Chapter 66
Having met the others at the mouth of the cave, Tessa explained everything that had happened, and then led the way in, holding up the lantern she’d insisted they keep there permanently and trying to keep ahead of Bane’s frantic pace. He seemed to step into every pool of water there was. Maybe she should have brought a brighter one.
‘Oh. Is this it?’ Mick asked as they rounded the last bend, sounding somewhat disappointed. Without the mesmerising presence of the sword, the cavern was just a dank cave, shadowy and cold.
‘I know you,’ he said, trying to look at Annie and not look at her at the same time, while he was being pushed along by Bane, who refused to slow down. Tessa had grown accustomed to nakedness in this place, but she hadn’t thought to warn the policeman.
‘No you don’t,’ Lainie’s mum replied. ‘It was someone else.’
‘Annie?’ he marvelled. ‘You …’ He cut himself off—probably just in time to avoid any embarrassing references to her supposed suicide, and then seemed to fumble around for something else to say instead. ‘I remember that day like it was yesterday. My first arson investigation—’
A sharp look from Annie made him pause again, and he cleared his throat. ‘And I remember helping Har—I mean, your neighbour, bring Lucas home from his Buck’s night. Lucas kept saying that getting that drunk didn’t help, but he wouldn’t say what with. You don’t look a day older than you did then …’
Annie’s expression became haunted.
‘Sergeant,’ Noah interrupted and shook his head in warning against the touchy subject.
As the stretcher bearing Lainie’s corpse was transferred into Noah’s and Annie’s waiting hands, Tessa watched Dallmin creep into the same corner where she herself had been planning to hide before the fight. He looked terrified of Bane, and she didn’t blame him.
Without wasting any time, the grieving Guardian kissed his Cherub one last time, and then they all watched on, barely breathing, as the two remaining Cherubim disappeared eerily across the invisible border. That made the sergeant’s eyes widen.
She lost track of how long they held their vigil, waiting for news. It felt like hours but probably wasn’t. All she knew was that she would have to get back to Nathaniel pretty soon or they were both going to suffer for it. Even so, she couldn’t leave without knowing.
‘What is Bane doing now? Is he writing down this story?’ Dallmin asked her in a hushed tone. He still seemed to be trying to avoid attracting the Guardian’s attention. Bane was ignoring him anyway as he folded his finished note and then stood unmoving, with his hands limp by his sides and his eyes fixed on the unseeable world beyond. Like a Hiroshima shadow, he was an echo of a man who had once, briefly, been given hope. A bandage on his arm was seeping blood as if it was crying the tears he seemed unable to shed.
Tessa pushed aside her irritation, trying to remind herself that Dallmin hadn’t fully understood the consequences of throwing a knife at Noah. To him it was just a convenient way to stop him from fighting Jake. He’d known she would heal him. Having lived for so long with access to the Living Fruit that healed all pain, and even the memory of pain, he probably hadn’t even completely come to terms with the fact that he could harm someone else. A few weeks earlier, he would never have conceived of doing such a thing. It was as if his very genetic makeup was changing, becoming tainted, and he didn’t even understand it himself.
‘I told him to compose an imaginary letter to Lainie, so he could focus on the belief that she would wake up and read it. It was supposed to help him to hold her spirit here,’ she explained through gritted teeth. ‘I guess he decided to write it out properly. I don’t think he expects her to return. It’s his way of saying goodbye.’ She wondered how he had managed to write anything useful down with the embargo limits they all had. Perhaps there was only so much guilt a person could feel.
Dallmin dropped to his knees beside her. ‘I did this,’ he rasped. ‘It’s because of me that this has happened. I am eaten by this taint. Even more than people who have never lived in Eden. What sort of a creature am I? I can never go back. I would destroy my home! What will happen to me now?’
Taking big deep breaths, Tessa unclenched her jaw. It would help if he didn’t sound like such a whiney child. ‘It is your fault, Dallmin. Yours and Jake’s.’ Her voice was not coming out as calmly as it was supposed to. ‘You need to do whatever you can to make things right, not sulk like a baby. I’m sorry, but I can do nothing to help you right now. Please leave me alone.’ Moving to stand next to Bane, she joined her fellow Guardian as they waited for news of their charges. She tried her best to ignore Dallmin as he asked Sergeant Loxwood a whispered question and then quietly left the cave.