Wraith(53)

There wasn’t any time left. I had to get Ange away while I still could. I leaned over and pecked the wraith’s shadowed cheek. ‘You should still leave,’ I told him. ‘Get back to your real body and you can raise the alarm about the Stone.’

He shook his head sadly and suddenly I understood. ‘The Gneiss goblins have your body,’ I said. He was in mortal danger whatever he did. They’d want to know why he’d failed with Ange; hell, they’d demand to know. They’d also demand to know what else he had learnt. They’d managed to keep their search for the Stone and the real reasons behind the Stirling siege quiet for three years. If there was the faintest suggestion that the wraith had learnt about it, he would be toast regardless of how well he could manipulate the shadows.

The wraith nodded at me, blew me a kiss and turned away, presenting me with his dark back. I reached out once again, brushing my fingertips against his shoulders. Sadness shivered through me but I still had to go. A second later, I started running.

***

Ange did her best to keep up with me. When it was clear that she had no strength left, I gave her a piggyback. Ignoring the yells behind us, and the screeches that indicated the goblins had found my new wraith buddy, we ploughed through the streets and snickets. My chest was hurting and I was convinced my legs were going to give way by the time Sally’s house came in sight. I’d have felt relieved but our journey was nowhere near over.

Ange slid off my back. Our proximity to her daughter had given her renewed strength and vigour. Without bothering to knock on the door, I entered the house with Ange at my heels. ‘Becky?’ Her voice was high-pitched and filled with alarm. ‘Becky? Are you here?’

There was a clatter from the kitchen and Becky came flying out, covered in flour and wearing an oversized apron. ‘Mum!’ she shrieked. She flung herself into Ange’s arms, sobbing wildly. I could see where she got all the emotion from; Ange’s tears were even louder.

Sally also appeared in the doorway, wincing at the noise the pair of them were making – but there was no denying the twinkle in her eyes. ‘So, Saiya, you’re back and you’ve brought another guest. I didn’t doubt that you’d make it.’

‘We can’t stay,’ I told her. ‘We have to get out of here. You should come too. The goblins are on our tail and they could trace us back to here. They’re looking for blood, Sally. They’re going door to door and if they discover the faintest trace of Becky or Ange they won’t hesitate to destroy you.’

Sally didn’t move a muscle. ‘I am not leaving my home. Not for goblins, not for you. Not for anything.’

‘Sally—’

‘I mean it, Saiya. I know you mean well but I’m too old and set in my ways. If they come here, I’ll deal with them.’

We both knew how that would end. Sally was tough but she was no match for the Filits. ‘You’re being ridiculous,’ I began.

The skinny shape of Martin, the boy she’d taken in, appeared behind her. He raised a large saucepan and hit her over the head with it. Sally went down like a sack of potatoes. Martin looked both pleased and horrified in equal measure. Then he bent down and scooped her up, glancing at me. ‘Where are we going?’ he asked.

Damn. He had bigger cojones than me; I’d never have dared to knock Sally Slate out, whatever the situation.

She was too big and he staggered under her weight. He wouldn’t be able to carry her more than twenty feet. ‘There’s an old wheelchair next door,’ he grunted. ‘No one’s been in there for months but I’ve seen it in the garden. It’s rusty but it’ll do.’

Becky wriggled out from Ange’s embrace. ‘I’ll get it!’

Martin nodded approvingly. ‘Good work, squirt.’

I continued to stare at him. He glared at me. ‘What?’

I held up my hands. ‘On your own head be it.’

Less than five minutes later, our motley band was racing back through the quiet streets. I spotted one or two pale faces staring out from the few houses that were still occupied, watching our mad dash. Ange was exhausted, the effects of her ordeal still affecting her, despite Gabriel de Florinville’s efforts to heal her. All the same she kept up, spurred on by Becky. I was beginning to feel like we could do this; we could reach the school and get out of here.

When we burst through the school’s main doors, Gabriel de Florinville and his companion, Rymark, were already there. There was no mistaking the relief on his face. Ignoring everyone else, he sprang forward and pulled me into his arms.

‘You made it,’ he whispered into my ear, his warm breath tickling my neck. ‘That’s it. I’m not letting you out of my sight again, Saiya. No matter what happens we’re staying together.’

I coughed, aware that everyone was staring at us. ‘You got away.’

‘And managed some misdirection. The Filits won’t come near here for some time. Between their search for your friend, Marrock’s whispers and the fallout from the Gneiss bombing, they have things on their mind other than Rymark and me. Or you.’ He pressed his lips against my temple with a strange, searing heat.

Sally, who was rubbing the back of her head and groggily spitting fiery insults at her teenage ward, stopped talking and gazed at us open-mouthed.

‘I want everyone to know,’ de Florinville said aloud, realising that we were the object of everyone’s attention, ‘that Saiya Buchanan is my Fior Ghal.’