Darkhaven

‘I thought the Taskforce didn’t know where Darkhaven was.’ I clung to my armrest. The rain had stopped, but the roads were slick with water and oil, and Stephen had abandoned any notion of driving legally.

‘They’ve been hunting us for years. Guess they finally found it. Don’t worry. We’re prepared for this.’ His tone didn’t sound unworried.

‘Even with half of the team out chasing diversions?’

Stephen drove faster.

We pulled up at Darkhaven behind Liam and Keraun. They jumped out and ran up the gravel incline to the steps, where five dark figures blocked the door. Men in suits. I recognised the one in the middle standing on the steps – slightly slimmer, with a stance that looked less like a brick wall than the those of the others. Sean.

Stephen parked further back. The air was sharpened with a smell like petrol and by the time we reached Sean, I was out of breath. The acrid smell seared my throat.

‘Welcome!’ Sean cried, voice full of mockery. I wanted to punch him. ‘Inside, down the hall, to your left, you’ll find your colleagues Esmerelda and Catherine. They’re unharmed – for now.’ He waved Liam towards the front door. Without hesitation, Liam rushed forward. Sean laughed and clicked his fingers. The suits stepped back and blockaded the door.

‘Tell me, what is the point of all this intuition and foresight if you are just going to ignore it the minute one of your friends is in danger?’

Liam didn’t answer, except to start pummelling the wall of men arrayed on the steps. It looked like he was hitting concrete.

Sean laughed again. ‘You think you’re the only ones with genetic enhancement? The difference is I refined mine to be more selective about the genes it activates. My subjects are loyal. They won’t get cold feet and back out of the program, or burn the lab down if they have a change of heart.’ He added a sneer to the last word. ‘Sadly, these guys aren’t going to live long. Made it an easy choice for me. I’ll stay a regular human for now.’

Liam stopped attacking the suits, but as soon as he turned away, two of them whipped around and grabbed him in a stranglehold, hauling him back to the steps. Sean nodded, satisfied, then turned and stared at Keraun, who had beaten us to the door.

‘Well, this is interesting. A god, in the flesh! I always hoped I’d meet one of you.’

Stephen shot me a sideways glance. ‘A god?’

I nodded. The dark clouds overhead started to purple, forming a broiling mass that felt close enough to reach up and plunge my hands into. Thunder threatened from behind them. I couldn’t see Keraun’s eyes, but I was sure it was him.

‘Weather control,’ Sean said, peering at Keraun’s eyes and then at the sky. ‘Fortunately, my boss has met one of your kind, so I know how to deal with you.’

So Sean had a boss. In a way, that was good. He was just another henchman. But it also meant that getting rid of Sean wasn’t going to break the Taskforce. Something shifted in my mind, a connection I couldn’t quite make, but – hang on. Deal with Keraun? I leapt forward as Sean reached into his jacket. Too slow. He flicked something at Keraun, who crumbled onto the steps, huddled under what looked like a white film.

‘What did you do to him?’ I yelled, running to Keraun. Overhead, the clouds lightened and receded back to their foreboding grey, although the air kept its electricity.

‘Don’t worry, he’s fine. I’ve just contained him. This has to be a fair fight, doesn’t it?’ Sean grinned at me, all teeth. I touched Keraun’s arm. I couldn’t feel the film, only see its shimmer. He stood, struggling to his feet as if he had weights on his shoulders, but he took my hand and squeezed it.

‘So,’ Sean began, addressing Stephen in his taunting voice. ‘I’ve contained your muscle woman and your doctor. They won’t be coming out. Your psychic was unable to see how you’d get into this situation, and he can’t see your way out either. The god was a wild card, but not one we were unprepared for. Although, judging by your face, you weren’t entirely prepared for him either. See, I don’t need to be superhuman. I can read people no matter who they are. I knew Gabby would lead us here.’

He advanced down the steps, brushing past me as he went.

‘Stephen May, the great ambassador for humanity’s future. That is how you see yourself, deep down, yes? But you know the truth.’ He stopped inches away from Stephen’s face. I burned to jump down, tackle Sean, knock the viper away from Stephen. Keraun kept a hold on my hand, only now it wasn’t for reassurance. I could hear tyres on gravel and the quiet purr of an expensive engine. Someone was coming down the driveway, but they weren’t visible yet and Sean couldn’t hear that well. He continued with his speech.

‘The truth is, you are nothing without her. And I am everything. But, and this is the problem, you are still between us. I love her, and I know she would love me, but she can’t. Not while you exist. You will always be between us, until’ – Sean pulled a pistol out from under his jacket – ‘you are dead.’

Stephen glanced at the gun, but he didn’t back away. I strained at Keraun’s arm, turning to see a white Jaguar gliding to a stop behind us.

‘What are you talking about?’ Stephen asked, voice icy. Sean made a show of checking his magazine.

‘Well, he has to be talking about me, but he’s wrong,’ a cold, familiar voice said from the Jaguar. I looked across. Luci had her red hair swept up into a twist and wore a slim-fitting black suit, all angles and sharp edges.

Stephen turned around. ‘Luci?’ His voice cracked.

A man got out from the back of the Jag. My gut twisted, twin shards of hope and mistrust twining. Dad. Maybe he’d got my message and come to help. Maybe he was siding with his work on this one. There was my nagging thought – Dad was Sean’s boss. Had he met another Cyrean? Or was there someone else, someone higher up … Stephen’s eyes widened as he stared at the couple standing next to the Jag.

Behind me, the scuffling from Liam’s struggles stopped, and he took a sharp breath. ‘Jan,’ he hissed. Then, ‘Gabby, go and greet her.’

What? I glanced back at him, tearing my eyes away from where Dad was standing behind Luci and Sean had a gun almost pointed at Stephen’s forehead.

‘She’s your mother,’ Liam said, not caring to be quiet. These genetically modified suits probably had advanced hearing anyway.

I stared at Liam. ‘No way. She’s a monster.’

‘Just do it,’ he said, but before I could demand to know why, Sean, already heading for Luci, turned back, watching Liam with narrowed eyes.

‘There was a missing link,’ Liam said, his voice low and urgent so Sean couldn’t hear. ‘But I see it now, and if you get to Luci, you can stop her. Gabby. Put your hand on her chest, her heart. And tell Stephen I’m sorry.’

I shook my head. ‘I don’t understand,’ I whispered. Why did it sound like Liam was saying goodbye?

Liam implored me with his eyes. ‘Just do it. I’ve seen –’

‘The psychic knows,’ Sean called. ‘Jab him.’

I whirled back to Sean, but he wasn’t the threat. In one smooth movement, the suit on the end produced a needle and syringe, stepped behind me and thrust it into Liam’s neck.

‘No!’ I cried. Breaking Keraun’s hold, I threw myself at the man’s arm, knocking the needle out before he pushed the plunger all the way in. Liam tumbled down the steps as the suits grabbed me, one of them staggering into Keraun. I glimpsed the half-empty syringe rolling towards my foot across the concrete as I twisted uselessly against the suit’s grip.

Liam sagged to the ground in Keraun’s powerless arms. But he couldn’t be dead. One type of bullet. That was all that could kill him. His eyes were closed, his face pale. I had no idea what he’d meant by putting my hand on my mother’s heart.

Past Liam’s crumpled form, Sean strode up to Luci, who leaned against the car, arms folded.

‘You shouldn’t have come here, dear. You’re still weak,’ Sean said, reaching for her.

She slapped him across the cheek. ‘This is not how we said we’d do it.’

Just do it. Liam had figured something out, in the last several seconds. I had to trust him. I had to get to Luci. The half-full syringe lay beside my boot. I could hear the sounds of scuffles and fighting somewhere in the Darkhaven building – no doubt Donovan tackling an army of suits single-handedly. Sean was focussed on Luci, not looking back at Keraun and me. Half a plan formed in my mind, and I didn’t second-guess it. With renewed vigour, I spun, elbow raised, smashing it into the neck of the man holding me. He staggered backwards and down, pulling me with him.

I grabbed the syringe, feeling movement around me as the remaining guards closed in. I lashed out wildly with the needle, stabbed it into a leg and pressed the plunger. The man behind me fell away as I pushed out of the crowd, making room for Keraun as he jumped into the fight, still shrouded in film. His movements were slow and cumbersome, but they were enough to distract the suits.

I got clear and leapt for Liam’s limp form, praying he’d come to. Stephen approached the Jaguar.

‘Luci,’ he said, his voice hoarse. He dropped to his knees in the driveway as a sob wracked his throat.

A cool smile played across Luci’s face. ‘I see it now. You fools believed I was a prisoner. As if I’d give up what we discovered. With it, we control the world.’

Stephen shook his head. ‘No. No. You have to stay here, continue our work together. Help us understand it.’ His voice broke. ‘You were the only one who could.’

I knelt beside Liam, putting my fingers to his neck. There was a pulse. A small part of my insides relaxed.

Luci smiled, if curling lips and exposing teeth could be called smiling. ‘Stevie,’ she cooed, cocking her head as if she were watching a puppy trying to pick up a toy too big for it. ‘You’ve got it all backwards. It’s magic. Real magic. It’s not too late for you to join me.’

Maybe I shouldn’t have stopped for Liam. Maybe if I had kept running, I would have reached them first, or delayed Stephen, or simply been in the firing line. Something.

Stephen’s face was torn. I knew it was heartbreak writ across his features, not that he considered Luci’s offer. But Sean was no such judge of character or emotion.

‘No. She’s mine.’ Fury twisting his face, Sean turned, arm raised. A shot exploded through the damp, electric air. Stephen collapsed to the ground.

I screamed and launched across the driveway. Keraun grappled with the suits, fatigue dragging on his encumbered form. More of the men were pouring out of the building, with no sign of Catherine or Donovan. I skidded over the gravel to Stephen’s side, all the air vanishing from my lungs as I took in his lifeless face and closed eyes. My arms longed to pull him up, hold him together so he could heal, so the wound in his chest would close over and the blood would stop seeping, but I knew it wouldn’t. One bullet to the heart. Sean would take no chances.