The Reckoning (The Sentinel Series Book 4) Read online

  ‘I would prefer it if we stayed here. This could be the actions of one person and I don’t want to turn my back on three hundred people willing to fight for you because of one traitor. We can move to one of the towers which are higher up. We can station more of us outside the room while you sleep and the others can guard the entrance to the tower.’

  ‘That’s fine,’ I said, not having it in me to argue.

  ‘And you must make sure that you are always with two members of either your personal guard or your outer guard at any time.’

  I nodded again.

  ‘Are you going to do your training today?’ Eli asked.

  ‘No, after what happened yesterday with Matthias and then Nathaniel blaming me for it, I think I’m going to sit this one out. And I realise that we are only six days away from the predicted end of the world but today is Christmas and I was kind of hoping that I could have a day off, even if we can’t actually properly celebrate it.’

  Eli nodded. ‘I’ll make sure Cain is informed.’

  ‘Actually with Adam turning up and the increased attacks from the Putarians and the Reapers, it might be safer if you didn’t do it again before the year is out,’ Lucas said. ‘Like Trey said, unless you can take a Guardian with you to each location, or even a team of Guardians, I’m not sure it’s worth the risk.’

  ‘I’ve been thinking the same thing,’ Mason said, kicking aside one of the dead bodies. ‘I’m all for practising your powers but we need to come up with another way to do it.’

  Eli and Seth nodded their agreement too.

  I felt a sense of relief. ‘Well, I’d certainly agree with that. All this training is exhausting and while I’m grateful for the Oraculum’s help in getting me ready, I don’t think facing the end of the world in this tired state is a good idea. Though I’ll let you break that news to Cain, I imagine he’ll be less than pleased with that decision. Make sure he knows about this latest attack too.’

  Eli nodded.

  I sighed as I looked around the room. There would be nothing left of this fort by the time the end came. ‘You might as well show me to my new room.’

  *

  I was lying on my bed with Seth later that afternoon. There had been no Christmas Day to speak of, no presents or turkey lunch, not so much as a mince pie. The Guardians didn’t celebrate it and I knew for them it was just another day they had to keep me alive. I didn’t mind. I had a day off from my training and I got to spend it wrapped in my husband’s arms, as days go, it was pretty perfect.

  I was surprised I hadn’t heard from Cain. I hadn’t turned up for my training as planned and my Guardians had probably informed him that I had no intention of doing so again before the end of the world came in a few days. I expected some argument from him so the silence was slightly unnerving.

  There was a knock on the bedroom door and I sighed, hoping it wasn’t Cain summoning me. After Nathaniel’s outburst the day before, I really didn’t want anything more to do with them.

  Seth groaned slightly as I slid out of his arms to go and answer the door. I was surprised to see Trey standing on the other side. Although he hung around a lot, he’d never come to see me like this.

  He looked a bit nervous and embarrassed and clearly wasn’t comfortable talking in front of Mason and Isaac who were stationed outside.

  I gestured for him to come in and then I closed the door behind him.

  Seth sat up in surprise, though I knew he was more than happy to see him. Despite not seeing each other for years, they were still really close since Trey’s return.

  ‘I erm…’ Trey rubbed his neck awkwardly. ‘I kind of presumed that we would be doing presents. I know that’s how humans celebrate Christmas. I didn’t realise I’d be the only one…’ he trailed off and then took a small box out of his pocket.

  I stared at it and then back at Trey. ‘You got me a present?’

  ‘Well, more specifically, I made it for you.’

  I took it from him and opened the box. Inside, nestled against the black velvet, was a hand carved wooden star on a piece of black thong. The wood was made up of lots of different colours and the grains, swirls and knots of the wood looked wonderful as they gleamed in the shiny coating of varnish.

  ‘Wow, Trey, this is beautiful and you made this?’

  He shrugged. ‘It didn’t take long.’

  I strongly suspected it had taken a long time, the carving was very intricate.

  ‘Thank you so much.’ I took the necklace out of the box and immediately put it on. ‘I love it, thank you.’

  I turned to show Seth and he nodded his approval. ‘Very nice.’ He looked up at his brother with a smirk. ‘Way to make me look bad.’

  Trey laughed. ‘Sorry about that.’

  There was another knock on the door and Seth went to answer it, while I admired the beautiful necklace from Trey.

  ‘Hey Eve.’

  I glanced up to see Zach and Deacon walking into the room. They had both grown so big over the last few months that they now towered over me just like the rest of the Guardians.

  ‘Happy Christmas,’ Deacon said.

  ‘Happy Christmas,’ I said, moving forward to give them both a hug.

  ‘We know things have been a bit crap lately, well probably for the last year actually and with the impending end of the world just a few days away, this is probably not the best time for happy celebrations but we erm… wanted to give you something,’ Zach said, holding out a long thin box.

  ‘Now my other brother wants to show me up,’ Seth muttered, good naturedly.

  I laughed and leaned into Seth, wrapping my arm around him. ‘I don’t need a present from you. I have you, that’s all that I need.’ I said in his head.

  He smiled and kissed me on the head.

  I took the box from Zach and sat down on the bed. ‘You guys didn’t have to get me a present.’

  I slid the ribbon off the box and Zach knelt down in front of me, holding a hand over the box to stop me from opening it.

  ‘Traditionally when a young Guardian, or Guardling as you call them, becomes a fully-fledged Guardian, the older Guardians would present the Guardlings with a dagger or knife. We always practise fighting with wooden swords so the dagger is symbolic of being ready to fight for you. It shows that the older Guardians have faith in our abilities. That’s part of the reason why all your Guardians wear knives on their belts to show they are full Guardians. Obviously the other reason is to be able to fight for you if need be, but it’s a symbolic gesture too.’

  I looked at Seth and Trey. ‘I had no idea that was the reason.’

  ‘There hasn’t been an official ceremony for the Guardlings for a while,’ Seth said. ‘Sadly other things like several attempts on your life have got in the way.’

  Zach took his hand off the box and I removed the top. I stared down at the silver dagger with the gold, twisted handle.

  ‘The Guardlings have seen how hard you’ve been working over the last six months and we think you’re ready. This is our way of telling you that we have complete faith in your abilities to be able to save the world.’

  I swallowed the lump in my throat at this touching gesture.

  ‘All of our daggers have the brand of the Sentinel on the hilt, the angel wings, to show we are fighting for you,’ Deacon went on. ‘That didn’t seem appropriate for your dagger, to be fighting for the Sentinel when you are the Sentinel, so…’

  Zach reached out, picked up the dagger and flipped it over showing a bright blue and green enamel emblem on the other side. I ran my fingers over it, the tiny version of the earth. I would be fighting for that.

  Determination filled me. They had faith in me when I barely had any. I would do this for them. I had to. I would do this for all the Guardians that had given their lives to protect me. I would do this for the Zeki and Donum and for everyone out there who had no idea that the end of the world was so imminent. There was goodness in this world and I would not let the Putarians win.

  I s
miled as I looked up at them. ‘This is perfect thank you, I won’t let you down.’

  Zach grinned. ‘We know you won’t.’

  *

  I lay facing out the window later that night, with Seth curled around my back, his arms around my stomach. I stared at the hills and mountains in the distance that spread as far as the eye could see. I was responsible for it all, the birds, the animals, the trees and plants and all the human life too.

  Although it felt good that my Guardians believed in me and my abilities to save them and the world, the responsibility lay heavy on my shoulders.

  I knew that tapping into the potential of the earth’s power and not just relying on my own was somehow the secret behind saving the world. But I only had days left before the end came and I had no idea how to harness it and if I could even begin to control this immense power source.

  It was something I would have to ask Persia and Izri about the next day when they returned, or failing that maybe Cain would know.

  I closed my eyes, hoping that no one would try to kill me whilst I slept this time.

  As my body drifted off to sleep, I immediately found myself in a dark stone corridor with what looked like metal gates leading off it into little rooms. There was shouting up ahead, coming from one of the rooms and I ran along the corridor trying to find the source of it.

  I recognised the voices of Nathaniel and Cain before I saw them and as I burst into one of the little rooms which I quickly realised was some kind of jail cell, I saw them fighting. Not with fists, but with their powers. Both were shooting fire at each other but neither seemed to be winning. They were stepping closer to each other, deflecting the blows while trying to gain the upper hand.

  I was suddenly aware of someone standing next to me watching the fight too. I turned and my heart leapt when I saw Adam. He was grinning as he was watching the fight, obviously enjoying the entertainment. He turned to me briefly and gestured to Nathaniel and Cain. ‘They’re fighting over you.’

  I turned back to the fight in confusion.

  As they stepped within touching distance, Nathaniel suddenly whipped out a knife and stabbed Cain straight through the heart.

  Chapter 8

  I ran forward to stop it, but as my dream shifted I found myself in Cain’s lounge, in his house by the sea. Nathaniel and Cain were sitting on opposite chairs, both staring at me in shock. As Seth suddenly appeared by my side, looking angry, I realised I had inadvertently slid to Cain in my sleep. Though Seth seemed to realise this straight away, probably judging from my stunned and sleepy expression, though his anger didn’t abate once he saw that Nathaniel was there.

  Cain leapt up, recovering himself quickly from my sudden arrival. ‘Eve, are you OK?’

  My heart was still pounding over what I had seen but as the dream faded from my mind I wasn’t sure if what I had seen was a dream or a prophecy. Adam had been there. Although he had the power to enter my dreams, I’d never talked to him in a prophecy before. Not like that where he was watching the prophecy unfold too.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ I addressed Cain as I had no intention of talking to Nathaniel. ‘I didn’t mean to turn up in your house in the middle of the night.’ Although I had done that on several occasions recently, they had all been willingly. I glanced at Nathaniel and then back at Cain. ‘I had a dream about you… dying.’

  Cain didn’t even blink but Nathaniel sighed, theatrically as if he was bored of my presence. My heart leapt, I really didn’t want to see him now, especially not standing in my pyjamas.

  ‘Eve’s dreams have a habit of coming true, I’d watch your back if I were you,’ Seth said.

  ‘Is that a threat,’ Nathaniel said, angrily.

  ‘Nathaniel, do you have to take everything so personally, Seth wasn’t threatening me, he was just stating a fact, Eve has had prophecies, you know this,’ Cain said.

  Nathaniel tutted with annoyance and a flash of anger crossed Cain’s face as he turned towards him.

  ‘Nathaniel’s just leaving, I’ll just show him out and then we can talk.’

  I nodded with embarrassment.

  Nathaniel stood, glared at me with contempt and then walked out, quickly followed by Cain.

  I looked at Seth. ‘How embarrassing.’

  Seth smirked. ‘It could be worse.’

  I smiled too. ‘Look I’ll just tell Cain we’re leaving and then we can go home.’

  Seth nodded and I walked out the back door in the direction that Cain went.

  I heard them talking round the corner and though I didn’t mean to, I found myself stopping to hear what was said.

  ‘It’s ridiculous Cain, I’m telling you, this is how it will start, first these dreams, then hallucinations, she’ll develop paranoia… I reckon she’ll be completely insane within the next year. I’m actually quite thankful that the end of the world will come in the next few days, before she gets dangerous.’

  ‘You don’t know that she will turn out that way,’ Cain said.

  ‘Oh we do, Samuel swore it was her insanity that caused the end of the world.’

  ‘Something he probably made up to save his own skin.’

  ‘Well look at Adam, that proves that the combination of DNA doesn’t work, he is a sick, evil and twisted monster, and his sister will turn out exactly the same way.’

  Cain sighed. ‘You should go, I need to talk to her.’

  ‘Why do you keep your mind open to her, I wouldn’t be surprised if she turned up one day with a knife in her hand, ready to stab you.’

  ‘It’s a risk I’m willing to take, she has to trust one of us, we have to keep an eye on her, monitor her closely, and her trust in me allows me to do that.’

  ‘Misguided trust,’ Nathaniel laughed.

  Cain laughed too, though slightly awkwardly.

  ‘You’re not growing fond of her are you?’

  ‘No,’ Cain said, indignantly.

  ‘You seemed very concerned when she turned up.’

  ‘Of course I’m concerned for her wellbeing, she has to be there at the end, after that… you can do what you want with her.’

  ‘So you still stand by our agreement,’ Nathaniel asked.

  ‘Yes of course.’

  Nathaniel sighed. ‘Well, be nice to her, we don’t want her to turn against us before the end.’

  ‘I’m always nice to her, she likes me, it’s you she has a problem with.’

  ‘Yeah she does like you, she’s even dreaming about saving you now.’ Nathaniel laughed. I flushed with embarrassment as Cain laughed too.

  ‘I should go,’ Nathaniel said. ‘Keep me informed.’

  ‘Always do,’ Cain said.

  I heard a soft swishing sound, indicating Nathaniel’s departure, followed by Cain sighing heavily. I peered round the corner and Cain was kicking a stone between his feet.

  Suddenly he whirled round to look at me, he took in my hurt, angry face and in two huge strides he was in front of me. ‘How much did you hear?’ he asked, angrily.

  ‘Enough,’ I turned away from him, hurrying back inside.

  Seth stood as I reached him. ‘Eve?’

  ‘We’re leaving,’ I said, reaching for his hand.

  ‘Eve, wait,’ Cain said, his footsteps hurrying after me.

  I grabbed Seth’s hand and slid us back to our bedroom, but Cain unfortunately slid straight to me.

  ‘Eve… it’s not like that, please, listen,’ Cain said, reaching out for me. I flinched away from him and Seth stepped in his way.

  ‘I don’t know what you did, but she clearly doesn’t want to see you right now. I think you should go.’

  Cain sighed angrily, he stepped back away from me, but didn’t leave.

  ‘Eve, what I say and what I think are two very different things.’

  ‘Apparently so, almost everything you’ve said to me has been a lie.’ I swallowed back the angry tears. ‘I thought…’ I stopped myself from saying that I thought he cared about me.

  ‘I do, Eve, I do care ab
out you, of course I do…’

  ‘Really? “She has to be there at the end of the world, after that you can do what you want with her,”’ I quoted back at him.

  Seth growled.

  ‘Eve, Nathaniel voted to kill you, he killed Nereus. Do you honestly think I’m more loyal to him than I am to you? Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. I keep him onside purely to know what he is doing.’

  ‘Isn’t that what you’re doing with me?’ Speaking telepathically though I didn’t know why I should indulge him in his secrecy.

  ‘No. Yes you are important to me because of what you were created to do, that has always been the most important thing to me and I’ve never made a secret of that. But I care for you also. I’ve watched you grow up, I’ve grown fond of you, I care that you are happy, I care what happens after.’

  I shook my head. ‘How can I trust you?’

  Cain stepped forward, angry, but Seth pushed him back.

  ‘You want proof, I’ll give you proof…’

  My mind was suddenly filled with images of me growing up, and with it came a fondness, a love, growing as I grew. The images changed very quickly, and soon I was watching a replay of the last few months and these images were not only filled with a steely determination to protect me, but deeper than that was the fierce love, a pride so strong that it punctuated these images like a beam of light through the darkness.

  ‘Oh,’ I said, quietly.

  ‘Yes, exactly,’ Cain said, with some degree of embarrassment. ‘Believe me you are the single most important person in the world to me, and not just because of what you will do.’

  ‘To be fair, what would you have thought if you’d heard what I’d heard?’

  ‘I would have trusted you.’

  ‘Really?’

  Cain sighed. ‘I’m sorry, it can’t have been pleasant for you to hear.’

  ‘It was even harder to hear when I had just dreamt of Nathaniel killing you and had tried to warn you about it.’