Dead Water (10 page)

He
pulled me down on top of him. Still inside of me, Potter held me
tight and breathed, “I want us to stay locked together like this
forever. I never want to be apart from you again,
tiger.”

“
We feel like one person,” I whispered, still trying to catch
my breath.

“
I don’t ever want that feeling to go away,” he said, stroking
a stray length of hair from my brow.

“
Nor do I,” I whispered, resting my head against his chest. But
in my head, I could still see that statue of Potter and Sophie
looking so happy together. “Hold me tight,” I said.

“
For always,” he whispered back, folding his wings over us like
a blanket.

Chapter Sixteen

Potter

“
We should get going,” I whispered in Kiera’s ear.

“
So soon?” she murmured against my chest. “I could stay here
with you like this forever.

I pulled
my wings tight about us. “Me too, but Murphy is going to be sorely
pissed if we keep him waiting much longer.”

“
I guess you’re right, but...” Kiera trailed off.

“
But what?” I whispered.

“
Once we leave here, things are going to change,” she said. “I
get the feeling that we’re coming to the end of our journey in
this
pushed
world.
I get the feeling that everyone will continue on from here, while
I’m being led down a dead end.”

“
I won’t leave you here,” I said. “If you stay, I stay. We’re
like a pair, a team. We’re like a couple of old
bookends.”

“
Not so much of the old,” Kiera grinned up at me, slapping my
stomach with the palm of her hand.

“
C’mon, we should start heading back,” I said, unfurling my
wings.

We
dressed without speaking. The glass of my blood stood on the tree
stump next to the flowers. It had gone thick and black like
treacle. I hooked it out with my finger. The congealed lump
splattered to the ground, turning the snow pink.

“
Ready?” I asked, looking over my shoulder at Kiera.

“
All set,” she smiled, pulling her coat tightly about her
slender frame.

Reaching
out, I took her hand in mine and led her back through the wooded
area and towards the field. At the treeline, I could see the row of
caravans in the distance. “C’mon,” I said, heading back across the
field towards them.

Murphy
was waiting. He stood propped against the bonnet of the car, pipe
dangling unlit from the corner of his mouth. He looked at how Kiera
now had her arm hooked through mine. Before he’d had the chance to
say anything, the campsite owner appeared from around the side of
the kiosk. He had a spanner in his hand and I guessed he had been
fixing the broken cigarette machine.

“
Found him then?” he said, looking at Kiera.

“
Huh?” Kiera asked.

“
Your friend here,” he said, nodding in Murphy’s direction,
“has just been telling me how Gabriel often wanders off and gets
himself lost.”

Cheeky bastard,
I thought, glancing
at Murphy. He simply shrugged his thickset shoulders at
me.

“
That’s right,” Kiera agreed with the campsite owner. Doing her
best to hide a smile, she looked up at me and said, “Gabriel was
lost, but I’ve found him again now.”

The
campsite owner came towards me. Then, talking as if I wasn’t there
at all, he sighed and said, “Poor fella. In the daylight, I can see
he ain’t exactly normal. He’s got that vacant look behind the eyes.
I can tell he’s not too tightly wrapped.” Then, reaching into his
trouser pocket, he produced a bar of chocolate. “Go on, son, take
it. It’s a little treat. I’m sure your social worker won’t mind me
giving it to you. It is okay if I give him some chocolate, ain’t
it?” he said, glancing at Kiera.

“
Sure,” Kiera smiled. “Take the chocolate from the nice
man,
Gabe
.”

“
You’re enjoying this aren’t you?” I growled at her. Turning to
face the campsite owner, I added, “You can stick your chocolate bar
right up your fu...”

“
We should be going,” Murphy suddenly cut in. “Gabriel is
starting to get upset again.”

“
I think you’re right,” Kiera said, guiding me by the arm
towards the car. “Say goodbye to the nice man.”

“
The nice man can go fu...” I started to say.

“
Thank you for the use of your caravans,” Murphy said, cutting
over me and approaching the man. He took hold of his hand and
pumped it up and down.

“
You’re welcome,” the owner said, glancing over Murphy’s
shoulder as Kiera shoved me onto the backseat of the car. “Perhaps
you could give this to him later, when he’s calmed down a
bit.”

“
Sure,” Murphy smiled, taking the chocolate bar. “I’m sure
he’ll love it.”

Turning,
Murphy made his way back to the car and climbed in. Kiera jumped in
next to him and slammed the door shut. Not wanting to waste another
minute, Murphy shoved the car into reverse and steered it back down
the lane and towards the road. The tyres crunched over the snow as
the car lurched left then right. The campsite owner watched us go,
then headed back towards the kiosk and the broken cigarette
machine.

“
I s’pose you two think you’re funny?” I snapped, once we were
back on the road and heading away from the campsite.

“
I’m sorry,” Kiera smiled, glancing back at me.

“
It’s like being in the company of Laurel and freaking Hardy,”
I said.

“
Oh quit your complaining,” Murphy grunted, tearing at the
chocolate bar wrapper with his teeth.

“
Hey, that was meant for me,” I said, leaning forward in my
seat and trying to grab it from Murphy.

“
It’s mine,” Murphy barked, shoving my hand away. “Besides, you
didn’t want it. If I remember rightly, you threatened to give that
poor guy some kind of rectal examination with it!”

“
Whatever,” I said, slumping back into my seat, listening to
Murphy’s jaws chomp away at the chocolate.

Kiera
looked at me, struggling hard not to laugh. “Oh come on, Mr.
Grouch,” she smiled. “I thought we were friends again?”

“
We are,” I winked at her.

“
Does that mean I’ve got to put up with you two wandering
around like a couple of loved-up teenagers again?” Murphy
groaned.

“
I thought you’d be pleased for us,” I said.

“
I am,” Murphy sighed, “But if you think I’m gonna put up with
you two listening to all that romantic crap on Kiera’s iPod, you’ve
got another think coming.”

“
We don’t listen to romantic crap,” I snapped back at
him.

“
Yeah, you do,” Murphy groaned. “So if you think I’m gonna
listen to hours and hours of freaking Barry Manilow while you two
sit and gaze into each other’s eyes, you can forget it.”

“
I’ve never listened to Barry Manilow in my life...” I
started.

“
Don’t you lie to me,” Murphy shot back, eyeing me in the
rearview mirror. “I caught you listening to that song once...what
was it called?
How am I supposed to live
without you?
That was it.”

“
That’s sung by Michael Bolton, not Barry...” I
started.

“
It’s all the same to me,” Murphy cut in. “And besides, how do
you know all this stuff? You’re meant to be some blood-sucking
creature from below ground. Instead, you spend your time wandering
around with your thumb up your arse, listening to songs written for
girls.”

Kiera
started to laugh.

“
What’s so funny?” I asked her with a frown.

“
Nothing,” she said.

And
although I knew it was me Kiera was laughing at, I didn’t care. I
was just glad to see her looking happy again. I hoped it would
last. I hoped she was wrong about being led down a dead
end.

Chapter Seventeen

Kiera

I dozed
in and out of sleep as Murphy steered the car high up into the
Cumbrian Mountains. Sensing that our journey was nearing its end, I
wanted to try and get as much rest as possible. Now that Potter and
I had made our peace, my whole being felt more at ease with itself.
Had I done the right thing by giving myself to Potter again? I
didn’t know, and somewhere deep inside of me, I no longer cared. If
what the Elders said was true, and I wouldn’t be going back with my
friends, then I wanted to love and be loved by the man who made me
happy while I still had the chance. Potter said we would stay
together. He said that was his choice to make, but I wasn’t so sure
about that.

With my
head resting against the window, I peered through my half-open eyes
and down at the landscape stretched below. The sun was setting in
the distance, and the white fields looked trapped between a thin
strip of bright gold. Streams snaked their way through narrow
gorges way below. The fresh stream water bubbled and twinkled in
the fading light. For the first time in ages, I felt an immense
sense of calmness wash over me. I closed my eyes and slept
again.

Potter
shook me gently awake. I rubbed sleep from my eyes with the backs
of my hands. It was dark outside. I peered through the windscreen,
trying to get my bearings.

“
We’re here,” Potter said in a hushed tone.

“
The Dead Waters?” I asked, my voice still sounding sleepy. I
stretched my legs straight in the foot well of the car and
yawned.

“
The forests surrounding them,” Potter said, pushing open the
back door and stepping out.

I shoved
against the door with my shoulder and climbed from the car. The
night air was cold and crisp. It pinched the end of my nose. I
looked up, the sky was black and star-shot. A full moon hung in the
sky. It was bright white, with a blue haze shimmering around it. I
couldn’t ever quite remember seeing such a full moon. It was
perfectly clear and seemed so close I could reach up and touch its
cratered surface. Murphy was standing in his carpet slippers by the
edge of what was known as the secret forest. In the moonlight, I
couldn’t help but notice how drawn and tired he looked. A length of
his silver hair had flopped over his right eye. He thumbed it away.
I remembered the story he had told me about his life and I wondered
if he was standing in the spot where he had said goodbye to Pen as
a boy. Had this been the place they’d shared their first kiss? I
wondered.

The fir
trees stretched high above us, tall and black in the night. They
grew close together like an impenetrable wall, barring our entry
into the forest. It was as if the trees were keeping the forest’s
secrets safe. The forest had plenty of them. This was the place I
had been born. My real mother, Kathy Seth, had given birth to me
here as my father had looked on in terror. The forest is where
Murphy had snatched up my body and ran to the Dead Waters – the
place he dared to try and hide my lifeless body.

With
Potter following close behind me, I approached Murphy.

“
Ready?” he asked.

“
Yes,” I nodded, taking a deep breath.

“
Let’s not waste any more time then,” Murphy said, glancing
back over his shoulder as if we might have been followed here by
someone. He grunted, faced front, and set off into the
forest.

I
grabbed his arm. He stopped, a questioning look etched on his
face.

“
Before we reach the Dead Waters, will you take me somewhere?”
I asked him.

“
Where?” he asked.

“
To the place I was born,” I whispered.

Murphy
looked into my eyes as if searching them somehow. “Okay,” he
whispered back, then set off again.

With Potter at my side, we followed Murphy as he cut his way
through the trees. There was no path, no marks or signs to lead us
in the right direction. None of us spoke. The only sound was that
of our shallow breathing. For some reason, and I couldn’t be sure
why, my stomach had tied itself into a nervous knot. It felt hard
and uncomfortable. Was I scared about what lay ahead? If so, why? I
had been here before. Before the world had been
pushed,
I’d been led here by Murphy –
just like now. He had come because he had made a deal with the
wolves – but they had set him a trap. My brother Jack had trapped
him. Why had Murphy always been so ready to trust the Lycanthrope,
whereas Potter had always hated them? Was it because Murphy had
loved a wolf? Was it because I was a half and half? Perhaps he had
always been so willing to trust the Lycanthrope because he needed
to. It, in some way, justified the choices he had made in the past
when it had come to certain Lycanthrope in his life – half and
half’s like me, or full-bloodied Lycanthrope like his beloved Pen?
I couldn’t be sure.

We had
been walking sometime in the light of the moon that cut between the
branches of the trees in thin silver slices, when Murphy suddenly
stopped. He looked at me and said in a whispered voice, “This is
the place, Kiera. This is where you were born.”