Shimmer by Paula Weston

Author:Paula Weston
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: JUV058000, FIC009050, JUV001000
ISBN: 9781922148971
Publisher: The Text Publishing Company
Published: 2014-06-25T04:00:00+00:00

WATCH FOR THE SPIN

I want to ask. I can’t.

I follow Daisy and Micah downstairs and along a hallway, realise we’re at my door. I’m vaguely aware of Daisy telling Jude what’s happening and then the four of us going down more stairs. Jude takes my hand as we walk. He gives a quick squeeze and lets go.

We move beyond the main buildings, out into the open compound between the main piazza and the chapterhouse, past the angel statue. Gravel crunches under our boots. Dull clouds drift down the mountain, making it impossible to know what time of day it is. My best guess is mid-afternoon. Muffled voices carry from the ancient building ahead of us.

The chapterhouse is packed. Conversation is low, whispered. Jude stands on his toes to do a quick headcount. ‘There’s at least a hundred and fifty Rephaim in here. Maybe more.’

It’s still not enough to hide the blood and vomit stains on the stones. I hear Mick’s grunts, Joffa’s screams. Mya’s words: That’s it. No one else survived.

Nathaniel is on the dais. Daniel is on his right—of course—Calista and Uriel behind him. Ez, Mya and Jones push through the crowd to us. ‘Zak’s stayed with Dani,’ Ez whispers to me. Malachi hovers on his own at the back of the chapterhouse near the main doors. Everyone is tidier now: fresh clothes, blood gone, bruises and cuts healed.

Nathaniel’s attention skims over the faces of the Rephaim. He seems to linger on Jude or me—it’s hard to tell from this distance—and then raises a hand for quiet. A hush falls immediately. ‘Thank you.’ His voice rolls from the walls and ceiling like the ocean. All movement ceases. It’s so quiet I can hear chirping outside. I have no idea what kind of bird makes that sound. It’s as foreign to me as everything else here.

‘As you are all aware, Zarael has Taya and Rafael prisoner in a room that inhibits them from shifting beyond its walls. Most of you also now know that the woman responsible for that room is in our custody.’ He doesn’t look at us. ‘We have also now become aware of a child, a girl, who claims to have a psychic connection to all of you. She too is in our custody.’

Mya shifts her weight beside Jude. She’s paler than usual. She clicks her fingernails against each other. The sound is loud in the chapterhouse. Jones glances at her, nudges her shoulder. She scowls at him, leaves her nails alone.

‘Who is this child?’ someone closer to the front asks.

‘A prophet,’ Nathaniel says. ‘Sent to us at our time of need.’

Jude turns to me, mouths: ‘Seriously?’

The Rephaim are silent, and then: ‘How does the trap work?’

‘Did you know about it?’

The questions come from opposite sides of the chapterhouse, meet in the hollow of the domed ceiling.

‘There are forces working against us,’ Nathaniel says. ‘Things in the dark that even I cannot see. I believe our enemy has found a way to harness them in this realm.’

Is

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