Darkhaven

I awoke the next morning feeling … no. Couldn’t be.

I rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom to check myself in the mirror. I looked the same. My roots needed attention and my final exam still loomed, but … optimistic? When did I ever feel optimistic? Yet somehow, all the anguish and guilt and despair seemed to have drained away.

Almost all of it. My conscience still twinged when I saw Alex eating his quinoa porridge. I supposed he was happy enough. At least this way I would carry the guilt, not him. And with Luci still at large, he was safer if he didn’t know about Darkhaven. I drowned some wholegrain rice puffs in milk and sugar and joined him at the table. He gave me a hug goodbye, wished me luck for the exam and said he’d make sure to come home for my graduation.

I lingered in the kitchen. The exam was tomorrow, but Donovan had messaged requesting me to meet at the safe house for a briefing, and I was happy to oblige, since the alternatives were sitting in my room reading about the human cardiovascular system or feeling anxious about not sitting in my room reading about the human cardiovascular system.

I parked next to the GT-R at ten minutes past eleven and found Donovan, Catherine and even Liam propped up on some pillows, waiting in the cramped kitchen.

Donovan looked at her watch. ‘You’re late.’ Her tone suggested I wasn’t supposed to respond. I took a seat next to Liam, who was gaunt-faced. Silence fell across the table.

‘I suppose,’ Donovan began, with knives edging into her voice, ‘we need to talk about Jan.’

‘Don’t you mean Sean?’ I asked.

‘Sean was a foot soldier. I mean Jan, as in the filthy vermin who ratted us out last time and is now apparently continuing the Netica Project, if your reports from your foray into the Taskforce labs are any indication. Luci isn’t working alone.’

She gave me an appraising look, like I might have got it all wrong.

I glared back. ‘What are you talking about? I thought Jan died in the lab fire seventeen years ago.’

‘So did we,’ Donovan replied. ‘But then he showed up on Saturday.’

‘He showed up? When?’ I asked. Everyone looked at me like I’d sprouted the ears of a cat. A sinking feeling crept into my gut, hooking into my earlier optimism and dragging it down my legs, through my feet and out into the cracked linoleum floor.

‘With Luci. The bastard,’ Donovan grumbled, her fingers clenching into fists.

With Luci. They’d had a driver, her and Dad, but I knew Donovan wasn’t talking about the driver. I was more tangled in this than I’d realised. It wasn’t just my mother who’d volunteered me for the Netica Project. Dad didn’t administer the Taskforce from afar like it was simply another part of his work, unaware of its true scope. He was up to his bald pate in it.

Dad – first name Jon – was Jan.

‘That was my dad,’ I said, staring at them all. They stared back in varying degrees of shock. Liam’s face melted in sympathy. Catherine’s lips parted. A strange look of understanding flashed over Donovan before she steered the meeting on.

I reeled as the conversation circled back to how Liam, who previously could foresee things concerning Darkhaven and its inhabitants, hadn’t seen any of this coming. His theory was that he’d believed Jan was dead, and since the whole set-up and attack on Darkhaven had been masterminded by Jan, Liam couldn’t perceive it.

‘That makes sense,’ Catherine said. ‘So Sean hit you with Viciretro because once you realised, you would be able to give us an advantage and spoil the trap he’d set for Gabby.’

‘Can we trust him?’ Liam asked. ‘Jan? He is Gabby’s father.’

‘No.’ Donovan cast a glance at me. ‘But we can’t avoid him, so we’ll just have to play it smart.’

I drifted in and out of attention while Donovan discussed finding a new venue for Darkhaven, and tuned out completely during the talk of rehabilitating the old grounds for sale or lease. We’d lost the disk and the holofoil in the fire, although Donovan had, while making the copies, figured out some of the data: the list of subjects from the first cohort. I shivered. My name would be on that list. There were five more potential Eventers still out there.

My thoughts turned to Keraun. Where was he? On his planet, but in a jail? Or at home? Did they have trial by jury, or hear from witnesses? I thought someone who had been here should be a witness. If he hadn’t killed Sean, who knew how many more of us would have died? And then there was the matter of who killed Sean at all, because if Dad – Jan – had landed his shot a fraction of a second before … all of this was really just a preamble to what I wanted to think about, which was the kiss. And at the same time, I was trying desperately not to think about it, because it was trouble, like Keraun was trouble, and he was an alien god and definitely not boyfriend material, or anything else, but I wished I could get in touch with him somehow –

‘Gabby?’ Donovan’s sharp voice intruded on my thoughts. ‘I didn’t ask you here just so we could look at your pasty face.’

For a moment I regretted coming to the meeting. Not having Donovan in my life was a plus in the Option B “leave the Netica Project forever” column. ‘I’m sorry?’ I asked, not sorry at all.

‘Is Luci’s genetic modification going to work?’

‘I don’t know. Right now, she’s weak, so whatever she’s done is messing with her healing. If it works, she’ll be smarter and stronger and harder to kill than before. But it might not.’

Donovan drummed the table with her fingertips. ‘My scouts say she hasn’t returned to the Taskforce, and there’s surveillance footage of her at the international airport. I should go after her.’

‘Are you sure?’ Catherine asked. ‘It’s a problem that might take care of itself.’

‘Or it will be a problem we cannot fix later. She’s weak now.’

Liam shifted, rearranging his pillows. ‘So are we. We need time to mourn and figure out how to work without Stephen. We need your help, Es. I have to get better. And Gabby has to finish her exams and decide what she wants to do. It’ll be worth waiting, in the long run.’

For some reason, Donovan flinched. ‘So I just let Luci go. And Jan.’ She shook her head, jaw clenched. ‘This isn’t going to be the end of it.’

‘That is what we’ll count on,’ Liam replied. Then his eyes fluttered, and he collapsed bonelessly onto the table.

Catherine carried him back to his room, Donovan and I hovering at her heels. After a brief moment of observation, she declared him fine, just exhausted and in need of rest. Then she kicked us out, saying she’d let him up again tomorrow.

Donovan followed me to the door.

‘My exam is tomorrow,’ I said. ‘I’ll call in on Thursday.’

‘I don’t think I need to tell you how important it is that we catch Luci before she becomes unstoppable,’ she said, voice low.

I didn’t turn back to face her. ‘You don’t.’

‘And we can’t do it with a team of three, when one of them is a doctor with no interest in field work and the other can barely sit up.’ She grabbed my shoulder and pulled me around.

Nice how she presumed I would be interested in field work. I was intrigued, kind of, but still. I squared my feet and shrugged free of her grip. ‘I didn’t sign up for Netica.’ I’d made my decision. Stand in your power, Gabs. ‘I am no more responsible for Luci than anyone else out there, and I won’t be bullied into this.’

Donovan straightened up. ‘Look who finally grew some balls.’

I suppressed a smile. I didn’t want to ruin my newfound assertiveness. Instead, I glared her in the face.

‘Well, get out then,’ she added, turning back inside.

Take the victory, Gabby. Walk away, Gabby. Let her sweat before you tell her what you’re going to do.

Ah, hell.

‘Donovan?’ I called. ‘Sean had balls. I don’t. But I am joining Darkhaven, and I’m taking time to make the transformation. Let me know if you need help moving.’

Donovan spun towards me. Before I could say anything else to anger her, I bolted out the door.

I drove back to the city and stopped to pick up an iced chocolate from Lartte on my way to Alex’s. I still hadn’t packed my stuff. I didn’t want to – the idea of playing nice with Dad while I knew he was working with Luci, even if he was on our side, was unfathomable. I could just stay at Alex’s. It wasn’t like I had to get to school every day any more, and I had my own car now.

Dad had sent me another message, this time a text-novelette assuring me I was safe at his place. He claimed he was working undercover at the Taskforce and had to go along with Sean’s plan at Darkhaven, and he’d been delayed but would be home tomorrow night. I could sense something was up with his story. I knew I was safe; he genuinely had no intention of hurting me that I could intuit. But he’d been involved since before I was born, and I just didn’t want another horrible conversation. I sent Cecelia a text asking if I could stay for the night.

While I waited for my iced chocolate, a couple on bicycles approached with a Border Collie puppy in a basket. It bounced excitedly, escaping from its owners and scampering into the cafe as they stacked their bicycles against the wall and fiddled with bike locks. I smiled at its effervescent enthusiasm.

‘Oh, he’s so cute!’ the waitress gushed as she came towards me with my drink. Tail wagging, the puppy jumped up on her leg, catching her foot as she took her next step. She fell. I could save one thing: the waitress from crashing into a table, or the iced chocolate from hitting the floor. I caught the girl by her shoulders.

‘Thanks,’ she said. The puppy retreated and sat, all innocent eyes, then gave a high-pitched little woof. ‘I’ll clean up and make you another one.’ She bustled off. I knelt and looked at the young dog with its disproportionate feet and downy coat. It stared back, suddenly serious, cocking its head to one side. I ruffled its ears.

The owners rushed in, apologising profusely. I left them to it. My drink arrived – again – and I wandered out, sipping on chocolate milk, something clicking. Probably something to do with my returning optimism. I had a plan.