Judged Page 16

  I leave that to the guys and instead check to make sure all knives and whatever weapons they used are tucked away in the Cayenne. It’s icy cold out and, combined with the come-down from the adrenalin of the car crash and the fight, I’ve started shaking badly.

  Dante pulls me close and rubs my arms in an effort to warm me up. Aiden hauls the six guys around and dumps them in the road by their two cars. Then we climb into the Cayenne to get out of the cold and Aiden grimaces at the state of his car.

  ‘Let’s see if we can drive away from here. Otherwise, we walk.’

  The Cayenne gives a sour cough but the engine ticks over and somewhere in the distance there’s the sound of sirens. Aiden doesn’t wait. He throws the car into gear and we’re moving. He spins the wheel, makes an illegal U-turn and heads away from the two SUVs and the six men. We don’t look great, but they are much the worse for wear.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  As he drives, Aiden rummages and finds both Dante and me a chocolate bar to help with the shakes. He uncaps the energy drink he has stored in the side pocket and drinks it all in one eye-watering go. I silently eat the chocolate and stare out of the window, feeling decidedly numb and displaced. It’s usually like this after an unexpected fight. It feels as if I’m retreating into myself – until I’m no more than a tiny dot of light in a large black abyss where all sound is muted.

  Aiden’s turned the music on. I think he’s talking to Dante, but I can’t lever myself out of my bubble of silence.

  ‘… not hearing a word.’

  ‘Sorry, what?’ I blink and frown at the hand on my forearm – Dante’s hand.

  ‘Call Kyle and Marc,’ he repeats. ‘Make sure they’re safe.’ He watches me until I nod and fish around for my phone.

  ‘How did they know where to find us?’ Aiden mutters to no one in particular, his fingers drumming on the steering wheel. ‘They must have followed us from the house. They must have known they wouldn’t be able to get to us otherwise.’

  ‘It felt like an opportunistic attack, for sure,’ Dante said. ‘They weren’t prepared. No weapons, apart from the knives.’

  ‘Maybe they thought it would be easy to take us. A girl and two young guys. Didn’t think we’d put up a fight.’

  I snort. ‘They left me unguarded. Shows how little they know about us.’

  I find Kyle’s number and wait for the call to connect. It rings for far too long and my heartbeat kicks up a notch. Aiden tilts his head towards me and frowns.

  ‘Kit?’ His voice holds a note of alarm, but then there’s a fumbling noise on the other side of the line followed by muttered swearing and then Kyle’s voice: ‘Ohmygodwhaddayawant? This better be serious.’

  I sag in relief. ‘Kyle. It’s Kit.’

  ‘It’s a terrible name, for a terrible girl,’ he groans out loud. ‘A girl who should be tucked up in bed somewhere, safe and sound and not at all calling me. At all.’ There are noises in the background and I imagine him pushing himself up. ‘Kit, seriously though, what the hell? It’s stupid o’clock. I think there are laws against being phoned this time of the morning. And if there aren’t any laws, I’m going to petition the government to introduce it as a law.’

  I let him ramble because this is how he wakes up. But eventually the tirade stills.

  ‘Kyle, is Marc with you?’

  ‘Yes, why? He’s next door. Sleeping like all normal people should be doing.’

  ‘I need to talk to you both. Wake him up.’

  Something about the ridiculous time and my tone of voice must worry him, because he just says, ‘Hold on.’

  Then Marc’s there, sounding sleep deprived but awake.

  ‘Kit, what’s going on? Are you okay? You’re in a car, I can hear the engine.’

  ‘I’m with Aiden and Dante. We’ve just been attacked. We think it’s because of the Glow case. They were trying to kidnap us and they already have Connor and Shaun. Aiden’s dad was sent a picture of the guys tied up in a warehouse.’

  ‘The picture could be fake –’ this from Kyle – ‘send it on to me and I can see if there’s anything else in there.’

  ‘We’re pretty sure it’s real, Kyle,’ Aiden says. ‘But I’ll get Kit to send it anyway. You’ve got the software to analyse this type of thing. My dad has someone working on it too. He’s not heard from my brothers for two days now, so we’re pretty sure the Jericho Gang’s had them for that long at least.’

  There’s absolute silence on the phone and for a second I worry that the phone’s cut out, but no.

  ‘The Jericho Gang has your brothers?’ There is zero trace of drowsiness in Marc’s voice now. ‘Aide, do you guys know who these guys are? The stuff they’ve been doing … a mate of my dad’s is on the drug enforcement squad and they are literally chomping at the bit for an excuse to go in hard.’

  ‘We know,’ Aiden answers. ‘Marc, listen. They’ve got my brothers tied up in a way that tells me someone’s told them how to incapacitate werewolves. And it’s not just the crap you see in The Wolfman either.’

  ‘Okay, we’re both up now. I’m calling Dad. Kit, have you spoken to him at all?’

  ‘No, I wanted to make sure you guys were okay first. They’ve been watching us and tried to take us when we left the Garretts’ – around an hour ago. It makes me think they’ve found out who we all are. And as you guys are in the middle of nowhere – in a field, basically – I wanted to make sure you were okay.’

  ‘Hey, the house is practically done. We just need you to finish a few more spells over Christmas, then we’ll be moving in.’ Marc sounds inordinately proud. ‘We’re okay. Kyle’s installed cameras and alarms all over the place too so if anyone comes snooping, we’ll be alerted.’

  ‘What about the Spook?’ Kyle asks suddenly. ‘Is he, you know, okay?’

  ‘I’m fine, thanks for asking, Kyle,’ Dante mutters and ducks his head in a smile: both of us know what Kyle really means. As the only person in my family who actually knows Dante is Fae, Kyle was trying to check nothing weird had happened with Dante. ‘We kicked ass. They didn’t expect that.’ There’s appreciative laughter from Kyle, and I suddenly miss my family very much.

  ‘Where are you guys right now?’ Marc asks. ‘What’s your plan?’

  ‘Just heading back home where we can regroup and wait to get instructions from my dad,’ Aiden replies.

  ‘Okay, listen. I’m going to call my dad too. Keep your phones charged, don’t do anything stupid. Don’t try to fix this by yourselves. You need back-up. Let’s see what we can do to help.’

  We say our goodbyes and hang up. I slump in my seat and look at my watch. It’s nearer to five than four. Looking back on the past few days, it feels as if we’ve hardly managed to catch our breath, as if events have been gathering momentum. It suits me fine, to be honest. I don’t have the patience to pore over books, and action is better than inaction.

  We get to the Garretts’ Kensington mansion; the place looks untouched. Aiden sets the door alarm and passes Dante a cricket bat from the stash of sports gear near the door. I get the metal baseball bat that I used last summer during a game in Hyde Park. It’s nicely balanced. With my sword upstairs this will do nicely.

  We check the rooms, working as a team. All four floors. I swap the bat for my sword in my room and immediately feel a hundred per cent better. Nothing is out of place and there’s no sign of any intruders. I go back to my room and change into track pants, sleep socks and a baggy long-sleeved T-shirt. I scrub my hands and face and vow to shower before bed. Right now there was thinking to do and things to be puzzled out.

  Back in the kitchen I start the coffee machine and put the kettle on for Dante’s tea. I rummage around and find the box of Cheerios Dante thinks he’s managed to hide away, but my search and destroy skills are impressive. I’m munching on a bowl of them by the time they’re both back downstairs.

  We settle down to watch the news. There are power outages in Scotland and along the east coast, with power companies
unable to give any explanation. Not even the increased demand for heating could be blamed. Tied with this is a warning of heavy snow hitting the British Isles in the next week. The news and weather reports show thick cloud and dropping temperatures across Eastern Europe, the rest of Europe and our set of islands. There are low temperatures recorded in the southern hemisphere too, where it’s supposedly summer. There are photos of Canada, Alaska and parts of North America already swathed in several feet of snow. Not that unusual, to be sure, but even the locals seem alarmed by the amount of snow that’s been falling. There are reports of similar power outages along the eastern seaboard in the States.

  ‘Remember when we discussed the idea of Fimbulvinter last year when we were trying to sort out Thorn and the mess in Alba?’ Aiden asks. ‘What if Olga’s appearance as a dragon had a knock-on effect? And what if the weather we’re seeing now is all still a cumulative result of everything that happened last year?’

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  ‘Wait a minute.’ Dante holds up a hand and scowls at us both. ‘It’s funny because I think you mentioned Fimbulvinter and you were serious about it. You do know it’s just a …’ Dante’s brain catches up with what he’s saying and the implication makes his voice drift off. ‘It’s not just myth and legend, is it?’

  ‘Werewolf,’ Aiden says, indicating himself, ‘creature from mythology.’

  ‘Human monster-hunter who uses magic,’ I say, and then, pointing at Dante, I declaim, ‘Faerie changeling left behind in the human world and glamoured to look human. Oh, who also has horns – and magic when he remembers to use it.’

  Dante’s eyes close and he exhales heavily. ‘Okay, so we are talking about the actual winter that precedes the actual end of the world – which could be a real thing that’s happening right now?’

  ‘Ragnarok, baby. Bring your weapons.’ Aiden’s smile doesn’t meet his eyes and he looks sombre as he stares up at the TV screen showing the ominously shifting weather patterns. ‘If the Veil really is as frayed as Thorn thinks it is, then anything is possible.’

  ‘But don’t the legends say that the Fimbulvinter is about three consecutive winters, with no summer?’ I respond. ‘Our last summer was really hot – so it can’t be related to what we went through last year.’ I push my cereal bowl away. ‘I can’t shake the feeling that we’re missing something.’

  ‘Explain.’

  ‘Okay. There’s all this disjointed stuff going on. It started off with the kids being stolen.’

  ‘No, it didn’t. It started when you met Thorn in the forest.’

  I blink at Aiden in surprise and nod, because he’s right. ‘It started when I met a faerie prince in the forest. And it went sideways from there, I think. There were monstrous Elder Gods two siblings tried to bring back with the help of the High King of Alba’s banished brother, Eadric. But we stopped them. We saved the prince and stopped an attempted coup. And instead of being used to break the world, the prince becomes the guardian of the realms. For months things tick over, and we hear nothing from him. I have some weird dreams but, you know, that’s just me. Then I meet Dante and we’re asked to help figure out who is snatching children from a Brixton estate.’

  ‘We then find the child thief …’ Dante supplies.

  ‘And we meet his boss, who is …’

  I nod at Aiden and continue, ‘A person whose family worked for the Elder Gods back in the day, and is still looking after one of them; a goddess who lives off the energy from stolen human children. And because of her, the mystical Veil that separates the human world from faerie is still intact. But she’s dying, we’ve been told. Her grasp on holding the Veil together is slipping and we don’t know how to stop it.’

  ‘Then we have the faerie drug, Glow, that’s cropped up out of the blue,’ Aiden adds.

  ‘Is the Glow involved in all of this? With the Veil, with the goddess, with Thorn?’ I wonder.

  ‘Or is it a distraction, maybe? A move by the enemy to divert us from what’s really going on?’

  ‘Like what?’ I question Aiden and then suddenly I go ice cold. What is their endgame for the Glow? Mar had said. And why indeed would someone want to get humans addicted to faerie drugs?

  ‘The incident in Hyde Park,’ Dante offers. ‘Was it Glow-related? Our attackers were Fae …’

  ‘What if they’re trying to remove us? What if they’re planning something really big and they want us out of the way?’

  ‘Also consider the attack this morning. With no other players, we can be pretty sure they’re guys from the Jericho Gang. And why have the gang taken the wolves? It’s all points to Glow and yet …’

  We stare at one another. ‘Look, I’d love to be this vainglorious and think the scariest drug lord in the UK is trying to take us all out, as we may be an obstacle to him and his dastardly ways. But no, I don’t think so.’ I grin but neither of the two guys is smiling. In fact, they’re both looking far too serious, as if I’d hit some serious nerve. ‘Come on. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve heard. Really? We worry this guy so much he’s sending his bullyboys after us? Shouldn’t he be worried about spies and cops trying to arrest him?’

  ‘They definitely weren’t there to invite us to tea with the queen,’ Aiden points out and he looks a little flushed. ‘And they do have my brothers. Why else would they kidnap them? And send photos to my dad if they’re not asking for a ransom? They’re definitely making a move against us.’

  ‘But are we sure the guys who came after us were part of the Jericho Gang?’ I counter. ‘We didn’t stick around to chat to them.’

  ‘Those guys were with my brothers.’

  My eyes widen. Aiden’s voice has taken on the low rumble I recognize only too well. That’s the sound of him working himself up into punching things. I’ve been with him in the past, at a nightclub, when a guy slapped his girlfriend for accidentally spilling his drink. Aiden had sounded exactly like this, talking to the guy, telling him to back off.

  ‘I could smell Connor and Shaun on them.’

  ‘We should have brought them back with us,’ Dante said, ‘asked them.’

  ‘Tortured them, you mean,’ I say, and I frown, my gaze drifting to Aiden. He’s looking progressively tenser.

  ‘No, he’s right. We should have stayed, talked to them, maybe brought them here instead. They would have given up what they knew.’

  ‘Leo said that none of them ever spoke to the cops. Why would you think they’d come clean to you?’

  ‘I would have made them.’ The way he says it makes my heart race – so matter-of-fact, but with a fixed stare and eyes that seem to almost spark, appearing unnaturally blue around the iris.

  ‘Aide, come on. Now’s not the best time to freak out, okay?’ I hunker down in front of him. ‘Come on, show me your eyes. Snap out of this weirdness.’

  Dante watches, worried. He must feel the low sounds coming out of Aiden as they’re sitting so close. I admire Dante’s projected calm because I can practically feel my heart thundering against my ribs.

  ‘Kit …’ Aiden puts his hands on mine and they’re trembling slightly, but he keeps his eyes downcast. ‘I think I need to be alone right now.’

  ‘Aide. Your eyes. Show them to me.’

  His hands flex above mine and I swallow audibly in the very quiet room. If he decides to go feral, there is no way I can stop him. Dante maybe can, if he completely drops his glamour and goes full-on siren on Aiden, but it isn’t a scenario I’d like to be around to witness.

  ‘Kit, please. Go. Take Dante with you.’

  ‘I can’t. You’ll freak out and do something dumb.’ And the words sound harsh even to me, and I grimace. ‘It’s best if you … just try to calm down, okay?’ I say. ‘We’re going to get Shaun and Connor back. There’s something these guys want from your family, and we just have to wait for them to tell us what that is.’

  ‘Kit, stop talking.’ Aiden hunches forward so that he’s almost completely bent over. His voice is agonized, as if he’s in rea
l pain, and I know he must be fighting his shift with everything in him. ‘Just go …’ The growl reverberates through me.

  I stand slowly and stare at Dante, who’s deep in thought. Everything in me tells me I should turn around and walk out of that room and take Dante with me. But then I also know how much Aiden must be hurting. How scared he is. I just can’t leave my best friend and make a run for it. This is not how we do things.

  ‘I’m sorry.’ Dante’s words take us both by surprise and we turn to look at him. For that brief second I see the very ice blue of Aiden’s eyes, and those are the eyes I was scared of seeing. Those are the eyes of someone who’s barely holding on to themselves.

  ‘What for?’ Aiden rasps.

  ‘For this.’ As he speaks, Dante leans into Aiden’s personal space, pressing a soft slow kiss onto Aiden’s mouth. It’s like time slows down as they kiss, then speeds up again when Dante cocks his arm back and punches Aiden on the arm. His fist hits Aiden’s bicep and it sounds painful and sharp. Aiden manages a shocked gasp before pulling away abruptly, looking as if he’s not sure if he wants to clutch his arm, rub his lips or punch Dante back.

  ‘What the hell, Dante?’ he gasps, leaning away from the older boy. I’ve never seen Aiden this badly shaken up and right now he looks like he’s been pole-axed. But the electric-blue eyes are gone and he looks far less feral than before; merely stunned.

  ‘And he’s back.’ Dante grins in shocked triumph. ‘Well, that worked in unexpected ways.’