The Sentinel (18 page)

I had gone full circle. The first time I had met Eli I had ran from him now I was running
for
him. I rounded a corner and chanced a quick look behind me. Lucas was still remarkably keeping up, his arms and legs a blur as he ran behind the car. Though there was no sign of Eli.

Suddenly a loud bang on the roof of the car indicated his arrival. Despite the fact that I was pushing a hundred miles per hour, Eli calmly opened the passenger door and slid into the passenger seat.

‘Pull over now.’ He was furious.

‘Stay away from me. I’m not safe to be around.’

I slammed the brakes on and skidded the car into the side of the road, I could see us heading straight for some trees and knew Eli would stop us from hitting them. He did, he grabbed the wheel and skilfully steered away from them and as the car slowed I leapt out. I stumbled on the floor as my feet hit the moving ground but soon I was running through the trees. I knew it was hopeless. Eli was so much faster than me. I had to concentrate on sliding somewhere, anywhere but here.

As I darted through the trees, I could hear the footsteps gaining on me. I quickly imagined the beach in Mexico where I had gone with Seth. I could see the white sands, the palm trees. It was dark, early hours in the morning there and the moonlight was glinting off the water. The picture was so vivid, so clear and I imagined stepping through.

Something slammed into me hard and I hit the floor with strong arms in a vice like grip around me.

I struggled for a moment but stopped when I realised I had successfully slid to Mexico and taken Eli with me. It was dark and the beach was thankfully deserted. No one to see us arrive.

Eli sat up and looked around with confusion. ‘Where the hell are we?’

I used this momentary distraction to wriggle free and run down the beach towards some palm trees. Within a second of finding my new freedom, I was suddenly grabbed and pinned against a palm tree. It wasn’t hard, Eli ensured that, but my head still banged painfully against the trunk. With the shock of this and the sudden grief of losing Seth and my Guardians finally catching up with me, with my frustration of not being able to stop it, and the complete and utter exhaustion I had felt over the last few weeks, I burst into tears.

To my absolute surprise, Eli pulled me into a hug, holding me tight against him as I ruined his shirt with my tears.

We stood like that for ages. He didn’t say anything, nor did he try to stop me. Eventually my sobs subsided and Eli pulled me down to sit next to him at the bottom of the tree, with his arm still clamped round my shoulders. He wasn’t taking any chances, but I didn’t have it in me to run anymore.

‘You can’t grow attached to us Eve.’ His voice was soft now, all traces of the anger had gone.

I looked up at him, incredulously. ‘I am attached Eli. I can’t undo that.’

‘We’re just Guardians, we’re very unimportant in the grand scheme of things.’ He picked up a handful of sand and let it trickle through his fingers. ‘We are the grains of sand, you are this great palm tree.’

I looked up into the fronds of the tree as they rustled gently in the breeze above us.

‘You’re important to me Eli, I don’t want to lose you.’

He shook his head. ‘We are sent to protect you in any way that we can. We would gladly die for you, in fact there is no greater honour than to die for you.’

‘It’s a horrifying thought that anyone would die for me, but you guys are my friends. I couldn’t bear it if any of you died whilst protecting me. I’ve already lost one family, I can’t lose another.’

‘We’re not your friends or family though Eve, not really.’

Fresh tears welled in my eyes at this and I looked down to avoid his gaze. He took my chin and pulled it back to face him.

‘You misunderstand me. We care about you a great deal. Not just because of who or what you will become, but because of who you are now, because of your compassion, kindness, your determination and courage. We love you. But we can’t be friends. If one of us gets killed, we’ll be replaced by another. That’s the way of it.’

‘How can you be so callous, won’t you miss them. Mason, Caleb, Alexandria, they’re all going to die.’

Something flickered in his eyes when I said Alexandria’s name, but it was gone a second later.

‘Yes. I never thought I would say this, but I will miss them. But my feelings towards your personal guard have no bearing on this. Whatever happens I would never put their safety above yours. You have to be alive at the end and as we’ve already seen you can’t do this alone. The Putarians, the Reapers, the bounty hunters are pulling out all the stops to see you don’t reach the end. It’s our job to make sure you do.’

I felt my jaw clench angrily. I had been made to die to save the world and the Guardians had been sent to die to save me. The Oraculum really did have a lot to answer for.

‘Then I will do everything in my power to protect you guys as fiercely as you protect me.’

‘And that’s all we can ask for.’

I leaned against him, praying it would be enough.

‘And what are we going to do about Seth?’ he asked.

And a fresh wave of panic surged through me.

‘You love him don’t you?’

‘Yes,’ I said, honestly. But it was more than that. How could I explain what he meant to me? The wind picked up slightly making the leaves rattle above us. I looked up at them. ‘To use your analogy. If I’m the palm tree, then Seth is the roots. I can’t stand without him. I need him alive. If I’m going to save the world it has to be a world worth fighting for, a world with him in. I can’t lose him.’

Eli nodded with understanding. ‘I can do something about that. Eve if you promise me you will do exactly what I say from now on, if you promise me that you will never run away from us or shut us out again then I promise you that I will keep Seth safe.’

‘I promise,’ I blurted out before I’d really thought it through. But really what was there to think about. Seth had to be kept alive.

‘Very well. When we get back you need to order Seth to stay away from you.’

‘That won’t work.’

‘When we pledged ourselves to you, we not only pledged to protect you, but to obey you. Now you can’t order Seth not to protect you; that would be like ordering him to kill you. But you can order him to stay away from you. You are the Sentinel; your orders have to be obeyed. Seth would have to do it whether he liked it or not.’

‘I could order you lot away too.’

‘You could of course, but the Oraculum would simply send you a new Personal Guard. But Seth is not part of your Guard.’

‘Seth will wriggle out of it somehow.’

‘He won’t. But you order him away from you and I’ll take care of the rest.’

Surely this was defeating the object. I needed Seth in my life. But with crystal clarity, I suddenly realised that I needed him alive more than anything. I nodded.

Eli stood up and pulled me to my feet. ‘Then let’s get back, they’re starting to worry.’

I took his hand and thinking about the church, about the blackened and broken walls, I slid us back.

I looked around, sheepishly at the concerned faces of my Guardians and friends.

‘I’m sorry. I probably should have grown out of the tantrum throwing stage a few years ago. I just… I’m scared of losing you.’

‘We are not scared of death, Eve,’ Alexandria said. ‘There is nothing to fear of dying. Death is easy.’

‘For you maybe. In the human world, death is much harder for the ones that are left behind.’

She didn’t get it. None of them did.

I turned to face Seth. I stepped forward and hugged him, burying my nose in his chest and breathing in his glorious woody smell. ‘I’m especially sorry to you.’

He pulled back and looked at me in confusion. ‘What for?’

‘For what happens next.’ I stepped back. ‘Seth, you pledged to obey my orders.’

He narrowed his eyes at me but nodded.

As I prepared to deliver my fatal blow, I felt like I was ripping out my own heart. ‘Seth I order you to stay away from me, I order you to never come near me again.’

‘What? Are you kidding? You’re ordering me, I’m your best friend and you’re giving me an order?’

‘You will obey the Sentinel’s order’s Seth, without question,’ Eli said.

Seth glared at Eli, as if he had been betrayed.

‘This is ridiculous, I’m one of your Guardians, you can’t send me away.’

‘There are loads of Guardians out there that are pledged to me, but don’t ever come near me, you can go and be one of those.’

‘Eve, no, I’m not going anywhere,’ Seth said, defensively, folding his arms across his chest.

‘You swore to obey me, so you will obey me, I order you to leave now and never come near me again.’ I growled. If I hadn’t known better, I would have sworn someone was reaching into my chest and crushing my heart. I felt horrible.

He turned to Eli in a last ditch attempt to stay. ‘Eli, tell her she can’t do this.’

‘I was the one that told her that she could. I won’t have anything near her that will compromise her safety.’

‘I would never do anything to put her in jeopardy, you know that. I’d die before I’d allow her to get hurt.’

‘And that’s the problem,’ said Eli.

Suddenly five Guardians appeared out of the air. I flinched at this unexpected tact.

Eli turned to the newcomers. ‘Seth needs to be placed under house arrest. He is not to leave his house without my permission. You will guard him with your lives.’

Seth stared at Eli in shock. ‘I’m being babysat,’ he spat in disgust.

But such was Eli’s authority, the newcomers didn’t even question it.

‘Caleb, take Seth back to his house now, ensure the Guard is in place and then come back,’ said Eli. Caleb nodded without question and moved to take Seth’s arm.

Seth turned back to me, pain etched across his face. ‘Eve please…’ he whispered.

I shook my head, and forced my voice not to betray how I felt. ‘Seth go, now.’

Seth paused, opened his mouth to speak but then changed his mind. Then he turned and walked out the church, ripping my heart out of my chest and taking it with him as he left. Caleb and Seth’s own personal guard went with him.

What had I done? I had sent away the biggest, most important part of my life. I had completely abused my position and ordered him away. I felt sick. I felt like I had been impaled, the pain was horrific.

‘Are you ok, Eve?’ Quinn asked, gently.

I nodded though nothing could be further from the truth.

‘Right, what’s next in my education?’ I said determinedly.

‘Eve, do you want to leave this for today?’ Persia asked, squeezing my hand gently.

‘No, I don’t,’ I snapped.

She nodded.

‘Sorry.’ I squeezed her hand back.

‘I’d quite like to get back home,’ said Eli. ‘Now that note has been delivered here, it’s obvious the Putarians know we’re here. We’re sitting ducks if we stay.’

Eli cocked his head slightly, waiting for me to argue. But I couldn’t, not now I had promised to do as I was told. But actually I knew he wasn’t just doing this because of the Putarians. Anything I tried with my powers today after what I had just done wouldn’t be particularly successful and it was probably safer for all of us if we called it quits.

I said my goodbyes, took Eli’s hand and slid us home. The other Guardians quickly followed, looking at me as if I was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

16. My life or his

Tick. Tick. Tick. I had sat watching the clock in the lounge for hours, willing time to stop. Every second that passed by, was another second closer to the moment when my Guardians died. Alexandria would die first, sometime tomorrow. I looked at her, sitting opposite me. She was reading calmly as if she had all the time in the world. Mason would follow in three days. My eyes flittered to him as he sat in the chair, his eyes closed, seemingly asleep or deep in meditation. I couldn’t stand it anymore, I couldn’t bear even being in the same room as them.

I stood up and Mason’s eyes snapped open.

‘I’m just getting some air,’ I muttered. But after my little attempt at ditching them today it seemed I was never going to be alone. He was immediately on his feet.

‘I’m just going into the back garden.’

Mason made to follow me.

‘Look, I know I lost some of your trust today when I ran off. But I promised Eli that I wouldn’t do it again. It’s not a promise I intend to break.’

Eli appeared in the doorway. ‘That’s right, she did. She knows what’s at stake if she does.’

Seth.

‘You have five minutes and then I want you back inside.’

I guessed after the stunt I pulled today, Eli was going to be a lot stricter than normal. I wasn’t going to lose my freedom, but I guessed I had to pick my battles. There wasn’t much point arguing over something like this.

The garden was quite long and the back was hidden from the view of the house by bushes and trees.

I hurried down the path and sat on a bench in the dark. The sky was clear, tiny stars peppering the inky blackness.

I sighed. It had been a long day and the next few days were going to be even worse. If all my Guardians, my friends, family and Seth made it to Christmas alive it would be a miracle.

A noise on the fence drew my attention. A black cat was watching me in the darkness, yellow eyes glowing eerily in the moonlight.

I held my hand out and clicked my tongue to get it to come to me. It stood, arched its back and leapt off the fence towards me.

As it moved through the air, it suddenly exploded in size. I leapt back in shock as a huge lion pounced on me, sending me sprawling on the floor.

Sharp claws ripped my clothes, tore at my skin. I screamed out as teeth dug into my arm. I punched and kicked, landing a good hit in the side of his ribs. He whimpered a bit and I wrapped my legs around him and rolled myself on top. Anger boiled in my chest as I punched the lion several times in the face. He lashed out, catching me in the arm, leaving deep, bloody ravines across my shoulder. I punched again and this time I felt something break in the lion’s cheek. He yelped and I got up and ran. But the lion wasn’t finished with me yet, with a roar he pounced on me again, banging my head heavily on the concrete path as I fell.