Destiny (Absent Shadows Trilogy Book 1) (19 page)

‘Do you think they’ll agree to this?’ asked Henry.

‘I hope so. Zunios is nothing if not arrogant. He will have no doubt in his mind that he, Anubinse and Mardukian are much more powerful than the five of us. That is if he even counts us as being five. He probably doesn’t count Erranase as being against him. And in actual fact, that could be right. Erranase might not be able to harm him, if it comes to that. It could just be the four of us,’ Michael said, directing this last bit to Sam.

‘And is there cause for his arrogance? Does he have some extraordinary skills or powers that I should know about?’ asked Henry.

‘Yes, he has a very hypnotic voice and gaze. All vampires have this ability to some extent—it’s part of their hunting skills—but with Zunios it is much more powerful than I’ve ever seen before. His skills have been fine-tuned over thousands of years to where even the strongest vampires and dhampirs find themselves losing their train of thought if he focuses on them.’

‘And do you think this would affect us ghosts?’ asked Henry, with a touch of concern in his voice.

‘That I don’t know, Henry. But I do know that he would find it relatively easy to focus on two of us at the one time. So he could easily take, say, Crystal and me out of the equation, leaving only Sam and Tom, and possibly Erranase, to be dealt with by Anubinse and Mardukian. That’s why I’m confident that Zunios will agree to meet Erranase anywhere he suggests. I can’t see him worrying about the numbers or the location. So, the question now is how the ghosts may be able to shift the balance in our favour.’

‘I wish we had more time,’ said Henry, shaking his head. ‘I’ve heard of ghosts learning to pick things up, and in this case it would be very beneficial, but I don’t know how many of them will be able to accomplish that in just a few days’ time.’

‘It sure would be a big help. Even if just a few of them master it, they could approach, or even simply stand guard, holding weapons. That would tip the scales for sure,’ said Michael, his voice sounding hopeful.

‘Well, I’ll gather them up once we finish here, and see how close any of them can come. I’m afraid I’ve not mastered it myself however, and I’ve been trying for many years. I would love to handle my gold, but my hands just slip right through it. I can’t make contact.’

As Henry said those last words, a memory of something Sam had said struck me. I was sure that a little cartoon of a light bulb must have appeared over my head. Henry and Elizabeth both looked at me at the same time, and tentative smiles appeared on theirs lips.

‘That could work,’ said Elizabeth, grinning.

‘Yes, it could work,’ agreed Henry. ‘That wouldn’t require very much practice either. And there is a huge source of energy right here—the City Loop trains run right underneath the gardens.’ He almost sounded disappointed at the ease of the solution.

‘What?’ both Michael and Sam said it at the same time, turning to look at me.

‘Sam, do you remember telling me about how creepy it is when a ghost walks through you? You said that it makes you jump sometimes, if you aren’t expecting it. Well, what if suddenly ninety-six of them were to materialize in front of you and walk right through you. Do you think that would be enough to break your concentration, for a moment or two anyway?’

‘Of course it would. Lili, you’re a genius,’ Sam cried. Then he turned to Michael, ‘I swear it’s a creepy feeling. Not even Zunios would be immune to the effect of it. And even if it only lasted a few seconds, it could be enough for you to overpower him.’

‘Let’s demonstrate for him, shall we Henry?’ said Elizabeth, with a grin on her face. ‘Now, Michael, keep in mind that you know what we are about to do, and that you accept that we are ghosts. Henry?’

Elizabeth held out her hand to Henry who took it in his thick one, and then they both disappeared. A few moments later, they appeared right in front of Michael and quickly walked through him. He instinctively jumped back just when it looked like they would collide with him, and then they were on the other side of him. He turned to look at them, a startled expression on his face.

‘So, how do you think Zunios would react if ninety-six ghosts did that to him?’ asked Elizabeth.

‘Well, I think I agree with Sam. Lili’s a genius. I don’t know why Sam didn’t think of this himself,’ Michael said, punching Sam in the shoulder as he said it, but winking at the same time.

I blushed at the compliment. ‘Well, sometimes it’s easy to overlook the obvious because you try too hard to find more complicated answers.’

‘Spoken like a true gentlewoman,’ said Henry, bowing to me as though I were royalty.

‘Lili rocks!’ laughed Elizabeth, skipping and dancing in circles.

‘I’m never going to hear the end of this … Crystal will pick on me til the end of eternity,’ said Sam, but the look on his face suggested he was proud of me nonetheless.

‘There is just one thing … Sam, is there any chance that Zunios won’t see the ghosts?’ I asked.

‘No. He’ll see them. Ninety-six ghosts working together, with all that energy, even the least open to the possibility should be able to see them. The trick will be to keep him from seeing them before we want him too. They’ll have to sneak up carefully so he has no idea of what is about to happen, until they’re ready.’

Michael nodded his head in agreement with Sam. ‘Well, that’s settled then. Henry, Sam will let you know as soon as we’ve arranged the time and place. I’d like it to be sooner rather than later now that we have a plan that we’re all comfortable with. But we need to leave a little time, so that it appears Erranase has been considering their offer. Keep your ghost friends fired up and ready—and we’ll see you on the battlefield soon, my friend.’

Michael saluted, and Henry who appeared quite chuffed, returned the gesture. Then he disappeared.

We said our goodbyes to Elizabeth, and started to make our way back toward Michael’s house. I turned and looked back at Elizabeth once more. The light was fading, but I could still just make her out, skipping away under Sam’s tree.

A few minutes later, we walked into the house where Tom and Crystal were waiting for us in the dining room. Sam quickly ran through what had happened with Elizabeth and Henry, and I saw Tom actually shiver when Sam mentioned the ninety-six ghosts.

When he’d finished the story, Crystal looked over at me and winked, ‘Come help me in the kitchen, Lili. I’ll make us some coffee. And I have some fresh shortbread to go with it.’

We walked into the kitchen and once out of earshot of the boys, she threw her arms around me and gave me a gigantic hug.

‘What a marvellously simple solution. Did Michael take it well? The fact that you came up with the idea, I mean? Poor Michael—I’m sure it would have been hard for him, you being the one to come up with the plan. After all, you’re just a wisp of a girl in his eyes—a child really.’

‘Oh, he seemed to take it pretty well. He even called me a genius.’

‘Well, maybe he’s finally mellowing in his old age,’ she laughed, look on her face suggesting that she was relishing this moment of female superiority.

Crystal left to take coffee and a plate of shortbreads to Michael and then came back into the kitchen to sit with me. I enjoyed spending time alone with Crystal. There was something about her that always left me feeling calm. It was as if she had the ability to draw any negativity or confusion from me and replace it with pure happiness.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door and I heard Michael answer it. Soon I heard the mellow voice of Erranase, asking for an update.

Crystal and I joined them in the dining room, where Michael was giving Erranase a quick summary of what had happened during the day. I could feel myself blushing as Erranase turned to look at me with a wry smile on his lips.

It was decided that Sam would be the one to overpower Zunios once the ghosts confused him, as Sam was the only one they were certain would keep his calm in the presence of the ghosts. I saw Tom screw up his face, and sort of shudder again when that part of the plan was discussed in detail.

Erranase was relatively certain that Zunios, Anubinse and Mardukian would not bring anyone else with them, and Michael concurred with him.

Erranase insisted they must give Zunios a chance to leave peacefully, saying that while Zunios was arrogant and powerful, he could be trusted to keep his word if he would give it—then there would be no need to fight. While Michael felt this was an outside chance, he was prepared to give Erranase a few minutes to try to reason with Zunios.

However, if Zunios didn’t agree, and this was what everyone feared would be the case, there would be no time to waste. Sam would give the signal to Henry, and the ghosts would appear and rush toward Zunios. Sam would be able to overpower Zunios for a few moments, and Erranase would help him. If possible, they would just contain him.

No one knew what would need to be done with Anubinse and Mardukian. Michael, Crystal and Tom would do what they had to.

Erranase remained quiet toward the end of the discussion, and it was obvious to me that he was not comfortable with the possible destruction of his friends. He made it clear that he would only help on the condition that it didn’t involve him having to them any harm.

Erranase would contact Zunios on Thursday, and arrange for the meeting to take place in the gardens that evening.

And so we would wait.

This was going to be the hard part—behaving as if everything was normal, knowing that in a few days’ time, everything in Sam’s world could change.

~ C
HAPTER
S
IXTEEN
~

‘I feel awful leaving you alone again, and on such a miserable day,’ said Debs as she picked up her keys the following morning. She’d been asked to fill in at bridge and would be out all day.

‘It’s fine, really. I’ve got to catch up on some emails, and besides, the rain might stop later,’ I replied. I desperately longed to go for a run to burn off some of my nervous energy.

She looked over her shoulder at me as she put her hand on the doorknob. ‘Is everything alright? I mean, you seem a bit … unsettled. You haven’t had a fight with that charming young man of yours, have you?’

‘No, really, I’m fine. I’ll see you tonight,’ I replied, doing my best to keep the stress out of my voice.

When she was gone, I made myself a coffee and sat down at the computer to check emails. There were new ones from both Mom and Ray … but there were also several from David. He’d emailed quite a few times actually, but I hadn’t read any of his yet. I didn’t see the point.

I stared at the screen, trying to remember how I’d felt about David, but it was like trying to recall the details of a vague dream. How ironic it seemed … I mean, wasn’t my current life the one that should feel like a dream—filled with creatures I’d never imagined existed? And yet I’d never felt more alive than I had these past few weeks.

And yet I was booked on a flight back home in just over four weeks. But how could I go? How could I leave this place that made me feel so alive? How could I leave Sam, who meant more to me, after this short time, than David ever had in the two years we’d been together?

But even with time racing past, Sam hadn’t mentioned anything. He knew exactly when I was leaving, but hadn’t said one word about it. Maybe he wasn’t all that concerned. Maybe women were in and out of his life all the time. And of course, since he wouldn’t age, any human friends and acquaintances would constantly leave—one way or another. Maybe he was used to just taking it in his stride.

I was still dwelling on his lack of concern about my departure when my phone rang.

‘Good morning,’ Claire said, in a loud cheerful voice. ‘Do you know what day it is?’

‘Not your birthday is it?’

‘No,’ she said, dragging out the word, ‘it’s Tuesday. And what is Tuesday?’

‘Oh … Ladies Night at that bar?’

‘Right. So, do you want to meet me at five-thirty again? I can taste those margaritas already. What’s the time? Arggh … only quarter past ten. Never mind. Oh, and I don’t think Steph and Holly can make it tonight so don’t stand me up or I might be all on my own!’

How could I say no? Claire was my only real friend here, and had been awfully nice. Even if she did drink a bit too much for my liking, and going to a bar tonight was the last thing I wanted to do, I said yes. After all, Sam hadn’t called, and I didn’t want to bother him. So, tonight it would be drinks with Claire.

The morning crawled by but by noon the rain stopped so I decided to go for a run.

~~***~~

As I reached the top of the hill near Sam’s tree I had the distinct feeling of being watched, but Sam was nowhere to be seen. As I rounded the corner toward the bench, I wondered if Elizabeth was nearby, but there was no sign of her either. I continued down and around the bottom of the gardens and as I headed back up toward Sam’s tree the feeling of being watched returned. I slowed to a walk, then stopped near the tree and turned around to see if someone was behind me. There were a few people around—heading to the train station and the like—but no sign of Sam or Elizabeth. And no indication that anyone was paying any particular attention to me.

I started jogging again and tried to shrug off the feeling, picking up speed to settle back into my run. I made it down around the bottom of the gardens again and started back toward the crest of the hill when the feeling of being watched returned even stronger. I looked down and could see the hair on my arms standing straight up.

When I looked up, there was a young girl standing right in front of me. I stopped, dead in my tracks.

‘Whoa, where did you come from?’ I asked, catching my breath.

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,’ she said in a soft, shy voice.

She was tiny—and looked to be no more than ten or eleven. She had long dark hair and big brown eyes, and her skin was tanned. She wore red shorts and a white top, and a pair of sandals that looked to be a few sizes too big. Her toenails were painted bright red—the same colour as her shorts. It struck me as quite an odd outfit for a cold winter morning.

‘That’s okay,’ I said, taking a step back.