Dark Heart Surrender (6 page)

He put the mug down and felt in his jacket pocket, drawing out the small plastic bag he had been hiding in there since the day before.

Pete was on his way to a supplier’s and the place was empty. Much as he liked the old man, Luca enjoyed being alone at the yard. It was peaceful. Being surrounded by equipment, tools – practical stuff – calmed him. Aside from being with Jane, just sitting with the sound of Pete’s ancient old clock for company was something Luca found he looked forward to these days.

Still holding the plastic bag in his hand, he took a breath, then carefully and efficiently opened it.

The blood had dried brown, no longer adhesive. As he touched the chain it crumbled off, speckling his leg with tiny flakes. He winced, a bad taste in his mouth again. The chain was delicate and so tainted by this dried blood. He stared at it, trying to form a picture in his head of the owner. It had to be a woman, or a girl. It looked like a celebration present, like the bracelet Ulfred and Henora had given Dalya when she’d reached her tenth year.

At the thought of his little sister Luca felt a wave of protectiveness. He closed his eyes for a second, determined not to become sentimental.

How had the necklace come to be in that stinking place?

Pete’s cat, a stringy tabby, appeared, slinking through Luca’s legs. Any minute now it would sense the animal in Luca and arch its back, hostile and threatened. But Luca was clearly losing his touch because the cat remained affectionate. Luca looked down to see two of the creature’s paws resting on his boot, its face upturned, meowing in greeting.

Luca half smiled, unsure whether to be glad or slightly offended that he was no longer considered dangerous. He reached out a finger to stroke the cat’s neck, both of them enjoying the comfort they offered each other.

Luca considered throwing the necklace in the trash and forgetting about it. There could be any number of explanations. It could be rat’s blood, anything. But that didn’t explain the bright sheen to the silver. It had to have been left there recently.

He heard the sound of the van pulling into the open yard out front, relieved that Pete was back. Quickly he dropped the necklace back in the plastic bag, stuffing it away in his pocket again.

The cat fled, knowing Pete had little patience or affection for it. Luca felt half sorry to see it go.

‘Tea still hot?’ Pete called, pushing open the door. ‘I’m parched.’

‘You were quick.’ Luca stood up.

‘Wrong day. Got five minutes down the road before I remembered.’ The old man shook his head. ‘Old age, you see, the memory starts letting you down.’

‘I’ll make more tea,’ said Luca. He went through to the tiny kitchen and put the water on to boil. He inspected the array of tea on the shelf above the hob. There was nothing resembling the ground-up leaves that Henora prepared and kept in a stone jar in the kitchen back home.

Home. Luca took a deep breath. This was his home now. This was his life.

Pete had turned the radio on low and Luca heard the soft murmur of the announcer’s voice, then some music, the kind that Pete liked: blues, quiet drums. Luca had grown to quite like it too.

‘Getting thirsty out here,’ Pete called dryly. ‘What you doing, boy? Growing a tea plantation?’

Luca smiled to himself, adding milk to Pete’s mug and leaving his own black. He carried the tea out and set it down on the table, sitting on a stool and cradling his mug between his hands.

‘Has anyone been out there – to the training ground?’ he asked, breaking the soothing silence.

Pete glanced up from some documents he was looking at.

‘Only us.’ He held eye contact with Luca. ‘Why?’

Luca hesitated. ‘I found something last time, on the ground.’

‘I imagine so,’ Pete raised an eyebrow. ‘Plenty of rusting equipment—’

‘No. It was jewellery. A chain … a necklace … a woman’s chain.’ Luca swallowed. ‘It was lying in blood.’

Pete’s eyebrows rose subtly, questioning. He didn’t speak, waiting for Luca to go on.

‘Fresh blood,’ Luca finished. He picked up his mug and drank some tea.

Pete remained silent for a few seconds longer before finally drawing in a breath and twisting his mouth to come up with a proper response. Animal,’ he said finally. ‘Must have been a wild animal. A dog, or a fox, or something.’ He sniffed, ready to drop the subject.

‘A fox?’ Luca’s memory stirred. The conversation with the Jonases the night before came back to him. ‘Of course. Yes, but …’

Pete smiled. ‘But what?’

‘I don’t understand how the blood could be fresh. There must have been someone there – nearby … The blood was sticky. Blood dries quickly, Pete.’

‘Well, it probably came from the animal. Cutting itself on some bit of sharp old metal in there. A nail … anything.’ Pete sighed. ‘Why would you think it was anything suspicious.’

Because I am trained to think like that
, Luca thought.
I see danger everywhere
.

Instead he forced himself to look sheepish, embarrassed for overreacting.

‘I don’t know. I suppose it’s that place.’ He shook his head, picking up his mug again. ‘It has that effect on me.’

‘Well, don’t let it. We have to get on with the job. We can’t be reacting like babies every time we stumble across something we don’t like the look of.’ Pete shuffled the papers in front of him into a neater pile and put them into a plastic envelope. He grimaced down at his untouched tea. ‘If I were you, I’d put more energy into making a proper cup of tea.’ With a humorous nod at Luca he got up from the table, taking his mug with him. ‘You’ll get there,’ he said over his shoulder.

Luca watched the old man disappear back out to his tiny office, then looked down at the black liquid left in his own mug. It had indeed been disgusting and left an unpleasant dry taste in his mouth. He pushed the mug away from him, putting his head in his hands. Pete’s explanation was reasonable. But it didn’t explain where the animal, or whatever it was, had found it, or why it had brought it into the hut from what must have been some distance away. No one lived for miles around the training ground; it was just a vast expanse of country lanes. Not the kind of place you went to for a walk, either. And though he knew it was stupid, Pete’s mention of foxes had sent a chill through Luca. Could it just be a coincidence that Dot had talked about the mythical fox yesterday and brought the creature back into Luca’s mind. No one he knew of had ever seen these creatures. But Ulfred had spoken of them in almost reverential tones, with a kind of respect for such a powerful animal. Luca trusted his father’s wisdom and his instincts, even though he was a long way from all the beliefs and mythology of Nissilum.

Pete came back out of his office. He was putting his jacket on; buttoning it up to the neck, he checked his watch. ‘I have to get home, son. My wife needs something doing at home – and the grandchildren are coming over later.’ He smiled. ‘They’re practically all grown up now. But they still like to visit and get spoiled by my old lady.’ He nodded at Luca. ‘Let’s call it a day. If the weather’s not against us tomorrow, we’ll be back at the grounds.’

Luca stood, relieved. Finishing early meant he’d be home before Jane. They’d get a decent evening together. ‘If that’s OK?’ he said respectfully. ‘You’re sure you don’t need me to do anything around here?’

‘No, that’s all right.’ Pete yawned. ‘You get on home to that beautiful girl of yours. Be back here in the morning.’ He picked up a bag of tools, heading for the door. ‘If you could just lock up after me?’

‘Sure.’ Luca slipped a hooded sweatshirt over his head.

‘And listen.’ Pete paused. ‘Stop filling your mind with dark thoughts.’ He stared at Luca, his eyes serious now. ‘There is such a thing as a self-fulfilling prophecy you know.’

‘W
e don’t have to stay long.’ I bent to look in my dressing-table mirror, holding up earring options to my ear. Past my reflection I glanced at Luca, sitting on the end of my bed, doing up the sleeve buttons of his crisp white shirt. Abandoning both pairs of earrings, I adjusted my dress – a tightish, black, short shift I’d bought in the charity shop in Bale a few weeks earlier. I pulled my fingers through my hair and wondered if I ought to put on more make-up. I reached down and picked up my kohl pencil.

‘You look lovely,’ Luca said behind me. ‘Simple. Beautiful.’

I turned to him, smiling. ‘You wait till you see Ashley. She’s so glamorous. I’m going to look like a regular plain Jane beside her.’

‘Never.’ His eyes travelled up and down my body and we shared a moment of mutual desire. We’d been having a lot of those moments lately. It was getting almost awkward. I smoothed down my dress with my hands, not wanting to meet his eyes all of a sudden. We had never done more than touch and kiss each other, but it was getting harder to ignore the impulses that happened when we were alone. We both wanted it, but it couldn’t happen. Not in this house. And there was a part of me that felt scared that if we finally did it, then some magic would disappear. Everything was so perfect between us. I didn’t want anything to spoil that.

It was the end of a long week at college, and we should have been looking forward to the freedom of the weekend. No work for Luca, no studies for me. Instead we were heading out on a Friday night for a double date. Neither of us looking forward to it.

I slipped on some flat ballet pumps and settled myself next to Luca on the bed. Luca had refused to dress up too smartly but had compromised on a shirt, dark-blue jeans and his black-and-white trainers. To say he looked gorgeous in his white shirt was an understatement. I never got tired of looking at his beautiful, slender face or his graceful but strong hands. The past few weeks had seen his chest grow more muscular too. Not some cheesy six-pack, but broader, more like a man’s.

‘You look lovely too, you know,’ I told him, slipping my arm through his and stroking his hand. ‘In a manly kind of way, obviously.’

He put his arm around me and at his touch I felt all tension slip away.

‘I don’t want to go either,’ I said softly, resting my head on his shoulder. ‘But we should think of this as karma. Doing something selfless for somebody else. Maybe it means that we’ll finally be left alone to do what we want.’

‘You mean no pesky vampires, or meddling wolves getting in the way?’ Luca said. ‘I hope you’re right, and that whatever “karma” is, it works.’

I forced myself to look at the clock on the wall above my door. ‘We’d better get going.’ I sighed. ‘I said we’d meet them in the diner at eight.’

‘So, this kid – he’s the one that girl Polly tried to set you up with?’

‘Her brother, yeah.’ I looked sideways at him. ‘He’s probably a bit strange, like she is.’

‘So you arranged a date with a friend of yours without knowing anything about this guy?’ Luca frowned. ‘I would never—’

‘Yes, well,’ I said, irritated. ‘We’ll be there, won’t we? If there’s anything funny about him, we’ll be there to protect Ashley.’ I knew he was right. I should never have given in to pressure from Polly. But then Luca didn’t know Polly and how persuasive she was. Or rather, how intense and intimidating.

Luca could see I was riled and, typically, he wanted to correct that. He squeezed my hand. ‘I’m sure it will be fine.’ He let go and stood up, tucking in his shirt. ‘I will want to stay till the end, though. I think we should see her home.’

‘I don’t think that’s necessary,’ I began. ‘He’ll be harmless.’

Luca gave me a long, careful look. ‘I’ll be the judge of that.’ He was smiling but he meant it. I didn’t know whether to find that reassuring or unnerving.

It seemed I could take the boy out of Nissilum, but maybe I couldn’t take Nissilum out of the boy.

Through the windows of the diner I spotted Ashley waiting in a booth. She looked pretty, but nervous, fiddling with her clutch bag. I saw her take out her phone and place it in front of her on the table. Then she adjusted her top – a black off-the-shoulder slinky thing. Her blonde hair hung in loose ringlets in a side ponytail. She looked sexy, but vulnerable too.

I caught hold of Luca’s hand. ‘I hope he’s nice,’ I said. ‘Ashley looks terrified.’

Luca peered through the window too and frowned. ‘He’s late. It doesn’t bode well.’

But as he spoke, the sound of heavy footsteps made us both turn. A boy – tall and broad-shouldered – was heading straight for us. As the street light hit him, I saw his striking dark-red hair and marble-toned complexion.

He eyed us, a flicker of recognition in his expression.

‘Jane and Luca?’ he said, holding out his hand and taking mine. ‘I’m sorry I’m late. I’m Ade.’ He smiled, a devastating smile. Boyish, cheeky. Not a hint of anything dangerous about him. He glanced through the window and spotted Ashley. ‘Oh dear.’ He turned back to us. ‘I’m already in trouble.’

‘Let’s go in,’ said Luca firmly, apparently not yet taken in by Ade’s friendliness. ‘We don’t want to keep a lady waiting, do we?’

I saw, just for a moment, Ade’s friendly expression evaporate and the look he gave Luca was sharp and threatening. I wouldn’t have been surprised to hear a low, defensive growl come out of his mouth. But, catching my eye, Ade smiled contritely.

‘I walked from home,’ he said. ‘My car is being serviced and the buses around here, they’re infrequent to say the least.’