Sovereign Hope (26 page)

“
Yes.”

“
Did you read mine?”

Agatha gave me
a tired look and pursed her lips. Of course they had. “I’m sorry we
invaded your privacy. But whatever we’ve done has been to stop your
father and to protect you.”

“
And what have you been doing to protect my friend?” My words
were as sharp as a blade. They had known all this time that Oliver
was one of them, that he could hurt Tess at any moment. Why hadn’t
they taken her, too? Why was it me trapped with them in this stupid
hangar and not Tess?

“
Haven’t you noticed how often Daniel is gone? He spends all
of his time watching over Tess. We’ve also got friends monitoring
Oliver. Nothing could have happened to her.”

A thought
dawned on me. “This is what Aldan meant when he told me you
believed Tess wouldn’t get hurt, isn’t it?”

Agatha nodded.
“Yes. And he was right, too. They would never harm her if they
thought there was a chance she was carrying Oliver’s child.”

“
His child! What, you think Tess is
pregnant?”

“
No, we don’t. We know Oliver’s guardian, the man posing as
his uncle, is preparing to move him underground, though. We’re
worried they might try and take Tess, too.”

“
That’s it, then,” I said. “I’m done rolling with the punches.
We’re going to bring her here. And once Daniel gets back, we’re all
going to sit down and work this out. My friend isn’t going to get
hurt and neither is he, no matter how badly he has his heart set on
it.”

If Agatha was
surprised by my rapid change in attitude, she hid it well. She
grinned. “No problems, boss.”

I stood up and started for the door. Sitting around wasn’t an
option. If I did, the fear would creep up on me and I would
be
paralyzed
by the weight of
it.

“
Hey,” Agatha called after me. “They’re probably watching
Oliver. We should wait for Daniel.”

The look I
shot over my shoulder was fierce. There was no way I was waiting
for him. Agatha sucked the air through her teeth. “Okay. This is a
really bad idea and he’ll be incredibly mad if I let you get
killed, or worse, let them get hold of you. Here.” She unlocked the
top drawer to her desk and pulled out a handgun. It was comically
huge in her tiny hands. She passed it over handle first—a Berretta
M9, heavy, cold and powerful. “That’s not a toy. Do you need me to
show you how to—”

I slipped the
magazine free to check if it was loaded. “What?” I feigned
innocence. “I used to go shooting with my mom.”

“
Of course you did.”

Agatha slammed
the drawer shut and suddenly we were moving. I fumbled for a
moment, not sure where to put the gun. When I caught Agatha giving
me a sidelong glance, I slipped it down the back of my waistband.
The last thing I needed was her changing her mind. As we rushed out
of the silo, the realization that we were hours away from
civilization made my heart sink. The energy pulsing around my body
demanded immediate action. The long car journey back to the city
would dampen my motivation for sure. Agatha saw my dejection and
grinned.

“
Don’t worry, kiddo. I drive like a maniac.”

Outside, we
scrambled over the looming dune behind the silo and were greeted by
a low, rusting metal storehouse. I’d somehow never noticed it
before. Lone track marks still disturbed the red earth leading away
from its corrugated iron door.

“
Good. He took his bike. The Charger’s a lot faster than my
car.” Agatha motioned towards a humble, beat-up blue Jetta.
Daniel’s black Charger sat shining in the dimness of the shed. A
mischievous look flashed across her face. “Hope you don’t scare
easy.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Aim for the Tires

My hands hurt. The term
white
knuckle ride
hadn’t meant much before
getting in the car with Agatha. She drove like a madwoman. I
gripped the dashboard the whole hour it took for the red dust to
turn to tarmac and the sprawling lights to break the
skyline.

I wasn’t sure what Tess would say when we showed up on her
doorstep.
I should have called
her
, I thought. My cell phone had sat
silent and un-powered the whole time I’d been with Agatha and
Daniel. The
I-didn’t-have-reception
excuse might have worked if I’d only vanished for
a couple of days, but it was closer to two weeks now. There was no
guarantee Tess would come with us even if we did find her. Sure,
she was understanding, but the fact that I disappeared without even
saying goodbye would definitely have hurt her feelings. There was
nothing to be done about it now, though.

Tess’ car was
parked in the driveway when we pulled up outside the townhouse her
parents owned, three blocks away from my own house. The proximity
of my family home brought a lump to my throat. Nothing here had
changed. I surveyed the familiar street and caught sight of a
postman I recognized pulling his cart. It felt strange and suddenly
lonely to be back.

That emotion
was only tempered by the knowledge that we were about to meet my
brother, who might or might not be incredibly dangerous. We started
down the driveway. “Is he going to be like Elliot? Will he have
powers?” I whispered. If he had powers, he could hurt Tess.

“
Not likely. He would have had to have completed his rites to
become immortal.”

“
And these rites aren’t something that could accidentally
happen without us knowing about it?”

“
Not unless he’s been on a killing spree that we missed. To
complete the rites, Oliver has to kill someone and have physical
contact with them so he can take their soul. We’ve been watching
him for a long time now. Oliver’s days mostly consist of playing
football and reading really bad horror novels, not stalking
potential victims.”

I let that
information sink in, waiting to feel better about the situation. It
didn’t happen. Agatha went ahead and rapped sharply on the front
door. We waited, both shifting impatiently.

No answer.

I picked up
the heavy door knocker and knocked three times, holding my breath
and staring at the grain in the wooden door. Another five seconds
passed before we heard movement inside. There was low giggling
behind the door before it swung open, and then Tess appeared in an
over-sized shirt and little else. A guy with dark, short hair
carefully styled into a fashionable mess stood behind her with his
arms folded around her waist. Definitely Oliver. His pale,
slate-colored eyes clouded over when he saw me. Did his face mirror
my own emotions? Recognition. Shock. Confusion. Did I know him from
somewhere?

He stiffened
and let his arms drop to his sides, uncomfortable and awkward. His
bare chest suggested the pale blue shirt Tess wore was probably
his. Agatha cleared her throat and raised her eyebrows, clearly not
impressed by what the scene would suggest.

“
Farley?” Tess managed. “What are you doing here?”

“
Can we talk for a moment?”

Tess looked
from me to Agatha and back again. “Of course.” She stepped back
from the doorway and allowed us entrance into the house. Agatha
tensed as Oliver followed behind us, clearly ready to pull her gun
on him if he tried anything.

“
Where have you
been,
Farley?” Tess’ question was sad and
exasperated.

“
I’m sorry,” I began, “I…” What was I supposed to tell her?
How did you begin a story like this? After my mom going missing and
my sporadic behavior before I disappeared, Tess would think I’d
gone nuts. “Can we talk alone?” I asked, glancing at
Oliver.

“
Um, I—”

“
It’s okay, babe,” he broke in. “I need to finish my
assignment, anyway. I’ll be upstairs if you need me.” He played a
good part of the caring boyfriend, that was for sure. He
disappeared up the stairs and Tess spun on me.

“
Are you going to tell me what’s going on? Who’s this?” She
pointed at Agatha.

I took a deep
breath and dove in. “We think Oliver could be dangerous.”

Tess recoiled,
turning purple, and began spluttering.

“
Nicely done,” Agatha quipped.

I shrugged my
shoulders. “I don’t see you doing any better.”

Agatha
accepted the challenge. “I’m a friend of Farley’s. My name is
Agatha. We found out she could be in danger and relocated her for
her own safety. We have reason to believe Oliver might be involved,
and we’d like you to come with us so we can explain
everything.”

“
Okay, I guess that was better,” I conceded, but Tess hadn’t
liked the second version any better than the first.

“
Farley, you’ve been gone for ages. I was worried sick. I get
some vague message about you needing time alone and the cops refuse
to do anything about it. They said you were a legal adult since you
turned eighteen and could do whatever the hell you pleased. This
whole time Oliver’s been the only person here for me, and now you
show up as if by magic and tell me that he’s a bad guy. No. I’m not
listening to this. You’re not being fair.”

She was right.
This whole thing was unfair. I felt hideous as I opened my mouth to
try and explain, but before I could speak the front door thudded.
“What was that?”

Agatha pulled
out her gun and wheeled around behind the door, motioning for us to
be silent. Tess’ eyes grew wide when she saw the gun. The door
thudded again. We all froze, holding our breath, waiting.

“
Miss Kennedy?” a male voice called through the door, “I heard
shouting. Is everything okay? It’s Jerry. Can you open the
door?”

I mouthed, “
Jerry?”

“
The mailman,” Tess hissed, shrugging her shoulders. “He’s
only ever spoken to me once.”

I frowned.
Something wasn’t right. “It’s almost five p.m.,” I whispered to
Agatha. She nodded, already way ahead of me. There was no way a
mailman would be doing his rounds at this time of day.

“
Miss Kennedy.” The voice came through louder this time. “Open
the door.”

“
What’s going on?” Tess whispered.

“
Don’t freak out. Agatha will handle it.”

There was
another forceful crash. Oliver tore back down the stairs, almost
stumbling in his haste.

“
Cover him, Farley!” Agatha hollered, as the door bulged and
threatened to come off its hinges. What the hell did she mean? And
then I remembered. The gun. I pulled it from my waistband
and
maneuvered
in between Tess and
Oliver, who had now reached the bottom of the stairs.

“
Whoa!” he cried, catching sight of the flashing metal in my
hands. “What’s the deal? Are you freakin’ crazy?!”

“
What are you doing?” Tess cried. She tried to yank my arm
down.

“
Trust me, okay? We’re not gonna hurt him. We have to leave.
I’ll explain everything later.”

The door
thumped again. This time the wood cracked and splintered close to
the lock. It exploded open to reveal the mailman standing there
with an ice-cold expression on his face. He saw me pointing the gun
at Oliver but didn’t notice Agatha. She seized the opportunity and
stepped back to hide behind the door.

“
I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he warned me.

Jerry
definitely fit the stereotype of a mailman: short and a little
paunchy, with very little hair. I’d seen him a hundred times over
the past six months and he’d always seemed a little shifty. But
now, with a look of murder in his eyes, he was a completely
different creature. He withdrew a small, sleek-looking blade from
his black leather belt and grinned. “You have no idea what you’re
interfering in, little girl. Put down the gun and perhaps I won’t
hurt you.”

“
What’s going on?” Oliver squeaked as Jerry crept closer
towards us, his knife glinting.

“
Hold your tongue,” Jerry hissed. “It’s no wonder they kept
you in the dark. You’re too stupid to understand
anything.”

Oliver
narrowed his eyes. “Hey! Don’t you know my uncle?”

“
Shut up!” The order rang out, bouncing off the cold marble.
Jerry stalked towards us. His intentions were clear as he lunged
forwards with his knife. He wasn’t close enough to reach me, but he
was close enough for me to catch the gleam of his blade.

“
Don’t come any closer or I’ll shoot you, I swear!”

“
I doubt that. You’re pointing your gun in the wrong direction
for starters.”

He was right,
but I didn’t want to take my aim from Oliver all the same. Jerry
snaked the blade out, darting towards Tess who yelped in fear.

“
Stay away from her!” Oliver yelled, barreling forward. His
move took me unawares. Before I could react, Oliver launched
himself at the fat man, knocking him to the ground. In a flash,
Jerry pinned him on the floor in a leg lock and shoved the knife in
his face.

Tess screamed,
trying to get past me to throw herself on top of him. The mailman
ignored us and grinned sardonically down at Oliver.

“
Your father will be sore with me for the blood, but maybe a
little nick will remind you you’re not my master yet,” he said. He
let out a hollow, dry laugh, and then plunged the knife deep into
Oliver’s shoulder. He gasped as the metal cut through his bare
skin. The blood—rivulets of crimson and scarlet—ran unchecked over
his arm and across his throat. Jerry grunted with pleasure as he
gave the knife one last dig, and then yanked it out.