The woman tried to force her way back to the witch without success. She threw her hands up in frustration. She yelled at Anaïs, ‘Will you be all right?’

  ‘Yes!’ Anaïs called back. ‘I’ll be fine.’

  ‘See you on the other side then,’ she replied cheerfully.

  ‘Yep,’ said Anaïs. ‘See you on the other side.’ She ducked and slipped between the legs of two large men to get out of sight. No offence, lady, but there’s no way I want to see you on the other side.

  The crowd stopped moving. Anaïs wiggled into a standing position. She glanced between the gaps around her, trying to spot more shades. There did not seem to be any.

  The surge forward resumed. Taken off guard, Anaïs was once again lifted off her feet. She decided to take advantage of it. Using the shoulders of the people beside her, she pulled herself higher to get a better view. For a moment she caught a glimpse of where the crowd was heading.

  Before them was the horseshoe shape of a huge, ancient amphitheatre. Constructed entirely of white marble, the tiers of seating encompassing the central arena reflected the winter sunlight. There were hundreds of people milling at ground level. From her viewpoint, only the lower seats seemed to be occupied. A line of uniformed men stood before her in the open end of the horseshoe.

  As the crowd continued forward the pressure of the bodies around her ebbed. She dropped back to the ground as the throng thinned.

  Finally! A bit of room!

  Spying a gap she could squeeze through, she took a step forward to rush through it. A man stepped into her path, barring her way. She tried to dodge him, but he moved sideways to block her path. He grabbed her by the shoulders, his grip so fierce he dug his thumb-tips into her collarbone.

  ‘Ow!’ she cried.

  She tried to shake him loose. He held his stance. Anaïs swore. Security guards are a pain in the butt! With her face flushed with exasperation, she looked up at his.

  Oh, no!

  She sighed heavily, gritted her teeth and snarled to herself. Great! Just what I need right now!

  FRIEND OR FOE

  The Inquisitor relaxed his grip on her shoulders. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.’

  What? Sorry?

  ‘I just didn’t want you running away.’

  Of course you didn’t. You never do, you wacko!

  He spoke softly, his eyes filled with concern. ‘Are you okay?’

  Am I okay? Anaïs forced her eyes shut. She blinked to clear her disorientated mind. What the heck?

  He continued, his voice uncharacteristically soothing. ‘We need to get out of here, Anaïs.’

  We? Confused by his attitude, she knotted her brow and shook her head. ‘I’m not going anywhere with you.’

  ‘Don’t be like that,’ he pleaded, practically begging her. ‘I’m trying to help you.’

  ‘Help me!’ She flared her nostrils. ‘Since when have you ever helped me!’

  ‘I know, I know. You’re right,’ he conceded. ‘The situation has changed, though. I can explain. Just not here. Please believe me.’

  She glanced around, desperately searching for an escape route. Hemmed in by the crowd, there was none. ‘Believe you? Why should I believe you?’

  ‘I don’t know what I can say to convince you. You’ll just have to trust me.’

  ‘Trust?’ She snorted. ‘That’s something you have to earn.’

  ‘I know.’ He looked down at his hands on her shoulders. Realising the grip he still had on her, he released her. Raising his hands he held them palms out next to his face, as if he were succumbing to an armed robber. ‘Look, you’re free to go if you want. I won’t stop you.’

  Anaïs raised an eyebrow.

  He dropped his arms. His eyes darted around, scrutinising the throng of people. He returned his focus to the little witch’s face, fixing her with a serious stare. ‘Anaïs, you may not want it, but you will need my help.’

  Anaïs sneered at him. ‘Give me one good reason why I should go with you.’

  ‘You’re not safe here,’ he said. ‘Neither of us is safe here. I’m taking a huge risk as it is.’

  ‘Risk?’

  ‘Several risks, actually,’ he mused. ‘But, right now, there’s a particularly immediate one.’ He flicked his thumb over his shoulder at the amphitheatre behind him. ‘We have to get out of here before we end up in there.’

  ‘What’s in there?’

  ‘Shades. Hundreds of them.’

  She cocked her head to one side. ‘Why is that such a problem? I’m used to dealing with shades.’

  ‘Not like this.’

  ‘I’ll cope.’

  He shook his head vigorously. ‘No, you won’t.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘At the moment the shades themselves are not the main problem.’

  Anaïs frowned. ‘What is then?’

  ‘The fact they will reveal who we are.’

  ‘Oh.’ Anaïs bit her bottom lip.

  ‘Yes,’ said Iggy, satisfied that she understood the gravity of their predicament.

  During their conversation the crowd had ignored the two of them. People had filed past them in an orderly manner. Now the crowd thickened. A shove in her back sent Anaïs careening into the Inquisitor’s arms. He planted his boots in an effort to hold their position. The momentum of the throng was too great.

  Grabbing Anaïs by the shoulders with one arm, the Inquisitor bent down and slipped his other arm under the backs of her knees. He stood, sweeping her up into his arms.

  ‘Stop!’ she protested, trying to scramble out of his embrace. ‘What the heck are you doing?’

  He ignored her pleas and held her firm. Using Anaïs’s trailing legs like the blades of a helicopter, he spun on the spot to create room. The people around them stepped back to avoid being hit by them. He spotted a gap and ploughed sideways through the crowd.

  Anaïs continued to struggle but to no avail. He was too strong. With exasperation, she relented and let him carry her through the crowd. On the fringe of the crowd their way was blocked by a high fence. The Inquisitor glanced both ways down the fence line. He cursed, made a snap decision and headed in the direction of the amphitheatre.

  Within moments he reached the opening. The line of uniformed personnel she had seen earlier was barring the entrance. They seemed to be filtering and sorting the crowd.

  He barged through them yelling hysterically about a sick child. Anaïs grinned to herself. You make a good actor. Too occupied with the number of people they were dealing with, the guards put up no resistance.

  Inside, he stopped and cast an eye around the amphitheatre.

  ‘You can put me down now,’ said Anaïs.

  He shook his head. ‘No, not until we’re out of here.’

  He pushed his way through the crowd to the perimeter of the arena. Mounting the stairs two at a time he rushed to the top. Anaïs was taken aback by his energy. Man! I could use some of this.

  He paused at the pinnacle of the tiered seating, assessing his next move. Anaïs glanced down into the arena. Separated by a circle of security personnel close to the entrance was a group of figures. She peered closely at them. The bodies of a number of them were flickering, almost like fluorescent tubes which were unable to fully ignite.

  ‘The shades,’ muttered Anaïs.

  The Inquisitor followed her gaze and nodded. He stepped up onto the upper edge of the amphitheatre. Anaïs joined him in looking down at the drop before them. The ground was several metres below under the canopy of a line of trees.

  ‘Um … no. Don’t even think about it,’ said Anaïs.

  Iggy puffed his cheeks. ‘Thinking never got me anywhere, Anaïs. You either do it. Or you don’t. I choose to act.’ He drew in a deep breath, set his jaw and jumped.

  Anaïs screwed her eyes shut and screamed out a long high-pitched ‘no’. It only stopped when, upon hitting the ground, the Inquisitor squeezed her so tight it knocked the wind out of her.

  DOUBT

  The Inquisitor hit the ground with such force his legs buckled under him. He cushioned the impact by crumpling into a ball and rolling across the soft sand at the base of the wall. Panting, he came to rest on his back with Anaïs on top of him.

  Rolling onto one side he opened his arms and released the witch from his grasp. She untangled herself and pushed away from him. They both climbed to their feet. He tilted his head and arched backwards, massaging the base of his spine. He straightened, stuck his little finger in one ear and jiggled it. Sighing, he said, ‘Did you really have to do that?’

  ‘What?’ squeaked Anaïs, still trying to catch her breath after having it squeezed out of her.

  ‘Scream in my ear.’

  Anaïs set her hands on her hips and twisted her lips. ‘Don’t go jumping down off high walls again and you won’t have that problem.’

  ‘There wasn’t a problem,’ he said as he extracted one boot at a time out of the ankle-deep sand they stood in. ‘You worry too much.’

  ‘A healthy dose of worry is a good thing,’ Anaïs replied. ‘It hasn’t failed me in the past. Thanks for getting me out of there, though.’ She turned to leave. ‘I’ll be off then.’

  He reached out and grabbed her by the elbow. ‘Wait.’

  ‘Wait for what?’ She wrenched her arm free, turning it against his thumb. ‘And don’t you dare touch me again.’

  ‘Fine! I won’t. But I need to talk to you.’

  Anaïs curled her lip. ‘I don’t care what you have to say and I don’t need your help.’

  ‘You just did.’

  She pulled a face indicating reluctant agreement. ‘Okay, besides that.’

  ‘It’s important.’

  ‘What is?’

  ‘What I have to say.’

  She exhaled with a puff. ‘Well, spit it out then,’ said Anaïs, sensing that he would give her no respite until he had said his piece.

  ‘I’m not your enemy, Anaïs,’ said Iggy with slow deliberation. ‘My parents are.’

  ‘I already gathered that about them. Although, I doubt the enemy part about you.’

  ‘I’ve come to realise what they’re doing is wrong. I want to apologise for my actions.’

  ‘Yeah, right!’ snapped Anaïs. ‘Like I should believe that! You’ve never been apologetic about anything before.’

  ‘I’m trying to be honest here.’ In frustration he wiped his brow with the back of his hand. ‘You’re making this very difficult.’

  ‘Put yourself in my shoes.’ Anaïs set her knuckles on her hips. ‘How would you feel? You took your own sister and used her against me.’

  ‘I know that now,’ he said with genuine sorrow. ‘But I didn’t then. My father lied to me.’

  ‘They lied to all of us.’

  He sighed. ‘Unfortunately, I now know that to be true.’

  ‘How could you be so blind?’

  ‘No real excuses, I’m afraid.’

  His tone seemed more defensive than apologetic. It irked Anaïs. ‘That’s not good enough.’

  ‘I know,’ he said softly. ‘I was following orders. It’s what I’ve been trained to do. But that all changed. I realised what was really going on. That I have made a mistake. I now know what I’ve done is wrong. I’m here to try to make amends.’

  She cast a disdainful eye over him. ‘I don’t trust you.’

  ‘I fully understand. I wouldn’t either. I’m only asking you to give me the benefit of the doubt.’

  Unconvinced, Anaïs shook her head. ‘Way too many doubts.’

  ‘I can’t make you do anything against your will, Anaïs. If you want to, you’re free to go. But if you stay I can protect you. I know how they function. I know what they’re capable of.’

  ‘I’ve experienced that myself.’ Anaïs stared at her boots. ‘Given the opportunity, I know they will work against me.’ She lifted her head and looked him in the eye. ‘However, I don’t see that you can help me any more than I can help myself.’

  ‘They will communicate with me,’ said Iggy. ‘They don’t know I’m with you. My orders were to find you and keep my distance. To keep an eye on you.’ Furtively, he glanced around the clearing they stood in. ‘We will know ahead of time what their plans are. We will be one step ahead.’

  Anaïs tilted her head back. She eyed the spot where they had jumped from the top of the stadium wall. ‘I think we already know more than they do.’

  ‘Don’t be too sure,’ he said warily. ‘They will know about this situation. Although the shades are a considerable problem for them, you are the real problem. You are a loose cannon. Believe me, if they weren’t otherwise occupied they would stop at nothing to get you.’

  ‘I know that. They already tried.’

  The Inquisitor squatted in order to look Anaïs square in the eye. She averted her gaze, avoiding his penetrating stare. He laid a hand on her shoulder.

  She brushed it away with the back of her hand. ‘Don’t touch me, I said!’

  ‘My bad,’ he said repentantly. He brought his hands together and knotted his fingers. He jabbed towards her with his thumbs. ‘Listen. We are the future, Anaïs. Their ways are antiquated. They know this, but fear change. Because of this you are their greatest threat.’

  ‘How can I possibly be a threat?’ She ran the backs of her hands down her jacket and spread her arms. ‘Look at me.’

  ‘Size is immaterial, Anaïs. It’s what you’re capable of doing.’

  Anaïs grinned. ‘Well, I know I’m capable of being a pain in the posterior.’

  He smiled. ‘That you are. But you can do so much more than that.’

  Anaïs considered his words. They reminded her of the conversation with Lilith. She had said practically the same things he was saying. But was he to be trusted?

  ‘I need a moment,’ said Anaïs.

  ‘Certainly.’

  She shooed him away. ‘Go stand over there.’

  He frowned. ‘Why?’

  ‘Just do it if you want me to stick around.’

  He looked at her dubiously.

  Folding her arms and tapping her foot in the soft sand, she waited for him to respond.

  He breathed deeply though his nostrils. ‘Fine!’ He stood, spun on one heel and waded through the sand to a nearby rock. He sat on it and watched her.

  Anaïs glared at him. He dropped his eyes and she turned her back to him. She held her arms out, brought her hands together and opened her palms. ‘Sappho? Can you come here?’ The ladybird released her hold on Anaïs. She crawled up her back and over her shoulder. After walking down her arm, Sappho settled on the witch’s hands.

  Anaïs looked over her shoulder at the Inquisitor. He was busy removing his boots. She smirked. Phew! Glad I’m not there to smell them. He began to empty the sand out of them. She returned her focus to Sappho, noting with delight that the elytra had fully healed.

  ‘Lilith?’ she whispered. ‘Are you there?’

  The spots on Sappho’s elytra swirled around and morphed into the face of the Oracle.

  ‘Yes, Anaïs?’

  ‘Is he to be trusted?’

  ‘I told you before, Anaïs. Search yourself. Therein lies the answer.’

  Slightly distressed, Anaïs knotted her brow. ‘He talked about the same things you did.’

  The eye on Sappho’s back winked at her. ‘Then you have your answer.’

  ‘But he has done terrible things.’

  ‘Many do in the pursuit of their cause—of what they think is right.’ A shadow flickered across Lilith’s face. ‘One man’s horror is another man’s solution.’

  ‘Scary principle.’

  ‘It is the way of the universe.’

  Anaïs dropped her eyes. She looked past Sappho at the ground between her feet. ‘I have a lot of doubts.’ She began to draw a circle in the sand with the toe of her boot.

  ‘We all do,’ said Lilith. ‘Life is full of them. As you grow you will learn to read your instincts better. The only way to hone this skill is with practice.’

  ‘But that involves risk.’

  ‘When is there ever no element of risk, Anaïs?’

  Anaïs shrugged. The grin on Lilith’s face drew her attention back to the ladybird cupped in her palms. ‘Never, I guess.’

  ‘I believe in you, Anaïs. You will know what to do.’

  Anaïs cracked a weak smile. ‘Thanks, Lilith. I hope I can find it.’

  AN ACCOMPLICE

  Iggy knocked the heel of his boot against the rock to extract the last grains of sand. He looked up as Anaïs approached him. He eyed her cautiously. ‘So? Are we good to go?’

  ‘You don’t mess around, do you?’

  ‘No, of course not. Time is precious.’ He pulled on his boot with a grunt. ‘Like I said before, you either do something or you don’t. No messing around.’

  She frowned. ‘I don’t mess around.’

  ‘You could have fooled me.’ He indicated the ladybird on her back. ‘Who in their right mind talks to their backpack?’

  ‘It’s not a back—’ Anaïs stopped herself, realising the less he knew about her magic the better. Given the uncertainty of his word, she had to retain every advantage she had. If necessary, Sappho could be her key to escape.

  ‘Oh, I do that all the time!’ she exclaimed cheerfully.

  He shook his head in bemusement. ‘Okay,’ he murmured. ‘Perhaps you can keep your idiosyncrasies to yourself.’

  ‘I’ll try to keep that in mind.’

  ‘Good.’ He studied her face for a moment. ‘Shall we go?’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘I assume you need to find your friends.’

  She pursed her lips. ‘Yes, I do. But if I let you help me, what kind of guarantee do I have that you won’t reveal me or them to your mother and father?’

  He furrowed his brow. ‘I don’t know if there is anything I can give as a guarantee. I told you before, you’ll have to trust me.’

  Unmoved, Anaïs folded her arms. ‘That’s not enough for me.’

  The Inquisitor cast his eyes to the sky in frustration. He shoved his hands into his coat pockets. His eyes widened. ‘Hold on!’

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21