Half Bad

The Favors

I blink my eyes open. It’s still night. Gabriel is asleep near me. We’re in the forest above Mercury’s cottage. The cottage is special; I can sleep inside it, but I’ve only tried it twice. I’m too claustrophobic in there at night, though I don’t get sick. Anyway, I prefer it here in the trees. Rose sleeps in the cottage. I don’t know where Mercury sleeps, if Mercury sleeps.

The first night Gabriel said, “The cottage is the guest house. I think Mercury’s real home is far away.”

“A stone castle on top of a craggy outcrop?”

“That is more her sort of thing. I’ve seen her walking up toward the glacier. I guess there is another cut up there that leads to her real home. I’ve seen Rose go in that direction a few times as well.”

Rose is Mercury’s assistant and is in her early twenties. She is dark and curvaceous and beautiful but she is not a Black. She is a Shite—her name for White Witches—but she has been brought up by Mercury. Rose has the Gift of being a forgettable mist, according to Gabriel, which makes no sense to me, and he says it is best experienced rather than explained. Rose uses her Gift to acquire things for Mercury.

I’ve hardly spoken to Mercury. I’ve been here over a week and she hasn’t been back to the cottage since the day I arrived.

I told her that I needed her help. I explained that my seventeenth birthday was just over two weeks away. I was polite. And all I got in return was nothing.

Nothing.

Gabriel says she will see me in time.

But every day . . . nothing.

I know it’s some kind of game she’s playing. And—

“You awake?” Gabriel mumbles.

“Mmm.”

“Stop worrying about Mercury. She will give you three gifts.”

Gabriel always seems to know what I’m thinking, and I always try not to let him know he’s right.

“I’m not worrying. I was thinking about what I’ll do after I get my Gift.”

“And what will you do?”

Look for my father. If he wants to be found, I’m sure I can find him. And then I will somehow prove to him that I won’t ever kill him. But I don’t think he wants me to find him, and I don’t see how I can prove anything.

“Well?”

I haven’t told Gabriel anything more about myself: not more about the tattoos, not about my father’s vision or about the Fairborn.

I say, “I’ll develop my Gift. I don’t want to get stuck as a dog.”

“Yeah, being a fain is bad enough. And what else?”

“What makes you think there’s something else?”

“The way you go all . . . there’s an English word—mopey? Yes, I think that’s it. You are mopey sometimes.”

Mopey!

“I think you’ve got the wrong word. Thoughtful is more like it.”

“No, I think the right word is mopey.”

I shake my head. “There’s a girl I like.”

“And?”

“And it’s probably really stupid of me. She’s a White Witch.”

I’m expecting him to say it is really stupid and I’ll get killed and probably get her killed, but he doesn’t say anything.

The next morning we’re sitting on the grass by the splintered dead tree trunk in the meadow below Mercury’s cottage. The sun’s warmth seems magnified here.

“We could go for a hike,” I say, squinting up the valley.

“Okay.”

We don’t move.

“Or we could go climbing,” Gabriel suggests, and takes the long piece of grass out of his mouth but does nothing more.

We hike and climb every day.

“A swim?” he asks.

There’s a small lake, but today I don’t want to hike, climb, or swim. I want Mercury to come and tell me that she will give me three gifts.

“You know it’s only just over a week until my birthday.”

“You know, I may have said this before: ‘Stop worrying.’”

“And if I don’t get three . . .” I stop speaking as Rose has appeared from the woods below and is walking toward us, taking long, slow strides. Her thin dress clings to her curves. When she reaches us she drops on to the grass close to me.

She says, “Hi.”

“Hello, Rose.”

Rose giggles. She doesn’t seem to be the giggly type, but she does it a lot. She blushes a lot as well, and she doesn’t seem the blushing type either. It’s a bit baffling.

Rose looks at Gabriel. “You have to go to Geneva, see Pilot, assess how many Hunters there are, and report back to Mercury tonight.” That’s more the type Rose is.

She then plucks at some grass and says, “Nathan, Mercury says that she would be delighted to give you three gifts on your birthday.”

At last.

“She says it would be an honor.”

An honor!

“Will she expect some kind of payment in return? Or is the honor enough?”

“Not a payment,” Rose replies. “A favor. A mark of thanks and respect. It’s only natural to thank the giver. It’s polite.”

“And what favor does she want from me?”

Rose grins and blushes. “She wants two favors from you.”

So the honor definitely isn’t enough.

“What two favors does Mercury want?”

“She will tell you this evening.”

“Will she want the favors first? Or after the Giving?”

“She said one should be given before the ceremony.”

So one must be relatively easy, but I don’t know what it could be. I don’t have anything I can give her.

“The other is to be given afterward, as soon as you can provide it.”

“And what if I don’t ever provide it?”

Rose giggles but draws a finger across her throat.

Gabriel goes back to Geneva through the cut, and I go for a long hike to keep myself occupied. When we meet up again at the cottage in the evening, I have got myself psyched up. This is Mercury I’m going to meet. I have to be a Black Witch. I have to be the son of Marcus.

Mercury greets me formally with three kisses, but she gives them so slowly it’s as if she is inhaling me rather than kissing me. Her lips don’t touch me, but I can feel the chill off them. She says, “You always smell so good, Nathan.” Then she ignores me and asks Gabriel what he has seen in Geneva.

The Hunters seem to be using Geneva as a base, and Pilot says they are scouting the area, looking for clues, looking for the son of Marcus. Mercury seems satisfied that the cottage is far enough from them and the apartment is still safe.

After we eat she says, “You see my eyes differently, Nathan?”

“I’ve never seen eyes like yours before.” Looking into her eyes is like looking into hollowed-out sockets, completely black but with distant lightning flashing occasionally.

“You haven’t met many Blacks?”

“No.” I turn to Rose. “I’ve met White Witches, though.”

“Yes, Rose is a rare White Witch. Unusually talented and very able.”

Rose blushes on cue.

Mercury continues. “By birth Rose is a White Witch, but she is like a daughter to me now. She is at heart a true Black Witch. You, though, Nathan, are physically very much a Black Witch but I wonder about your heart. Is it that of a true Black Witch?”

“How can I judge? As I said, I haven’t met any Black Witches before.”

Mercury shudders and makes one wild laugh that sounds like an echo in a cavern. “We are a good mix here tonight.”

I lean back in my chair and look at Mercury. She is horrifically thin. But not weak, nothing about her is weak. Even her gray, almost transparent skin looks like it is bulletproof. She is thin like an iron bar, and brittle, and maybe flaking here and there, but as cold and heartless as an iron bar too. Her hair is a mass of wiry gray, black, and white in a swirling pan-scrubber pile of knots and plaits, all held up by long hairpins, which she occasionally pulls out to spin on her fingers.

She wears a long gray dress made of silk or rags, it seems, but parts of it float out when she moves or for no reason at all, as if she is underwater and they are drifting in the current.

I’d love to find out what she knows of my father, but tonight I stick to my Giving. I get it started by offering up, “Thank you for your kindness, Mercury. For looking after me, providing me with a place to stay,” as polite as polite can be.

She inclines her head a little in acceptance. Her dress dances around a little more.

“And thank you for your offer to give me three gifts.”

Again she inclines her head but as she raises it she says, “It’s your birthday soon.”

“Eight days.”

She nods.

I press on with my speech. “I would like to present you with a token, to show my gratitude. Perhaps two tokens, one before the Giving and one after?”

“That is appropriate. Yes. A small token before.”

“It would be a pleasure. Is there anything . . . ?”

Silence.

She loves playing these games.

A bit more silence before she says, “Some information.”

I wait a bit. Give her some silence back. Then finally: “Any particular information?”

“Of course.”

Mercury has her elbows on the table, her fingers rub together, and a long hairpin appears, twirling between them.

“Leave us. You two get out.” She doesn’t look at Gabriel and Rose as she gives her orders but keeps her hollowed-out stare on me. After they have gone outside the wind begins to rattle the door and the windows.

Mercury twirls her hairpin on the tip of her finger.

“The first favor is simple . . . a mere trifle. I’d like you to tell me all you know about those tattoos of yours.”

“And the other favor?”

“Slightly more difficult . . . but perhaps not for you.”

She stabs the hairpin into the table and moves it backward and forward until it comes free again.

“I can’t agree unless I know what the favor is.”

“There aren’t many other options open to you, Nathan.”

Mercury stabs the table again.

I fold my arms and wait.

Her mouth muscles tighten further, and then I struggle not to jump back as she lets out a wild cry, her laugh. The wind howls and Mercury leans across the table to me. Her hands raise and the pin reappears, spinning in her fingers. She speaks, and her breath is ice on my face.

“Why do you want him dead?”

I’m curious rather than angry.

Mercury leans back in her chair and looks at me, I think, though her eyes are just black chasms in her skull. “He has taken a life from me. The life of someone precious. And I intend to take a life from him. And as the only life he holds precious is his own, that is the one I will take.”

“Whose life did he take?”

“My sister. My twin sister, Mercy. He killed her, viciously. He ate her heart.”

Mercy wasn’t on the list of people my father has killed.

“I’m sorry about your sister, but killing Marcus won’t bring Mercy back. And Marcus is my father.”

“Is that a no?”

“I get the feeling that if I say yes but then fail to fulfill my obligation there will be consequences.”

“Of course. For you, your family, your friends. I detest those who break a deal. They must pay the highest price.”

“Then I think your price may be too high.”

She reaches over me with a finger and strokes the tattoo on my hand. “Your father is no hero, Nathan. He is vain and cruel and . . . if you were ever to meet him you would realize that he cares nothing for you.”

I slide my hand away and get up. I move to stand by the fireplace. “Perhaps there is something else you might accept instead.”

She surveys me. “Perhaps.” She gets up and comes to me and strokes her finger over the tattoo on my neck. “Yes, perhaps there is something else. Your services for a year.”

“Services?”

She screeches her laugh out again. “I am always in need of assistants.”

I don’t know if I can stand being with her for a week, never mind a year. I don’t like this at all, but what did I expect? I’ve nothing else to give her.

“I won’t kill people, if that’s what you want.”

She steps back and spreads her hands out a little. “Well, I understand you feel like that now.” Her dress flutters. “But in time . . . your attitude will change.” And as she says it I look in her eyes and I see Kieran on his knees in front of me, a gun in my hand. I blink and look away but I’ve already felt my finger pull the trigger.

She screeches her laugh again. “Killing is in your blood, Nathan. It’s what you are made for.”

I shake my head at her. Besides, if I’m going to kill people, I’ll choose who they are.

“Perhaps you don’t want three gifts after all.”

“I’ll work for you for a year. I won’t kill people.”

“I shall be delighted to remind you of those words in a year’s time.”

“Do. And I’ll tell you what you want to know about my tattoos on the morning of my birthday.”

A chilly gust slaps my face. “We are alone . . . now is a good time.”

“I’m sure we can find time to be alone on my birthday.”

There’s a lull, no wind, nothing but chill in the air. I wonder if she could freeze me to death—probably.

And I’m not going to tell her all I know about my tattoos and certainly not about Mr. Wallend. But I need to work out how much I can reveal to satisfy her.

She goes to the door and without turning to look at me says, “Pass a message on to Gabriel. There is another young person seeking my help. Gabriel must go to the meeting point in Geneva tomorrow.”

The Eagle and Rose

It’s a week until my seventeenth birthday. I’ve found Mercury and she will give me three gifts. Why do I not feel good?

Gabriel has gone to Geneva. He said he’d be back in the late afternoon. It’s hot. The sun is dazzling. A great day for a swim. The hike to the lake takes an hour, but I stop along the way to sit and look at the valley. I’m trying to work out what to tell Mercury about my tattoos but I’m not making any progress.

I lie back and look at the sky. The roar from the river seems loud. High above, a bird soars. It’s an eagle. A big eagle. I watch it for a long time then get up and run to the lake. I’m dizzy, almost stumbling on the path. A swim will wake me up. The lake is nothing more than a large pond really, surrounded by forest and a patch of tall grass on one side. I strip and plunge in.

I swim out a few strokes and am numb. The lake water comes from the snow melt. I roll on my back and look at the uninterrupted blue of the sky and see the eagle again, not so high now.

I watch it for a while, circling higher and higher and then dropping down lower, and then circling higher again, dropping down much lower so that I can see the individual feathers at the ends of its wings. It looks black with the sun behind it. And I sink beneath the surface and realize I’m cold inside, really cold. It’s murky underwater and there’s mud and weeds. I can see the surface above me. I can see it but it seems way above me . . . farther and farther away. I’ve stayed down too long . . . I fight back up but swallow some water.

I’m at the surface again. Water in my nose but gulping air.

“Relax.” It’s Rose. She’s behind me in the water. “Relax!”

I look up to the eagle. He’s back, low, still there hanging above me. I spread my arms out, floating.

“You’ve been in here too long. I’ll tow you in.” Rose pulls me back to the shore, rhythmically and slowly, by my hair.

By my hair!

“I don’t think that’s the right technique.”

“Stop complaining. I’ve always wanted to do this . . . to rescue someone.”

I smile and water goes in my mouth but I spit it out. I’m numb but I can feel Rose’s body with my shoulder. A small patch of warmth.

“You can stand now.”

“No, take me all the way in.”

She yanks on my hair, towing me a bit farther and then splashes a few drops of water onto my face. “I think that’s far enough.”

I find my footing in the mud and stand up. The water is below my waist.

Rose stands too. Her dress clings transparently to her curves and I have to look away.

She giggles. “Are you blushing, Nathan?”

I walk out of the water and let her guess.

I drop down on the grass on my stomach, but I’m shivering.

“You need to get dry. Can I use your T-shirt?” But she is already using it to brush the water off my back.

I wait for the comments about my scars, but she doesn’t say anything. The sun is strong still, but inside I’m bitterly cold. I shiver and can’t stop.

Rose lies with me to warm me. It’s strange, being so close to someone else. I’m sure Rose would slit my throat if Mercury told her to but Rose hasn’t been told to do that. She has been told to look after me. I roll away from her and dress.

Rose has some bread and cheese in her bag and we eat it together.

I thank her for rescuing me even though I didn’t need rescuing.

She giggles. “I only did it to make Gabriel jealous.”

“Of me?” I didn’t think Gabriel was interested in Rose.

“No.” She giggles and shakes her head.

I’ve no idea what she’s scheming.

“He would love the chance to rescue you. To show you how much . . . you know . . .” Rose giggles again. “To show you how much he loves you.”

“What?”

“He’s in love with you. Totally in love with you.”

Rose is just winding me up. “He’s my friend.”

“Totally. Desperately. Madly. And, alas, it seems, hopelessly too.”

“He’s my friend.”

“Oh, he wants to be so much more than your friend, Nathan.”

I shake my head. Gabriel is Gabriel. He likes being with me for sure. I like being with him. We climb and swim and talk. That’s what friends do, I thought.

He gave me a present a few days earlier. A knife. I take it out and look at it. It’s beautiful. A black, leather-bound handle and black plaited-leather sheath. The blade is shaped like a bowie knife. He seemed nervous about giving it to me. I could tell he really wanted me to like it. I do.

“Love is strange,” Rose says. She takes the knife and looks at it. “Gabriel would die to show you how much he loves you.”

Rose looks at her reflection in the blade.

“And who would you die for, Rose?”

“I’ve not met that person yet.” She gives me the knife back. “Have you?”

I think about it but don’t reply.

She says, “You’re like your father.”

“You’ve met Marcus?”

“Once. Ten years ago, when I was twelve. You look like him. Exactly. You sound like him. Even your silences are like his.”

“You remember that from when you were twelve?”

“He was memorable . . . and I’m not your average thick Shite.”

“No, you’re certainly not, Rose. Did you go to see Marcus or did he come to see Mercury?”

“He came to Mercury. He asked her for a favor. She refused, of course.”

“Because Marcus had killed Mercy?”

Silence. She’s letting me work it out.

“What was the favor, Rose?”

She giggles. “Maybe I’ll tell you . . . maybe not.”

She lies on her side to look at me.

“I love teasing you, Nathan. You get so wound up so quickly. It’s fun to watch.”

“Was Marcus like that? Quick to get angry?”

“I didn’t see him for more than a few minutes. He seemed quite calm to me. Mercury was rather more full of fury at the time.”

“And the favor was?”

“Can’t I drag it out a bit more . . . make you wait a little longer?”

“I’m sure you can.”

She giggles again. “The favor he asked of Mercury was that she should bring up his son. You. She refused. She doesn’t like little boys much.”

“Except in stew.”

Rose giggles again.

Mercury had said my father cares only for himself. She lies about everything. But Marcus must know that too, so . . .

“Why did he ask Mercury for her help?”

“I think she considers she made the wrong decision now. She would like to have a hold over Marcus. But at the time she was too angry about Mercy.”

“But why did he ask her?”

“He thought Mercury should help. You are related, after all.”

“Mercury is my relative?”

“Her twin sister, Mercy, was the mother of Saba.”

What?

“Marcus killed his own grandmother?”

“Not that unusual. But not something that Mercury is ever going to forgive. She loved Mercy. There can be no getting over that. Mercury might not die for the person she loved but she’ll kill for her. It makes me laugh. Black Witches are always killing their relatives, wives, lovers. Shites should just leave them to it and there’d soon be no Blacks left.”

I look up to the sky again. No eagle. Mercury is my great-great aunt . . . And my father has been watching me, watching out for me all my life.

Trusting Gabriel

I go back to the cottage and wait on the grass for Gabriel.

I’m excited about my father, pleased—elated even.

I want to tell Gabriel. But late afternoon turns into evening and then night. I forget my joy and think about Hunters. Geneva is crawling with them and Gabriel is too casual. He could easily make a mistake or be betrayed by the person he is supposed to be meeting or by one of the Half Bloods he keeps warning me about.

It’s nearly midday the following day when Gabriel appears on the cottage roof. He doesn’t smile; he looks like he hasn’t slept.

I tell him he looks terrible.

Now he smiles. “So do you.”

I leap up on to the roof and sit by him.

He says, “There’s a perfect English word for how I feel.” He flops back. “Knackered.”

“You didn’t try bumping into more Hunters?”

“No, but it got complicated. We had to make a detour . . . a serious detour. I wanted to spend the night with Pilot—she lives farther out of Geneva—but she took one look at the girl who was with me and said no. The girl’s a White Witch, as pure as they come, says she’s fleeing from the Council. But I don’t know what to believe. The girl was freaking out as well, which didn’t help. Basically it was a mess.”

“So where is the girl now?”

“In the apartment. Though I wasn’t sure about taking her there. I don’t trust her at all.” Gabriel shakes his head. “She won’t talk to me, says she will only speak to Mercury and, as you know, I can’t help her until she tells me more. She won’t. I won’t. We went round in circles for a long time. Physically and verbally.”

“It all sounds rather convenient that someone is fleeing from the Council and needs Mercury’s help when they are searching for me. Do you think she’s been sent by the Council or the Hunters?”

“I don’t know. I can’t work her out. She’s exhausted me. I need to forget her for a while and relax. I have some news from Pilot for Mercury. Then we can go for a swim.”

We wait for Mercury on the roof. I tell him what Rose told me about Marcus killing Mercy and then I tell him about the eagle. And that is when Mercury appears. She must have been listening to everything.

Mercury wants to know more about the eagle. Like me, I think she wonders if it’s Marcus.

I don’t answer but instead ask her, “Do you think Marcus watches me?”

I expect her to laugh. I feel ridiculous as soon as I say it.

She says, “He cares only for himself, Nathan. If he watches you it is for his own ends.”

And I can see that if Marcus thinks I’m going to kill him he would want to keep an eye on me. But I’m his son, his only son. And if I had a son I would watch him, and I would want to meet him too. I would want to see him in the flesh, to touch him as a child and hold him. But Marcus hasn’t ever come to see me, to hold me and—

“And you met the girl, Gabriel?”

“Yes. She’s at the apartment. I don’t trust her, but it’s the only place I could leave her. Pilot gave me another message for you. She told me that Clay was in Geneva. She said, ‘Clay has the Fairborn.’”

Mercury laughs her howl of a laugh, practically skips on to the roof, and grabs our hands. Roof tiles fly up and we seem to hover in the air on an upsurge of wind before she lowers us to the grass.

When we land Mercury strokes my cheek. “I’ve heard of a vision about the Fairborn and you, Nathan. And I think you have heard it too.” She pinches my chin and looks into my eyes. “Definitely.”

She strokes my cheek again before turning to Gabriel and saying, “It will be interesting to see how Nathan changes with that knife in his hand.”

Gabriel looks confused.

“Nathan can explain to you about the vision. And tonight we will discuss how the Fairborn can be taken from Clay and put into my—no . . . Nathan’s hands.”

We lie on the mossy bank of the small lake. We have run there, swum, and now we are letting the sun’s rays dry and warm us. But my head’s in a different place.

Gabriel says, “This morning I went to the house where Pilot said Clay was staying to check it for myself. Pilot gets things wrong sometimes. But she wasn’t wrong. Clay is there.”

“How do you know it’s him?”

Gabriel shrugs. “They have that look, don’t they? Arrogance. He’s the most arrogant of them all. The king of arrogance.”

It’s him.

“He has a girlfriend,” Gabriel says.

“You serious?” I remember his truncheon and being on the ground, trying to protect my head with my arms.

“Even more surprising . . . she’s attractive. Tall and slim and young . . . young for Clay, you know what I mean. Some women go for looks, some go for money, some go for power. She obviously goes for”—he shrugs—“arrogant old men.”

Gabriel’s trying to make me laugh, but I can’t see anything funny about Clay.

I say, “He’s not that old. He’s powerful. Has a certain position in society. He’s cunning . . . intelligent.” And brutal.

“So, a good catch for a White Witch.”

I sit up and look at the lake, the deep blue surface reflecting the sky, lime green underneath from the weeds growing in the water. It reminds me of Ellen. I tell Gabriel. “I met a Half Blood in London. She had amazing eyes. A bit like the lake, that mix of blue and green, only hers had turquoise and . . .” I run out of things to say. Clay’s eyes were like ice.

Gabriel sits up too. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve met Clay. Twice.” I remember his breath on my neck.

I want to tell Gabriel about the Fairborn and my tattoos and Celia’s training and Mary’s warning. But I don’t know what the first word is . . . where to begin. . . . Where do I start with all this stuff?

He says, “Tell me about this Half Blood. She sounds interesting.”

“She is. You’d like her. She’s smart.”

And once I start to tell him about Ellen it gets easier and I explain about Bob and Mary and then the assessments and Clay and all of it.

When I’ve finished Gabriel says, “Mary said you should trust no one. But you trusted Ellen and you’re trusting me.”

I shrug. I do trust him, though.

He leans over and hugs me. It feels a bit awkward.

Gabriel is convinced that Mercury will want to steal the Fairborn. Then she will pair me up with it and set us against Marcus. He says that if I work for her for a year she will use all her powers to manipulate me to kill Marcus. He thinks that is part of the pleasure she will have, setting me against Marcus, having power over his son. He says, “You’re right to believe in your father.”

He says he no longer wants Mercury’s help.

I remind him. “But I need her help. It’s only six days to my birthday. I need three gifts.”

“Yes, that’s a problem,” he says. “We need a plan.”

But a plan is hard to find. We agree that we need to destroy the knife, or throw it into the lake where it can never be recovered, but Mercury will be furious and out for revenge if we do that. And anyway my father may not believe what we have done. We could try to give the knife to him, but clearly this has the twin dangers of both getting it to him and giving it to him when he doesn’t trust me.

We decide to go along with any plan Mercury comes up with to steal the Fairborn as it’s better in her hands than the hands of the Hunters. We can only hope that after I have three gifts and I’m working for Mercury I will get an opportunity to destroy it. It’s not much of a plan.

That evening Mercury is in a celebratory mood. Rose has been to Geneva and is back. She tells us what she has seen: the same as Gabriel. Clay is staying in a house in the suburbs of Geneva. There are at least twenty Hunters in the area around the city, which is nothing to celebrate in my opinion. Pilot has left for Spain.

Mercury doesn’t sit, she stands and paces, but the fabric of her dress is dancing around in glee. She doesn’t seem to care how many Hunters there are. She wants the Fairborn and thinks Rose can steal it.

Gabriel says, “If Clay has it. Pilot has often been wrong.”

Rose says, “Pilot told me there’s a rota of people who guard the Fairborn. It’s Clay’s turn at the moment. Wherever he goes, the Fairborn goes.”

“Getting it from Clay isn’t going to be easy.”

“No, not easy,” Mercury agrees. “But quite within the capability of my wonderful, darling, genius Rose of a White Witch, who has the talent to take anything, however securely it is kept.”

Rose blushes and giggles.

Mercury says, “Tomorrow, Rose, you and Gabriel go to the house, find the Fairborn, and bring it to me.”

Just like that.

“And how—?” I begin.

Gabriel puts his hand on my arm. “It’s fine. We’ll be careful. Mercury is right. Rose is very good. Even Hunters are fooled by her mist. But we won’t take any chances. If the house is protected by trespass spells we won’t try. It would be impossible, even for Rose.”

Rose adds, “But Shites don’t like to use them in case fains get hurt. They wouldn’t want to kill a fain burglar. It can bring them into the limelight too much. Cleaning up after fains is a chore.”

I say, “So you’ll just walk into a house full of Hunters, pick up the knife, and walk out again.”

“They won’t see me,” Rose says.

“It’s too dangerous,” I say to Gabriel.

“You are becoming more fain than me,” he says. “We’ll be careful.”

Mercury laughs again.

“Then I’ll come too,” I say.

Mercury says, “No. You stay here.”

I curse her and she laughs. There is a clap of thunder above the cottage and hairpins spin around the room.

“And the girl?” Rose asks.

“Ah yes. The girl . . .” Mercury looks to Gabriel. “What did you say her name was?”

“Annalise. Annalise O’Brien.”

And when Gabriel says her name, it doesn’t make sense. Annalise can’t be trying to find Mercury. She can’t need Mercury’s help.

Gabriel asks me what’s wrong.

When I don’t answer he stares hard at me. “You know her?”

I don’t know what I say.

“She’s the one you . . . like?” And I can see the disgust on his face.

I say to Mercury, “I need to see her. She’s a friend.”

“How lovely.” Rose blushes.

Mercury stares at me too, her eyes flashing wildly. “A friend? Who arrives just as your birthday approaches, just as Geneva fills with Hunters?”

Mercury says to Rose, “You are going to get the Fairborn tomorrow night.” She stands to leave and goes to the door but then turns back and says to Gabriel, “Make sure Nathan doesn’t see the girl. Not yet. I need to think about her.”

To me she says, “If you go, Gabriel will pay for failing to stop you.” And then Mercury’s gone.

Rose looks from Gabriel to me and blushes, saying, “The course of true love never did run smooth.” She giggles and reaches out to hold Gabriel’s hand. “But I’m on Team Gabriel.”

Gabriel snatches his hand away from Rose and looks at me. “I knew there was something wrong all the time I was with her, Nathan. She’s a spy. She’s working for the Council.”

I shake my head. “She isn’t.”

“She’s come to capture you or spy on you or kill you. They are using her to get you.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Am I? She’s a White Witch. Pure White. I bet half her family are Hunters or Council members.”

“That doesn’t mean she’s like them.”

“Oh, of course not. She’s different.” His voice is mocking. “And she thinks you’re special, she understands you, she knows you’re not bad really, she doesn’t mind that your father is the most wanted Black Witch, she’s not interested in him, just in you. She sees the real you. The kinder, gentler you. And she swishes her blonde hair and smiles her bright smile and—”

But I’m out of there.

I run. It feels like the only good thing to do, running until I can’t run any more. I sleep in the forest, badly, even though I’m exhausted. I stay there for most of the day, walking, staring at the sky. It’s only five days until my birthday, and I feel like everything is spinning out of control. I can only imagine Annalise is here because things have got bad back at home with her family. And for her to risk coming to Mercury, it must be really bad. But she is not here for her Giving; she was seventeen in September.

Late in the afternoon I go back to the cottage. Preparations are underway for stealing the Fairborn from a house full of Hunters.

As I walk in, Gabriel continues what he’s doing, which I’m surprised to see is cleaning a gun.

“Do you know how to use that?” I ask. I can’t stop myself from sounding angry, even though I told myself not to be.

“I lived in the U.S. of A. for more than a year, didn’t I?” His voice is soft, joking.

“But have you ever actually shot anyone?”

He stops cleaning the gun and looks up at me but doesn’t answer.

And I almost see the Black Witch in him.

“Who did you kill?”

He keeps his eyes locked on mine and says, so I can only just hear, “A spy.”

“That’s your speciality, is it? Killing spies.”

“Nathan, don’t.” He starts cleaning the gun again.

“I’ve known Annalise a long time. She’s not a spy. I trust her.”

“Those are the ones they choose.”

“So that’s it? There’s nothing she can do to convince you otherwise? Everything she does will be suspicious because of who she is.”

He doesn’t reply, just carries on cleaning the gun.

“And if Mercury told you to shoot Annalise, would you do it?”

He doesn’t look up from the gun but at least he’s stopped cleaning it.

“Would you?” My voice is quiet but unsteady.

He shakes his head but looks me in the eyes as he says, “If I was certain she was betraying you I’d kill her, whether Mercury told me to or not.”

“So you’re not certain?”

“Not one hundred percent. But Nathan, if there’s one thing I’m good at it’s reading people, and there’s something not right about her.”

“Or maybe you just want to see that, but you can’t actually find anything wrong with her, because there isn’t. Because she won’t ever betray me. Because she’s actually a good person. But you don’t want to believe that. You want her to be a spy!” And I realize I’m shouting and shaking with anger.

“Nathan. I know this is difficult for you.” He comes to me and puts his arms around me. I don’t hug him back, but I don’t hit him.

Rose appears from her bedroom, sees us, and blows me a kiss.

I swear at her and go sit in the corner.

Rose is dressed as inappropriately as ever in a long, swirly, figure-hugging gray dress a bit like Mercury’s. Her hair is immaculate, piled on her head in a sleek twisting knot. She looks like she is going to a Halloween Ball, except that her feet are bare. She shows Gabriel her hairpins, which are decorated at their ends with skulls. Small black skulls are for picking locks of doors, small red skulls for opening safes or more complex locks, and the large white skull is . . . she blushes . . . for killing Shites.

Mercury blows in. She is smiling in her own way.

“Before you go for the Fairborn, Gabriel, I’d like you to bring Nathan’s friend to us.”

Gabriel looks uncertain.

“If she’s been sent to spy on us I want her in my hands and unable to give any warning.”

And I know she really wants Annalise in her hands so that she has another hold over me.

“When you and Rose are ready to go, bring her here. Give her no chance to do anything.”

Gabriel and Rose go through their plan. Then we eat in silence. Even Rose looks serious.

At sunset Gabriel goes on to the roof and through the cut.

I wait on the grass.

I don’t have to wait long.

Gabriel and Annalise appear, holding hands. Gabriel drops hers as if she is plagued. Annalise is sprawled across the roof, her eyes closed.

Gabriel calls to Rose and she appears, comes to me, kisses me on the cheek, steps on to the roof, over the body of Annalise and into Gabriel’s arms, but Gabriel’s eyes are on mine all the time. I hear Rose giggle as they disappear through the cut.

Annalise

Annalise and I are sitting together. Close. She always seemed so much more mature than me, but now she seems much younger. Her face has changed, become longer and thinner, even more stunning. She is dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and a pale blue jumper, but her feet are bare.

I wonder when Mercury will come. She is letting me have some time with Annalise. There will be a motive behind it.

I take Annalise’s hand in mine and ask her what happened.

She blinks and tears run down her cheeks.

“I’m in such trouble, Nathan.”

I wipe the tears with my fingertips, hardly touching her skin.

“After Kieran attacked you, he told my father about us. My father was angry, but he said I wouldn’t be punished. I just had to regain their trust. I had to do as I was told in every little detail. And I didn’t have any other options, so I tried to be good. But they never trusted me, however good I was. My father or one of my brothers was always with me if I left the house. I wasn’t allowed to see any of my old friends. I was lonely but it was bearable. But then, after my Giving, the Council asked to see me. They questioned me about you. My uncle Soul was there. He treated me like I was a traitor. I didn’t answer their questions about you, I said I’d forgotten. But it was frightening. I was summoned again that day I saw you in the Council building. Then a few nights later my uncle came to our house, and I overheard him telling my father that you had escaped and that I would have to go back for more questioning. I wasn’t sure what to do, but I knew I couldn’t face any more of it. I thought that if you’d escaped then maybe it was possible for me too. So I ran away.”

She looks into my eyes and the silver in hers twists slowly. “I thought that if I could find you . . . Well, I didn’t think much beyond that. But I wanted to find you. I’ve always wanted that. And I heard that Mercury helped White Witches for a price. The only thing I did have was money. I can’t believe that I’ve found you . . . that you really are here.”

I wipe her tears away again, this time tracing my fingers over her cheek, feeling the smoothness of her skin. She tries to smile, and reaches over to brush my hair back from my face.

“Your eyes are how I remembered them. They haven’t changed.” And her fingers are on my cheek now and before I can think about it I turn to kiss them, and then I press her hand to my mouth and kiss her palm.

She strokes her fingers over the tattoo on my hand and looks at my neck and strokes that tattoo as well. But she doesn’t ask about them. And the silver in her eyes tumbles and catches the moonlight and more tears come into her eyes.

We sit together and still Mercury doesn’t come.

“I’ll help you, Annalise. But they think you’re a spy. They don’t trust you.”

“But you do?”

“Of course.” And I hold her; she’s so fragile and shaking. “I’ll speak to Mercury . . . convince her.”

Annalise nods.

“We have to wait for her here on the roof. You mustn’t step off the roof unless you are touching Mercury.”

“Or else?”

“Gabriel told me that you fall into a deathlike sleep.”

“Gabriel doesn’t trust me. He doesn’t like me.”

“You’re a White Witch, he’s a Black—”

“Pilot wouldn’t have me in her house.”

“Mercury is more . . . business-minded.”

Annalise nods. “I heard Pilot say that Clay is in Geneva.”

And with that a warm breeze blows over us.

I wait for Mercury to appear, but she doesn’t. I think she’s hinting that she wants to know more.

“Do you know anything about a special knife called the Fairborn?” I ask her. “I think Clay may have it.”

Annalise frowns. “Yes, I’ve heard my father talking about it with Kieran. It’s important, but I don’t know why. Different people take turns to look after it. Only those most trusted by the Council. My father had it for a time last year. My uncle has had it too, and Clay is also one of the ones who guard it.”

Annalise grips my hand; hers is damp now. “You’re not thinking of trying to get the knife, are you?” She turns to look at my face.

I shrug.

“It would be madness. There will be Hunters everywhere.”

“If someone was . . . invisible, say, and could sneak into Clay’s headquarters.”

Annalise shakes her head. “There will be trespass spells to protect the building.”

“Like the one on the roof here?”

“Yes, Clay will have a spell to protect the house. The spell won’t kill you; it will just make you incapable. Kieran told us a story about a fain who tried to break into a Hunter’s bunkhouse once and was found wandering around in a drunken stupor. They did things to him . . . laughed at him . . .”

“All the doors and windows will have the spell?”

“There will be one door that his Hunters use; that’s the only door that will be safe. If you use a different door or break in through a window, you’d be caught by the spell.”

The warm breeze kisses my cheek. I guess that Rose will be able to work this out.

“I’ve also heard Kieran telling Niall and Connor about other spells Hunters use. The entrance door, the one the Hunters use, will have a password spell. You say the password before you cross the threshold and the trespass spell is lifted for a short period of time. There may be different words to go in and out. I’m not really sure . . .”

The breeze has gone cold. Rose doesn’t know about these spells. Perhaps they will realize . . .

The breeze gets stronger and colder.

I stand as Mercury appears. She doesn’t look happy. The wind picks up more so that I’m pushed backward up the slope of the roof.

Annalise is on her knees, her hair blowing wildly.

“Annalise. What a charming child you are.” Mercury’s voice is cold. “Come, let us get better acquainted.”

Mercury stands on the grass near the roof and holds her hand out to Annalise. Annalise looks back at me and I try to move to her but the wind holds me back. Annalise rises and takes hold of Mercury’s fingers. But just as she steps off the roof another gust blows Annalise sideways. Her fingertips reach out but Annalise is not touching Mercury as the wind blows her on to the grass. And the wind is holding me back, holding me still, though I fight against it and I try to reach for Annalise, but it’s too late.

I can’t hear what Mercury says because I’m shouting and the wind is blasting in my ears. Annalise is lying on the ground; only her chest is moving, heaving, and her mouth is open and gasping for breath.

Mercury stands over Annalise, watching her. And I’m shouting and shouting.

And Annalise’s chest is not heaving now. She is completely still. Her eyes are open and I’m screaming at Mercury.

Mercury slides her hand down Annalise’s face, closing her eyes.

Annalise’s body is pale on the dark ground.

The wind is relentless, pummeling me as I scream curses at Mercury.

Mercury’s voice is part of the wind in my face. “You must warn Rose and Gabriel about the password spell. There is still time to help them.”

“What about Annalise?” I shout, pointing at her body.

“She’s asleep. Not dead. Return safely and I’ll wake her.”

She’s not dead. She’s not dead. Gabriel said it was a deathlike sleep.

“If she dies, Mercury . . .”

“Enough of this. Go.”

The Fairborn

Mercury has been as businesslike as ever. She has drawn a map to show me how to find Clay’s house. I’ve heard all the plans, so I know that the house is an hour’s walk from the apartment. I run it in just over twenty minutes. Assuming Rose and Gabriel didn’t dawdle, they’re over an hour ahead of me but they should still be watching the house, waiting for it to go quiet.

I have to concentrate on them, because if I don’t, all I see is Annalise’s body lying on the grass. She looked dead; her chest was still, her eyes were open.

I’m nearly there. I’ve got to concentrate.

The house is in a quiet suburb on a back road with large houses sitting in their own spacious gardens. Behind is a wooded hillside. I scout out the roads round the house and through the woods at the back.

There’s someone at the edge of the woods. His back is to me. He’s watching the house.

And all the training I did with Celia comes back to me. It’s easy, second nature, the way reading is to Gabriel. I tread slow and quiet, taking my knife in my hand. The figure begins to turn as I take my final step and grab his body, the blade at his throat. Poetry in motion.

Gabriel’s body is stiff against mine. I keep the knife pressed against his skin.

“Not good enough,” I hiss in his ear.

“Nathan? What are you doing here?”

“Where’s Rose?”

“Watching the front. What’s going on?”

“Mercury sent me. I need to tell Rose something about the spells on the house. Something useful that Annalise told me.”

He doesn’t reply, so I release him and push him away from me.

“What did she say?”

I tell him and he nods. “Let’s tell Rose then.”

We work our way around to the front of the house. It’s still early, before midnight. Rose is in the garden of a house across the road. She doesn’t giggle as I explain the situation, but she doesn’t want to give up either. She thinks she can work it. All the Hunters enter and leave through the front door. She’ll shadow the next Hunter to arrive and listen for the password.

Now I’m at the back of the house again, leaning against a tree on the edge of the woods. There’s no fence, but there is a lawn that stops just before the trees.

Rose and Gabriel are round the front.

The house is divided into two apartments: the upper one on the first and second floors is occupied by several Hunters; the lower one by Clay. From what I can make out, Clay has an office and a bedroom at the back. I can see several Hunters moving around in their apartment; if they are going in and out they’re not using the back door or the windows for that matter.

The weather is warm but overcast, and a fine drizzle has started to fall.

I asked Rose what to do if something goes wrong.

She smiled. “Escape if you can. Run. If you can’t run, kill as many as you can. They killed your ancestors and they will do everything to kill you, Nathan. Kill them all.” She kissed my cheek and said sweetly, “When you’ve killed them all, then you won’t need to run any more.”

I don’t want to kill anyone. If it came down to kill or be killed, I’d fight for sure but I’d try not to kill. But then again if it was Clay or Kieran . . .

What was I thinking about?

Rose appears beside me. She has come through the garden using her mist, her Gift. She evaporates like mist and so does my memory of her. Even as you watch her, you forget about her. It’s strange . . . confusing. But if she touches you, skin on skin, the confusion goes, and while she’s touching you she’s visible. It’s hard to work with her because of the mist, and you can’t keep hold of her hand all the time. Gabriel says that the best way to work with her is not to watch her at all but to know what she will do and look away while she clothes herself in her mist so that your thoughts remain clear.

Rose asks, “How many Hunters are in there?”

“Four upstairs.” And none of them have Kieran’s bulk. “I think Clay’s in his office.”

“I’ll wait here until he goes to bed, then I’ll go round the front and in. I listened in and heard the password. ‘Red rain.’”

Nice!

“By the way, I think there’s a cellar,” I tell her. “There’s a grate in the ground to the left of the house. A light came on earlier. I think Clay was down there.”

“A good place to keep weapons.”

“Maybe. If I was Clay . . .” What would I do? “I’d keep the Fairborn near me. But he has guns to store for his troops, I guess; guns, bullets, whatever. So maybe . . .”

“Anything else?”

“If I’m at the back, how will I know that you are out of there?”

“Don’t wait here. When I go in, you go round the front and wait with your boyfriend.”

“Do you know how irritating you are, Rose?”

She giggles softly.

I nudge her and nod to the house. The light in the office has gone out. A few seconds later the light from the cellar comes on.

“Is he putting his weapons away for the night?” Rose wonders.

And I know the answer. “No. He’s a Hunter. He never sleeps without them.”

“Under his pillow then.”

“I have the feeling he sleeps with his boots on and the Fairborn strapped to his thigh.”

“I like a challenge.”

The cellar light goes off and the bedroom light comes on. A shadow. Two shadows. Clay and his girlfriend move around, come together, kiss, separate, Clay’s shadow goes. The office light comes on again.

“And I thought it was going to get romantic,” Rose says.

I watch the shadow in Clay’s bedroom, the way it moves, and how familiar it seems.

It’s much later when the office light goes off. Clay moves to the bedroom and that light goes out too.

“See you the other side,” Rose says, and she skips lightly up the garden in full view of the house. A mist covers her, and I’m wondering if I saw her at all. I tell myself that she has gone to the front of the house and is slipping in.

I go into the woods to work my way around to the front in a wide circle, cutting between two houses way up the road and heading back to Gabriel. I move slowly. There’s no rush, though really I’ve no idea how long Rose will be. But I want to be sure that I don’t make any stupid mistakes. I get the feeling that the Hunters are relaxed near the house. They’ve switched off or at least lowered their guard a little, never imagining anyone—any witch—would attempt to break in.

Gabriel is in the garden of the house opposite Clay’s. He doesn’t speak but glances at me as I move next to him. He watches the house. I watch behind us.

Nothing happens.

No cars, no Hunters coming or going. It must be two in the morning by now.

Then Gabriel nudges me. I turn to see the front door opening and two Hunters leaving the house. I get that confused feeling, wondering what’s happening, and I can’t work it out, but I tell myself to look away and find I’m looking at Gabriel’s profile and he turns and looks at me, smiles, and then murmurs, “Rose is with them.”

I nod. Rose has done well to get in and out without being spotted. But I can feel my heart thudding now. Does she have the Fairborn?

“Let’s go.”

But before we take a step there’s a shout from the house. From inside. I can’t make out what it’s saying but I think it’s Clay. And then I hear, “Find whoever’s got it—NOW!”

We hunch down low and run fast through the garden to the back of the house, over the fence, and into an alley.

Gabriel runs left to the corner. “This is where I said we’d meet.”

I keep watch to the right while Gabriel looks down the side street.

I hear a soft giggle and turn around.

Rose is leaning against Gabriel. They are both smiling. As excited as kids who’ve stolen sweets from a shop. Rose holds up a long knife. Black handle, black sheath.

“Easy for someone so talented,” Gabriel says to Rose. “But I think Clay has noticed the Fairborn is missing . . .”

“Let’s go,” I say and head back along the alley.

We’re sprinting when a Hunter steps out of the road ahead of us. She seems as surprised as we are. She stops, hesitates, then shouts, “They’re here!”

I’m nearest to her and in that time I’ve closed in on her. She’s taking her gun out of its holster and I’m three strides closer. She’s raising her gun as I launch myself at her, my right arm going for her throat and my left for her gun. I hear a shot and I land on her and we seem to fall in slow motion but my hand is on her throat and she’s looking at me. And she’s so young, not much older than me, and the glints of light in her eyes are twisting frantically and then I hear a crack and it’s the sound of her skull and the glints in her eyes have gone.

I’m sitting astride her.

There’s a metal grille behind her head and there’s blood oozing over it. As I get up I see that her neck is at a strange angle. I want to believe the metal grille killed her, but I had my hand on her neck and her neck is broken and I still can’t believe she’s so young and I killed her. I manage to get up but it’s hard. My side hurts.

Then there’s a shot and another and another. I drop down to a crouch and turn to see Rose lying on her stomach on the ground and Gabriel kneeling by her, his arm stretched out, gun pointed at the body of another Hunter lying on the ground farther back down the alley. Nobody moves.

Rose is very still. As still as the Hunter by me.

Gabriel bends down and takes the Fairborn out of Rose’s hand. He has to unfurl her fingers and he lays her hand back down on the ground and by then I’m next to him. Rose’s head is turned to the side; her eyes have no glints in them and her back is a mass of blood.

Gabriel pulls me away and we’re running round the corner and there’s more shots. There’s another Hunter up ahead and Gabriel is shooting at her and we’re in some gardens and over a fence and then I have to stop.

I’ve killed a woman. I didn’t mean to but her neck is broken and Rose is dead too and I’m shaking. There’s blood all over my hands, the girl’s blood, and I’m rubbing my hands on my shirt but there’s more blood. There’s lots of blood.

Gabriel says, “Oh no, Nathan.”

And I look up at his face and see then that he’s staring at my stomach and he pulls my shirt back and my knees are like jelly.

“Shit, Nathan.”

I look down. My T-shirt has a spreading, dark stain on it. The blood looks black.

“I’m okay.” I’m saying it without thinking anything about it. I don’t feel okay.

“I can heal it,” I say. I get a buzz and straighten up. Take a breath. Calm down. “I’m okay.”

She shot me in my left side, lower ribcage. “I’ll be fine.” My hands are still shaking. For some reason I can’t heal that.

“You sure?” Gabriel sounds so worried.

“Yes. Let’s go.”

And we go and I’m okay for five minutes but then the pain in my ribcage comes back. I’ve healed it and it has come back and the pain is crippling. This isn’t normal. I have to stop again.

Gabriel says, “It’s a Hunter bullet, not a fain bullet. Is it still in you?”

“I think so.”

“We’ve got to get it out. It will be magical, poisoned.”

“There’s no time. I can heal it for now. Get it out when we’re at Mercury’s.”

“It’s bad, Nathan.”

“I’m fine. At the moment I’m more concerned about getting a bullet in my back.”

And I set off, but I can tell I’m slow. I’m struggling to keep up with Gabriel. In fact, I’m not keeping up, he’s slowed right down. We turn the corner and a jeep is coming toward us. A Hunter jumps out, shooting, and Gabriel shoots back and then we’re running and I can’t keep up with him. I know Gabriel must have hit the Hunter, because I’d be caught by now if he hadn’t.

We go through more gardens to reach a back alley. Gabriel waits for me, then scoots me over a high wall.

He jumps down to stand in front of me and I have to lean against the wall for support.

He speaks quietly. “Nathan, you can’t run fast enough. They’ll catch you if you try to run. I’m going to draw the Hunters away and keep them occupied so that you can make your way back to the cut. But you must be careful. Don’t take any risks. Don’t wait for me at the apartment. Just go through the cut and back to Mercury’s.”

And I know he’s right; I can’t outrun Hunters. But I have a bad feeling. I remember what Rose said: that Gabriel would love to have the chance to save me. But leading Hunters away, so many Hunters, is suicide.

I shake my head.

He says, “It’s the only way,” and he gives me the Fairborn. It hangs from a leather strap that he puts over my neck.

“Gabriel. It’s too dangerous.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“You don’t know how to be careful.”

He smiles, then he kisses me on the cheek and says some words, and even though they are in French I know what they mean, and I grab him to me.

He says, “How many days to your Giving?”

“Four. You know that.”

“I won’t miss it.”

And then he’s climbing over the wall and is gone.

I wait and wait before I dare set off. I hear something that might be another shot or maybe a car backfiring but it’s distant. I know it isn’t a car really. And then I hear police sirens. The Hunters won’t like that. They’re distant too, but there are lots of them.

I’ve got to head to the apartment.

Back to Mercury

I don’t know where I am. I can’t even find the lake. I keep seeing Rose’s body and feeling the Hunter’s neck and her warm blood, and it’s all wrong and shouldn’t have happened. The plan was hardly a plan; it was lunacy. And I should have reached the apartment ages ago.

I’m on my knees on the wet cobbles again. My legs keep giving way.

I rest with my forehead on the wet stone and try to heal, but my healing is hardly working and there’s no buzz. It’s like it’s used up.

It’s light now but still early. Quiet. No people. The rain has stopped.

I get up. I need sugar. Food and drink are my first priority, then I’ll heal better and think better, then I can find the apartment and Gabriel.

On the street a man is rolling up the security blinds on his small tobacconist’s shop. He goes in and I follow close behind and move in on him until he is pressed up against the wall. I don’t know what to say in French so say it in English and put my hand over his mouth so he can’t make a noise. He looks into my eyes and I know he understands. I can’t mess around with tying him up. Celia told me the real thing wasn’t like training. She taught me to control my breathing. Focus on what I have to do. Do it properly. I knock him out. I’ve done it properly.

I stand by the fridge and drink an energy drink. Then another. They help. I can heal better already.

I grab the man’s small battered backpack and fill it with drinks and sugary sweets.

Now I have to find the apartment. I head downhill, toward the lake. When I find that, I can find the apartment. My legs feel stronger.

At last I find the corner of our road. The apartment block is across from me. There’s no one around but something feels wrong.

Parked on my side of the road is a blue car and also a rusty red one that I’ve seen before. On the left, up from the entrance to the apartment, is a van. I think I’ve seen that van before but where? It’s not a Hunter van . . . so why am I hesitating? There isn’t anything unusual. If I run I’ll be inside the apartment in a minute and at Mercury’s in two. But something seems different.

I stand in a doorway, well back. The rain has started again. There’s the sound of distant traffic.

I wait.

Nothing happens. Nothing. And it’s killing me. Gabriel’s not here and Rose is dead and that girl’s neck was so thin. And I can’t think that they’ve caught Gabriel and what they’d do to him. I can’t think about that.

More rain.

A car driving down the street.

Someone comes out of one of the apartments, puts her umbrella up, and, heels clacking, walks quickly away.

I’m sweaty. It’s warm and the rain is still falling. There’s the sound of a car in the street behind me. And then I see it . . . a movement, a shadow in the doorway down from our apartment entrance.

All is back as it was before except now I know what’s wrong. I know what the shadow is. I can see that it is a Hunter, gun raised, motionless again. Her mobile phone is buzzing, faint but there. That is what I could sense.

There’s nothing I can do except hope. Maybe they followed Gabriel here and he had no option but to go through the cut with Hunters close behind. They wouldn’t have been able to work out how to get through unless they saw exactly where it was, and even if they did get through the cut Mercury would pick them off while they were stuck on the roof. That would mean that Gabriel is safe at the cottage and couldn’t risk coming back to warn me.

But he said he’d lead them away.

How else could they know to come here?

If they’ve captured him and tortured him . . . how quickly would he tell them about the apartment?

A car swings into the street from the far end. A black jeep, the one I saw at the Hunters’ house. Clay parks the jeep in the middle of the road and gets out. He doesn’t look pleased. He goes to the hidden Hunter and then to our apartment building and in. The Hunter gets into Clay’s jeep and reverses it fast up the street and away. A minute later she is running back to her position. The road is quiet again.

I have to leave.

I’m covered in blood; fains will stop me if they see me.

I need to find somewhere to rest and get clean. I set off, although I don’t know where to.

Twenty minutes later I spot her. She’s at the end of an alley, partly hidden by a small van, but I can tell it’s her straight away. And I know I should walk on by, but there’s Rose and Gabriel and a whole bunch of other stuff that stops me from doing the sensible thing. I don’t know where her partner is but I’m not going to hang around for long.

I heal before I approach her, sneak up as quiet as can be, and draw the Fairborn out of its sheath.

And, in that instant, things change.

The Fairborn is almost alive in my hand. It’s part of me, but I’m part of it too.

I reach the Hunter and pull her round, the Fairborn at her throat.

“Looking for someone?” I ask.

She flinches. Even now she hates my touching her, but she gets over the surprise in less than a second and starts transforming into a huge man. But I’m her little half-brother and I’m ready for her tricks, and so is the Fairborn. We stab Jessica’s shoulder and slam her half-morphed body into the wall. We stab her other shoulder and she squeals. If her partner is nearby, she’ll be here in less than a minute.

Jessica is fully changed into a man but her arms are useless and I have the strength and the Fairborn to hold her back against the wall.

Jessica transforms quickly again, into Arran.

Arran’s voice pleads with me, “Please don’t hurt me, Nathan. I know you don’t want to hurt me.”

“Shut up.”

“I know you’re a good person. I’ve always known that. Please. Don’t hurt me.”

And I know I should run. But seeing Arran is so amazing. I just want to look at him. But it’s not Arran; it’s Jessica, and she’s an evil witch. I’m holding the point of the knife to Arran’s eye. And the Fairborn wants to cut it out.

“Nathan, please. You’re a good person.”

And I know it would be a good plan to cut out her eye. She’d never be able to disguise that. But I can’t do it. I don’t want to. Not to Arran, even though I know it’s not Arran and I’m telling myself it’s Jessica but I don’t even want to do it to her . . . but the Fairborn wants to cut . . .

I’m shaking again, trying to get the knife in the sheath. And Jessica pushes me back, weakly but it’s enough, and I raise the Fairborn and then it slashes down across her face.

I’ve broken into a small house in the suburbs. There’s no alarm and no one around. I think they’ve gone to work. I shower. My body keeps shaking, shivering.

My gunshot wound is a neat round scar but if I touch anywhere near it I feel like I might faint. I’m not even tempted to try to get the bullet out. Besides, the energy drinks and sweets seem to be working well enough.

I help myself to a huge bowl of cereal and a banana and then another while I think how to get back to Mercury. I’ve a vague idea where her cottage is. Gabriel said that he sometimes went by train and sometimes hiked. Hunters are bound to be at the train station and also watching the roads, but maybe I can get a bus. There must be one that can take me out of Geneva to somewhere that I can get a train. It’s four days until my birthday. Caution is more important than speed.

I need a map.

There’s a computer, but I’ve no idea how to use one. In the drawers I find a road map of Switzerland, but I need a walker’s map so I can find Mercury’s valley. I’ll have to buy one. The one good thing that’s happened is that the small battered rucksack I took from the shopkeeper had his wallet and till money in it. Normally I wouldn’t steal money from someone like him but I didn’t mean to, I didn’t know the money was there, and this isn’t normally.

I look in the mirror before I leave. The house must belong to a middle-aged couple. His clothes are a bit big. I can’t find any sunglasses so I’m wearing his red baseball cap with a white cross on it and her paisley scarf wrapped twice round my neck. Gloves! I find a pair of leather ones and cut the finger ends off them.

Before I leave I want to look at the Fairborn properly. I want to feel it too. As soon as I slide it out of the sheath it seems to want to cut something. The blade is unusual, not shiny metal but a dull gray, almost black. The knife feels alive but looks dead. I really don’t want Mercury to get her hands on this knife, I don’t want Hunters to get it, and I don’t want it. I could leave it at the back of a cupboard here and it would probably be safely lost forever. But I take it with me. I’ll bury it somewhere. I can’t give it to Mercury, can’t let her know I have it. But she has Annalise. One thing at a time. Leave here. Find a place to bury the Fairborn. Get to Mercury. Get my three gifts.

I make my way to the main road and a bus stop.

The bus was a good idea. It stopped at a train station in a town half an hour outside Geneva. I’ve bought a map at a climbing shop near the station. The map is wonderful. Switzerland is full of valleys but Mercury’s valley is unique, with the glacier and the villages strung along the river east to west, so it’s easy to spot on the map. The train will take me so far and then it’s another bus and a hike but I’ll be back at Mercury’s late tonight. I buy a bag of energy drinks, sweets, and fruit and get on the train. It’s busy. I find a seat and keep my head down.

Shit! Shit! Shit!

A Hunter’s walking up the platform. She’s scanning the train. She’s getting on. I get off. Casually.

Early morning, but it’s still dark. I’m in a woods somewhere. The Hunter can’t have seen me or I’d be a prisoner or dead by now. There’s no way I could outrun them like this. I can’t run. I’m covered in sweat, shaking and shivering, and my side has swollen. An egg-sized lump has grown on my rib. At least I have the energy drinks. I can’t risk going back to the train station. I could hitch, but if I stand at the side of the road for more than ten minutes the Hunters will pick me up. Anyway I couldn’t make myself get into a car, I’d feel trapped. Besides, I have a map. I know where I’m going and I have the time to get back. It’s two days’ hike to Mercury’s valley and my birthday is three days away. I can do it. I can get back to Mercury, get my three gifts, and somehow help Annalise.

It’s getting light. I’ve covered a lot of ground. Steady pace. Sticking to the woods not far from the road. I can rest now. I’m as stiff as an old man. But I can let myself have a couple of hours’ rest.

It’s twilight already. The whole day has gone, I’ve just slept through it. But I’ll be stronger now it’s night and I’ve had sleep. I’ve only got two energy drinks left but I hope I can buy more. I can relax in the trees. I change my pace, walk fast past five trees and walk slow past five. The egg-sized lump is now a fist-sized lump.

It’s getting light and I can’t walk at all any more.

Rest a bit. Don’t go to sleep.

Shit! What time is it? Midday, maybe. Keep falling asleep. Got to get going.

Keep on going. Feeling dizzy.

There’s a village. I’ll buy some drinks. I need sugar.

I need to check what day it is too.

What day is it?

Feeling odd . . . dizzy . . .

I’m back in the trees. I walk at a steady pace. Sugar’s done me good. It’s my birthday the day after tomorrow.

Is that right? I checked. Didn’t I? Someone checked.

Or did I imagine that? No, I had a drink. I checked. I saw a newspaper. Yes, that’s right.

I’ve forgotten again.

It’s a good day for a walk. Sunny.

I’m a bit slow. It’s sunny, though.

If I walk through the day and the night I’ll be back at Mercury’s before my birthday. I think that’s right.

Just keep walking.

What day is it?

I’m wet. Sweat.

The lump is still there.

My chest aches. Everything aches.

Don’t touch it, just walk.

I’m slow but sunny.

Sunny. Sunny. Sunny.

What’s that? Someone’s in the trees up ahead. I saw someone.

Who is it?

A girl.

Sunlight. Long blonde hair. She’s running like a gazelle.

“Annalise! Wait!”

I run but have to stop almost immediately.

“Annalise!”

Lean against a tree, rest for a minute.

Annalise has gone. I sink down to the ground.

I wish she would come back for me.

“Annalise!”

A giggle comes from the other side of the tree trunk.

Rose?

I crawl forward to look and Rose is lying on the ground, giggling, and then I realize she can’t giggle because she’s dead and, even though I know I shouldn’t, I try to lift her head up to check. I can’t stop myself, and she’s changed into the Hunter and I feel her blood and her broken neck in my hand.

I wake up, panting. Sweaty. Shaking again.

It’s dark. Got to get going. I’ve slept too much. I get up and my legs collapse.

It’s light already. The sun is shining through the trees. And I hear Rose giggle again.

“Rose?”

She peers from behind a tree and says, “Happy Birthday tomorrow, Nathan.”

Is it my birthday tomorrow?

Hey, everyone, I’m nearly seventeen!

But where is everyone?

Where’s Gabriel?

“Rose, where is Gabriel?”

She doesn’t even giggle.

It’s silent again.

And where am I?

My map! Where’s my map?

And I had some drinks, didn’t I?

I have the Fairborn, though. Yes, I have the Fairborn.

And I have a stream. Don’t need drinks. I have a stream. This was a good place to stop. A good place.

Let’s have a look at the lump.

Not good.

Yellow, very yellow, with a little scar and lots of red veins.

Not good. Not good.

If I touch it . . .

F***!

Rose is back. She’s dancing around me. She bends over and looks at the lump on my side. “Yuck! You really need to cut that out.”

“Where’s Gabriel?”

She blushes but doesn’t reply and I shout, “Where’s Gabriel?”

Silence.

It’s getting dark.

I look at the lump. I think it’s still growing.

I’m just going to be one big lump soon.

What day is it?

I can’t think. Can’t think.

“Rose, what day is it?”

No one answers. Then I remember Rose is dead.

The lump is full of poison . . . Gabriel said it was poison . . . it’s poisoning me . . .

It has to go.

Just cut it out.

I hold the Fairborn. It wants to do it.

It’s light. I’m lying on the ground by a stream. I’m aching but not as bad as before.

Did I cut into the lump?

I can’t remember.

I look down and my shirt is open and covered in dried blood and dried yellow stuff. Lots of yellow stuff. There’s no lump, though.

The stream water tastes good and I’m feeling better. My head’s clear. I’ve drunk lots of water, a stream-full. My wound isn’t too bad now I’ve cleaned the last of the yellow pus out. There’s still a bit of swelling but nothing much. My body doesn’t ache so much. Maybe the poison has gone but the bullet’s still in there so maybe more poison will come out. The worst must be over though as I’m feeling so much better.

I’m not sure what day it is but I think it’s my birthday.

It must be. I’m seventeen.

I AM SEVENTEEN!

And I’m feeling good. I can make it. Don’t need a map now. I recognize the mountains.

I set off and then realize I don’t have the Fairborn. I have the knife that Gabriel gave me, but not the Fairborn.

I run and stumble back to the stream to look for it.

There’s where I cut myself. There’s all the pus. The Fairborn has to be here. I cut myself with the Fairborn. I was by the stream and I stabbed my lump and . . . when I woke up the Fairborn had gone.

I don’t have time for this. I have to go to Mercury’s. Forget the Fairborn. I don’t want it. If I maintain a steady pace I’ll get to Mercury’s just after it gets dark.

The rain is back, heavy drizzle and feeling cooler now. I’m walking up the valley along the road. It’s quicker on the road and I need to be quicker. Only a few cars pass by, their headlights dazzling me, but I stick to the road through three small mountain villages and then cut up the mountain itself. I know the trail but the going is slow as it’s sodden and slippery. Still, I’ll be there in less than an hour of hiking.

I have a pain in my ribs but it’s not as bad as before. I don’t heal it. Maybe the healing made things worse. I don’t know but I can put up with this. I’m going to make it. I will get my three gifts and I will help Annalise.

As I get higher the rain turns to sleet and then to snow. Thick snow. The flakes are huge and seem to parachute slowly. I’m high in the mountains but even so this is far too cold for June. The snow is thick on the ground, up to my knees, and it is slowing me but only a little as it’s so light and powdery that I don’t take huge steps but just brush through it. I look back at the trail I’m leaving but it’s not obvious: the snow is light and collapses on to my tracks, almost as if it’s smoothing itself over. I keep thinking I must be near the cottage but there are no lights anywhere except behind me.

I reach the broken tree trunk, its fractured, splintered ends so sharp and thin that little snow has settled on them. I should be able to see the lights from the cottage.

I speed up and then slow down for the last twenty meters. The cottage is in darkness and I go along its side wall and down the far side to the door. As I am about to go in there is a flash, small and distant below and to the left in the valley. Then sound arrives. A shot. And another. Then lightning followed by thunder. Mercury is fighting the Hunters.

The Hunters must have found the cut, but they wouldn’t have been able to get off the roof if they came through that way. They will have worked out where the cottage is, though; they’d be able to do that. And then they came up the valley. They must have only been a bit ahead of me. And then another thought hits me: if they captured Gabriel and tortured him he would tell them where the valley was . . .

I can’t think about that. I have to find Mercury. I have to head to the shots. Mercury must be there. There’s a swirling cloud in the valley below me, toward the glacier. A flash of lightning shoots out of it. It’s her.

But first I have to see if Annalise is here. I don’t know how much time I have left. Not long.

In the cottage everything is neat and tidy. My things are as I left them. So are Gabriel’s. He’s not been back.

I check the bedrooms.

I don’t know what I expected but I was hoping Annalise would at least be here. She’s not. Mercury must have taken her to her castle, and I don’t know where that is. Is she still asleep? Maybe she woke her . . . but I know she won’t have done.

I put on my jacket and look at the clock in the kitchen. I can work out the time if I try hard enough.

It’s later than I thought. Just a bit more than ten minutes to midnight. I think that’s right.

Or just a bit less. I’ll reach Mercury in time if I run.

I dash outside and take two steps in the direction of the shots. Then I am stopped; I can’t move forward.

The snow is falling around me but the flakes are slowing too . . . and then they stop. The snowflakes hang in the blackness of the night air.

Everything around me has stopped, and all I can do is drop to my knees in thanks.

Three Gifts

My father.

I know it’s him. Only he can make time stop.

And I’m kneeling in stillness and silence. There are snowflakes hanging in the air, veils upon veils, and the ground around me is snow-covered and gray in the gloom. I can’t even see the forest ahead of me.

And then there’s a gap.

Him.

A darker figure in the darkness, flakes of snow hanging in front of him.

He comes closer, flicking a snowflake out of his way with his finger and blowing another gently as he breathes out. He comes closer still, walking not flying, the snow up to his knees.

He stops in front of me, sweeps the snow away with a sideways kick, and comes down to my level, sitting cross-legged a few arm-lengths away.

I can’t see his face, only his silhouette. I think he’s in a suit.

“Nathan, at last.”

His voice is calm and sounds like mine only more . . . thoughtful.

“Yes,” I say, and my voice doesn’t sound like mine but like a little boy’s.

“I’ve wanted us to meet. For a long time I’ve wanted that,” he says.

“And I’ve wanted it too.” Then I add, “For seventeen years.”

“Is that what it is? Seventeen years . . .”

“Why didn’t you come before now?”

“You’re angry with me.”

“A little.”

He nods.

“Why didn’t you come before?” I sound pathetic but I’m so exhausted that I don’t care.

“Nathan, you are just seventeen. That’s very young. When you’re older you’ll realize that time can move differently. Slower sometimes . . . faster occasionally.” He circles his arm round now and swirls the snowflakes until they form a strange sort of galaxy that drifts up and up until it disappears.

And it’s amazing. Watching my father, his power. My father, here, so close to me. But still, he should have come years ago.

“I don’t care how time moves. I said, why didn’t you come before now?”

“You are my son, and I expect a certain amount of respect from you . . .” He seems to breathe in and then out with a long exhalation that disperses a few more snowflakes hovering low to the ground in front of him.

“And you are my father and I expect a certain amount of responsibility from you.”

He makes a sort of laugh. “Responsibility?” His head inclines to the right and then straightens again. “It’s not a word I’m used to dealing with . . . And you? Are you familiar with respect at all?”

I hesitate but say, “Not that much up to now.”

He waits, picks up some snow and sprinkles it from his fingers.

He says, “Mercury was going to give you three gifts, I assume.”

“Yes.”

“What did she want in return?”

“Some information.”

“That sounds cheap for Mercury.”

“She wanted something else as well.”

“Let me guess . . . it’s not hard: she wanted my demise. Mercury is very predictable.”

“I’ve no intention of killing you. I told her that.”

“And she accepted it?”

“She seemed to think I’d change my mind.”

“Ah! I’m sure she would have fun trying to change it.”

“You believe me then? I won’t kill you.”

“I’m not sure what to believe yet.”

And I’m not sure what to say. You never ask someone to give you three gifts. Never. And I cannot ask him, but if he has come now, on my seventeenth birthday, then he must be here for that. Surely?

“What information did she want?”

“Stuff about the Council and my tattoos. I haven’t told her anything.”

“I’m not fond of tattoos.”

I stick my hand out, show him the one on my hand and the one on my finger. They are a blue-black and my skin looks milky white in the darkness. “They planned to use my finger to make a witch’s bottle. To force me to kill you.”

“Lucky for me that you still have your finger. Lucky for you that you didn’t tell Mercury. I think she would have taken your finger.”

“She wanted the Fairborn too.”

“Ah, yes . . . where is the Fairborn?”

“Rose stole it from Clay but . . . things went wrong. She was shot by the Hunters. I lost the Fairborn.”

Silence.

He looks down, pinches his nose between his eyes. “And inevitably this is where I find things a little harder to believe. Where exactly did you lose it?”

“In the forest on the way here.” And the pain in my side stabs me so that I shiver. “I was poisoned or something.”

“What’s happened? Are you hurt?” he asks, leaning toward me. He sounds concerned. Concerned! And I want to cry with relief.

“A Hunter shot me. I heal it but it keeps coming back. The bullet’s still in there.”

“We need to get it out.”

“It hurts.”

“No doubt.” He sounds amused now. “Show me.”

I open my jacket and shirt.

“Take them off. Lie on the snow.”

As I take my shirt off he gets up, walks around me, and picks up the knife Gabriel gave me.

“What are these?” And he traces his fingers over my back. The touch of his skin on mine is strange. His hands are as cold as the snow.

“Scars.”

“Yes.” He laughs again but I can only just hear. “Who made them?”

“Kieran O’Brien, a Hunter. A long time ago.”

“Some think a millennium isn’t a long time.” He runs his rough palm over my back and his touch is strangely gentle.

“So . . . Lie back. Keep still.”

He doesn’t hurry.

I clench my jaw; my flesh feels like it’s being ripped off my rib, like pulling chicken meat off a bone. The meat is attached surprisingly strongly.

I start to count. After nine the numbers become swear words.

Then the pain stops.

“The bullet was lodged behind the bone. It was hard to reach. You can heal now.”

I do and I can tell he is watching how quickly my skin knits together.

I’m buzzing; already my healing is better with the bullet out of me.

I start to push myself up and my father grabs my hair, pulling my head up and forcing me onto my front. His knee is in my back and the knife is at my throat. He strokes the flat of the blade over my skin, then turns it so the edge is pressed against my neck. I’m not cut yet.

“Your life is mine, Nathan.”

The blade is so close that I daren’t swallow. I’m arching back so far I could snap.

“However, I’m in a giving mood, so please accept your life as a gift from me today.”

He lets my hair go and my head and body drop forward. And I’m on my hands and knees in the snow wondering, Is he going to do it? Does that count as a gift? What time is it now?

I turn and he’s sitting cross-legged near me. He’s in a suit but he isn’t wearing a tie; his top button is undone. His face is darkness.

I put my shirt on and sit cross-legged opposite him.

He holds the bullet out to me. “For you . . . another gift. Perhaps it will remind you to be more careful around Hunters.”

The bullet is round, a metallic green, with markings cut into it.

“Fain science mixed with witch magic. Not elegant, but like so many things, it can still kill you.”

The way he says it I know he’s talking about me.

“I won’t kill you. Mary told me about your vision. I won’t kill you.”

“We’ll see.” He leans toward me, his voice low. “Time will tell.”

“Mercury won’t give up, though.”

“She thinks I wronged her. And I suppose I did. And she will think I led the Hunters here, but you can tell her I didn’t. I wouldn’t do that to her. The Hunters are very good, Nathan. They don’t need me to help them. Tell her that they have found a way of detecting her cuts in space. She will have to be more careful in future.”

“I’ll tell Mercury, if I see her. But . . .”

Doesn’t he want me to go with him?

Silence. Stillness. Snowflakes waiting.

“What now?” I ask.

“Between me and you?”

I nod.

“I’m not a great believer in prophecies, Nathan, but I am a cautious man. So I suggest you keep away from Hunters and take care not to lose your finger, as you say that you have lost the Fairborn.”

“But . . .”

And I can’t ask him if I can go with him. He’s my father. But I can’t ask. He would say if he wanted me.

“Why did you never come for me?”

“I thought you were doing fine. I caught glimpses in visions. You did well enough on your own. I saw nothing after they took you away. They had you well hidden, even from visions. But you escaped. I’m pleased about that, Nathan, for both our sakes.”

He looks at his wrist but I don’t see a watch there.

“It’s time for me to go.”

He pulls a ring from his finger and takes my right hand, slides it on to the index finger.

“For you, my father’s ring, and his father’s before him.”

He takes the knife and cuts his palm and holds his hand out.

“My blood is your blood, Nathan.”

And his hand is there, his flesh, his blood. Carefully I take his hand with both of mine. His skin is rough and cold, and I raise his hand to my lips and drink his blood. And as I suck and swallow I hear the strange words that he whispers in my ear. His blood is strong and sweet and warm in my throat and my chest and stomach, and the words curl into my head, intertwine with my blood, making no sense but wrapping me in what I know, and I smell the earth and feel its pulse through my body, through my father’s body and from his father before and his father before that, and at last I know who I am.

As I let his hand go I look up and see his eyes.

My eyes.

Marcus gets to his feet and says, “I take my responsibilities as a father seriously.”

And as he moves back, the snowflakes begin to slowly, slowly fall again. The wind strengthens, buffeting me and picking up the snow from the ground. I can only just hear Marcus say, “I hope we meet again, Nathan.”

And the snowflakes are falling more thickly, and the wind has built to a gale, and the snow is a white blur around the two of us.

The snowflakes fly in my face and he’s gone.

The ring is heavy. It is thick, warm. I can’t make out the shapes on it in the poor light. I turn it around my finger and feel its weight and then I kiss it and whisper thanks. I am a witch.

I have met my father. Too briefly, but I have met him. And I think he must know that I don’t mean to kill him. He would not have given me three gifts if he believed that. My head feels clear, good. It’s an unusual feeling. I realize I’m smiling.

Then the sky above me fills with lightning and thunder drums the air.

Running

I turn back to the cottage door and Mercury is there, in gray chiffon, her hair only slightly more wild than normal, but she is in a fury and she swirls and crackles with lightning.

“I get the feeling that you have met your father.” Her voice has lost its slow measured pace and is screeching at me.

“Yes.”

“He gave you three gifts?”

“Yes.”

“And led the Hunters here.”

“No. The Hunters found you without any help from him. Marcus said that they have found a way of detecting your cuts. He wanted me to warn you to be more careful.”

A bolt of lightning hits the ground near my feet. “You should be more careful too. Where are Rose and Gabriel?”

“I don’t know where Gabriel is. Rose was killed by the Hunters.”

Mercury screams.

“You knew it was dangerous. You sent her in there.”

“And yet you survived. Do you have the Fairborn?”

Her eyes are black hollows.

“No.”

“But Rose got it from Clay?”

“Yes.”

“Where is it? Does Marcus have it?”

I hesitate but then say, “Yes, he took it.”

She screams again and a small whirlwind swirls around her and then stops abruptly.

“It seems that all I have is Annalise.”

“Where is she?”

“Safe. For now. Do you want her back?”

“Of course.”

“Bring me your father’s head. Or his heart. I’ll accept either.”

Mercury spins around in a cloud of gray, a mini tornado, her face appearing and disappearing in its calm center. The tornado flies up the valley in the direction of the glacier.

The air is calm again, the snowstorm over. It’s quiet.

Will the Hunters be able to find the cottage in the dark? Of course, they’re Hunters.

Then I hear the buzz of their phones. They’re here.

A shot, and another.

But I’m already running. And running is even better than before. I’m stronger, faster, more in tune. The night is black but I can find my way with ease. And I know where I’m going. I’m going to find my friend. Gabriel.