If only I could go back
To our home in the sun
Weave again the threads
Of life the way it was
Sarah had heard that roar once before, in her garden in Edinburgh. That night her cat Shadow had been mangled, left as a little bundle of bones and bloodied black fur. That night her friend Bryony had also learned the truth of the mystery that surrounded Sarah, and both their lives had changed forever.
Now, once again, Sarah took her place in the circle, facing out. In the middle of the circle this time was not Bryony but Micol, still unconscious. Another roar came from the trees. A trickle of sweat ran down Sarah’s back as the branches of the oaks above their heads danced and swayed, and they all instinctively jerked their heads towards the sound.
But the first demon-tiger came from the opposite direction, making its way from behind a fern bush, slowly, leisurely, like it could take its time to kill. They gazed on the monstrous creature. Sarah remembered it well – something between a tiger and a hyena, muscles rippling under its fur, a mouth full of row after row of pointed teeth. This one was white, and two enormous fangs sat at either side of its mouth. It reminded Sarah of a sabre-toothed tiger. Another growl came from the back of its throat, its eyes narrowing into two black slits. Its instinct told it to kill and devour.
“Don’t break the circle! There might be more around us!” whispered Sarah. Beside her, Sean was already tracing the runes, little red sparks dancing around his sgian-dubh.
Sarah, Sean and Niall faced the demon, while Elodie, Nicholas and Alvise had their backs to it. It took them all their willpower not to turn around, but they listened to Sarah. The Surari advanced slowly, and its white fur started turning brown and green against the grass and leaves scattered on the ground.
Camouflage, Sarah remembered.
All of a sudden, without a sound, the demon-tiger pounced on Niall with bone-shattering force, digging its claws into his chest. As soon as it touched Niall’s jacket the beast turned blue. It raised its head, rows of yellow teeth glistening with drool, ready to bite Niall’s face, but Sean’s runes hit the Surari, scarlet ribbons taking shape in the air. The creature stood paralysed, its teeth touching Niall’s cheek, its saliva dribbling on its face.
Sarah could see the terror in Niall’s eyes. Her hands were ready to strike with the Blackwater, but she didn’t dare move in case she disturbed Sean’s concentration – a second would have been enough for the beast to snap its jaws shut. Wounds appeared on the creature’s throat as the scarlet ribbons from Sean’s runes began cutting its skin, black blood pouring over Niall’s face and chest.
“Sarah! Now!” Sean called, interrupting the flow of Ancient words. Sarah threw herself on the Surari and dug her hands into its fur with a scream of fury. The beast growled and fell on Niall, burying him under its huge weight, its eyes open and staring. It started shuddering, growling in pain, Blackwater sprouting from its mouth, its ears and its black nostrils, mixing with black blood.
Sarah kept digging her hands into its fur without pity, growling like a Surari herself. She threw her weight sideways, carrying the beast with her so that Niall would be free. As it touched the ground, the Surari went from red to dark green again.
Niall lifted himself up, one bleeding hand supporting him, the other feeling the ground, looking for his sgian-dubh. Then he fell again, agony contorting his face. He clasped both hands on his chest. The Surari was contorting itself in torment, black blood and the black liquid from its weeping skin mixing and soaking the ground. A seizure tightened its muscles in painful spasms until it dissolved with a final gush of Blackwater.
Sarah took a series of breaths until she could finally speak. “Niall, are you okay?”
“Yes. Nothing a little time won’t heal.”
“Watch out!” shouted Sean. Sarah and Niall turned around to see Alvise, Elodie and Nicholas standing in front of another two demon-tigers, camouflaged black against the dark backdrop of the bushes. Nicholas’ hands sparked blue and a wall of flames rose between them and the demon-tigers. But the bolder of the two Surari jumped through, narrowly missing Elodie, thin smoke rising from its singed fur.
“Niryani!” Elodie shouted, and threw herself at the creature’s side, stabbing it repeatedly, drawing black blood. The beast shuddered, throwing Elodie off and nearly crushing her with its weight, when suddenly it fell. An arrow jutted out of the Surari’s mouth.
“Alvise,” a small voice said. Micol had come to. Alvise dragged her to her feet, trying to lead her away from the wall of fire, but the second demon-tiger pounced on him, its fur rippling green as it left the shadows, then blue while through the flames, then black again, and he had to let go of Micol. She stood in a daze, still too weak to call on her power.
Elodie was on the demon at once, her poison seeping inside it. The beast tried to snarl, but its snarl turned into a yelp. As the poison worked its way into the Surari’s veins, the demon-tiger pounced once more, blindly trying to destroy everything in its path – and in front of him was Micol, still stunned, defenceless. It happened in a moment: the beast opened its jaws, its fangs ready to sink into Micol’s throat, when Sarah jumped on the creature, rolling over with it and away from Micol. She sank her hands into its fur. Already weakened by Elodie’s poison, with one last shiver and a deep, painful howl, the demon-tiger was still. For a second, Sarah’s eyes met Micol’s.
Atonement, she thought. She’d saved Micol’s life.
Sarah let herself fall back on her heels, but before she could take a breath the demon that had been hiding among the branches of the tree above them – the one who’d made the first warning noise – finally struck. It let itself fall on the ground and clawed the first thing it saw – Sarah. She fell on her back, the Surari upon her. She felt her breastbone breaking, and cried in pain. The Surari growled and poised itself to bite, its jaws pouring black saliva over her face . . .
And then it stopped.
It stepped off Sarah, surveying the scene with its malicious eyes, and growled once more. Nicholas followed the noise. He growled, too, like a demon would, and grabbed the Surari by its fur. He lifted it off him as if it’d been nothing more than a big cat, hurling it against the ground as hard as he could. They heard a crack, and the beast was still. Nicholas had no power over those Surari; his father was in control now. They would not kill him, not while Nicholas was doing his father’s bidding, but they would hurt him, and his father would take pleasure from it.
Sarah clung to her bloodied chest, her heart and soul filled with terror. The demon-tiger had been about to bite her head off, but it had spared her. Just like the demon at the petrol station had done.
Twice her life had been spared.
And then she came to the natural conclusion, and the realisation chilled her to the bone: They need me. They have a purpose for me.
Her eyes met Sean’s across the mauled carcass of the demon-tiger, and they spoke without words. She dragged herself upright – and that’s when she saw Elodie’s gaze upon her, her expression unreadable. Quickly, Elodie looked away.
“Thank you, Alvise,” the French girl said instead, looking to the newcomer. “The Surari would have killed me had it not been for you.”
“Is that all you can do? Shoot arrows?” Nicholas said. “Like a Gamekeeper?”
“He lost his powers,” Micol cried out. She was afraid of the son of the King of Shadows, but she was also furious. For her brothers, for her parents, for all those who’d died. For herself. “They killed his mother in front of him, and it was demons like you who did it! So don’t dare speak to him like that!”
Alvise looked at Micol, surprised. Was she not supposed to hate him? “It’s okay, Micol. It doesn’t matter,” he whispered, but his eyes told a different story.
“And in case you didn’t notice, he can hit a bull’s eye with an arrow from a mile away!” Micol’s Italian accent was now stronger than ever, and her cheeks burned red, her hands crackled.
“Stop it! You’ll get yourself killed!” Alvise snapped.
“Ignore him, Alvise. Is that what happened to you?” Sean intervened. “You lost your powers?”
Alvise nodded. “Yes. Overnight.”
“And what was it? Your power?”
“Does it matter?”
Sean stroked the back of his head, as if he were making casual conversation. “So people can lose their powers . . . and maybe gain them too?”
Sarah tensed. She understood Sean’s deep, deep need to find out about his family of origin, but it disquieted her.
Sarah’s heart filled with tenderness for him. In his mind, so much depended on him having inherited powers or not. To her, Sean was just Sean, with or without Secret blood, with or without powers.
“I’m sorry . . . I have no idea. Why?” Alvise replied, tightening his quiver across his chest once more.
Sean shook his head, disappointment filling him. “Never mind.”
Sarah looked for Micol’s eyes. A part of her was hoping that saving the Italian girl’s life would have granted her forgiveness. Finally, Micol approached.
“You saved me,” she said.
“Yes.”
“Thank you,” Micol replied, looking down. Maybe, in time, she could forgive, but she would never forget.
“Micol,” said Sean, “your brother asked me to look after you. I’ll do my best, I promise.”
Micol bit her lip and didn’t reply.
“Let’s go,” Seen commanded, lifting his backpack.
Sarah didn’t usually like open displays of affection – her feelings ran too deep to be paraded for everyone to see – but she came to his side as they walked, and her fingers brushed his for a moment.
“I love you,” she murmured, so low that nobody but Sean could hear her.