Frost Arch (36 page)

“What?” Jack said alarmed, spinning around.

“I … what?” I said defensively.

“There is a guard downstairs.” Jack said very slowly and clearly.

“Yes, he works at the gate.” I said slowly and clearly as well. I really didn’t appreciate Jack’s condescending tone.

“He is a guard.” Jack said, his ears turning pink, “You are a wanted criminal.”

“The situation seems more real when you call me that.” I sulked.

“I know you didn’t do much.” Jack sighed coming over and sitting next to me on the bed, “But you destroyed the possessions of a very important man. Then broke his nose. They’d have you hanged for less than that.”

“I hate that I’m a nobody.” I muttered.

“Not after this. Everyone will know your name.” Jack teased.

“Your attempt at making me feel better failed.”

“That’s okay. I’m still mad at you for knowing a guard of the city.”

“I don’t see the big deal. He’s all right.”

Jack’s eye twitched, “He will hear about this, you know. Eventually, when he is sober. He will know it’s you, and he will turn you in. It’s his duty.”

“I didn’t think of it like that. Maybe he won’t. He seemed quite keen on me.” I said hopefully.

Jack muttered something under his breath which I did not catch, then he heaved a sigh, “Well he knows where you are staying so we will have to relocate tomorrow morning. Everyone will see those flyers at the crack of dawn. We will have to get up before the sun does. It’s too late and suspicious to pack up and leave now.”

“You’re staying here?” I said, rather shocked. I had assumed Jack would be returning to the manor.

“Is that okay?” He asked, unsure.

“It’s fine.” I said quickly.

“I’ll sleep on the floor.” He said hurriedly.

“Oh, no, it’s okay.”

“I can go back to the manor if you want.” He said; his tone indifferent.

“I’d like you to stay.”

“I can just make a bed by the fireplace.”

“Don’t be silly.” I waved a hand, “The bed is big enough for two.”

“I guess.”

“We’re both adults.”

“We are.” He agreed with a loud gulp.

“Perfectly mature and capable of sharing a bed.” I nodded.

“I guess, there isn’t enough blankets.”

“Then it’s settled.” I clapped my hands together.

The silence that pursued was incredibly awkward. Jack cleared his throat noisily and began tapping his foot.

“Well we better get some sleep.” He said hopping up and looking around for nothing in particular, “Seeing as we will be up in a few hours.”

“Yes, yes.” I said standing also. I crossed the room rummaged through my rucksack for my night clothes. I felt Jack’s eyes upon me as I bundled the clothes into my arms.

“I’ll step out.” He said pointing to the door.

“It’s okay, there’s a screen.” I said indicating to the wooden fold-up screen in the corner of the room.

While I undressed and changed into my night clothes I heard Jack lighting the fireplace, which I quite appreciated as I was beginning to develop goose-bumps over my skin. Tonight was exceptionally cold it seemed.

When I emerged a tiny fire flickered feebly in the grate. It was quite depressing to watch the dancing flames struggling to survive. It encompassed exactly what I was feeling. Jack stood and glanced back at me, “It will have to do.” He sighed, looking back at the fire, “Your Power would come in handy right about now.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Jack waved it aside, “Focus on tomorrow. We need a plan to get Hawthorne back, so get your sleep.”

I nodded. I was terrified and had no idea about what we were going to do. It was impossible. Part of me was fighting back tears, and just wanted comforting arms, where as the other side of me just wanted to thrash out some of the anger. I ushered the emotional thoughts from my mind before Jack noticed my expression.

He was quiet for several moments before; “I’ll sleep on the floor if you want.”

I forced a smile, “No. I mean, it’s a very large bed, so we should have enough room.”

Jack frowned. My intentions were quite honourable. I was merely thinking of my freezing toes and trying to ignore the pang in my heart.

“I guess.” He muttered, turning away.

As Jack blew out the candles around the room I got into the far side of the bed. My feet felt like ice and I curled into a ball and tried to ignore it. With my eyes closed I listened to Jack lumbering around the room, and finally felt his weight pressing down the mattress as he struggled with the blankets and made himself comfortable on the other side of the bed. It was quiet for a long time and I listened to Jack’s steady breathing, becoming very self conscious of my own unsteady breath which sounded unusually loud in the quiet room.

“Ava?” Jack’s voice broke the silence after a long while.

“Mmhmm?”

It was quiet for several moments.

“What?” I said impatiently.

Silence.

Annoyed I rolled over and faced the wall, kicking Jack accidentally in the process.

“Ow.” He hissed at me.

“Sorry.” I muttered.

“Your feet are freezing.” He accused.

“I’m cold.” I sulked

“So am I.”

“You’re taking up the whole bed!” I snapped.

“I’m right on the edge!” He defended, “I’ve only got a few inches of bed left, and I haven’t got enough blanket.” He tugged at it.

“You’re hogging it all!” I tugged back.

“Now I haven’t got any.” He said sitting up to analyse the situation, “You are so irritable all the time. Why do you have to be so hot-headed?”

I sat up too, “Well maybe if you- Jack why aren’t you wearing any clothes?”

“I’m wearing pants.” He said, suddenly self-conscious and pulling the blanket up to his chin.

I huffed and flopped back down onto the pillow. Irritable, I scowled. True, I did tend to have a short fuse. Though lately I hadn’t been controlling my emotions anymore since I had lost my Power.

Jack and I sulked for several moments, avoiding any contact what so ever that might make the situation any more awkward. So much for being reasonable adults, I thought irritably. I had never shared a bed before with anyone in my entire life, let alone a boy.

Finally exhaustion from a long, tiring day took me and I was soon fast asleep, forgetting where I was and who I was sharing a bed with. I had strange, vivid dreams which didn’t make any sense what so ever, yet seemed oddly plausible while I was asleep.

I thought I was dreaming a commotion. Loud, angry voices, arguing and yelling. They got louder, but they sounded distant. One of them even sounded familiar, yet I could not make out what they were saying. It was all just noise.

The part of my brain that was still alert was trying to tell me something. It was telling me that I should wake up. But Why? This was just a dream, and I was tired. No need to wake up, foolish brain. My body felt heavy with extra weight.

Very slowly I began to wake up. I didn’t know how long I had been asleep, though it felt like a while. I was warm now, sweating in fact. Odd. A few moments later I realised that it must be the extremely early hours of the morning. It was still dark outside, but I heard noises downstairs, coming from the bar.

Jack’s breathing sounded very close. In fact, I could feel his breath cascading down my neck. I was now aware of his arm slung casually around my waist, his face buried in my hair, and his body sprawled in all different positions across the bed. I sighed and decided to let him hog the bed for now.

Before I got too caught up in the unintended intimacy I heard the yelling voices again. They were much louder now. Very angry. So it seemed they had not been part of my dream at all.

Finally I made out one line of what was being said downstairs, “-And what bloody right do you have to come storming in here, ransacking the place?” Bludvok’s booming voice carried up the stairs.

Fear gripped me.

“Jack!” I hissed, “Jack!”

“Mhh.”

“Jack, wake up!” I tried to shake him off me.

“Whassa?”

“Jack, for god sake, you need to wake up.” I pleaded.

“M’kay.” He fidgeted and smacked his lips together before attempting to sit up. He seemed to realise the proximity between us and removed his arm from around me instantly, “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about that.” I hissed, “Listen.”

“To what?”

“Shhh!”

Jack fell silent and we listened hard.

“I’m ordering you to remove yourself Bludvok, or you will be seriously injured!” An angry voice sounded.

Jack froze, his eyes wide with fear.

“They’re here.” He breathed. My heart seemed to stop. Everything went in slow motion.

Jack jumped from the bed and hurried across the pitch black room. The fire had gone out completely and we had no source of light.

Before I knew it Jack was hurling my possessions at me.

“Get your shoes on!” He hissed, “Put on the coat.” He threw them both at me and I fumbled in my rush to get ready. Fear and adrenalin pulsated through me, and I seemed to have lost my sense of sound for there was a great buzzing in my ears that drowned out everything else. Jack was talking to me, but I didn’t have a clue what he was saying. Jack hurriedly wrenched clothes upon his half naked body, stumbling several times in haste.

“They must be downstairs. More than a few, I’d assume. I’ll go down and see what’s going on, and possibly stall them. You wait here, I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t leave me!” I said panicked.

“Ava, I’ll be right back.” Jack reassured, “I just want to catch a glimpse from the landing.”

I sat on the bed, waiting with bated breath as Jack slipped through the door quietly and closed it behind him. I clutched at the bed sheets until my knuckles were white. The thought that Jack might abandon me crossed my mind, but I rendered it absurd. He would never do that. The sound of smashing glass made me jump violently and gasp.

“What do you think you are doing?” Bludvok roared angrily.

“Step aside or we will use force.” A voice full of authority sounded.

“You think you can get past me?” Bludvok laughed heartily, “Do you know what I can do?”

“I am well aware of your Power sir. Any display will be treated as a threat, and dealt with as such.”

“Get out of my pub, before I throw you out! You have no business here.”

“You are concealing wanted persons within your establishment, and you will let us through to find them.” The stranger’s voice demanded.

My body was shaking, and my mouth had gone very dry. They had come for me. They knew I was here. Jack had been right, of course … I couldn’t trust anyone. Not even a friendly face like Toby Stone.

“Where did you get that idea from? There is no one here but me.”

“We received intelligence from a very reliable source that a certain woman-”

“A reliable source?” Bludvok boomed, “You received information from a drunk. Stone is no more of a reliable source than a Human, you mongrels. He did not know what he was talking about. Probably saw the lass on the street somewhere!”

“Sir, we are going to check your premises whether you like it or not. Lads, Remove Bludvok, he is getting on my nerves.”

“Now you wait just one second! You will get your hands off me if you know what is good for you.” Bludvok growled.

I didn’t want to listen any more. What were they doing to Samuel? What kind of terrible Power’s did those men have? Come to think of it, what Power did Bludvok have?

“Stand aside!” The stranger roared. I wished Jack would come back.

The sounds that followed were extremely worrying and confusing. I found myself quite concerned about the Inn’s well-being. A great bellowing roar like an explosion shook all the walls and rattled the windows. My heart pounded wildly in my chest and I clutched at the blankets even harder. What had that noise been? Where was Jack? There was much scuffling to be heard downstairs, and several groans.

As though he had heard my thoughts Jack slipped in through the doorway. He looked panicked and I felt fear wash over me.

“What happened?” I said immediately, “Is Bludvok okay? Oh, if he is hurt because of me, I’ll … I’ll … I don’t know!”

“Calm down.” Jack whispered, “Bludvok is fine. He can look after himself.”

“What did he do?” I said with wide eyes, “That noise … my ears are ringing.”

“Let’s just say Samuel Bludvok has a very big mouth indeed. He knocked the guards onto their backsides with one yell.” While Jack spoke he rummaged around the room and began tying the bed sheets together, “His voice, it produces a kind of force, a wave of some kind which blows everything in its path out of the way. The louder the yell, the more force behind the wave.”

“How many men are down there?” I asked.

“About twenty.” Jack gritted his teeth together.