The Fandom Rising by Anna Day

Author:Anna Day [Day, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Chicken House
Published: 2019-05-23T16:00:00+00:00

19

VIOLET

I clamp a hand over my mouth, biting down on my knuckles with rage. That two-faced, wormy, weasel of a bastard. How could he work against the Imps, after pretending to be part of the alliance, after clutching Rose’s body to his chest?

Willow speaks again. ‘And one day, everyone will thank you for what we are about to do . . . even my son.’

I peer through the darkness, trying to stop my face from trembling so I can get a proper look. Although the resemblance to Willow is striking, this man is older, his skin stretched as though it’s had the wrinkles smoothed away, and his eyes hold none of the warmth or kindness. Even though he’s stepped from the shadow, the light doesn’t reach his eyes, and I doubt it ever will.

‘Who’s that?’ Katie mouths at me.

‘Willow’s dad,’ I mouth back. ‘Jeremy.’

‘Dilf!’

We turn our attention back to Nate. He looks awkward, small.

‘What news do you bring?’ Howard asks.

‘Two girls have arrived,’ Nate says. ‘Young women. Late teens, early twenties. They’re both Imps, and they’re kind of . . .’ He pauses for a moment. ‘ . . . familiar.’

I gaze at Katie. A flicker of a smile crosses her face, making her freckles dance.

‘Baba was expecting them,’ Nate says. ‘They’re researching the London alliance. They seem harmless enough.’

Jeremy Harper nods. ‘Well, Oscar’s been working night and day. Night and day. And soon, the solution to our little infestation problem will be ready.’

‘Did you plant the canister?’ Howard asks Nate.

‘Yes,’ Nate says. ‘At Headquarters, they don’t suspect a thing.’

My brain works slowly, numbed by cold and exhaustion. Canister? Does it contain a toxin of some kind?

Howard reaches out and pats Nate’s back, as though he’s a proud dad at a football match. I want to run up to Nate and shout: He shot you. He killed you. Run away from him as fast as you can. But I’m paralysed by fear and ice and rage.

The three figures move closer together for a moment and I can no longer hear what they say. They shake hands and Jeremy and Howard step back into the helicopter. Katie and I scrabble beneath a sheet of scrap metal as the helicopter takes off, just in case the lights find us, hunched and shining in the dark. The chug of the blades sounds deafening after straining in the silence for so long, and the ground around us illuminates so that I can see every speck of dirt. I fear that the light is so fierce it will somehow penetrate through our metal shield, revealing our semi-naked bodies. But it dims and the chop of the rotor falls into nothingness.

We lie completely still. I don’t feel cold any more. I just feel really, really tired. Like my body is filled with weights and I’m sinking into the ground. The world closes in around me as I drift off to sleep.

‘Violet?’ Katie whispers. Her voice sounds far, far away. ‘Violet? You need to wake up now.’

‘I am awake,’ I reply.

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