Flare, p.7
Flare, page 7
part #3 of Peril Series
His uncle blinked in surprise, markings fading at the abrupt change of subject. ‘Why are you bringing that up now? That was years ago.’
‘It’s all apiece. It was the beginning. You trained me to forget everything but duty, but that isn’t enough for me any longer. I want humanity. We should’ve talked to Meri, not imprisoned her and her friends. We should’ve given Kel a chance to explain what made him go to her side. It’s more than obsession: he is experiencing genuine sacrificial love. We could do with more of that. So I’m going to see what common decency can do now to heal a breach that should never have existed.’ Ade rolled his shoulders, feeling some of the burdens he had been carrying, drop away. ‘OK, that’s it. I’m off.’
‘What?’ growled Osun. ‘No, you are not! I forbid it!’
‘Ade, please!’ begged Naija.
Ade headed for the door. ‘I’m leaving. I’ll let you know how I get on. If the Tean is a threat, I’ll end her; if she isn’t, then I’ll try to find a compromise that keeps us Perilous safe. When I find the answers, maybe you’ll take my call, uncle, maybe you won’t. That’ll be on you. I’ve changed. I’m sorry if you can’t.’
‘Ade!’ roared Osun.
Ignoring the summons, Ade took the stairs two at a time. If he hadn’t been running on a tank of fury that burned through his common sense, he would have packed before that confrontation. Impulse had driven him to make his declaration while he was revved. Too late now. Still, he wouldn’t need much. Grabbing a sweatshirt, phone and wallet, Ade went out the window of his bedroom, shinned down the drainpipe and dropped into the garden. The guards came to alert seeing him appear so unexpectedly but none dared open fire on him. They probably hadn’t even yet been told of his demotion.
‘At ease,’ Ade said loudly, striding towards the shed at the bottom of the garden. He leapt onto the roof and jumped down the other side into the alley that ran behind the house. Another irony: he was following the same escape route already pioneered by Kel and Meri.
Hearing soft quick footsteps behind him, he spun, ready to deter attack.
‘Ade, what the hell are you doing?’ It was Lee. ‘The house is in uproar. They say you’ve flipped out.’
‘You can’t stop me, Lee.’
‘I’m not trying to stop you. I just want to know what you think you’ll achieve by running?’
Ade carried on jogging away from the only home he remembered. No time to think about that now. ‘I’m doing the right thing.’
‘Which is?’
‘Giving our friends a chance.’
‘And by friends you mean…?’
‘Yeah. Go on, go back.’
Lee clipped him around the head lightly. ‘Eff off, Ade. I told you I was loyal. I’ll follow you even when you’re being a moron.’
‘I’m not being a moron.’
‘The Teans will still try to get you even if you think you’re their new BFF. You’re on their hit list. I’m protecting you.’
‘I don’t have enough carbon credit to get us both to America.’
‘Then I’ll dip into the security reserve. Why there?’
‘The king is alerting the American branch so I’m guessing he has intel that he didn’t want to share in front of me that Meri and Kel are already there.’
They passed the bus stop where they normally caught the service to their school.
‘This is really gonna mess up our A levels, isn’t it?’ said Lee, mournfully.
‘And probably our life chances.’ Ade gave him a reckless grin. ‘Still time to back out. You can salvage something for yourself.’
‘Oh shut up. I guessed you might do something stupid but I still got these out before they removed my clearance.’ Lee produced their passports. He must’ve accessed the house safe after the meeting.
Ade hadn’t even given his passport a thought – great leader he was. ‘Cheers, mate. What would I do without you?’
‘Sit at the airport realizing you are unable to fly anywhere?’
Ade took his and shoved it in his back pocket. ‘Thanks. You’re not going to sabotage this, are you? I’m going to make peace.’
Lee rolled his eyes. ‘Yeah, that’s me: peacemaker.’
‘Lee? Please, only come if you can get with the programme.’
‘I’m not sure I can go that far.’
‘I need more than that.’
‘OK, look, I’m only going to say this once.’ Lee looked a cross between embarrassed and angry; his shoulder-length brown hair had been worried into wild tuffs, evidence of his time spent fretting what to do. ‘I’m coming because my stupid conscience thinks that in the long run I should stick with you. I trust you, Ade. I don’t know the king like I do you. If you say you have to do something, then you do.’
‘OK, then I trust you. Thanks, Lee.’
‘You’re still a moron.’
‘Understood.’ Feeling a little better that he wasn’t entirely on his own, Ade led the way down into the underground station.
5
Meri wondered what a ‘cook out’ with her new family would be like. She assumed it was the same as a summer barbecue so dressed down for the occasion in shorts and T-shirt. As she prepared, she tried to picture how her new stepfamily would behave on home territory. Delaware and Hudson had not been genuinely pleased to meet her, barely bothered to hide it, so she wasn’t expecting a marching band welcome. Veronica had been off-putting in her willingness to smooth the way. A little bit of resentment would have made it easier to trust the woman who had invited to call her stepmother.
The car sped along the highway leading out to the eastern end of Long Island. Rising sea levels had eaten away at the edges, claiming some property and making the thin strip remaining even more sought after. It seemed a dangerous place to live to Meri: one good hurricane sweeping in from the Atlantic and this low-lying place would be ruined, along with the multi-million dollar houses, marinas and golf courses. So far the inhabitants had dodged the bullet and like most humans assumed they always would.
Kel’s thoughts must have been on another track because he was stripping away the signs of human habitation completely. ‘Can you imagine what this place would’ve been like when the first Europeans arrived?’
‘Huh?’
She turned to appreciate him. Kel had inadvertently dressed to match her in shorts and Tee. They’d been shopping together in their free time, slipping out incognito and enjoying the best New York could offer to a couple of tourists. They’d found an emporium that specialized in secondhand goods in SoHo, Lower Manhattan, and they’d picked out a selection of clothes to replace those left behind in London. She’d persuaded him to avoid being provocative today and not wear the peril-coloured shirt she had bought as a gift to replace the one he’d lost months ago. Shame though, as she thought it suited him best, lighting up his blue eyes. They’d both by chance picked neutral shades of navy blue and sandy brown, probably in tune with the seascape theme of their location. It did make them look a little like they were wearing the same uniform, emphasizing they were on the same team.
Kel wiped a smudge from the window. ‘Look out there: seabirds, good fishing and miles of pristine beaches. I prefer that to the fancy houses the gazillionaires have imposed on the shore.’
‘You’re not a fan of these mansions then? They remind me a bit of Ade’s house. I’d’ve thought you’d feel at home?’ she teased. They’d passed many gated houses with swimming pools and landscaped gardens. No homeless out here – or at least not in sight. The personal security teams of each exclusive resort probably marched them off. Heaven forbid that the super-rich get super-upset by seeing the plight of the No-Homers.
‘Speak for yourself, Miss Heir to the Tean Crown! Pot, kettle, black. I could try to become a fan now that I know you own more than one.’ He gave her a winning smile. ‘As you know, I only love you for your property portfolio.’
She snuggled against him. ‘Liar – you’d prefer us both to have nothing and be able to sneak off to an arts commune in the woods.’
‘That sounds a plan.’ He toyed with her hair, which she’d left loose about her shoulders as a defence against sunburn. ‘Wouldn’t that be great? I’ve not had a chance to play with clay, or play my guitar for that matter. We need to do something like that soon. I feel l’m losing my connection to the normal me.’
‘You’re right: we need some time for ourselves apart from all this survival and outwitting enemies stuff. I wish I could go back to being a final year student again.’ She spoke lightly but the longing was like an ache deep inside her. ‘I’d like to paint.’
‘Get Valerie to schedule it in your packed diary. If anyone can carve out the time, it’ll be her. We’ll get there, love; we’ll return to a kind of normal, I promise.’
‘One day.’
‘Yeah, one day. I mean, things can’t keep happening, can they? We just need your role confirmed in the Tean world, a few hearts and minds won over to our side so we know we are surrounded by those we can trust, and then we can breathe a little more easily.’
‘Not asking much, are we?’
He laughed, a little sadly if truth be told.
The car turned into a drive of one of the last houses before the furthermost point of the island. Kel sat up, on high alert once more. ‘And have you worked out if these are friends or enemies yet? They hate my guts, that’s plain enough.’
Meri shook her head. ‘I don’t think they hate you. Delaware fancies you – ’
He actually looked shocked – dear Kel, oblivious to his own attraction. ‘No she doesn’t!’
‘Oh yes, she does!’ Kel grinned at her dip into a pantomime response but didn’t carry it on. ‘Mrs Lake doesn’t know what to make of you so largely ignores you,’ Meri continued. ‘Hudson, now he probably dislikes most people who don’t play sports so you were never going to be bosom buddies. He underestimates you – barely looked at you when we met him in the office.’
‘That’s good.’ Kel furled Meri’s knuckles into a fist. They’d kept up their self-defence training and she was becoming what Kel called ‘not a total disaster’. ‘I think he underestimates you too.’
‘Also good. OK, play nicely now and we’ll see if we can glean anymore about exactly what they want from us.’
‘From you, you mean? You own everything so they have to keep you sweet. As far as I’m concerned, I’m as useful as a bull in a milking parlour.’
‘What?’
‘No yield here.’
‘You come up with the weirdest visuals.’ Meri rubbed his thigh.
‘Oh yeah, we definitely need some more alone time without a crowd of witnesses,’ said Kel, moving in for a kiss.
She put a hand on his chest, regretfully. ‘We’ve arrived.’
‘Meri, welcome to Seacrest.’ As Meri left the car, Mrs Lake moved forward with open arms and offered her an air kiss either side of her face. ‘It’s so lovely of you to make the effort to come all the way out here.’
‘Our pleasure, Mrs Lake. Thanks for the invitation.’
She beckoned them to follow her up the steps to the mansion. ‘You haven’t met my husband yet. Come along. He can’t come out here so we have to go in to him.’
Faintly irritated that Mrs Lake hadn’t acknowledged Kel at all, Meri gave him a rueful look, which he returned with a shrug. It was depressing that he just had to accept these slights. ‘Is Mr Lake unwell?’ she asked.
‘No, no, just he finds these stairs a bore.’ Mrs Lake took them through the main doors of the sprawling white villa and into a cool hallway, welcome after the hot spring sunshine outside. ‘She’s here!’
Meri heard the whine of an electric motor before she saw the wheelchair roll out of a room on her left. The man in the chair had dark hair streaked with white and the lopsided face she associated with a stroke victim. He was only able to move one hand, which rested on the controls; the other sat cradled across his body. She guessed he must be about forty or fifty but it was hard to tell from this distance.
‘Hello, Meri.’ The voice, though, was still strong and resonant.
Meri gripped Kel’s hand. That tone. ‘It can’t be.’
‘Meri, what’s wrong?’ Kel held her up as her legs threatened to give out from under.
Pulling away, she crossed the floor and went down on her knees in front of the chair, trying to get a clear view of the man’s eyes. He was badly scarred, one eyelid drooping over a bright blue iris, so much thinner and frailer than she remembered – but then she had been four and he her all powerful giant. ‘Dad?’
The man had tears in his eyes. ‘Look at you! So like your mother.’ He reached out to touch her cheek.
Meri took a gulp of air. This changed everything. She felt as if her body was dissolving, her mind spinning. ‘I can’t…I don’t…’ She had to get out of here. Leaping up, she bolted for the front door and began running.
Kel found her much later hidden in a fold of a sand dune, hunkered down out of the wind. Seabirds had come to ignore her presence and scavenged the beach around her as if she were no more than another rock or piece of driftwood. He didn’t say anything, just sat down beside her and pulled her into his lap.
‘I’ll get you all sandy,’ she croaked.
‘As if I care.’ He wiped her face with a handkerchief. ‘Blow.’
Meri took the cloth and tried to repair the damage. She still had her pride and appearing all snot-ridden and tearstained in front of Kel was not acceptable. ‘Sorry I bolted. I got…overloaded.’
‘Don’t apologize – never be sorry for needing space. Anyone would be sucker punched by what happened in there.’
‘How?’
Kel shook his head. ‘I don’t know. I didn’t stay to ask. I’ve been looking for you for an hour. Good hiding skills by the way. But you’re sure it is your dad?’
‘Yes. I recognized the voice first – then his eyes.’
‘But you were four.’
‘Old enough. And I have photos. You think it’s a trick?’
‘Maybe. I mean, if he’s alive, why isn’t he Tean king?’
Meri closed her eyes, allowing the wash of the waves to soothe her. ‘I get my position in the inheritance from my mother’s side. She was from a line of royal Teans.’ She rubbed her forehead, puzzling it out. ‘Though I suppose Dad is a full blood so if they pass over me they could go to him, back a generation. They thought I was the only fully Tean blood left. There’s a guy back in Jerez University who has worked out all the lines of succession.’
‘OK, so it’s like the Perilous line of inheritance then – open to a bit of interpretation?’ Kel brushed her hair off her tear-stained face. ‘If he is your dad, he must’ve known that he could claim it, but he’s hidden all this time, even from you.’
‘And he could’ve found me. He knew I was with Theo – the only one who knew that for sure. Why didn’t he contact me – tell me he was alive?’
‘I guess you’ll have to ask him.’
‘I’m not sure I want to.’
‘And your mum?’
Meri opened her eyes again. ‘You mean if he’s alive, maybe she is too?’ She got up, scattering more sand, energy returning after the depleting shock. ‘Oh, oh, I’ve got to get back there and ask. She could be in a coma somewhere – or a nursing home. Why didn’t they tell me? Why did they abandon me?’ Her last words were practically a wail but she didn’t care.
Kel was looking doubly worried now. He caught her fingers in his. ‘Slow down, love. It’s a miracle he survived. Please, don’t get your hopes up.’
Meri nodded, an awkward jerk of the head. ‘OK, OK.’ Kel was right but she didn’t want to listen to good sense right now, not when there was a chance. ‘Are they still up there?’ She gestured to the white mansion at the top of a low rise above the beach. She thought that maybe she could see some people moving about on the terrace. While she watched, a man in a wheelchair maneuvered his chair under a striped umbrella. He faced towards the ocean and raised a pair of binoculars to his eyes. ‘He’s looking for me.’
‘Of course he is – everyone is.’
Meri found the tumblers falling into a position unlocking new possibilities. ‘So if there was never a Mr Lake, just Blake my father, does that mean that Delaware and Hudson are my half-sister and brother?’ Her brain felt as though it was being put through a blender. ‘Oh God, I don’t think I can take that. But they’re older than me. Was he ever married to my mother? Does that make me illegitimate? Maybe I’m not the heir after all?’
‘I don’t know what it means.’ Kel firmed his grip on her hand and towed her up the slippery side of the dune. ‘I can ask if you like? Get the story for you. Save you that at least.’
Meri was now feeling annoyed at herself for having had a complete meltdown. She was made of stronger stuff than this – had to be. ‘No, I’ll do it. My father has some explaining to do – why he left me in the dark, why he never even checked up on me, sent a hint that he cared what happened to me.’ Anger bubbled ugly in the pit of her stomach. She pressed her hand against her mouth, fearful she might throw up.
Kel netted her fingers in his. ‘Take it gently, love. Look at him. Whatever else he has to say, he was clearly badly injured. Who knows how long it took him to get to this point of recovery? He may have felt he couldn’t protect you. I can imagine feeling like that in his place and it would be the worst thing – a double loss.’
With a sigh, letting go of some of her rage, Meri regrouped. Flailing around emotionally like this wasn’t going to help. ‘Thanks, Kel. That sounds like him – or at least what I remember of him.’
She barely saw anything of the spectacular gardens as they made their way to the terrace. Her gaze had tunnelled to focus on a crumpled man sitting in a wheelchair. She saw a man offering her an ice cream on a hot summer’s day, then she saw what he had become. That he’d been physically broken by the Perilous bullets was the first thing that sprang to mind; the second was that he was clearly a survivor.
