her pounding heart threatened to smash through her chest. The freezing air burned her lungs with each gasp.

Lights blazed throughout Eve’s house. Cate counted twenty silhouettes in the downstairs windows. This wasn’t right. Eve’s parents weren’t party people. Hands on her knees, she scanned the front yard. She knew Zach was here.

“C...C...Cate.” Eve stumbled out from behind the enormous redwood tree in the front yard. Tears streamed down her chin, and her arms were stuck at an awkward angle behind her back.

“Eve!” Cate hurried forward but stopped sharply when Zach appeared from behind the massive tree trunk.

“That’s close enough.” Zach wrapped his fingers around Eve’s neck and raised his other hand to her temple. Metal glinted in his hand. He had a gun.

Cate held her hands in front of her body. “Calm down and think about this, Zach.”

“I’m completely calm.” Zach’s voice was scarily calm.

Eve trembled with fear as silent tears dripped off her cheek, creating wet blotches on her shirt. Red marks flared on her neck as Zach tightened his grip.

Cate manoeuvred deftly closer to them. She had recovered from a burning cannonball at the GTs, so that gave her every chance of surviving a gunshot wound. If a bullet hit Eve and it wasn’t fatal, Cate could heal her. The fewer bullets Zach got off, the better though. If Eve sustained a fatal shot, Cate was screwed. She could never make Eve a zombie.

Zach’s finger quivered on the trigger. That was her opening. She sprinted forward. He panicked and shoved Eve away to fire at Cate. An explosion of noise and white-hot pain ripped through her chest, arm, neck, and leg. Zach had shot her. Four bloody times. Zach offered no resistance as she plucked the gun from his limp hand.

“But I shot you four times.” He blinked as the gaping bullet hole in her chest closed, and the huge abstract bloodstain on her shirt vanished. The whites of his eyes flashed, they were forced so wide with astonishment.

She smashed his head into her knee. “That’s for Eve! And this”—the gun cracked against his temple—“is for shooting me, you loser!” she screamed at Zack’s unconscious body, crumpled on the ground.

Eve’s hands covered her face as little by little she slid to the ground.

Cate fell to her knees and face planted onto the cold grass. She commando-crawled until she could touch Eve’s foot. “It’s okay. You’re going to be fine.”

“I’m so sorry,” Eve sobbed. “I had no choice...”

“It’s not your fault.” Cate patted Eve’s foot and heaved herself onto her back. Warm blood trickled down her neck and arm from the remaining gunshot wounds. A chill ran the entire length of her back, making her teeth chatter. The idea of sleep wrapped around her like a warm blanket. Maybe she could rest her eyes for a minute before she healed the remaining gunshot wounds. The second her eyelids closed, a sharp, short pain slammed into her ribs. Two harder blows followed. She cracked one eye open. “Now you arrive.”

“You could have compelled him to put the gun down!” Rose snapped. “But no, you have to get yourself shot. Teens are so dramatic. Wake up and heal yourself. I can’t do it for you. Oh, no. This isn’t good.”

A wave of people streamed from Eve’s house. Jonah joined Rose, a rueful smile on his face. “We’ll all have to work together to stay alive against this number of Elias’s people.”

Cate’s head snapped back. What were Elias’s people doing here?

Eve dropped her head onto her hands and choked out “sorry” repeatedly between her sobs.

“Heal yourself and get off your butt and help!” Rose growled.

Jonah offered Cate a hand up. “I can do it if you need me to.”

“No, I can do it.” Cate pressed her back hard against the tree. She dug her heels into the dirt and inched her body into a standing position.

Jonah and Rose had their heads close together as their eyes darted around, assessing the situation. Mortez and the boys joined the huddle, their eyes focused on Elias’s people fanning out around them.

Fingers gripped Cate’s arm. She scuttled away from the scorching heat. Austin had grabbed her. Sweat rivulets poured down his cheeks, and his shirt was wringing wet. His face glowed beetroot red.

“Whoa!” He fanned at his face. “Is it like a thousand degrees out here, or is it just me? It’s time to do some real fighting.”

“You’re in no state to fight.” There was concern in Rose’s voice.

Mortez nodded. “I agree with Rose, which has never happened before in this or any other time line. You’re in no state to fight, Austin. You’ll be a liability.”

“I’m fine.” Austin staggered slightly.

Jonah grabbed Cate’s shoulders. “Your job is to protect Eve. Nothing else. You stay with her and keep her safe.”

Rose nodded. “That would be best.”

Eve grabbed at Cate’s arm with surprising strength. “Stay with me,” she pleaded.

“Austin...” Rose raised her hands in the air. “I know you won’t listen, but I’ll say it anyway. Sit this out. Please don’t die.”

Austin smiled. “I’ll do my best.”

Guttural cries rang out, and everyone rushed forward. The war was on.

Cate wanted to help. She was torn. Help fight or protect Eve. As she deliberated, an enormous burst of light erupted from a vortex swirling in front of Eve. “What the hell?”

“Trust me. It’ll be safer on the other side.” Eve heaved at her arm, but Cate refused to move.

“I’m not jumping in...through...that...What is that?”

A violent shove from behind and Cate stumbled forward. Before she regained her balance, Eve gave another almighty push, and Cate tumbled through a kaleidoscope of light and face planted on a cold, hard, and smooth surface.

Someone hauled at her legs, dragging her away from the swirling light. Eve chanted a Latin sounding word three times, and the vortex vanished.

“I repeat: WHAT THE HELL! We have to go back. I have to help.” Cate clambered off the floor.

A whining meow caught her attention. An enormous ginger cat padded toward them, its paws soundless on the marble floor. It leapt gracefully onto a gigantic gold throne and stared at them.

“Is that Polka Dot?” Cate stepped closer and froze. Polka Dot had vanished, and the only male Cate knew who wore black eyeliner and shimmering gold eye shadow sat in his place. Polka Dot had morphed into Elias right in front of her. “I’m so done with all this crap.”

Eve rushed and knelt at Elias’s feet. She clutched at his gold toga. “I did what you asked. I brought you Xavier and Cate. Now return my parents.”

“Indeed you did my little sorceress.” Elias clapped his hands twice and Eve’s mother and father were frog marched into the room, their hands bandaged.

So many pieces of the puzzle clicked into place. When Eve was talking to her mother and Cate thought she heard a man’s voice. Eve had been speaking to Elias. The afternoon Cate saw Polka Dot and someone with a tangle of white-blonde hair disappearing around the corner was the day Eve had left school early for an appointment. Eve went to meet Elias. Jonah and Cate had run into Eve at the Neon Posse when she was leaving after seeing Elias.

“You have my brother.” Cate hissed through her teeth at Elias. “And you...” An inferno of anger and betrayal engulfed her as she stabbed a finger at Eve. “You kidnapped Xavier and brought him to this psycho? And when the hell were you going to tell me you were a SORCERESS?”

“I had no choice!” Eve pulled at her hair like a mad woman. “Elias took my parents and sent me one of their fingertips in a box every day for a week. He threatened their heads would be next if I didn’t bring you and Xavier to him. I only took Xavier after Jonah had kidnapped him. So technically I rescued him from Jonah.” Eve sunk to floor and sobbed. “I’ve begged Elias to take me instead of you. I’ve spent every waking minute since the bus stop trying to create a spell that will let me do what you can do. I CAN’T DO IT!” she screamed. Her normally carefully dishevelled hair resembled a bird’s nest and her eyes were filled with anguish.

“You’re meant to be my best and only friend. You’ve been lying to me for years!” Cate said in a quiet, fierce voice.

“Oh, pu-leese!” Eve sprung up from the ground. Her eyes flashed with anger. “You were supposedly in witness protection the entire time I’ve known you, and you never thought to mention that! And what about your mother, the evil, time travelling school principal who wants to rule the world with the army of Timesurfers she’s training under the guise of running a juvenile detention centre. You never mentioned any of that.”

“I didn’t know about my mother...”

“Oh buy a vowel. Mortez is your last name spelled backwards.”

“I never realised...”

“Your actual name is Hannah.”

“So?”

“All the female Timesurfers have palindrome names. Your mum’s name is Emme. Rose’s first name is Anna. Yours is Hannah. Then there’s Pip and mine is Eve.”

“I have no idea what a palindrome is. So I don’t know what your point is about those names.”

“Palindromes are words that spell the same thing backwards and forwards.”

“That’s more obscure that the Mortez thing. No normal person has even heard of a palindrome, let alone could make that type of connection.”

“Girls! Girls!” Elias clapped his hands and signalled for the guards who had appeared at his side to surround Cate and Eve.

“You do know you’re carrying a spear? Careful not to take an eye out with that.” Cate tapped at the blade of the long spear in the hand of the guard nearest her. He promptly lifted the spear and slammed the blunt end into her stomach.

“Never touch another man’s spear, Catherine,” Elias tutted as Cate struggled to breathe, doubled over with pain. “Girls, please don’t say anything you’ll regret to one another. Everyone is in a highly stressed state trying to make the best of a confusing situation.”

“Don’t patronise me, you gold dress wearing tool. This is entirely your fault.” That earned Cate a blunt end of the spear to her kidneys. “I want to see my brother.”

“Patience, Catherine. Eve, you did as I asked, so I will send your parents home. Let’s see what’s going on in the front yard before we return them, shall we?” Elias held both palms toward the cream wall, which disappeared, replaced by a life size picture of Eve’s front yard and everyone in it. The 2014 date and time showed in the left hand corner.

Bodies lay deathly still on the grass. Rose was alive and fighting three people, her damp hair flying around her face like a weapon. Jonah was battling four hulking men close by. Mortez and the three wise men were also fighting multiple attackers. A group of Elias’s people had surrounded Austin. Blood flowed down his face and his eyes were mere slits, they were so badly bruised. His attackers were playing with him.

“It’s a real time picture of the past.” Elias beamed at Cate. “Eve has an extraordinary flair for combining magic and technology. I now have no need to wait for those pesky cubes to reset every twenty-four hours, which is exceptionally useful.”

“Whatever you want from me will never happen if Austin dies,” Cate hissed. “If Mortez, the boys, Rose or Jonah die, you’re also screwed. You’ll get nothing from me.” Her hand struck out like a snake and seized a spear from an ill-prepared guard. She pressed the tip to the base of her throat. Now to see how precious of a prize she was. “Call your Timesurfers back or I’ll slit my throat.” She gave a defiant toss of her hair and pressed the spear against her skin until warm blood trickled down her neck.

“You can’t die. You heal automatically.” Elias gave her a cursory nod and returned his attention to the screen. “Austin is taking a savage beating. He’s a popular target.”

“Your information on me is incorrect. Maybe not in the future, but right now, I have to be conscious and want to heal myself.”

Elias’s dramatically lined eyes narrowed. “You’re lying.”

“Nope. Not lying. So unless you have a spare conduit handy you’re screwed. And since Jonah’s the only conduit in hundreds of years, and he’s there on the big screen, you’re officially screwed. Tell your Timesurfers to stand down if you want me to see another hour on this earth.” She dragged the spear further around her throat.

“Cate, no more!” Eve lunged, but the guards’ spears pressed under her chin as they restrained her.

“This week, I’ve fought lions, created zombies and murdered numerous innocent grommets. I discovered I’ve been a pawn in the demented plans of my malevolent Timesurfer mother, and that I’m going to be spectacularly evil. Believe me when I say you must do exactly as I ask or I will end it.” Her eyes drifted to the screen. Austin was on his hands and knees. Men were taking turns kicking his ribs. He didn’t have much time. “You have three seconds, Elias.” She held up a clenched fist. “One!” She raised a finger. “Two!” She raised another finger. “Thr—”

“Enough! Your teenage theatrics are giving me a migraine!” Elias gave a dramatic roll of his eyes. “I’ll call them back.”

“Not good enough,” Cate hissed and slid the spear further along her throat. “I see it, or there’s no deal.”

“Fine.” Elias pressed his fingers to his temples. His Timesurfers vanished from Eve’s yard on the screen. “They’re all gone, even the dead ones.”

“Prove it,” Cate barked.

Elias signalled, and two guards sprinted down the corridor.

On the screen, Rose, Jonah, Mortez, and the boys were shocked and disoriented. Mortez screamed and sank to her knees. Her hands covered her face. “Elias has Cate and Xavier,” she cried. Gaspar, Balthazar, and Melchior bunched around her.

A gaggle of bloodied people headed toward Cate along the corridor, some dragging bodies. They were the Timesurfers who had been fighting on the screen.

On screen, Rose raced to a motionless Austin and knelt over him. Zach remained unconscious nearby.

“You better hope Austin’s not dead, buddy,” Eve said to Elias. “That would piss my friend off, and she’s fierce. I hope that utter jerk Zach’s taken his last breath though.”

On screen Austin stirred. Jonah dashed to help Rose with the big job of healing him. Austin’s fingers clawed at Jonah’s shirt, pulling him closer to whisper in his ear.

Jonah listened intently and the now familiar predatory smile slid across his face. He straightened and looked directly toward Cate. “I know you’re watching, Elias. Austin has a message for you. He’s coming for Cate and Xavier. We’re all coming for Cate and Xavier, but I’m also coming for you.” Jonah lifted Austin’s battered body from the ground as the boys helped Mortez to stand. Austin looked up and smiled his smile that made Cate forget to breathe at times, it was so beautiful.

A fierce determination burned in Mortez’s eyes. “I will kill you slowly for this, Elias. You will never hurt my family again. I should have killed that little sorceress, Eve, when Jonah felt her magic on Cate’s birthday. I will rectify that the next time we cross paths.”

Zach stirred on the ground.

“Kill him,” Mortez shouted to Balthazar.

Balthazar stalked over to Zach and grabbed his head.

The screen went blank. “I think we all know what’s coming,” Elias said. “No need to watch that.”

Cate stared at the blank screen. Zach was dead. She readjusted her grip on the spear. “Bring my brother to me. I want you to send Xavier, Eve and her parents back. You have me now.”

Elias jerked his head, and two guards from Cate’s left disappeared.

“That will require some negotiation.” Elias smiled wide like a Cheshire cat. “It seems your family and friends are all mightily peeved. I may need a sorceress. Mortez is never one to ask questions before she kills, so I fear Eve would be dead before her feet have hit the ground should she return. I’ll send Eve’s parents back and also your brother Xavier, who has no powers at all, by the way. Eve and you I’m keeping.”

Eve’s parents howled and begged Elias to keep them and release Eve and Cate. She glanced at Eve, who nodded. “Acceptable. Can you wipe their memories like Naitanui?”

Elias smiled. “I can do everything Naitanui can do.”

“It’ll be better for them if they don’t remember,” Cate whispered to Eve, who nodded as tears trickled down her cheeks. “Do it.”

“No!” Eve’s parents pleaded as Elias pressed a palm against their foreheads. They vanished from the room and appeared on the screen standing at their front door, laughing and happy as they let themselves into their house.

“Cate!” Xavier appeared with a guard on either side.

“Send him back this instant.” Blood trickled down the front of Cate’s shirt, and her brain felt woozy. She didn’t have another second. “Mum will explain. I love you, but you have to go right now.”

Elias touched Xavier’s forehead and he vanished.

The room blurred, and Cate’s body swayed. “Show me he’s with Mortez.”

Elias swiped his hand along the screen, scrolled for a second, and stopped. Xavier stood at the painted blue door of their house. Cate waited until the door opened and she saw Mortez, then the entire room faded from view.

***

“Cate,” Eve’s voice called from far away.

She wanted to stay asleep.

“Now you’re faking. Wake up.”

Hands dug into her shoulders and shook her ruthlessly. “All right! I’m awake.” Her fingers touched a stiff, padded bandage under her throat. She opened one eye and gave Eve a questioning look.

“To stop the blood. Now you’re conscious, do your thing and heal it.” Eve ripped at the bandage with gusto.

“Ouch.”

“Rip it off quick, they say.”

Cate closed her eyes and thought about her neck healing. Her fingers touched perfectly smooth skin. She levered herself onto her elbow. The bandage had disappeared from Eve’s hand. She had turned back another little pocket of time.

Two massive four-poster beds with intricate lace canopies dominated the enormous room. Heavy silk curtains draped the floor-to-ceiling windows that covered one entire wall. Thick, oriental patterned rugs were scattered across the marble floors. An ornate fireplace dominated the wall directly across from the beds.

“This is ‘our’ room.” Eve used finger quotes when she said “our.” “The doors and windows are protected by magic wards. Touch them, and you’ll end up on your butt twenty feet away with your ears ringing and body convulsing.”

They sat in awkward silence as the minutes ticked by.

“I’m sorry,” Eve blurted.

Cate patted her hand. “It’s been a big few weeks.”

Eve’s eyes glistened with tears as she nodded. “Will your mum find us?”

“Absolutely.” Cate hugged Eve. The child in her wanted to think it was because her mother loved her. The realist knew better. “I’m the weapon everyone wants and Mortez has the added incentive of being crazy furious with you. They’ll come.”