– Chapter 32

‘You need to heal up, baby,’ he says as he stretches out his legs either side of me and rests my back on his front. His chin settles on my shoulder as I peer back at him. I can’t stop grinning. ‘You still have your binding spell on or something? Is that why you haven’t healed? Look at you. You’re a bloody mess.’

‘Ever the gentleman,’ I mumble tiredly.

He takes my left hand and pulls up the sleeve of my coat. Seeing that the binding spell isn’t there, he goes for my other arm.

‘Don’t. Wait. STOP!’

I scream in agony as he grips my wrist and goes to pull back my sleeve. My scream makes him let me go instantly.

‘What? What’s wrong? Is your hand broken? Let me see.’

‘Just wait… Gabriel…’

But he’s already taken hold of my arm and carefully started to pull up the sleeve.

‘Jesus… fucking… Christ…’ he hisses as he reveals the stump. ‘Lilly, where the fuck is your hand?!’

‘It’s a long story.’

‘Then tell me the short version!’

‘I was about to get shot. Needed magic. Couldn’t get the binding spell off my wrist so I just cut the fucking thing off.’

‘By the fucking thing, you mean your entire fucking hand?!’

‘It really hurts.’

‘No fucking shit! Goddammit! I should have been there. I should have-’

‘I think I’m going to pass out. We really need to get to the Bloodstone. Do you remember everything? Do you know where we need to go-’

‘Can you heal yourself?’ he cuts in. ‘Baby, you’re in terrible shape. You’re missing a hand!’ There’s anguish in his voice, just as there always is when he sees me suffering. ‘What else have they done? Where else are you hurt? Come on. Use your Physical magic and stop the bleeding.’ He gives me an encouraging squeeze.

‘I don’t have my Physical realm of power yet,’ I admit.

‘What do you mean? You have them all.’

‘I didn’t when I was seventeen.’ I swallow a dry swallow and try to ignore the overwhelming pull of sleep. ‘I can’t heal.’

‘Shit,’ he hisses sharply and holding me tighter. ‘Okay. COLLINS? WE NEED YOU!’

Collins, who had been stalking up and down by Ryan’s slumped form, heads our way. He crouches in front of us and looks at me with concern.

‘She’s not in a good way, Collins. She’s really hurt. Can she use her Sensativa to syphon your magic? She needs to heal. She’s missing a fucking hand.’

‘What?’ Collins looks at the charred stump in Gabriel’s grip. ‘Fuck me! Of course!’

He holds out his hand, but I shake my head.

‘No Sensativa either. Just Elemental and Telekinesis. But I’m so exhausted, I can’t even summon them. Gabriel, I need you to drive me to the Bloodstone.’

‘You need a hospital! You’re on death’s door!’

He gets to his feet, cradling me in his arms as he heads towards the car.

‘Gabriel, no! The Bloodstone!’

‘You can’t do the spell if you’re dead!’

‘THE BLOODSTONE!’ I scream. A desperate blast of Telekinetic power surges from deep within me and pelts into the trees around us, zapping my energies even further. He hunches over my frame to protect me from the showering branches, and slowly lifts his angry glare to meet my determined one.

‘Uncalled for,’ he snarls.

‘Our daughter. She’s waiting. Callie is waiting for you,’ I cry, looking up at him pleadingly. ‘Everyone is counting on us. We don’t have time to waste. If I don’t finish this spell today, we all get propelled back to five years in the future where you’re all dead. And our daughter, Collins’s son and Amara, they’ll all be trapped over there alone. Forever.’ I grab his face and make him look at me. ‘Get me to the Bloodstone, Gabriel.’

‘You can barely speak, baby. You’re slurring your words and you can’t even keep your eyes on me. That Bloodstone demands all your strength. You don’t have anything left.’

‘I have enough.’

‘Lilly-’

‘Do you ever want to see your daughter? Do you want to hold her? Raise her?’

‘Of course I do,’ he replies indignantly. ‘What a stupid fucking question. But I’m pretty damn fucking certain she would appreciate a mum that’s alive.’

‘I’ll be fine. Please. We’re running out of time. We need-’

Ryan starts to laugh as he watches us. His face is so swollen and bloody I can’t even see the nasty grimace which I know he’s wearing. Gabriel’s entire body tenses and I hear his breathing get harder.

‘You? You’re the ?’ Ryan forces out the mocking giggles. ‘Man… you really must be desperate to want that mess.’

Gabriel doesn’t say a word, but I know that he’s ready to explode with fury and wrath.

Ryan looks straight at him. ‘I was fucking her less than twelve hours ago you know. Had her bent over and squealing like a pig being slaughtered. Yeah, she cries and begs for me to stop but you and I both know… she likes it rough.’

‘Gabriel,’ I keep my eyes on Ryan as I speak. ‘Can you do something for me?’

‘Kill him? With pleasure.’

‘No. Turn your eyes black for me, would you?’ I peer up and see his demon eyes in place, just as I asked. ‘Tell him to pick up his knife.’

‘Ryan,’ Gabriel says. ‘Pick up your knife.’

Ryan reaches out, feeling for the knife blindly. He picks it up.

‘Tell him to get on his feet.’

‘On your feet, scum,’ Gabriel instructs.

We all watch in silence and watch Ryan stagger up, swaying and tripping over as he struggles to keep his balance.

I lean up and whisper into Gabriel’s ear and then look to Ryan.

‘Harry Ryan Hooper Junior. My wife and I would very much like it if you took that knife, and fucked yourself with it. You are to penetrate yourself with it once, for every time you touched her without her permission.’

‘I-I don’t know how many times I’ve-’

‘Start from now and work your way back. Every hit. Every touch. Every violation. You fuck yourself with that knife, one thrust, for every time you touched her.’

His body starts to obey and the confusion of his involuntary actions has his eyes wide. He unbuckles his jeans.

‘W-wait-’

‘Up your arse. Up your fucking dick. In your stomach, I don’t really give a shit how you do it,’ Gabriel states. ‘But you’re going to fuck that knife. And you’re not going to stop until you die.’

Ryan’s jeans crumple around his ankles and Gabriel turns to the car, gently laying me down in the back seat before closing the door. He walks around and gets in by my head, settling my upper body in his lap. I hear Ryan start to scream and watch as Gabriel looks up at him with cruel satisfaction. Collins gets into the driver’s seat.

‘Well, there’s an image I ain’t ever gonna forget,’ Collins mutters. ‘Best not to look, Lilly. I think you can do without that scene in your dreams.’

‘I said to have him slit his throat with the knife. Not to fuck it,’ I tell him. Gabriel shrugs.

‘I took liberties with your words. It’s what I do and it’s nothing less than what he deserves.’

The car engine roars to life and Collins speeds away. Ryan’s howling starts to fade the further away we get.

Gabriel leans down and plants a lingering kiss on my forehead. ‘Let’s get to that stone and finish this fucking thing. It’s time we got home to our baby girl.’

‘Yes… please.’

∞∞∞

The sound of rain and hail slamming into the car jolts me awake. I listen to the rhythmic back and forth of the window-wipers and lay still, cradled in Gabriel’s arms. We’ve been driving for hours and I’ve been sleeping for most of it.

‘She’s so small,’ Collins says quietly. ‘I mean, she’s always been small, but she’s so young.’

‘She’s a teenager, man. Fuck. Seventeen,’ Gabriel says, stroking my head. I’ve been slipping in and out, catching the odd snippet of conversation as we drive. Each time I open my eyes I feel stronger. No doubt due to Gabriel ordering my body to produce adrenaline every so often.

‘Is it weird? Seeing her so young?’ Collins asks. ‘You’re married to a teenager. Dirty old man you.’

‘She’s Lilly. She’s Lilly, no matter what.’ Gabriel sighs. ‘But it is painful to see her like this. I know her youth was brutal. She talked about a lot of what happened, but seeing her like this? So thin. So gaunt and pale. You know I can feel her ribs? Every single one? And actually seeing Ryan? God, I thought the rage was about to Break me all over again.’ Gabriel runs his fingers softly down my arm. ‘She’s taken a lashing today. Her arms are raw.’

‘Are you gonna have a look?’

‘Look?’ Gabriel asks, soothing my hair clear from my face. ‘She’s bleeding all over me. I think I can see well enough-’

‘See what happened today, I mean in her memories. Find out how the hell she lost her hand for a start. That piece of shit was talking about Hunters coming for her. Not that it really matters, I guess. Everyone remembers what happened. Will happen. Whatever. Theo knows and will be heading to the final stone, but you might see something helpful.’

He sighs. ‘I already did. Part of me wishes that I hadn’t.’

‘Dare I ask?’

‘While we were playing pool, Ryan had her. He was… I can’t even say it. I should have known. I should have been at that damn house! Not playing stupid fucking pool.’ His fist slams into the car door as Collins swerves around a car ahead. ‘I should have-’

‘There’s nothing else you could have done. You have her now. What’s important is being what she needs. After this spell, we’ll all be safe. Everyone will have their magic and no Hunters can follow us. She can take all the time she needs to heal up. Inside and out. And…’

‘And?’ Gabriel encourages.

‘We’ll have our families. Our kids. The women we love. We’re gonna make it, man. Five hundred years and we’re finally gonna make it. Amara and my son are alive and well. Your daughter too, they’re waiting for us. This is all gonna work out. Just you wait.’

Gabriel leans down and kisses my forehead. ‘Then why do I have the feeling something terrible, like, truly terrible, is about to happen?’

‘What the hell else could happen? We’ve been shot in the head-’

‘I apologised for that,’ Gabriel mumbles.

‘We’ve been tortured. Had limbs cut off. Everyone literally died, Gabriel.’

‘I have some serious apologies to make to Connor and Jensen. Their last memories of me will be brutal. I’m glad that I managed to spare them from the pain though. Jensen died thinking he was with Lilly and Connor died thinking he was in the mountains of Wicklow drinking Guinness.’

‘That’s a mercy,’ Collins replies.

‘I was ordered to kill. Not to let them feel pain.’

‘That’s what I mean though. We’ve all been through fucking hell. I seriously doubt anything worse could possibly happen to us than already has-’

Collins slams on the brakes hard and swears loudly as he swerves to a stop. Gabriel braces himself against the front seat and holds me close so I don’t go flying.

‘You had to bloody say it,’ Gabriel mutters. ‘Didn’t you?’

I sit and look ahead.

Hordes of people block the road. Hundreds of them, and they’re all are heavily armed. Their guns are pointed straight at us.

‘Are you feeling a little better by any chance, Beautiful?’ Gabriel and I share an anxious glance. ‘Because I think we may need some Arcane witchery to get past whoever these people are.’

‘This is the only road to the Bloodstone?’ Collins asks as several of them cock their weapons and tighten their aim. ‘Shall I just plough through them? Or reverse or what?’

I lean forwards, peering through the wipers as they slide rapidly from side to side. It’s hard to see through the downpour, so I squint and shuffle closer, despite Gabriel wrapping his arms around my waist and gently guiding me back. Through the crowd, someone starts walking towards us. Those around clear a path until the hooded figure reaches the boundary.

They stand there, watching the car curiously and ready to open fire in a second.

‘I think I know them,’ I tell the boys. I clamber into the front seat and really look. ‘I… I think they’re Traitors – Ramblers.’ I look to Gabriel who has placed himself between Collins and I. ‘Gabriel. They’re my Dad’s people.’

A wave of panic floods my heart as I think of my Dad. Was Dad with Theo when their memories returned? If he was, if Theo was close and knew what was to come, knew what had been and what lies ahead, Jensen could already be dead. The thought takes over my senses and before anyone can stop me, I hurl myself out of the car, missing the hands that reach out to stop me. I slam the door closed before I can be compelled back into the vehicle and walk forwards without a second of hesitation. Straight to the hooded figure standing front and centre, flanked at both sides by heavy artillery.

‘Is Jensen here with you?’ I demand. ‘Is he? IS HE HERE?’

A few Traitors prime their weapons, clearly demonstrating their willingness to fire. And others lower them entirely. Some even clasp their chest or slump in… relief?

Gabriel has shot out after me and grabbed my hand to stop me getting any closer. Both he and Collins stand in front of me, acting as a human shield.

The hooded figure starts to walk towards us.

‘STOP!’ Gabriel orders. His eyes must be black, judging by the abrupt halt of the incoming figure.

She lowers her hood and looks right at me.

‘About bloody time,’ Jessica grins. ‘Alright, you two? Damn, Lilly. No offence but you look like shit.’

‘Jessica?’ I gasp. It’s strange to see her so young. The last time I saw her, we were in the house in the middle of a town filled with Vigilantes. Last time I saw her, my dad-

‘Your dad bloody shot me. Not cool.’ She then looks to Gabriel. ‘And you-’

‘How are you here? You all remember?’ I ask. As much fun as this reunion is, we have far more important things to attend to.

‘We remember,’ another calls out, joining Jessica’s side. He pulls down his hood. It’s Billy Songer. ‘All with magic in their blood remembered at the same time. At two p.m. exactly, we were each struck with a blinding headache and bombarded with images. Memories. We remembered it all. Lilly, you saved my daughter from a most terrible fate.’

‘Technically, it hasn’t happened yet,’ I counter.

‘It happened. And you saved her. Twice! Thank you.’ He looks past me to Gabriel and Collins. ‘Glad you got out of The Orchard in one piece. I was worried.’

‘Likewise,’ Gabriel replies, reaching out and shaking the man’s hand before saying to me, ‘Billy and his men were at the house this afternoon when we all remembered. After Grayson turned against us all in the future, Billy and his men sided with us, and Grayson was not happy. After we all got our memories back, Grayson and the few who agreed to change into his vampire-monsters just started attacking us. Grayson came for Collins and me. If it weren’t for Billy and his men’s actions today, we wouldn’t have got away.’

Billy rests his gaze on me. ‘I beg your forgiveness for my part in what happened to you at the hands of Grayson, Miss Hooper. I was misguided, but I assure you, once I saw the truth, I left Grayson and joined Gabriel and Jensen-’

‘Where is Jensen?’ I ask, looking at the crowd behind him, swallowing down an anxious lump in my throat. ‘Is he here with you?’ I look at Jessica. ‘Is he okay?’

‘He told us to get here,’ she replies. ‘To surround The Bloodstone and wait for you.’

‘Wait for me?’

‘Yeah. He said that he knew you would come and that no matter what, we had to protect the Bloodstone for when you got here.’

‘How did he know to come here? He died before he knew the location.’

‘I don’t know the fella’s name, but Jensen said that the Irish lad told him to get here. To this spot.’

‘Connor,’ I breathe, feeling how rigid and shaky Gabriel becomes in that instant. I squeeze his hand and he clings to me painfully tight. The memories of what he did to Connor are racing through his mind. I know it, because they’re racing through mine too.

‘And where is he now?’ I ask Jessica. Talking about what happened with Connor is the last thing we need to be doing and the last thing Gabriel needs to have in his head. ‘You said he called you? Why wasn’t he at the camp with you?’

‘He was with Theo. Away from the camp.’

She says the words that I was dreading to hear, and she knows that I was dreading to hear them judging by the sympathy on her face.

‘And… and now?’ I look around the crowd, scanning the faces that all look at me. ‘Where is my dad?’

‘We don’t know,’ she admits sadly. ‘He and Theo were in Scotland late last night, but they left to travel south early this morning. When the event occurred, when our memories returned, he called me. It sounded like…’ She glances at Gabriel.

‘Like what?’ I insist, pulling her focus back to me. ‘Like what, Jessica?’

‘Like he was under attack.’

‘How? What does that mean? What did he say?’ I’m desperate to know. Something. Anything that can give me hope. ‘Is he dead?’ I ask fretfully. ‘Oh God… is he dead?’ My legs go weak and Gabriel has to steady me on my feet.

‘I don’t know,’ she says. ‘We just got here as quickly as we could. I don’t know where he is, Lilly. I’m sorry. But come on. This is Jensen Hartley we’re talking about. If he’s anything, he’s a survivor.’

Again, Gabriel stiffens. Because Jensen was not a survivor. Not at all.

I could fall into a heap and scream. I’ve already lost him once. I watched him die in a way so gruesome, I will never forget it. But when my memories returned, I knew that his death had not yet happened. Just as with so many of the other horrifying events that lie in wait for us all. No Miller’s Barn. No miscarriage. No two years in the cellar. No Break. For Gabriel or for me.

No murdered father.

No countless murdered Descendants.

In an instant, my world crashes around me and I can’t think straight.

‘How far to the Bloodstone?’ Gabriel asks, taking over the conversation and letting me sink into his chest as he engulfs me in his arms. I bury my face in his shirt, stunned into an agonising silence as their conversation fades into the background.

Billy starts to give directions, guiding us to its location.

It’s all just white noise to me.

I squeeze my eyes shut, my heart swelling with misery.

There’s a commotion. The crowd start to murmur. Then they begin to yell. The unmistakable clicking of weapons being made ready echoes throughout the multitude of people and Gabriel grips me tight, turning away from the others and towards the direction of the car.

I open my eyes and see what has caused the sudden distress.

In the distance, four helicopters are heading this way.

Hunters. I can tell just by looking at those enormous guns attached to the sides.

Sent here on Theo’s orders to stop us reaching the third and final stone.

I start to shake. My fingers twist in Gabriel’s shirt and I begin to growl. The growl turns into a roar. Then, into a full-bodied, throat-tearing scream. One full of anger and wrath that spill out like a poison.

‘Order me to fill with adrenaline!’ I demand. ‘Now, Gabriel. NOW!’

‘Lilly-’

‘NOW!’

He does. With black eyes and dark words, he orders my body to pump much-needed energy through my veins. Enough to have me vibrating and nauseous. They all start backing up, desperate to create some distance between them and the incoming assault. I lift my hand and point it straight at the helicopters, releasing a war-cry and with it, a stream of fire. One that swirls and twists, morphing into a beast with great wings and giant claws.

‘Is that… a dragon?’ I hear Jessica gasp.

‘It certainly is,’ Gabriel replies with an anxious edge.

I guide the creation with blazing talons and molten scales to the incoming aircraft. But that’s not all I do. I take control of the very earth below my feet, sending up lumps of stone and clumps of tarmac, adding it to the dragon creature, giving the flames a solid mass. The dragon roars, shaking the ground and blazing brightly, despite the heavy rain. It grabs at one of the helicopters with its feet, warping the propellers and engulfing it in flames of vibrant red. Those around me gasp and yell in fear as my fire-beast tears at it. I swipe my arm in a slashing motion to the second helicopter. The metal tears clear down the middle as if a huge invisible sword has cut it clean in half. Both parts spiral wildly through the air before plummeting to earth, exploding in a ball of fire. I watch it burn, with tears streaming down my face and still howling furiously. I bare my teeth while the fire-dragon finishes its destructive attack. It moves to the third helicopter, clawing it to pieces and crashing through the windows, burning those inside alive. My body is failing. The power inside me drains my strength and tears at my head. I fall to my knees.

‘THAT’S ENOUGH!’ Gabriel orders. As he attempts to reach me, I knock him backwards with a swipe of my hand.

‘I’m not done,’ I snarl, turning my attention upwards.

The fourth helicopter swerves and tries to avoid me.

‘No, you fucking don’t.’

I reach out, my fingers stretched wide, and I tether the machine to me. It stops still. The propellers are stuck and no longer turn. Even from here, we hear the grinding of the gears as they try to move and the sound of the warning alarms blaring.

I ball up my fist and watch as the metal cage crumples in on itself, like a balloon having its air suddenly sucked out. Smaller and smaller it becomes as I crush it like thin tin until the gears stop and the alarms fall silent. It’s a tenth of the size and ground into a metal ball small enough to fit in Gabriel’s car boot when I let it fall from the sky.

As I relinquish my assault, my fire dragon simmers out of existence. Four streams of black smoke rise from the treetops a few miles away where the wrecks have landed.

The crowd share a hushed whisper of awe at my display of power as I fall to the ground with a painful whimper.

‘Goddammit,’ Gabriel hisses as he kneels beside me, gently easing me back up. ‘Fuck. Fuck, Lilly!’ He would be furious with me if he weren’t so afraid. Tentatively, he wipes the blood spilling from my nose while encouraging my lolling head to stay upright and my heavy eyes to remain open.

‘Adrenaline…’ I mutter. ‘Compel me-’ I retch before I can complete my request.

‘Your body can’t handle this!’ Gabriel warns fretfully. He holds me as I hunch over, while Collins pulls back my hair. ‘There’s no point, Collins,’ Gabriel spits angrily. ‘She’s got fuck all in her stomach to hurl because she’s half-starved! But no worries, I’ll just keep compelling her to fill with a chemical that will push on her broken, bleeding and already failing body till it fucking stops working altogether!’ He lowers himself and looks at me as I groan through the stomach-turning sickness that swirls in my insides. ‘Is that the plan here? HUH? For you to die? Look at you!’

‘I will not allow them to kill us all again.’ The memory of the caves imploding as hundreds fled to safety, fill my mind. The cages encased in our flesh with the furnace below our feet. The blood-stained gallows where my dad was hung, drawn and quartered. The shadows of swinging men, women and children. It fuels my inner fire. All this is totally worth it. ‘No mercy. Not for them. I am so close now. I will not fail. Not again.’ I force myself straight and look to Billy and Jessica. ‘That way, yeah?’ I point south and Jessica quickly nods. ‘Great.’

As I push myself to my feet, I hate how I stumble and trip. But there’s no way I can do this alone, no matter how I want to. I grip Gabriel’s arm and he lets me use him for balance, his furrowed brow and a long heavy growl showing his severe disapproval.

‘Help me get to the stone, Gabriel. I don’t care what it takes. Just get me to it.’

‘Baby.’ He steps closer, pressing our fronts together and looking down at me with pleading in his eyes. His eyes search mine desperately as he asks me his question. ‘Is this spell going to kill you?’

‘Trust me, Gabriel. Just please, trust me. This spell will not kill me.’

He clicks his tongue and shakes his head. ‘I don’t believe you. There’s a lie in your beautiful eyes. It’s there every time I ask you about the final spell. There is something you’re not telling me and I think that the reason you don’t care what happens to your body tonight is that you know that you will not need it after the spell is done.’

‘You’re wrong.’

‘You’re lying.’

‘I’m not!’ I bark back.

He sighs. ‘Then tell me what the heart of all power is.’

‘What-’

‘The object or artefact needed for the final spell, as written in Rebecca Hooper’s journal. You needed her wedding ring for the first spell-’

‘Gabriel, now is not the time-’

‘And her necklace for the second,’ he says over me. ‘But what is the final ingredient, huh? What, Lilly, is the heart of all power?’

‘Do you want to meet Callie?’ I ask him simply. ‘Because if you do, you need to help me because I can’t do this on my own. Yes. You’re right. My body is failing. I’ve lost too much blood. I’m starved. I also have at least two broken ribs and the drain of using magic this body can’t deal with is tearing my head to pieces. Right now, I’m dying.’

‘I can’t lose you.’

‘

, when I touch the Bloodstone, I’ll have access to the whole Arcane realm. Which means I’ll be able to heal. Everything I’m feeling, all this damage, it’s temporary.’

‘I fucking hate it when you say that.’

‘Who knows, I might even be able to grow my hand back,’ I add hopefully. ‘I’m going to be fine.’ I fall prey to a sudden dizzy spell and crumple.

He scoops me up in his arms like a child, watching me with unblinking eyes.

‘It won’t kill me. I swear to you.’

It breaks my heart to see him so uncertain and so afraid. It hurts even more as he pretends, for my benefit alone, that he believes my words.

‘Okay, Beautiful. Okay. I’ll get you there.’ He looks to Billy and Jessica who linger a little distance away, not wanting to intrude but also knowing that they should remain close. ‘Stay and protect the border.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Billy nods and looks at me. ‘My little girl is three now. She’s with her mum, who is still alive. I watched her hold that child and sob with joy. They both did. Even at three, she remembered her mummy dying and was so happy to have her back again. Seeing them back together was the most beautiful and amazing gift, Lilly Hooper. We all blinked and had our lost loved ones back in our arms after watching them  being torn away with violence and hatred. I fight for you today. We all do. For hope and a second chance at life. One not dominated by death and fear and pain. Our time of hiding is done. And for that, I would die a thousand times.’

‘And even though your dad fucking shot me,’ Jessica sighs. ‘You’ve got my loyalty.’ She nods behind her. ‘And every Rambler’s loyalty too. We’re ready to die for the cause. For you.’

‘Try not to die at all, if possible,’ I reply. Gabriel turns, with me still in his arms, and we begin the final leg of our journey. ‘Good luck,’ I call back to them all.

‘And to you,’ Billy replies.

‘See you on the other side!’ Calls Jessica.

∞∞∞

We abandon the road and march through the woodland. The crowd of Descendants, both Nomad and Traitor alike, start to thin, and soon, there is no one left.

Gabriel is painfully quiet as he carries me. I take every second as a chance to try and gather my strength, but I know that I’m fading. I think he knows it too, the way he keeps stealing glances at me tells me so.

‘What if he’s dead?’ I ask sadly, my head tucked perfectly under his chin. ‘What if Theo has killed my dad? He’ll be gone for good. Gone here and gone in the future too.’

‘Then, his last act was to send an army to your side. He was all about keeping you safe. Sometimes to the detriment of others, I might add.’

‘I bet you’ll be the same with our daughter. God. I dread to think about what you’ll be like when she starts dating.’

Collins chuckles, easing the severe tension as we trudge onwards, through the trees and towards the Hunters ready and waiting for the inevitable fight. He goes to add to the joke. Gabriel cuts him off.

‘I’m sorry I killed your dad,’ he blurts. I peer up at him and his uneasy gaze peers back. ‘I’m sorry for everything. For attacking you. For not being strong enough to fight Theo when he…’ A harrowing fog descends over him as he recalls the horrific and barbaric events that led to his twisted Break, landing him under the control of the man who he believed was his father. ‘Every time I think of what happened, what I did-’

‘It didn’t happen. All of that, it hasn’t happened. Not to these bodies. They’re just… they’re a bad dream.’ I reach up and entwine my fingers in his hair, twirling them as I have done so many times before, but never with these young fingers. ‘All that darkness, it was just a nightmare. Unless we fail here. Then it will be real once more.’

‘What happens exactly if the spell isn’t completed?’

‘If I don’t succeed, we return to the future we left behind.’ There’s no other way to say it. It’s the truth and a harsh one we must all face. ‘Well, I will. You’re all dead, remember?’ Yet another harsh truth. ‘I’ll be able to try again in another five years when Rebecca’s star orbits once more over the Bloodstone. If I survive that long that is, with all you lot dead and the Hunters hunting me down.’ Our eyes meet once more. ‘This is a borrowed day, Gabriel. One I will need to give back. If I fail, it will be as if nothing happened here. This day will be wiped clean and I will be the only person to remember it.’

‘Then we won’t fail,’ he promises. ‘I won’t let us fail.’

The ground trembles and everyone staggers from the force of a mighty BOOM coming from the edge of the cliff up ahead.

Without a moment of hesitation, Gabriel sets off at a run to the cliff’s edge, still holding me in his arms and followed by Collins. The closer we get, the more we hear the sound of yelling, shouting, screaming and gunfire.

We reach the edge.

Gabriel loosens his hold on me and I slide down to my feet.

‘Holy… shit…’ I whisper.

‘Second that,’ Gabriel agrees.

‘Third it,’ Collins mutters.

We all stare in shock to the beach below.

A good mile away, further along the shore and by the sea stacks housing the Bloodstone, a battle is raging. Men and woman are fighting each other on the sand. Some throw grenades. Some fire bullets. Others swing knives or fists. There are several large boats heading inland and helicopters approaching from the same direction.

It’s a battlefield.

Gabriel swiftly takes my hand in his and wraps his other arm around me protectively. I feel his heart pounding in his chest and hear the gasping breaths he takes as he realises what we have to get through before we even face the spell itself.

Black and white flames shoot up into the sky at an incoming helicopter. The sight of the unnatural fire is most welcome and we all breathe a significant sigh of relief.

‘Tobias made it here in one piece,’ Gabriel says. ‘I worried that Hunters might have caught him at the station.’

‘Well,’ Collins adds. ‘We knew they hadn’t killed him or we’d be dead too. Kind of useful to be honest, having the immortality spell connecting us all again. Means Theo and his Hunters won’t be so trigger happy.’

Below, Tobias is in the thick of it and trying his best to deter the aircrafts from getting too close. He shoots streams of his black and white fire in all directions and hurls great big balls of flames like cannonballs. The targets swerve and miss his attacks, retreating to a safe distance, before circling around to try again.

I release my hand from Gabriel’s grip and the most pathetic flicker of red splutters to life on my palm. But before I can do anything, Gabriel snatches it back and gives me an angry shake.

‘What the hell are you doing?’ I demand.

‘You’re not strong enough! The magic you’re using is killing you. Your body isn’t strong enough to control or contain it!’

‘I’m fine!’ I insist, pulling my hand free. But he just retakes it and pins me to his body as I try to get free.

‘Save your magic for the stone!’ he warns. ‘Let fight them. That’s our role in this.’ He nods to the Nomads and Traitors who fight the masked Hunters below, together. Side by side. Protecting their former enemies and dying for the cause.

Yet again. More death.

‘Your only job is the stone, Lilly. You must save your strength! Please!’

‘Compel me to fill with-’

‘No!’

‘They’re dying, Gabriel.’ I look down at them all and wail like a wounded animal, hating how utterly useless I am right now. ‘Adrenaline dulls the pain. It makes me stronger. Just-’

‘I will compel you to sleep, and I will carry your unconscious arse to that stone if I must, woman!’ he snaps, giving me another shake as he fails to contain his frustration with me. ‘You have to think about the bigger picture! Everyone depends on you! To complete this spell! To get us all home! Your heart can’t take any more adrenaline. You’ll have a fucking heart attack. Look at you! Stop being suicidal for once, would you?!’

My head sways forwards and backwards with each push and pull he delivers. I don’t even have the strength to keep it still and the way my head throbs with the movement forces out a whimper from my lips. The sound, filled with suffering, stops him instantly.

‘I’m sorry,’ he says sadly. ‘I’m… I’m sorry, baby. I shouldn’t have… are you okay?’

I slump forwards, burying my face in his chest. I sense his instant regret at losing his temper with me as he wraps his arms around me completely, encasing me in an all-consuming embrace, sealing me off from the outside world.

From anything that isn’t us.

His mouth rests by my ear.

‘I refuse to accept you going through all this pain. All this suffering. All this death and anguish, for you to not see a happy-ever-after. I will not let you have gone through all this just to meet death.’ He kisses my cheek firmly and shakes his head. ‘I won’t allow it.’ In a swift move, he lifts me in his arms once more and looks down at the beach below. ‘I’ll get you to the final Bloodstone. That’s job. I’ll carry you every step of the way.’

‘Not alone, you won’t.’

We turn. From behind, a small army marches towards us. At the front is Billy. Hundreds of men follow his lead, loading their guns and pulling out their knives.

‘The border doesn’t matter.’ Billy nods to me in Gabriel’s arms. ‘That girl. She’s all that matters. We’ll protect you. We’ll get you there.’

‘Billy… it’s a war zone down there.’

‘The bigger picture, right?’ he says. ‘Better to die here and see those we love survive this. We always knew this fight would come. It’s what we’ve trained for.’ He turns and raises his hand in the air, lifting his pistol high above his head. ‘FOR FREEDOM!’

They all bellow out a thunderous roar before charging forwards to the fight.

‘Hold on tight, Beautiful,’ Gabriel says, firming his hold on me. ‘Things are about to get real bumpy. Collins, stay close.’

‘Always have,’ Collins replies, cocking his gun. ‘Always will, Brother.’ He throws me a wink. ‘Let’s get you to that stone, Mrs Kendryk.’