We Who Hunt the Hollow, page 20
She has other plans for me.
There’s a gentle knock on the door, and Didi pokes her head into my room. She holds up the slightly creased silken gown. ‘Ready?’ She seems apprehensive, like she’s not quite ready herself.
I rub my hands down my thighs, telling myself to relax. It’s what Mouse would say to me. I’ve done this before. The uncertain thing then was what power I would get. The uncertain thing now is whether I will get any power at all. ‘Sure.’
The sitting room is set up the same as it was for Bree’s ceremony, with the additions of an enormous cactus in one corner and a miniature stone statue of a chimera on the mantelpiece. And Onyeka, sitting with Pumpkin and Fergus and the imps off to the side. My family knows how much Onyeka means to me, so they’ve included her. She’s sitting straight-backed and attentive, hardly even blinking – possibly more nervous than I am. I smile at her, hoping it comes across as encouraging and not some kind of terrified grimace that only puts her further on edge.
I take my position in the middle of the circle, silk gathering on the floor around me. My hands tremble as I fold them in my lap. I keep my head bowed, listening as Geema thanks the early warriors.
When she asks if I am ready, I am. I look up to see my grandmother’s hands before me with the orbs nestled in her palms. Candlelight flutters over the polished bone.
Please let this work. Please don’t let me have to arrange a lie for my mothers.
It’s now or never.
I take the talismans.
A shock of lightning zings up my arms when my fingers touch the bone.
The quelled kernel of Hollow energy inside me flares back to life, like a dying flame beneath a breath of air. The fire builds, streaming through me. Goosebumps rise over my skin, singing joy. It’s happening. It’s happening again.
I repeat the oath after Geema.
We are those who hunt the Hollow.
I am not afraid. I accept it. I welcome it.
The power slides into me like something I wear on the inside, settling into my frame and anchoring itself. Recognisable this time as something I’ve worn before.
Claws scrabble on the floorboards. A little nose touches the back of my hand. I look down to see sharp brown eyes and perked ears and a ruff of soft orangey-grey fur. A fox. I hear my family collectively gasp as they see her and realise what I realised moments before: my second oath of power ceremony is working. Fox creeps onto my lap and pushes against my chest. A burst of thought cascades into my mind as the link between us is forged.
Hello.
I put down the talismans and bury my fingers in her soft pelt. The anchor of my power. My familiar.
I’m sorry for your loss, she whispers, because she knows I’d once had Mouse, and I feel her sorrow, her keen attachment to me, and an earnest desire to help. She’s different. A tear skims over my cheek. Fox is with me but she isn’t the same, and now the loss of Mouse and her irritable rodent nature feels even more final.
‘Hello,’ I whisper, because I still welcome her too. I can be happy to have Fox as well as sad to know Mouse is gone.
Geema’s feet shuffle in front of me. ‘Priscilla Daalman, you have accepted your duty again, and I am pleased to announce that your power has been restored. Congratulations. Welcome back, dear warrior.’
Everyone cheers. I stand up to be received into their arms, the other familiars scampering in to greet their newcomer. Here I am again, freshly minted with power like I was as a thirteen-year-old, except this time I’m not at all dissatisfied.
‘Is it ...?’ Cheryl asks. Dingo tilts her head to the side, watching me with ears perked.
I close my eyes, and feel the tickle in the back of my mind.
And that’s all.
‘It’s my original power,’ I say, without qualm. It’s home again.
‘I wonder when it will evolve,’ my pirate sister says, and bends down to let my brand-new Fox sniff her hand.
Geema’s putting the talismans back into their box, but I know she’s listening. I know she’s wondering the same thing.
There wasn’t time to organise a proper breakfast, but Cheryl helps me scrounge up edible remnants from the destroyed pantry – tinned spaghetti and sausages, followed by a pack of candy canes I’d hidden in an old biscuit tin. I’ll have to order some groceries soon, or we’ll be reduced to attempting Jet’s fruitcake. We eat crammed into the kitchen and sitting room, as we had after Bree’s ceremony. This time, the celebration is for me. And this time, it’s all right. No wincing when I see the Congratulations! banner hanging over the windows, no retreating into my own shame, no trying to deflect Jet’s overflowing compliments.
The morning storm opens up, with flashes of pink lightning followed by cracks and rumbles of thunder. With our celebration complete, we have a hunt to prepare for. Forget monsters: today, the Daalmans hunt a Renegade. A Renegade I empowered. Geema blinks away, teleporting to guild headquarters to get her team. The rest of my family slips away through the apartment, along with Onyeka – the time doesn’t feel right, yet, to seek her out to talk, although the sense of something being unsaid between us niggles at me like a splinter.
Soon, it’s just me and Cheryl in the kitchen. Dingo and Fox grin at each other, tongues lolling.
Hey, Fox says in my mind. Dingo told me sausages are delicious and she is so right.
‘They’re bonding over sausages,’ Cheryl snorts, dumping the empty plates in the sink and turning the tap on.
‘I know,’ I chuckle. A familiar at my heels, and the tickle of my other sense in the back of mind, and my wiry sister laughing beside me. This feels like belonging.
‘Hey, so,’ Cheryl says, her expression switching to sincere. ‘I wanted to say ... you know it’s okay to be different. It’s okay not to be sure who you are, or who you want to be. There’s always time to figure it out, and figure it out for yourself. The mermaids told me we each must find our way to the pearl within.’
Normally we don’t give advice to each other. That’s not how our relationship works – no, that’s how it used to be. We’re different now. Me and Cheryl, we’re growing together. I bump her, shoulder to shoulder. ‘Thanks.’
‘You’re welcome,’ she says, flipping open the dishwasher. No big deal. ‘Now. Tell me the honest truth. There was another cake in that pantry, wasn’t there? I saw the remains, don’t try to fool me. Did you tell Jet? Honestly. I think she needs to know ...’
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The following day, Geema comes back with three of her team, teleporting them into the entry hall amid a swirl of snowflakes. They’re all dressed in tactical armour, with sacks of equipment and weapons strapped to their backs, and familiars on their shoulders. I recognise them as the warriors she brought over to apprehend Rafael Purbrook: Adam, Madhuri and Kwasi.
‘Into the briefing room,’ Geema says, ushering everyone towards it. ‘We’ll do introductions there.’
Almost all of us gather there – only Pumpkin and Onyeka stay upstairs, playing the candy-fruit game on my niece’s handset. Cheryl and I bring down some plates of snacks. The imps haul extra chairs out of the closet so we can all take a seat around the giant table, while Mama switches on the screens that line one wall. Fergus sits next to Didi and she says something quietly to him, their heads bent towards each other.
How ridiculous was I to think a norm had no place in our family, when Fergus has been in plain sight this whole time. He’s part of the Oceania Division, even without a power, and nobody here gives a damn that he’s a norm – the same way they hadn’t cared whether I had a power or not.
As the younger newcomer Adam takes his seat, he gives the imps a sidelong look. Maybe it’s the jingly Santa hats they’re wearing – the imps love Christmas and start preparing for it even earlier than I do – or maybe he disapproves of imps in general. Either way, he’s clearly a jackass. I catch Didi watching him too, a flicker of disdain flashing across her face, and I contain a huff of amusement. We continue to like – and dislike – the same things.
Madhuri and Kwasi don’t seem to care either way about the imps, which I do like, and I also like how they respectfully wait for Geema to speak. This is her operation, and they’re her team.
I settle into my chair across the table from the newcomers. Fox tucks herself in beside my feet. She may look relaxed, but I can sense how alert and ready she is beneath her sleepy exterior. In the back of my mind, my other sense prickles. I don’t try to ignore it. There’s a lot of Hollow energy gathered in this room, and I’m glad to know it. I can see and hear and taste it, and I am never going to take my power for granted again.
Geema clears her throat, one eyebrow arching, which is all that’s needed for us to quieten around the table. As she introduces her team members, I sense a different cast to their energies. Adam’s is sweeter. Madhuri’s is dustier, like moth wings. Kwasi’s is sharper, with the acid edge of citrus to his power.
I sit back in surprise. Beginning to differentiate between types of Hollow energy means my returned power has started evolving, with no need for intervention by Geema and Arnold Woo. I hadn’t expected this. I’d thought that, without my meditation sessions, it would take time to come back – if it came back at all. Instead, it is already unfurling within me, meant to be mine. This awesome power to manipulate Hollow energy, rare among warriors, dangerous ... and mine.
It frightens me. I’m afraid of what I can do with it. I’m afraid it’s bigger than I can handle.
Fox noses me gently, feeling my consternation. Remember what Mouse said. Remember what you have.
Mouse’s last words. My family’s love. The mermaid scale and the ring. Fox is right: I have the most important things already, the things which are more useful to define my worth by than any kind of power.
I must believe I can be good enough, that I deserve this power. That I can control it, with the help of Arnold Woo, the warrior in Vienna. Because there’s no question now: that’s what I want to do. That’s where I want to go.
But for now, I must hold tight to this power, like holding on to the reins of a wild horse. I can’t lose control, but I can’t suppress it entirely either. I’m afraid of it – and I will have to learn how to deal with it.
I have no other choice.
Suddenly Dominic is staring at me furiously from one of the screens on the wall, breaking my chain of thought. Geema has swiped up a set of photos. Five young faces look out at the world in a challenge. Dominic Sebastian Cado. His chin is lifted defiantly, and he looks younger. Angrier.
He’s not even the ringleader, according to Geema. That’s another one of them. To think all five could be as devious as him.
‘I want everyone to know who we are up against,’ my grandmother says. ‘These are the five Renegade founders. We don’t have a bead on any except for Dominic Cado, but it’s possible they’re all here in the New Pacific Territory. If you see any of these faces, call in your location – and for reinforcements – immediately.’
She starts going over logistics, filling in the newcomers on recent activity, including my embarrassing antics such as dating Dominic, being kidnapped by him, and giving him an incredible power. Mercifully, she doesn’t include how I originally tried to trigger a secondary power, or the sad reasons why, only that my power evolved – before I gave it to him. The three of them appraise me silently as Geema talks, and I squirm in my seat.
Yeah, I’m sure they’re thinking how I’ve caused a whole heap of trouble. How I’m such a big screw-up.
Who cares what they think, Fox says. She moves to sit on my feet, a comforting, fluffy weight. I, on the other hand, am very important and happen to think you’re awesome.
That makes me smile. I find I can meet their stares. Fox is right: I can’t worry about what other people think of me. We all make bad choices. We’re all only human. Well, except for the imps, and Fergus. But I’m sure they’ve made mistakes too.
‘Now. For how we’re going to bring in Dominic Cado,’ Geema carries on. She swipes the other mug shots aside, leaving his. She adds a map of the city, divided into grids and dotted with coloured icons. ‘Stage One is to determine his location. I believe he is still somewhere in the city. Nimue and Lydia have already updated border patrol and police on our operation. We’ve got alerts set up in the database for those departments, so we’ll be notified of any activity recorded against Dominic, or any of the other leaders. We’ll feed their profiles into the surveillance grid, and station sentries at key exit points – airports, out-of-state flightlines, the old motorways – to keep a lookout for them.
‘The main task of Stage One falls on the shoulders of Priscilla.’ She looks at me – not as my grandmother, but as a senior warrior outlining a plan to her team. I’m part of her team. I sit up straighter. ‘Using her restored ability to sense Hollow energy, we’ll have Priscilla cross the city in the large floater. She’ll have backup with her – we’ll assign those roles shortly. As soon as she locates Dominic, we will move into Stage Two.
‘We have two options for this next stage. Take him by surprise and by force. Or we could level the playing field. Madhuri, you’ve brought something that might help.’
‘I have.’ The newcomer reaches down to one of the sacks. She moves so slowly she doesn’t even make a sound as she brings out and sets down a small box. It’s made of smooth dark wood, with inlaid platinum shining in a lattice design around a piece of bone set in the top. It looks similar to the bone orbs we use in oath of power ceremonies. Madhuri’s owl ruffles her feathers and sidesteps in agitation, and on my feet Fox shifts with a whine. All the familiars in the room are twitchy.
And I can sense it too. There’s a dark, sucking grasp inside that box. A pull like gravity, somehow contained.
‘This is an inhibitor talisman. Rare new technology. There are few Hollow Warriors who get the capability to create any kind of talisman –’ Madhuri glances at me, and I realise she’s talking about the power she thinks I used to have. The power I am getting back. I hadn’t even thought about that aspect yet: warriors with power like mine and Arnold’s create all our talismans. ‘... Let alone have the talent and reserve to create one like this,’ Madhuri continues. ‘This is a bomb. One that implodes rather than explodes, drawing in Hollow energy within a certain radius.’
‘Say what now?’ Cheryl leans forward, a glint in her eyes. ‘Does that mean –’
‘It will incapacitate any Hollow monster. And temporarily take the power of any Hollow Warrior, by incapacitating their familiars too.’
There’s a collective intake of breath, and more than one warrior reaches reassuringly for their familiar.
‘You’ve tested this?’ Lydia asks quietly. ‘Does it reverse the energy flow?’
Madhuri looks at my mother, and tilts her head. It’s not really a yes or a no. ‘It’s been designed to maintain the Hollow energy flow state. We won’t risk burns. However, this is a new weapon. We’ve done some initial tests, but haven’t had the opportunity to use it in the field yet.’
‘It’s very shiny,’ Cheryl murmurs, and her gold teeth show in a crafty smile. I know she’s mentally planning her next monster slaughterfest.
‘And rare.’
‘Hmm, you mentioned that.’
‘Producing an inhibitor takes a lot out of the maker. This is only the second such talisman he has made, and he does not have the capacity to replicate this work quickly. He must recover. Build his strength.’ Madhuri sounds firm, discouraging Cheryl from asking for one of her own.
I know she’s talking about Arnold Woo, the warrior in Vienna. I look at the box and wonder if he can teach me how to make something like that. Whether I’ll ever be strong and capable enough to do so. Inside that talisman is something like a black hole of Hollow energy, stabilised and waiting to be triggered. It wants. It’s incredibly complex, and I’m the only one in the room who can get close to sensing just how so.
‘So we’d only have one shot. And because we’ll need to be close to him to trigger it, we’re talking about taking out our powers at the same time,’ Jet says. My oldest sister is rubbing the back of her head thoughtfully. Beside her, my niece Bree is a quiet observer.
‘That’s right,’ Madhuri says. ‘Level the playing field, as your grandmother pointed out. None of us will have a power. It’s no small thing. From our testing, it can be – well, rather alarming to lose your power. To have your familiar knocked out. And recovery time isn’t guaranteed. It could be a few minutes. It could be hours.’
‘Regardless, that would be enough time for a team of us to apprehend the Renegade,’ Adam, the younger newcomer, says. ‘Which is what’s important.’
‘It would take me, Bosco and Rosie out too,’ Rosco points out. The yellow eyes of all three imps are focused on the device designed to debilitate them. ‘It wouldn’t be wise to have three members of a team go down during an operation like this.’
‘Yes. Of course. You three should stay at base,’ Mama agrees. ‘Act as our co-ordinators with Fergus.’
‘Well, say those of us who are there apprehend Dominic. Doing so as norms, without our powers and familiars. We recover. What happens when his power returns too?’ Jet’s thinking ahead. ‘Would it be the same – to manipulate Hollow energy? In that case, we’d be providing him with a handy supply of powers to steal.’
‘He won’t recover. He won’t get any power back,’ Geema says, resolute. ‘I will take away his new familiar during the aftermath, and unmake it.’
‘We bring him in as a norm,’ Madhuri confirms. ‘We don’t want to harm him.’
I resist the urge to say how much it hurts to have your familiar unmade. Becoming a norm is not the same as being unharmed.
The briefing room is quiet for a few seconds, the only sound a regular situation normal beeping from the monitoring screens as we chew over the options.
‘The alternative is what? Trying to overcome him with force. It sounds just as risky,’ says Lydia. ‘Even with all our powers combined, Dominic could take and use any of them against us, as well as summon a storm of Hollow monsters. We couldn’t sufficiently control the scene to limit damages. With the inhibitor talisman, at least we have a measure of control.’
