Divided Souls (2 page)

‘Yes, you’re right. It’s stunning.’

Cassie had never seen a skyline quite like it – though that was hardly surprising, since she’d only begun to be introduced to the exotic cities of the world less than a year ago. Until then, her life had alternated between unsuccessful foster homes and Cranlake Crescent care home. Thank God
that
was all over.

Another shot of guilt. Cassie gulped and tightened her fingers on the rail. Cranlake Crescent wasn’t exactly the Darke Academy, but it had been home for a very long time, and it hadn’t
all
been bad. There had been her mates, and the younger kids who looked up to her – and, of course, there had been Patrick Malone. Her friend, her mentor, her key worker. Kind, supportive Patrick.

Patrick, who betrayed her by sending her to the Darke Academy without bothering to mention its terrible secret …

She shook herself. Going over and over that shocking discovery from last term didn’t help – finding out that Patrick had known about the dark spirits of the Academy, known that they inhabited some students and fed on others. He had
known
the danger he was sending her into. But still he’d sent her.

It was hard to forgive him but, despite all that had happened, over the holidays Cassie had been willing herself to do just that. He was her link to the past, the closest thing to family she’d ever known. She missed him, damn it. The problem was, she didn’t know where to start. She’d cut him off dead last term, telling him that she never wanted to see him again. That was why she hadn’t been able to return to Cranlake Crescent for the Easter holidays: she hadn’t known if she could face seeing Patrick. So when Isabella had extended her holiday invitation, Cassie had nearly bitten her hand off.

Bitten the hand that fed her …

No. She’d
jumped at the chance
. That was a better way of putting it. And sailing the Mediterranean on board Isabella’s father’s luxury yacht, from one exotic ancient port to another, was certainly no penance. Still, seeing Isabella with her family, so close and loving, had pierced her in a vulnerable spot. She needed to reconcile with what passed for her own family, she realised. She needed Patrick.

Cassie tugged her phone from her pocket. Biting her lip, she scrolled down to his name. Go on, she thought. No time like the present. Just a quick text. Nothing too effusive …

Taking a deep breath, she thumbed a few buttons.

Hey. Howz it going?

She pressed send before she could think twice, then shoved the phone back in her pocket. After what felt like for ever, but was probably only about seven or eight minutes, it vibrated and bleeped. Nervously, she checked the reply.

From: Patrick
Malone

Cassie. So happy to hear from u. Are you ok? We all miss u.

Cassie smiled sadly. She could tell he was still a little wary, and she wasn’t surprised. She hadn’t exactly given him much reason to hope she’d be in touch again any time soon. She quickly ran her fingers over the buttons.

I miss you guys too. Sorry I’ve been out of touch.

Another brief pause, then her phone vibrated again.

I understand. Cassie, cld I come 2 see u? No pressure, but I have a few days off due. Can I come out there?

She couldn’t help her grin as she texted back.

Yes! I’d like that. Email me with details. X

God, it would be good to make up …

Cassie’s grin was still in place as she glanced up towards the sun deck where Isabella’s mother was already sunbathing, engrossed in a paperback. Although they weren’t her family, the Carusos were the kindest, most generous people she could have hoped to meet. Well, they would be: Isabella must have got her nature from somewhere. Despite the stealth that was necessary so she could feed on Isabella – and she felt terrible about deceiving her friend’s parents – Cassie had felt at home from day one, and she was going to miss them. She was going to miss the sea, and the long idle days, and the
Mistral Dancer
itself.

But still.
Istanbul!

She didn’t know where to look as she gazed towards the land looming towards them – at the fine villas and mosques and the little villages on the Asian shore, or at the magnificent domes and minarets against the blue European sky on the other side. She was almost tempted simply to dive off the boat and swim ashore, so eager was she to investigate the ancient city. And she
could
do it. She wasn’t about to drown, not with the power of the spirit inside her, not now that she’d finally settled into a pattern of regular feedings over the holidays.

Thanks to Isabella, Cassie’s spirit hadn’t gone hungry. She had stopped trying to deny Estelle’s needs, in contrast with her denial at the start of the previous term. Well, all except Estelle’s biggest request – to allow the divided parts of her spirit to reunite inside Cassie, as they had done momentarily during that horrible night last term …

Cassie shook the memory free from her mind. She wasn’t going to think about all that now. Things had finally settled down – even Estelle seemed to have accepted Cassie’s adamant refusal to let her be ‘whole’. For now at least, she seemed content with the way things were. With a surreptitious glance at Isabella, Cassie felt a surge of gratitude and affection. Where would she be without Isabella’s generous offer, of her own free and spontaneous will, to be Cassie’s life-source? It didn’t bear thinking about.

And yet here was Isabella looking so miserable, lost without her Jake. Their passionate, fleeting romance had ended with Isabella’s agreement to allow Cassie to feed on her against her boyfriend’s understandably adamant wishes. How had the three friends ended up like this? Cassie thought she might burst into tears herself if she didn’t lighten the mood. She exhaled deeply.

‘So … Do you think the shopping’s any good?’ she said, smiling at her friend.

Isabella shook herself, pushing her windblown hair out of her face, the edges of her mouth turning up ever so slightly. ‘Well, I have been thinking about it a little, I must admit. We could get the Grand Bazaar out of the way early, yes? Because we must be touristy for a little while.’ Her smile broadened; she was making an effort, Cassie realised with a surge of affection. ‘And then – the boutiques! The galleries! The wonderful designers!’

‘The maths lessons …’ Cassie wagged a finger at her, and they both giggled.

‘Oh, those too, I suppose.’ Isabella linked an arm through Cassie’s. ‘We’ll try to make it good, won’t we?’

‘Course we will. We’re going to have a brilliant term!’

‘Yes. Even if it has to be without
him
.’ A shadow of gloom crossed Isabella’s face once more. ‘Oh, Cassie, I’m sorry to be such a misery mutts. I can’t help it.’

‘Misery
guts
! And it’s OK, really. Of course you miss him.’ She nudged Isabella, trying once again to cheer her up. ‘But Jake’s safe, that’s the main thing. Much safer than he’d be if he’d come back to school, especially in his frame of mind. Look at it this way – he’s far less likely to get into trouble in New York, right? It’ll give him a chance to get some perspective on this whole idea of revenge for his sister … And more time to miss you, eh?’

‘Well,
that’s
true.’ Isabella gave a small smile, but her face soon fell again. ‘If he’s even thinking about me. But I’m worried, Cassie. I mean, he still has that strange Few knife, we’re pretty sure of it, no? And I—’

‘Sh!’ Cassie tightened her grip on her friend’s arm as she glanced nervously back towards the cockpit and saw Isabella’s father approaching.

‘Girls! You see the Academy? Over there!’

Señor Caruso came over and stood behind them, gesturing with his ever-present cigar – which Cassie had never seen him light – towards something directly in front of the
Dancer
’s elegant bow. With one last glance at her friend, Cassie looked in the direction he was indicating.

She’d expected more warning, but she’d been too busy talking and ogling the two shores of Istanbul. Now a small island lay ahead of them, so close it seemed she could reach out and touch it. Already the boat’s captain was slowing the
Dancer
, slewing it round to starboard, aligning it with a jetty where several smart launches were already moored in the sparkling water. Now that they were broadside to the island, Cassie could gaze up in awe at the building that would house the Darke Academy towering above them.

It looked ancient – far older than the Academy in Paris. Gilded carvings glittered in the morning sun, and the spires and cloisters and colonnades were intricately tiled with blue and gold mosaic accented in blood red. Cassie could see massive carved doors framed by a soaring gilded arch, and the whole thing was crowned with a huge gleaming dome. It seemed built to intimidate. What had it been: a sultan’s palace? Even Señor Caruso looked impressed. He clamped his unlit cigar between his teeth and narrowed his eyes, staring up.

‘I think you will have a good term here, ladies!’

‘And Isabella, you will try
very
hard with your mathematics, won’t you,
mija
?’ Señora Caruso injected, winking at Cassie as she came to her husband’s side. ‘I’ll miss you girls so much, both of you.’

Cassie smiled back, a little overawed as usual by the warmth as well as the sheer gorgeousness of the pair: she with her mane of dark bronze hair that was so like Isabella’s, he with his lean, polo-player’s physique and his glittering eyes. Boy, she thought, the god of genes really did smile on Isabella. Cassie’s own beauty had been mightily amplified by her induction into the Few – one perk she couldn’t complain about. Maybe this term she’d discover others. She was determined to find something positive about this whole experience …

Her roommate was already hugging her parents as the crew piled her expensive luggage – and Cassie’s two shoddy cases – into the small launch boat. Isabella’s misery over Jake seemed to be momentarily forgotten amongst the bustle and excitement of arriving at the school.

New school, new start, she thought again, and Cassie found herself looking forward to finally making her mark on the Darke Academy. Excitement rose in her as she and Isabella bade their farewells, and she her profuse thanks, with hugs all round. It seemed barely any time at all before the Carusos were waving from the yacht rail, and the launch carrying Cassie and Isabella was cutting a smooth path through the blue water to the jetty.

This island, that imposing ancient palace that was to be their school: it was all so different from what Cassie had experienced in her previous two terms at the Academy. Yet, as she and Isabella walked through walled gardens to a shaded colonnade, once more intricately tiled and gilded, Cassie recognised familiar things too. Surprisingly, she found she was glad of them. A small pool, dark and cool, its fountain splashing beads of water on to black orchids. In a niche to her left, the familiar statue of Achilles, still knocking hell out of Hector. And there were some features, too, that maybe Isabella didn’t register but Cassie certainly did – twisting mythological creatures carved around a pillar; or the embossed symbol of elaborate intertwining lines on doorways that were much like the broken Few emblem burned into her own shoulder blade.

Yes, a lot was still the same. And she was keen to prove that her relationship with Isabella hadn’t changed either from when they had first met on Cassie’s arrival at the school all that time ago. Despite everything, Cassie was determined that they could hold on to their friendship, and surely nothing could change it. Surely.

Cassie shivered when she tried to imagine how she’d have coped without her best friend. Isabella was an anchor when so much else was different.

Jake was gone. They’d been all for one and one for all – supposedly – but Isabella’s new role in Cassie’s life had been a step too far for him, especially after discovering the Few’s role in his sister’s death in Cambodia a couple of years back. But it was neither Isabella’s nor Cassie’s fault the way things had turned out. If he’d been a true friend, he wouldn’t have abandoned them. He wouldn’t have left Isabella, left the Darke Academy, hell bent on avenging Jess, at the expense of his relationship with poor Isabella and his friendship with Cassie. And yet they hadn’t heard a word from him since. Who knew what he was up to now?

Guilt twisted Cassie’s stomach again. Isabella had waited so long for Jake to fall in love with her, but as soon as he did, Cassie had, deliberately or not, managed to come between them. If the shoe had been on the other foot, Cassie had often wondered in the weeks since, would she have sacrificed love for friendship? She was almost certain she would have done the same for Isabella. Almost.

Yet there were times when her heart, her whole
body
still ached for Ranjit Singh. That couldn’t be helped. But Cassie’s own love life hadn’t been any more of a success than Isabella’s had turned out to be. It was over between Cassie and Ranjit – and her new start meant starting again without him. Estelle insisted they could live without him too; the vicious spirit that part-possessed Cassie was all for making it on their own. Ranjit had betrayed Cassie, after all. Betrayed them both …

Absolutely, Cassandra, my dear! We must forge ahead
.

Halting in the passageway, Cassie stiffened. Isabella came to a halt a few steps later, and turned back quizzically.

Well, well, Cassie thought acerbically. There you are, Estelle. Back just in time to see your old pals, eh?

The spirit had been so quiet over the holidays, apparently just happy and satisfied with her regular and lively food source. Trust the old bat to reappear in time for school term.

Tut tut, Cassandra! That’s not a nice thing to call your old
friend now, is it
?

Cassie couldn’t help a wry grin playing on her lips.

‘Cassie? Are you OK?’

‘I’m fine, Isabella. Sorry.’ Cassie walked on to her friend’s side.

‘We’re here. Look!’ Isabella pointed to the wall beside a heavy carved door. There it was: the familiar plaque.