The Reckoning (The Sentinel Series Book 4) Read online

  The Reckoning

  Book 4 of The Sentinel Series

  Holly Martin

  For the fans. For those that have emailed, messaged and tweeted me constantly asking for this book. It wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you. Thank you so much for your love and support of this series. You guys are amazing. xx

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 1

  I ran towards the cliff edge as fast as I could, but the heavy footsteps of the pursuing Deus was close on my heels. I felt the fingers snatch at my clothes but I managed to pull myself from his grasp. I was so close now, I could almost smell the victory, I had been running for over an hour and the end was in sight. But in a last ditch attempt to stop me, the Deus suddenly slid along the ground in a move seen often on the baseball fields of America, taking out my legs so I slammed down hard on top of him. But as I fell, I was sure to land my elbow in his throat, winding him. Gasping for breath, he tried to grab me, but I was already on my feet. I tore the last few feet to the edge, snatched the strip of red material from the precipice and threw myself over.

  Stuffing the material into my pocket, I executed a near perfect swan dive into the icy waves below. But I didn’t come up for air I dived deeper beneath the water, pushing myself further. My lungs screamed in protest at the lack of air, my body roaring at me to surface, but I unwillingly swam on, until almost all light had disappeared above me. It was only when I saw the mast of a sunken wreck, sticking up through the gloom before me that I knew I was saved. I grabbed the material from my pocket and tied it to the top of the mast, then quickly shifted, taking the form of a tiny fish. I breathed quickly through my gills, sucking the oxygen through the water, until my heart had calmed down, and just hoped my small size would help me go unnoticed.

  My peace was short lived, as the water swirled around me indicating I wasn’t alone. I caught sight of a large fin shoot past me in the inky water and the gleam of very sharp teeth. I quickly shifted into a marlin, a much faster fish but before I could dart through the waters, a hard nose nudged me in the side, knocking me off course. I turned in the water, trying to find where I was going, but the blackness stretched as far as the eye could see, giving me no clue to my destination. The shark, a great white by the looks of it, sliced through the water towards me, dark and menacing. I flittered away from it, not sure of the direction I was heading in. In my current form I was faster than he was and I quickly lost my shadow, but now I had lost my direction too, and the seconds were ticking past quickly.

  Another marlin darted to my side, and with a fierce nudge to my tail, my course changed again. The marlin banged into me again, changing my direction a third time and then it left my side. I sliced through the water as quick as I could, trusting in the new path that Quinn had forced me to take. In the darkness a reef appeared with colourful sea anemones protruding like little chimneys from the rocks below. I dived down, knowing there was a cave underneath the rocks and as I surfaced in the tiny air pocket, I shifted into a human. The air was stale down here. I clambered up onto the slippery rocks, grabbed the red scrap of material, shoved it in my mouth and dived back into the water again, shifting back into a marlin and making a direct line for the surface. As I cut through the waters, the light got brighter. I surfaced too far to the left of the tiny boat and had to swim just below the surface to get to it. I shifted back into a human and climbed into the boat, taking the red material from my mouth and tying it to a metal ring on the side.

  I had no idea how much time I had wasted under the water and it was hugely tempting to slide naked to the next place, just to save me a few seconds, but I didn’t want to face my attackers like that. I quickly pulled on my shorts and as I was pulling on my T-shirt, I slid.

  I landed in a forest, somewhere in South America, Peru perhaps judging by the old Inca monument, broken and lying half buried in the soil. A piece of red material fluttered on a nearby bush, but it was never going to be that easy. I ran for it, hoping that I could get there before I was stopped, but as I reached out for it, something hard slammed into my side throwing me to the floor and landing on top of me. I roared with frustration.

  Lucas suddenly leapt back as if I had punched him, when in fact I had done no such thing. Momentarily distracted with his ‘injury’, I scrabbled up, grinning inwardly at Lucas’s assistance, grabbed the flag and slid to a field, narrowly avoiding a barbed wire fence as I landed. It was dark here, the moonlight picking out the figure of Isaac, standing tense, ready to fight. I ran towards him, ready to beat him to a pulp if I needed to, especially after the vicious beating I had got from him a few hours before.

  But as I leapt through the air intending to kick him in the face, a roaring sound came from the sky. I landed quickly, ready to throw off the small meteorite as it soared towards me. It was coming so fast though and I had landed badly to be able to control it. As I quickly wheeled round I realised, to my horror, it was heading straight towards Isaac, not me. In a moment of sheer panic I managed to throw it off at the last second, it crashed into the ground just metres from where we stood, sending the fence post flying into the air bringing with it the barbed wire fence. The wire was taut and attached to the fence post that was still in the ground, it whipped round and ripped straight across my chest, almost cutting me in half.

  Fearing that the wire would continue its journey and harm Isaac as well, I quickly shielded him, but the wire was already buried deep in my body and it came to a rest.

  Pain was immense. Isaac picked himself up from the floor after the force of the explosion had thrown him there, and looked at me aghast, as I tried to pick the wire out of my skin, but it was buried so deep, I couldn’t even see it.

  Isaac ran forwards yanking his knife out from his belt. But the wire was tight, if it was cut it would just ping back, probably cutting me deeper. I pushed him back and quickly tried to slide out of the wire’s grasp, but the wire was now a part of me and sliding out of it would literally cut me in half.

  Blood poured from the wound.

  ‘Eve, shift into something small,’ Isaac said.

  I nodded and shifted into a mouse, the wire falling off me as I changed form. I shifted back into a human.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Isaac said, completely unfazed by my nakedness.

  I looked down at the wound, it was bad but I could heal it on the way, I could still make it, could still finish. I had been injured many times over the last few days, nothing as bad as this, but I wouldn’t let it stop me. I grabbed my T-shirt, shook it free of the barbed wire, pulled it on and grabbed my shorts, pulling them on too.

  ‘Will you fight me?’ I asked.

  Isaac stared at me in horror. ‘Are you kidding?’

  I shrugged, ran up the hill and grabbed the flag and slid on to my next place. My wound stung, badly and I could feel the blood pouring down my stomach as I landed in an abandoned building. It was still dark outside, the moon glinting through the cracked windows, but the flag wasn’t where it should be. I whirled round trying to spot it, Cain had moved it deliberately, trying to make me fail. Then I spotted it, hanging on a wall about twenty metres above me. I
quickly flew up to the hook, snatched the flag and slid onto the next place before I’d even landed.

  I arrived in a deserted field, the wind shifting the long grass as if invisible forces were running through the stalks. The sky was a pinky yellow, though seconds ago I had been looking at the silvery moon, bright in the inky black sky.

  I staggered, my legs wobbly beneath me.

  There was blood everywhere. I had been so desperate to get back to the fort tonight that I hadn’t stopped. I had ran on, stupidly thinking that I would heal it later. But now it was too late, it had slowed me down, and now there was no chance I was getting home tonight. In fact, unless I healed myself quickly, I wasn’t even going to be leaving this field.

  My vision was already blurred, and my legs were shaky, weak from how much blood I had lost. I sank to my knees, resting my hands on my wound. I had to concentrate, but being so exhausted meant healing myself was tricky. Zekis gave their strength to their patients to help the healing process, healing myself required some energy, but I had none.

  A soft swishing indicated someone’s arrival. I sighed, knowing instantly who it was.

  A strong hand was round my arm. ‘Get up, do it again.’

  ‘Cain, give me a second,’ I said, trying to summon some strength to begin the healing.

  ‘No, get up now, this isn’t good enough, you need to try harder,’ Cain said, angrily, yanking me to my feet.

  With anger coursing through me, I threw Cain backwards across the grass. ‘I said give me a second.’

  I resumed the attempt to heal myself, but as Cain had pulled me up and I had snatched myself out of his grasp, I had somehow torn the wound even more. I gritted my teeth as blood poured from it like a fountain.

  ‘What the hell are you doing?’ Cain seethed, storming back through the grass towards me, but he faltered as he saw the wound. He was at my side instantly. ‘Are you OK?’

  I glared at him, then closed my eyes, adding the strength of my powers to my healing abilities. I felt my skin close over the wound, felt my healing power filling my veins doing the job that the lost blood should have done, then I let my powers wink out.

  Feeling dizzy, I lay down for a moment, waiting for it to pass.

  Cain sat down next to me, though he said nothing, he sensed now that I just needed a few minutes.

  It had been over six months now since Cain and the other members of the Oraculum had arrived at the fort to tell me of the impending end of the world. Apparently the three or five years that had been originally prophesied had been vastly exaggerated and the end of the world was imminent, it would come at some point before the end of the year, which was now only ten days away. A big surprise to the apparently all seeing Oraculum.

  The Oraculum had turned up to help me, to get me ready, to finally contribute to my training, and though they were all willing to pledge to me, I refused to work with those that had voted to kill me. Whilst Cain, Matthias and Leon had been allowed to stay, Nathaniel, Jonah and Sebastian had been asked to leave.

  Matthias, Leon and Cain had then set about putting me through rigorous training. I could do things with my powers now that I had never even thought possible. But it didn’t help that we still didn’t know what caused the end of the world, what I would be fighting against. So over the last few weeks Cain had set up some huge international obstacle courses, which utilised the full extent of my skills, sliding from country to country, fighting my Guardians, picking up flags, running, jumping, shifting, flying.

  It wasn’t good enough, not for Cain. I wasn’t fast enough, efficient enough or skilled enough. Over the last four days I had been forbidden from going home, until I could complete the course in the time allowed. I was starving and exhausted. I had been allowed to sleep for an hour or two here and there but not in the comfort of my own bed.

  But much worse than my tiredness and the hard work, was how much I missed Seth. He was my carrot, held tantalizingly out of my reach. Cain knew how badly I wanted to see him, and he hoped this would make me work harder.

  Almost as if my thoughts of him had called him to me, Seth suddenly appeared out of the air. I grinned at him, though he looked furious.

  ‘Cain, she’s coming home now—’

  ‘No she’s not, not till she’s proven herself.’

  ‘This is ridiculous, she hasn’t slept properly in over four days. I know you don’t need much sleep but she does.’ Seth bent down and scooped me up.

  I wrapped my arms round his neck. ‘Seth, I’m not supposed to see you.’

  ‘You can shush as well,’ Seth said, though his voice was softer than when he had spoken to Cain.

  Cain stood up angrily. ‘Seth, this is bigger than you, this is the world at stake—’

  ‘Cain we are all well aware what is at stake here. Eve has given up her life to prepare for this, she is ready to die to save the world, but if you keep working her like this, she won’t be alive to see it. Now I’m taking my wife home and you can have her back tomorrow and if you don’t like it, just try and stop me.’

  I suppressed a smile at this. One of the conditions of working with the Oraculum, especially after Nathaniel’s terrible treatment of Zach and Deacon, was that they didn’t ever raise a finger towards my Guardians. Though it hadn’t been expressed overtly, Seth was strictly off bounds, and Seth knew that. Hurting him would be the final straw in my already tenuous relationship with them.

  When Cain had nothing more to say, Seth turned and started walking away from him, with me still in his arms.

  ‘And do you plan to walk all the way home?’ I asked.

  ‘If I need to, yes,’ Seth muttered.

  ‘You do know we’re in New Zealand, don’t you?’

  ‘You could help me out then.’

  I smiled, and holding onto him tighter, I slid us back to the fort.

  Seth’s mouth was on mine, insistent but gentle as he put me down on the bed.

  I pushed him away. ‘Wait, just a moment, I need to call my Guardians back. If I’m sleeping here tonight, they should have the luxury of sleeping in a bed as well.’

  Seth sighed in exasperation, his hands still tight around my waist.

  I reached out for the bond of my personal guard, the outer guard and Quinn and called them to me. They landed in front of me, momentarily tense, but relaxed when they saw where they were.

  ‘You did it,’ Lucas beamed at me.

  I shook my head. ‘No, I was so close this time, but I was slowed down by an injury, Seth has kidnapped me for the night. I thought you guys might want some sleep as well before we try again tomorrow.’

  ‘I’m sure you’ll do it tomorrow, once you’ve rested,’ Quinn said.

  I nodded, with some annoyance. ‘Until Cain sends me on the next task.’

  ‘I know you’re tired Eve, but this training will be a good thing in the end,’ Eli said.

  I sighed, I was beyond tired.

  ‘Anyway,’ Seth said, with some impatience, when my Guardians showed no signs of leaving. ‘Eve’s very tired so…’ he trailed off meaningfully.

  My Guardians nodded and shuffled out.

  The door had barely closed behind them and his lips were on mine again, his hands tightening round my waist. He suddenly pulled away.

  ‘Why are you wet?’ His hands felt over my T-shirt and he examined them. ‘What’s this red stuff?’ He tensed next to me. ‘Is this blood, is this your blood?’

  My silence spoke volumes.

  Seth yanked my top up and examined my stomach for any sign of a scar. When Zekis heal they always leave a tiny silvery scar, but thankfully for me when I healed I didn’t leave any scars at all. Seth would never be able to tell how severe my injury was.

  ‘What happened?’ Seth asked, angrily.

  I sat up quickly, wrapping my arms round Seth’s neck and kissing him, in a hope to distract him from my most recent near death experience.

  But Seth didn’t kiss me back. ‘Eve, stop that, what happened? Was it one of Cain’s traps?�
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  ‘It’s nothing, just a little scratch.’ I continued to kiss him, moving my mouth to Seth’s neck.

  ‘Your T-shirt is soaked with your blood Eve, it was clearly a bit more than just a scratch.’

  I pulled my T-shirt off and threw it onto the floor, so he wouldn’t have to look at it anymore, then resumed my kissing, pulling him down onto the bed next to me.

  He sighed, as he shuffled closer to me, kissing my neck, my jaw bone, my lips.

  I closed my eyes, indulging in the feel of his hot mouth on mine and I suddenly found myself on my beach in Mexico, the place I always ended up in my dreams.

  Seth would not be pleased. Me falling asleep was certainly not what he had planned for tonight. I considered forcing myself awake but the sleep was so welcome.

  Inevitably, my dream shifted, as all my recent dreams had, sometimes showing me visions of the future, sometimes manifestations of my fears for the end of the world.

  I found myself in a corridor in a house I’d never seen before. Dark wood panelling lined the walls and floor and everything smelt musty and old, as if no one had been here for a while.

  Screams of agony echoed down the dark corridor. And laughter. Someone was getting great pleasure out of someone else’s pain. I recognised the laugh too. I had heard it before when I was tortured.

  Adam.

  I looked around, trying to work out where I was and which direction the screams were coming from. There was a tiny slit of light coming from the door at the end, I headed that way and the screams got louder.

  I pushed open the door and lying in a pool of dark blood was Sebastian, from the Oraculum writhing and groaning as Adam stood over him peppering his body with holes as he shot beams of fire from his hands. Every scream of protest from Sebastian just encouraged Adam to do it even more. I had seen this side of him before, Adam was relentless.

  As Sebastian made one last ditch attempt to stop Adam, filling himself with his own power to defend himself, Adam set Sebastian’s whole body ablaze, his screams of agony intensified as he was burnt alive.