Noah is Neith.
Noah. Is. Neith.
Betrayal hit her with the impact of a truck going at 100mph. The hunger, the monster within, roared with vengeance at the hurt that ripped through her. She turned from him as he fought off the last two Neith standing. Her eyes found the first man she’d felled. He was barely conscious, his mouth hanging open in pain. The hunger raked its claws down her insides and Eden dropped to the ground, the sounds of blade hissing against blade, of groan followed by flesh being pounded, was drowned out as the hunger laughed in victory.
Just take him.
No.
Yes. He tried to kill you. Just take him.
I won’t.
But you’ll feel better. All the pain will go away.
Eden reached out, her fingers brushing the Neith’s lips like a lover reaching for a kiss.
Take him!
With one last groan, Eden tugged at the man’s hair, jerking his head back. She leaned in, the rush of need and excitement making her tremble. It was all going to go away…
“Eden, no!”
She was wrenched back on to the cold of the alley ground, Noah standing over her with horror inscribed in his features.
Her upper arms tingled from where he had grabbed hold of her and thrown her… thrown her like a rag doll with his preternatural strength. Eden shook her head, her chest crying inside. She’d been such a fool. All those time she’d wondered at how strong he was, how fast, how cool. He was a warrior. A warrior sent to kill her.
“You piece of shit,” Eden hissed, fighting back tears as she froze him with a look of pure hatred.
Noah flinched, panic flaring briefly in his eyes before he stood up straight. His expression smoothed out. “It’s not what you think.”
“You’re Neith. You’re one of them,” she spat out, jerking her head in the direction of the unconscious bodies.
Noah shook his head, reaching a hand out to her carefully. “I’m not Neith. I’m Ankh. Now get up.”
She skittered back from him, her heart thudding. “Ankh? What the hell is Ankh?”
A bitter smirk curved his lip. “I’m not surprised he hasn’t told you about us. Of course he wouldn’t. Then you’d know.”
Eden scowled, sure he was trying to mess with her somehow. Confuse her. Trap her. “Know what?”
“Look, I’ll explain, but right now we gotta go before more of these a**holes turn up.”
Eden watched his hand reach for her, letting her body relax as she calculated her next move. With an affected sigh, she clasped her hand in his and let him pull her up.
Her free hand flew at his face. A blur of movement. He jerked back, faster than she could ever have expected, but she’d took him off guard and she felt her knuckles graze his cheekbone. It was enough. Eden grasped a hold of his arm for balance and shot her leg out, her foot connecting with his solar plexus with enough power to send him colliding in among garbage cans.
She didn’t stick around.
She was only three quarters way down the alley when she heard his running footsteps behind her. Eden pushed her speed, sliding around corners and jumping over boxes and god knows what other crap was out there. She eyed a huge dumpster up ahead and swung around behind it, pushing it as if it weighed nothing, so that it glided up and across the alley, cutting Noah off. She spun on her heel and ran, hearing him grunt. When she turned the corner, to her disbelief Stellan was at the back entrance of the cinema, his face pale, his hands shaking as he looked in the opposite direction for her. Eden heard the running steps behind her.
“Stellan!” she screamed, and he turned around wide-eyed as she ran at him. “Run, run, run!” She pushed at him as she collided with him and gracefully they regained their balance, speeding off into the parking lot. As soon as they hit open space, the footsteps faded behind her. But she and Stellan didn’t stop. They hit the car and dived in, seeing the blur of the goons as they followed suit, careening out of the parking lot as if the place had just gone up in flames.
Chapter Thirteen
I’m Me. Who are You?
On the drive – correction, speed race – home, Eden filled Stellan in. He hadn’t said anything back to her, just gripped the wheel tighter. She could tell he was mad at her for using him in the first place, but he hadn’t accused her or spewed recriminations at her. In fact, when they got out of the car, he squeezed her shoulder and told her he was just glad she was alright.
Stellan had a beautiful way of making her feel two inches tall.
The goons wanted to know what the hell happened but Stellan refused to say anything until they had spoken with Ryan.
Celine was flustered by their harried entrance. “Ryan is in his office,” Celine hissed at them, her eyes flicking pointedly to the goons. In other words Ryan was in the basement.
Stellan glared at her. “Then get him. We were just attacked, Mother, I think he might want to be updated on that.”
Her eyes widened, her elegant hand fluttering up to her hairline to brush back an imaginary stray hair. “Attacked?”
“Attacked. Warriors.”
She was silent a moment, her eyes flaring almost white with fury. She jerked a brittle nod in their direction and then turned on her heel, heading towards the curving stairs that led down to the basement. “Gentleman, take a seat in the parlor,” she threw over her shoulder, and the goons immediately followed her order.
Eden clasped Stellan’s hand and turned him to face her. “I am so sorry, Stel. So sorry.” She bit down on her lip, trying to hold back the tears. “I thought I could trust him.”
He betrayed me. He betrayed me. The words echoed in her head over and over, the pain seizing her body not lessening any the more she tried to come to grips with Noah’s treachery. “Six months,” she whispered in disbelief. “How sick do you have to be…?”
“Don’t think about him, Paradise. He’s not worth it.”
Eden flinched at the look in her brother’s eye. Hellfire and brimstone. Noah better watch his back, she thought bitterly, the rush of fury biting into the pain.
Reluctantly, they followed the goons into the parlor to wait for Ryan. Five minutes later he was striding into the parlor, not a hair out of place, with Teagan and Celine at his back.
“What happened?” he barked.
Stellan twisted his lips into a grimace. “Eden’s friend, Noah, was at the movies. He said he needed to talk to Eden for a minute, I didn’t think it was a problem. They were out back and Neith attacked. Noah told Eden he was Ankh.”
Eden watched her brother in amazement as he lied for her, covering for her as usual. She was so grateful she didn’t even hear his emphasis on the word Ankh.
“Ankh?” Ryan looked discomfited.
Eden frowned. “What’s Ankh.”
“Just another word for Neith.” Ryan shook his head, his face turning dark with anger. “I knew there was something wrong with that little shit. I can’t believe this.”
“Well we got away.” Eden shrugged, suddenly nervous. Her father’s whole body was trembling with emotion. Now she understood the phrase ‘looked ready to explode’.
He scoffed at her, his eyes flashing. “You were lucky.”
“Very lucky,” Teagan murmured, eyeing her with a twisted grin.
“So, what do we do?” Celine asked in hushed tones. “They know we’re here, Ryan.”
Ryan nodded. “Yes. I’m going to tighten security until the move. And you two.” He pointed at Stellan and Eden. “No more school. I’ll take care of everything, but you are both under house arrest until the move. We leave the day after the Awakening Ceremony.”
“The day after…” Celine gaped. “But that gives me very little time to organize.”
“Make time,” Ryan hissed. “This is non-negotiable.”
It took her a while to fall asleep that night. Everything was changing so fast. Salton hadn’t been much but it had been an anchor of sorts. Somehow, despite her worst efforts, she’d remained somewhat human in Salton. Eden guessed she’d never really worried much about it until Noah walked into her life. Suddenly there was this person who got her, who liked her, who cared about her. How could it be possible to have imagined the connection between them? But imagine it she must have. She would have done anything for him, she’d tried to be a better person for him, she had worried herself raw thinking about his reaction if he ever knew what she was. And all this time he had known. All this time he’d been planning on… what? Had he been leading her to her death? He had fought those other Neith, but how could she begin to figure it out when all along he’d lied to her?
He’d lied. And the pain of that betrayal… it fed the hunger.
Eden didn’t want to ever see Noah again. She was afraid of what she’d do to him if she did. She couldn’t shake the hurt and the emptiness his betrayal had carved into and out of her.
It was no wonder when she finally fell asleep, Noah was still there…
It was cold here. Too cold. She squirmed. Too dark.
Open your eyes, idiot.
Her eyes refused to open with ease. She had to concentrate, had to pry them open with all her strength. She was so tired.
Slowly, her blurry vision began to focus. White. Jeez, there was just so much white. Groaning, Eden sat up, her fingers sliding through air as the bed underneath her disappeared. She found her feet though. She was standing now.
“Eden?”
She flinched at the familiar voice and turned to face him.
Noah stood before her in his background of blaring white. He was wearing the Biffy Clyro shirt she loved. She frowned. There was blood on it. “Can you turn off the white?” She screwed up her face, her hands shielding her eyes.
The white dimmed but didn’t disappear.
“Better?” He smirked at her.
That familiar expression ripped through her in a fury and she flew at him, beating her fists against any part of his body she could. “You betrayed me! You betrayed me!” she shrieked over and over again.
Noah took a couple of the blows before he grew impatient and snapped his hands around her wrists. Suddenly she was nothing more than a puppy wriggling in his arms. “I’m sorry, Eden. I’m sorry I lied.” His violet eyes pleaded with her. “But I didn’t betray you.”
“Liar.”
“I didn’t betray you. I’m trying to help you.”
She shook her head. “Help me, you can’t help me. You’re sick. You’re a liar.”
Noah’s face fell, his eyes sad. “I’m not. I’m trying to help. We all are.”
“What?”
He nodded behind her and Eden twisted her neck to peer over her shoulder. She gasped. A giant circle was etched on the floor of the white. Ten men and women sat crossed legged around it. A dark man, with skin the color of mocha, gazed at her fiercely.
“Who are they?” She turned back to Noah.
His reply was a soft smile. He reached out to her tentatively, his fingers taking hold of the hem of her shirt. She frowned as he slid it slowly upwards, stopping at the first bone of her ribs. A shiver rippled down her spine as Noah brushed his thumb across the strange birthmark on her lower belly. “The more important question is… who are you?”