: Chapter 22

I feel myself tossing and turning. I know I’m dreaming. But the screams of the Traitors echo in my ears as they plummet from the sky and land with heavy thuds on the ground around me. Their blood splatters everything nearby. The lifeless eyes of all the people that died in the museum explosion watch me constantly. Everywhere I turn, there they are. Watching. Judging. Asking why they died. Asking if their families are okay. If their deaths meant something. Then, I’m forced to watch Grayson torture Amara. He cuts off her fingers and uses his power on her, making her scream.

It’s a nightmare. It’s a nightmare.

My own repetition turns into Gabriel’s, as his gentle kisses and soft strokes along my cheek return me to the real world. I wake in the dark, in the bed I fell asleep in, encased the most loving pair of arms possible.

‘It’s just a nightmare, Beautiful,’ he whispers in the dark. The blues in his eyes glint at me through the mess of his hair. ‘Wake up, future wife.’ I pull myself in closer to him.

‘I’m awake,’ I reply, settling my face into his chest so I can feel the slow and steady thump, thump of his heart. With a deep inhale, I bask in his scent and know that in these arms I am home. ‘I’m sorry I woke you.’

‘I don’t mind. You should try and get some more sleep though.’

‘I can’t sleep. I think that I’m in for a few hours of laying perfectly still as you snore, wrapped around me like a sexy wildebeest.’

‘A sexy wildebeest?’ he chuckles. ‘I’ve been called many things in my time, but never a sexy wildebeest. I hope that when we’re married, you won’t grow tired of my snoring and grunting.’

‘I said you snore. Not that you grunted,’ I laugh, pulling him even closer. We settle in each other’s embrace and my smile starts to falter. I know that his has too. There’s a hell of a lot on the line. Thousands of lives, not just our own.

‘The wife of a rich man fell sick,’ he says, kissing my temple. ‘And when she felt that her end drew nigh, she called her only daughter to her bedside.’

‘Thank you,’ I tell him, as he starts to recite my favourite story. ‘You look after me so well. And you know exactly what I need.’

‘That’s because you’re my soul mate, Lilly Hooper. And making you happy makes me happy. Now, you relax and listen as I tell you this creepy, twisted story, future wife. Leave all your worries to me. I’ll take care of them for you.’ I settle even further into him with a massive grin on my content little face until I fall asleep.

∞∞∞

Hand in hand, Gabriel and I head out of the cabin for some breakfast. When we emerge onto the porch, Billy is sitting on a large rocking chair looking comfortable. I assume he’s been there a while.

‘Good morning,’ Billy greets with a genuine smile as he groans his way onto his feet. I look around me with a gasp. ‘The children made these for you. In honour of your engagement.’

My heart swells as I see the sheer amount of daisy chains they’ve made. They twist around the posts and the bannister a hundred times over. They hang like chandeliers from the ceiling and I can barely see the wood of the walls. But that’s not all. There’s a table laid out with dozens of dishes.

Billy tells me, ‘Some of the women baked these for you. A few homemade pies and a couple of casseroles. They really pulled out all the stops. I’ve had to fend off several of the men and children from pilfering your supply.’ He chuckles a deep belly laugh but I notice the crumbs stuck to his shirt.

‘I’ll be sure to thank them. And please, tell them that they can help themselves. There is no way on earth I’ll be able to eat all this.’ Billy looks to my left with a raised brow and amused grin. I peer over and catch Gabriel shoving a slice of cherry pie into his face.

I gasp suddenly and look out at the camp. The Nomads are busy with their day to day lives. Cooking. Cleaning. Talking and laughing. Mothers are trying to round-up their children as teenagers gather in groups, chatting away.

I sense magic.

Billy gives a short, deep laugh. ‘They’re close, I take it?’

‘Huh?’ Gabriel’s says through his pie. ‘Who?’

From the edge of the camp, a four-by-four comes into view. The engine shuts off and there are several hoots of the horn.

The passenger door opens.

A thin little brunette woman hurtles out of the car. Her light baggy jeans and oversized plaid shirt aren’t her usual style, and her hair is pulled up in a messy bun. Her wide eyes scan the entire camp before settling on me, and when she sees me, her whole face explodes into an enormous grin.

‘HONEY!’

‘AMARA!’

We’re both sprinting towards each other as fast as we can, laughing with our arms wide, ready to hug the hell out of each other. We collide and our embrace is almost vice like. She’s crying and laughing while trying to speak. It’s all coming out as a complete nonsense, but I love it. I love her. I love that she’s here and I have her in my arms again. When she lifts her tear-streaked face, she inspects mine, before taking my hands and staring at my fingers.

‘I knew he was lying! The prick!’ she hisses.

‘What?’

‘Grayson sent me a finger after I tried to come and find you. He told me it was yours.’

I feel her hands and notice that all of her fingers are intact too. ‘He pulled the same stunt with me. Guess he was trying to keep us both I line. Thank fuck he was bluffing.’

She’s really quite pale and I can tell she’s lost weight. Her eyes have deep bags beneath them and her hair is nowhere near as well maintained as it usually is.

‘Are you alright?’ I ask, letting my own happy tears fall. ‘Are you hurt? Have they been looking after you?’

‘I’m fine. Fine, Honey. We both are.’ She glances over her shoulder and I see the source of the magic I could sense a moment ago. Collins steps out and his boyish smile flashes at me. Then his eyes drift over my shoulder and it widens even further. It’s Gabriel’s turn to charge across the camp to his best friend. And Collins is more than eager to meet him. They share a hug, a few murmured words of relief and gratitude that each are okay, then turn to join us. Collins hugs me so tight, I can barely breathe. My feet come off the ground and he swings me gently from side to side.

‘I’m so glad to see you again,’ he says in a soft sigh of relief. ‘I’ve been imagining all sorts. Especially after we got that finger.’

‘Same here! He sent me one saying it was one of Amara’s.’

‘I know, Gabriel just said. What a dick…huh?’

‘Totally.’

Behind me, Amara and Gabriel are embracing. His hug is a lot gentler and he wipes her tears away with the sleeve of his shirt as she sobs into his chest. Released by Collins, we all gather.

‘Where have they been keeping you? Did they hurt you at all?’ I ask them both. Collins drapes his arm around Amara’s shoulders as Gabriel takes my hand in his.

‘No,’ she sniffs. ‘We’ve been in Scotland in some old manor. No electricity or civilisation. It was all rolling fog and Angus cattle for three months. We were just so worried about you and Gabriel. We hardly slept! Are you okay? Because if I’m honest, you look bloody dreadful, Honey.’

‘Thanks,’ I chuckle as she soothes down my hair in a vain effort to try and tame it. ‘We’re alright.’

‘Just about,’ Gabriel adds with a forced effort at a smile. ‘I assume you know what happened at the museums?’

‘Yeah.’ Collins says solemnly. ‘Hendrix called us and explained what went down on the journey here. It’s crazy out there, man. That service announcement hasn’t stopped. You should see the streets-’

Gabriel clears his throat and gives a slight shake of his head. When he catches me watching, he puts on a smile.

‘So… did Hendrix tell you the other news?’ Gabriel takes my hand and shows them the ring sitting on my finger. Amara snatches it form his grip and stares at it, mouth open.

‘You got engaged!’ she squeaks.

‘Yeah,’ I laugh. ‘We did.’

‘Tell-me-everything!’

∞∞∞

The last few hours have been so good. And much needed.

Sitting on a log at the edge of camp, Gabriel tells the others what’s been going on. I loved his tale of how he proposed. The other parts were not so fun to share. The expedition to the museums. The dead ex-girlfriend. Theo attacking the house and the constant training I’ve had to endure. They tell us that over the last few months, they were kept under heavy guard and told that if they tried to escape, Gabriel or I would be hurt. Then, when Amara tried to leave, they got a finger which Grayson claimed was mine, and they behaved. Much like we did.

The children of the camp come to show me more of their daisy chains. The women come to offer food. The men welcome Collins to the camp.

‘I have to say, the Nomads aren’t what I was expecting. The whole, marry or breed or be a soldier thing? They don’t seem like that at all.’

‘Well, this camp is ’ Amara says, stuffing cheese cake into her mouth. ‘My dad and I lived at a different one, closer to The Orchard. They’re much more old school. The older generation especially. People about my age are starting to come away from the traditional rules. Like this camp has.’

‘

’ I ask, using my fingers as quotation marks. ‘Dare I ask?’

‘About fifty years ago, Grayson got annoyed with me for being lazy and ordered me to set up a new camp,’ Gabriel explains.

‘It’s so weird that my fiancé is five-hundred years old,’ I laugh, tucking into my own slice of desert. ‘So, you set this one up?’

‘Yep. I chose this location and put in plumbing, cabins, designed the security. And as you may have noticed, I’m a lot laxer about the rules. I didn’t force anyone to do anything they didn’t want to. But over the years, the residents move about and the rules sometimes come over with them. Parents who grew up in other sites come here and expect their child to follow the same way of life they did. Can’t be helped, but if someone comes to me and says they need help persuading their parents to back off, I intervene.’

‘Intervene,’ Amara laughs. ‘You set up a whole school so kids can get a decent education and make something of themselves.’ She looks at me. ‘He’s provided passports for hundreds of Nomads, so they can travel the world.’

‘That’s because he’s awesome.’ I grin, smacking my lips on his cheek.

I spot Connor skirting around watching us. When I call him over, he approaches a little nervously.

I introduce him as the man who has been my saviour as far as the journal is concerned, and a real friend these past few months. Connor watches them and shuffles his feet, unsure how he will be received. But Amara, hearing how good he’s been to me, drags him down beside her and insists that he tells her all about himself. Any friend of Lilly’s is a friend of hers.

Everyone is happily chatting and laughing as the sun begins to set. The fires are lit and music floats peacefully through the air as everyone takes the weight of the day from their feet and sits to enjoy their evening meals. My face aches I’ve been laughing so much and I feel refueled, rested and surrounded by the people I love the most.

I sense him before I see him. Grayson and Hendrix emerge through the trees, deep in conversation. I watch as they walk past the Nomads. As Hendrix talks, Grayson nods. They head towards us.

‘We leave for Dartmoor in the morning. Before sunrise.’ Grayson looks at Collins. ‘I suggest you spend the rest of your evening teaching her how to heal herself effectively. If Lilly dies tomorrow, I’m killing Amara. Just so you know.’

Gabriel squeezes my hand to stop me from arguing.

‘She won’t die,’ Amara says firmly. ‘And she won’t fail.’

Grayson leans down so his face is in hers. ‘For your sake, I hope you’re right.’

He leaves, cruel laughter tumbling from his lips.

Hendrix pats my shoulder as he passes. ‘Ya got this, Little Witch. I know ya do.’

We all sit in silence for a few minutes before Collins gets to work on explaining how to heal.