Spirit Read online

  Her eyes met Conte Vendramin, who’d been watching in horror.

  “I think we lost Sarah,” Winter said desolately.

  “Remember,” Lucrezia said once more, her bloodied face leaving scarlet marks on the pillow as she curled up, all energy gone.

  49

  Power

  All the grief in the world lodged behind Sarah’s eyes. Her body wasn’t hers any more. She was alive, but she was dead. A hot, tight mass resided in her heart now – and as the new consciousness settled in her, a rush of memories and knowledge and power flooded into her like a river of magma. She saw the Time of Demons, and the wandering human tribes and the tribute of blood they paid every day. She saw the rising of the Secret children and the way the two worlds were split, a wedge of nothing inserted between them so that they could never meet again. She felt the lives of King after King flow through her, until it came to the one who had possessed her. She felt his power, stronger than any King of Shadows’ before him, and she felt his rage, the all-consuming fury at his exile, his desire to claim back the earth.

  She saw Nicholas’ birth. She saw the death of his mother, the King’s wife, and the destruction of Martyna, and felt the King of Shadows’ absence of emotion as he observed every event. Horribly, unexpectedly, she felt a wave of wild, cruel joy as the gates were opened and the culling of the heirs began. She rejoiced as the blood of the Secret heirs cascaded over her. She felt every bite, every cut, every kill. Every Secret life extinguished made her cry in anguish and sing in ecstasy.

  She felt the King of Shadows’ iron will, his cold soul, the dried well of his heart. He didn’t love; therefore, he could not be hurt. His power was such that nobody could oppose him.

  Sarah felt his power.

  And she liked it.

  With him controlling her, she rose to her feet, her body stronger than she could ever imagine, her muscles tense with vigour. She could hear everything that happened in the Shadow World, from the slow-falling leaf to the flowing of the rivers, to the crunching of bones of a deer falling prey to a demon-tiger. She could see the snowy peaks and the roaring oceans thousands of miles away, the packs of white demons running between the trees, the moon-demons touching little creatures and turning them translucent, the fire Elementals dancing in the lava underneath the ground. She was the Shadow World.

  Sarah raised her head and roared, a roar so deep it shook the mountains and filled the skies. The King of Shadows felt the last of her consciousness opening; in a moment he would possess her entirely. His consciousness would replace hers. What was left of Sarah would give way, and Sarah herself would disintegrate into the nothingness of humans.

  He would not be weak for much longer. This fragile human body would be tempered and forged . . . His plan would succeed.

  And then, just as she was about to lose herself, a small voice resounded in Sarah’s mind, calling her name, reminding her of who she was.

  Sarah Midnight. You are Sarah Midnight. Don’t lose yourself. Remember. Remember, said the voice.

  Just then, Sarah and the King of Shadows felt something strong and heavy land on their body, taking their breath away. It was Nicholas.

  He stared into Sarah’s eyes and said, “Time to die, Father.”

  What was left of Sarah trembled.

  50

  The Emperor of the North

  And so comes the last time

  You’ll ever hurt me

  Elodie opened her eyes, and the first things she saw was swaying grass, the three carved stones, and above them, a red-black sky. It couldn’t be. Was the forest on fire? Was the sky on fire? Was she in hell?

  And then Nicholas’ thoughts resounded in her mind, and she realised that the melting mass blackening the sky was the King of Shadows rising from the depths. In front of him was the slight figure of Sarah Midnight, silhouetted black against the sea of embers. Elodie watched in awe and terror as the writhing mass turned into a knot of Surari’s limbs and head, and then condensed into a creature that looked like a jigsaw of animals. She saw Sarah throwing herself against the King of Shadows and sticking her sgian-dubh between his eyes, like Nicholas had told her to do.

  Elodie’s heart tightened. She knew what was going to happen next. She knew what was in store for Sarah. She shook herself. This was it. This was where she’d help Nicholas take his plan to fruition. She felt Nicholas’ voice in her mind, and saw that he was standing behind Sarah, waiting.

  Elodie ran on, her lips black, watching as the King of Shadows’ spirit left his body and entered Sarah’s. She saw Sarah fall backwards, her eyes open towards the sky, her skin as white as the dead. That was their moment, when the King of Shadows’ consciousness took hold of Sarah’s body, but hadn’t fully poured his power into her. The moment when the King of Shadows resided inside a fragile, vulnerable human body. She ran as Nicholas jumped on top of Sarah and landed on her, crushing her. A memory crossed Elodie’s mind – the vision she’d seen reflected in the plane window on her way from Italy to Scotland. Sarah’s death at the hands of a stranger. She hadn’t seen Sarah’s killer’s face. Now she knew who it was.

  Elodie struggled onto her feet, her body shivering with adrenaline and excitement. Reaching Nicholas and Sarah, she threw herself on the ground beside them.

  “Time to die, Father,” she heard Nicholas saying.

  “I . . . I am Sarah Midnight,” Sarah whispered slowly, as if trying to cling onto a memory from long ago. “Please, Nicholas. Don’t let him do this to me. Don’t let him take me. Kill me.”

  Nicholas nodded. His hands were raised already to twist her neck, when she laughed. The laughter stopped him in his tracks, and made Elodie’s skin pucker up into goosebumps. At once, they knew that Sarah was gone, and the King of Shadows had taken over.

  “Kill me,” she laughed again. “Go ahead, kill me!” But it wasn’t Sarah’s voice.

  Nicholas bore down on Sarah’s body, feeling her ribs under his knees, so weak, so tender. If he leaned a bit harder, her ribs would crack and would puncture her lungs, and that would be the end of the King of Shadows. Not even a spirit as powerful as his could survive if its host body was killed. But something in his father’s laughter made Nicholas stop. Something that spoke of deceit.

  “If you kill me,” Sarah warned, “there is no King of Shadows. No King of Shadows, no barrier between the worlds. The Shadow World and the human world fuse together and your precious humanity is gone.”

  Elodie saw Nicholas’ features freeze. It was as if he’d been struck by a bolt of blue lightning. A knot of terror settled in her throat as her mind ran through the consequences of what Nicholas’ father had just said.

  “You are lying,” Nicholas whispered.

  To see the Surari speak with Sarah’s lips, to hear his voice come out of Sarah’s throat, was horrifying. Elodie wanted everything to be over. She leaned down to administer her deadly kiss, but before she could, the King of Shadows spoke again.

  “Kiss me, Elodie, and I’ll be gone. Or you, Nicholas, break my bones. I’ll be out of the way, and your precious Dreamer will be dead. Sorry, not much I can do about that. But you know what will happen if I’m gone. Chaos will ravage this place. They will come for you, Nicholas. All of the demons. You can try to hold the portal, but you can’t hold them off for long. A million Surari against you. The human world will be invaded, too fast for anyone to do anything about it. Unless . . .”

  With sheer hatred in his eyes, Nicholas looked at the girl who his father had possessed. “Unless?”

  “Unless you claim this land as your own. Become the King of Shadows, Nicholas. You take a wife and have a son or a daughter, like I did. If you do that, you can kill me, and have it all. Your precious human world will be intact, and I’ll be dead. Except for one detail: you’ll be me.”

  Nicholas crumbled inside. He was unable to speak, buried under his father’s revelation.

  “So if you kill me now, you must become the King of Shadows. But I don’t think you want that, do you? Y
ou want to continue pretending you’re a real human with feelings.” Sarah screamed with laughter. “The shadows aren’t where you want to be. You’d rather live in light, with the people you’ve tried so hard to protect.” Sarah’s eyes crawled over Elodie and she smirked. Elodie shivered.

  “I’m the only one who can be the King of Shadows until I’m ready,” said Sarah with that terrible voice. “Until I decide. You can’t kill me. I just got here. I want to see what the Dreamer can do, how much panic this little girl can wreak on the humans she wanted to protect. You can’t stop me.”

  A moment of silence, and then, “You knew all along, didn’t you?” Nicholas murmured finally. “You knew that I hadn’t really come back to you, that I wasn’t really going along with your plan to bring you Sarah.”

  “Of course I did,” said his father, and Elodie spotted a hint of burning red, like embers, deep inside Sarah’s green eyes. “But it wasn’t important. Your betrayal means nothing because, you see, you never had any choice, not really. You planned to bring Sarah to me, let me possess her, and kill her and me with her before her body was transformed. And then you’d all be free.” Sarah laughed a cruel laugh. Nicholas’ hands tightened around her white, slender neck. One quick move and it would break.

  “So, what do you choose?” the King of Shadows said finally, and jumped up with unexpected, violent strength. Sarah stood with her head thrown back, her hair blowing in a sudden, unnatural wind. Blue lightning shone all around them, casting strange shadows over Sarah’s face. “Oh, this is a good, strong body. I can go back into the world now! The humans won’t suspect a thing.” He laughed and wailed in joy and Sarah’s hands flew out, Blackwater flooding from them in black gushes. The body was transforming. Soon the choice would be made for them.

  Elodie watched, frozen, unsure of what to do.

  Nicholas’ heart was bleeding. If he took his father’s place, he could stop the culling. He could stop the Surari from seeping through. He couldn’t save Sarah, but the world would be safe once more. And his father, the object of all his fury and hatred and revulsion, would finally be dead. But he couldn’t, he couldn’t. It was too cruel. He couldn’t step into the abyss, the chasm that separated the shadows from the Shadow World. He couldn’t kill Sarah. He’d thought he would be free in death, and now he was being offered a life that was a thousand times worse than the one he had had before, and more permanent than death. His mother had begged him not to take his father’s place – and he’d tried to do as she’d asked. He’d tried so hard . . . But the King of Shadows knew all along that there would be no escape for him, not ever. That was why he hadn’t destroyed Nicholas with the brain fury. He’d had something even worse in store for him.

  Nicholas met Elodie’s eyes. Tears were flowing down her cheeks.

  It must be done.

  I know.

  It must be done, he repeated, but he was scared. He was so scared. Please, don’t let me go.

  I’m sorry, said Elodie, a soft sob escaping her lips.

  Nicholas bowed his head.

  With his eyes fixed on Nicholas, the King of Shadows didn’t see it coming. Elodie leapt up and kissed Sarah’s lips, throwing her on the ground. For a moment, Sarah was overwhelmed, her eyes and consciousness rising to the surface again, but just as quickly as she’d reappeared, the King of Shadows’ power took over once more, and it was Elodie’s turn to be on the ground, screaming in pain, filled with the brain fury.

  Sarah Midnight. This is who you are. Remember! It was Lucrezia’s voice again, breaking through the King of Shadows’ consciousness and reaching Sarah.

  With a huge effort, overcoming the demon’s will, Sarah bent over Elodie and kissed her. Sarah’s consciousness and the King of Shadows’ battled for a few long moments, one wanting to continue the kiss, the other struggling to be set free. Sarah’s heart and skin and veins and brain and muscles were still human, and vulnerable to the Brun poison. It was already beginning to act on her, slowly turning her face blue.

  Don’t let go, Sarah. Remember who you are, remember! Lucrezia’s voice kept saying from somewhere far away, keeping Sarah tethered to her own identity.

  A scream of rage thundered over the land, from the hills to the caves in the forest. Blue lightning rose from the ground to meet the bolts falling from the sky. The Shadow World shuddered and trembled, but Sarah forced her body to cover Elodie’s, their lips joined, as the poison filled her. With a cry of pain, she fell to the ground and was finally still.

  Elodie gazed at Sarah’s face. There was a purple contusion on her forehead, her lips cut where Elodie had bitten her to try to make the process quicker. Her silky black hair was matted with blood and soil. Was the King of Shadows really gone? Nicholas, too, stared at Sarah’s lifeless body, as if in wait.

  Finally, a reddish smoke rose out of Sarah’s mouth and danced in front of their eyes, frantically, in fury and disbelief. The mist changed shape from bull to wolf to bear to burning blue flames, until it fell on the grass with a hideous thump of shattered bones and squashed tissue.

  51

  Fate (part one)

  All the times I thought

  I lost myself

  It was you who found me

  Elodie found Nicholas’ hand. “Is he dead?”

  “I think so. And Sarah too.”

  Elodie looked at him. His black eyes were so full of fear, so lost. He was like a frightened little boy, destined to live in shadows forever. Her heart broke. “What’s going to happen now?” she asked helplessly.

  “I don’t know. I don’t know,” Nicholas whispered. “All I know is that now it’s me. I am the King of Shadows.”

  He looked at his hands, his arms, his legs. He didn’t feel any different. He thought that maybe his body would start to transform into something like his father, a chimera. But nothing was happening. All around them there was only silence and the rustling of grass. Sarah and the King of Shadows lay immobile, the chasm that had opened in front of them still spewing smoke and heat.

  Suddenly, an immense burst of blue lightning fell from the sky, and struck the monstrous body that had been the King of Shadows’. Under Nicholas’ and Elodie’s horrified gaze, the body began to twitch.

  It’s not so easy, my son.

  The voice resounded in Nicholas’ mind and echoed into Elodie’s just as the brain fury hit them both, burning them like acid.

  I can’t kill you, Nicholas. You know that now, because I need you to take my place one day. But I can torture you. I can do this for as long as I like, and still keep you alive . . .

  In the throes of terrible pain they watched as the chimera rose from the ground, bull and wolf and deer and buffalo and creatures they couldn’t name, racing, fluid and deadly and infinitely powerful. Another wave of the brain fury hit them both with its full force and they fell to their knees, blood seeping from their eyes and nostrils and ears, and only one wish left for them to make: for death to come. In his agony, Nicholas realised the full meaning of what his father had said, and what it meant for Elodie.

  He won’t kill me. But he’ll kill her.

  He screamed and screamed, watching Elodie thrash in agony on the ground as her blonde hair turned scarlet.

  52

  The Reason

  I touched their world

  Like a comet

  Sean

  Pain flashes through me, and again I see black. I’m so sore everywhere that I can’t tell where this new agony comes from. I realise that something is stuck inside me – close to my hip. I look for it with my fingers, and there it is. I feel sick as I realise I’ve done this to myself. In a flash, I remember. Harry wanted me to kill Sarah. No, not Harry. One of the Guardians.

  Sarah. Where is Sarah?

  Screams and howls hit my ears. I don’t know who’s screaming. I’ve lost so much blood, I feel dizzy, but I drag myself up and kneel on the long grass. My side is killing me with every movement. I curl my fingers around the handle of my sgian-dubh and pull. Somebody screams
again, and I realise it’s me. I see black for a moment, blood gushing from the wound along my leg – and then, I’m not sure how, but I rise on my feet. Everything around me is shining blue. Lightning keeps hurtling from the sky. I take a few steps in the electric light, and the first thing I see is Nicholas and Elodie, holding their heads and screaming, blood flowing out of them. The brain fury. That monster is taking Elodie to hell with him!

  And then I see her. My Sarah. She’s lying on the ground, her face up. Her hair falls around her in waves, her face as white as alabaster, lips black. I take another few agonising steps until I reach her. I let myself fall on the grass beside her and touch her face, kiss her black lips, stroke her hair.

  It’s over. It’s all over for me.

  But if Nicholas and Elodie are being punished with the brain fury, it means that the King of Shadows is alive. So there’s something left for me to do. I drag myself up and raise my sgian-dubh, dripping with my own blood.

  “Where are you? Where are you!” I scream, my sgian-dubh beginning its deadly dance.

  Who’s looking for me? Oh, it’s the little Gamekeeper, says a disembodied voice. I turn around. Where is he? I don’t even know what he looks like.

  The soil itself rises in front of me, and within the mass of earth I can make out a burning heart of embers. The rippling mass takes different shapes. I can see different animals, horns and claws and muzzles, but no shape is held for more than a few seconds. I blink many times, squeezing my eyes shut. The fluctuating shape is confusing my sight to the point that the whole world seems to sway.

  There must be a mouth in there somewhere, because a growling voice speaks to me. Here you are. The one who thinks he has powers.