Sovereign Hope (13 page)

Speechless
wasn’t the right word to describe what I was feeling, but it was as
far as I got. I turned a full three hundred and sixty degrees so I
could take everything in—the wide, bowing horizon that seemed to go
on forever, the small mountains in the distance, the way the sun
heated my skin and warmed me through.

Birdsong and
faint cricket chirps rose in chorus, the air abuzz with activity. I
was so used to the low hum of the generator and the drone of an
underlying electrical current by now that I had almost forgotten
those sounds existed.

It suddenly
occurred to me that inside this place, wherever it was, I wasn’t
injured. My arm was free at my side instead of being strapped up in
a sling. I rotated my shoulder, swinging my arm in circles back
over my head, enjoying the freedom of the movement.

Daniel gave me
a moment to acclimatize and stretch. He kicked the scuffed toe of
his worn black boot boyishly in the grass.

“
Is this us or him?” I asked.

He cleared his
throat and looked up at the sky. “Him. Come on. We gotta go.”

“
Huh?”

“
Aldan’s waiting for us. We need to go.” He gestured to the
trees behind him.

For a split
second I panicked about what would happen if I followed him, but I
rejected the thought. It was pointless. I was so totally out of my
depth. The only thing I could do was just roll with it and hope for
the best. Daniel’s face was determined. He was obviously ready for
an argument, but when I nodded, walking towards the trees, he
relaxed and pushed ahead to take the lead.

It took less than five minutes to reach the tree line, but I
relished every second of it, enjoying the delicious sensation of
the grass tickling underfoot. As we drew closer, I made out a
well-worn pathway cutting into the forest. Daniel headed for it so
purposefully it was obvious he must have
traveled
down it many times before. He stopped at the edge of the
forest’s perimeter to wait until I caught up.

“
His house is about five minutes down this track. Watch your
step.” With that he set off into the trees. Being left behind
wasn’t an option. He would only complain about having to wait for
me, or worse still be unbearably smug if I managed to get lost.
With that in mind, I followed him like a shadow.

We’d only
walked a couple of feet before the well-worn path became overgrown
and wild. Thick vines snaked around the huge trunks of the old
tamaracks and spruces and laced their way from tree to tree,
mapping across the pathway in a dense carpet.

“
So, you feel like revealing where you disappeared to for six
whole days?” I asked.

Daniel cast a
look over his shoulder that bordered on hostile. “Not really.”

“
Didn’t think so.”

“
Why bother asking, then, if you know I’m not going to tell
you?”

I pulled a
face at his back. “Because I hoped maybe you’d be so stunned by my
congenial attempts at conversation you’d tell me before you
realized you’d let something about yourself slip. I thought maybe
you’d gone to hang out with friends or something. You do have
friends, right?”

Daniel tensed.
“I have friends.” He fell silent for a moment and then said, “Those
faces you’re pulling are really attractive, by the way.”

I pulled my tongue back in and pouted, wondering if he had
eyes in the back of his head. “So you
were
with friends?”

“
No. I was working.”

Working meant
he was doing something Reaver-related. I sped up so that I was only
a couple of paces behind him. “Has something happened? Does Elliot
know I’m with you?”

Daniel sighed
and halted on the path. He turned to face me. “This isn’t going to
be a pleasantly quiet walk, is it?”

I shook my
head.

“
Fine. I’ll tell you what I was doing. Then you have to shut
up. Agreed?”

Instead of agreeing, I arched an eyebrow. “I
know
I’m not that
annoying. I have plenty of friends of my own who will testify to
that.”

A small smile
played at the corners of his mouth. His eyes had taken on an odd
shine that sparked the beginnings of irritation inside me. Only he
could do that with just a look. “By plenty of friends, you mean
Tessa Kennedy, right?” he said around the hint of his smile.

“
Yes, I mean Tess. Others, too.”

“
Like who?”

I scowled.
“Okay, look, if you knew any of the people at St. Jude’s, you’d
understand why I’ve stuck with one really good friend. None of the
others are worth knowing.”

This seemed to
amuse him even more. “You forget,” he said. “I’ve spent quite a lot
of time watching you. That means I’ve also had the pleasure of
spending quite a lot of time sitting in St. Jude’s parking lot.
Some of those jock guys looked like they could be quite fun. If
you’re into beating up freshmen and throwing up in swimming pools,
that is.”

“
See.”

He started
walking again. “I’m not giving you a hard time because you have a
best friend. It’s good to have someone you can trust implicitly
like that.”

“
You mean like you do?” I laughed. Somehow, I couldn’t imagine
Daniel trusting anyone even slightly, let alone
implicitly.

He ducked
under a low tree branch that blocked the path and fell into shadow
for a moment, but I could practically hear him thinking. Eventually
he spoke. “No. I learned my lesson where that was concerned.”

The tone in
his voice gave the definite impression he didn’t want to continue
with that line of conversation, but I couldn’t help myself. “So,
what? You’ve deleted your best friend from Facebook?”

“
Face what?”

I rolled my
eyes. “No point asking you if you have a Twitter account,
then.”

“
Probably not.”

He was close
to one-syllable responses again. “Okay. Forget the friend thing,” I
said, “Just tell me what you were up to while you were gone.”

Daniel splayed
his fingers up towards the canopy of the trees overhead, through
which long javelins of golden sunlight speared into the shaded
cover of the forest. “Sorry. Time’s up.”

“
What?”

Before he
could respond, I barrelled straight into his back.

“
Steady.” He turned and reached out to catch me. I took his
hand for support but let go as quickly as I could, aware of the
awkward look on his face. Skin-to-skin contact obviously wasn’t his
favorite thing. As I met his gaze, he froze and then looked
away.

“
This is it,” he said. His voice sounded hollow.

I peeked around his shoulder to see the lone, run-down timber
cottage sitting in the middle of the huge clearing beyond. Nerves
that had been momentarily distracted suddenly voiced their concern:
this was where Aldan lived. The man who had nearly killed me. One
of
them
.

The roof was
clad with slate tiles that were cracked and weathered with age, and
weeds grew in a mutinous uprising from the guttering. Dirty smoke
trailed lethargically from a single chimney. The window frames were
splintered, the paint blistered, and the cracks riddled with thick
black mildew. Everything about the place spoke of disrepair. In
truth, it looked as though it shouldn’t even be standing. The
garden, however, was a different story.

Chantilly roses dripped from the trellises attached to the
outer framework. In the flowerbeds, a riot of color ensued as
snapdragons and gerberas vied for space with snow peas, miniature
sunflowers, and tulips. It was like something out of a Brothers
Grimm
fairytale
—maybe
Little Red Riding Hood
.

But where’s
the big, bad wolf?

“
Come on,” Daniel commanded, recovered from his fleeting
unease. We set off towards the cottage, me trailing a little more
hesitantly than before. We had covered half the distance across the
clearing when the front door swung open and Aldan emerged, ducking
to clear the doorframe. His hands were deep in his pockets, and he
was wearing the same Motorhead t-shirt he had on in his
room.

When he
stepped off the porch and into the sun, his skin looked fresh and
tanned instead of sallow and covered with sickly sweat. His grey
hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail with the odd strand
blowing lightly about his face.

In spite of
his age, he was very well built. He looked strong and able.
Confident. So dissimilar to the broken version of himself. This
version of Aldan was healthy and full of life.

He caught me
studying him and flashed a wide, open grin, displaying a row of
very white, perfect teeth. Definitely wolfish. I offered a hesitant
smile in return. My pace slowed with trepidation as we neared one
another. Daniel strode out and shook Aldan’s hand but was pulled
off balance when the man drew him in for a rough embrace. He
slapped him on the back and laughed deeply as Daniel struggled out
of his grip.

Then Aldan
turned his gaze on me, and for the first time, I was no longer
afraid of him. There was a warmth and kindness that radiated from
his shining blue eyes, and I found myself trapped by the good humor
of his expression. The roadmap of lines that traced lightly around
his mouth and eyes were testimony to his broad smile, which
traveled to every part of his face. It was obvious he was genuinely
pleased to see me.

He was still
huge, though, and it was tough not to be intimidated. When he
spoke, his voice was a rich rumble that emanated from deep within
his chest.

“
It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Farley.” His accent was
like something off the BBC, though it was mixed with just enough of
a northern English twang to make him sound like he might be a bit
of a scoundrel. He offered me an enormous hand. I looked down at
it, concerned. Not wanting to seem rude, I timidly placed my own
hand in his. He pumped my arm up and down in greeting, laughing at
the look on my face.

“
What’s the matter, love?”

It took me a
second to pluck up the courage to speak. “Well, I was a little
concerned that if I touched you…” I trailed off.

His face
changed instantly, clouding over. “That’s just my defense system
against the outside world,” he said. The sparkle in his eyes
twinkled out. “I’m terribly sorry about hurting you,” he
apologized. “I don’t get many visitors, you know. Daniel and Aggie
know exactly how to let me know they’re coming to see me. These
days anyone else unlucky enough to make contact with me gets a nice
little jolt.” He finished his sentence by demonstrating a wild
shock through his body, causing a few more strands of hair to fall
loose from his ponytail.

I couldn’t
help but smile at his playacting, but it fell as soon as I saw the
look on Daniel’s face. “That’s really okay,” I told Aldan. “I know
it was an accident.” It wasn’t an outright lie. I really did
believe it now, after only a few moments of standing with him. He
really didn’t need to know that this was a recent development, and
that before I’d been convinced he’d tried to kill me.

“
She nearly died.” Daniel’s voice was quiet and strained. It
took the wind out of me. Aldan paused as he went to say something
in return and then decided against it. He rested his hand on
Daniel’s shoulder, who seemed so much smaller next to Aldan, as if
his personality and confidence was muted around this powerful
man.

“
But she didn’t,” Aldan said simply. The old man came back to
life and clapped his hands together, making us both
jump.

Daniel’s
sullen mood was confusing. It was difficult to worry about it for
too long, though. Mainly due to Aldan, who boomed, destroying the
awkward silence that had fallen over us like a suffocating blanket.
“Who wants something to eat?” he cried, setting off towards the
porch. We both stood there uncomfortably for a second before I
could bear it no longer and jogged after Aldan, abandoning Daniel
to continue staring at the floor.

Aldan’s boots
clomped up the wooden steps that led to the veranda, and he
scrubbed them off in a slow sweeping motion on the welcome mat. It
was ironic, I thought, given that he didn’t receive many guests. He
smiled at me as he did so, resting his hand on the doorjamb.

“
Well you most certainly are a fine-looking young lady,” he
teased. “I see what all this calamity is about now.” I blushed at
his compliment, unsure which calamity he was referring to. “Did you
know,” he continued, “that you and I are very distant relations?” I
shook my head. “It’s true,” he laughed. “Come in and I’ll tell you
all about it.”

He swung open
the screen door and walked through, waiting for me to enter before
allowing it to slam shut. I turned back to see Daniel still
standing where we had left him. His back was to the cottage, his
hands deep in his pockets, as he stared up at the sky at nothing in
particular.

“
I think we might just let him cool his heels out there for a
moment,” Aldan tutted, drawing me into the kitchen beyond. It
reminded me of my nana Jean’s kitchen. Even the assault of
smells—homemade bread and coffee—teased out lost, comforting
memories. The huge wooden table that dominated the room was almost
exactly the same as the one I’d played on as a child, racing my
cousin’s toy cars up and down its length and launching them off the
ends. There were a thousand marks that scarred its surface, telling
a tale of much use. I ran my hand over the smooth, worn wood,
enjoying the familiarity of its texture.