Laura was lost in the hallucinatory flicker of lights through the train window.
‘Deep in thought?’ Shavi slipped into the seat next to her. Apart from them, the carriage was empty. Church and Ruth were still locked in conversation with the king and queen of the Seelie Court in the adjoining carriage.
‘I don’t do deep thought,’ she lied. ‘Life’s for feeling.’ She could see from Shavi’s face that she wasn’t fooling him; she never did. Every time he would give his faint, knowing smile, but he would never challenge her. ‘Got a question for you,’ she said, deflecting the conversation. ‘Those lives we all remember from before we came together. They were fake, right? So who are we really?’
Shavi’s brow knitted; it was a question he had already considered. ‘I know, in a way unsupported by memory, that we are all good friends. The very best, a friendship that can only have been forged by travelling through the hardest of times.’
‘I only ask because since we all got together I’ve been getting flashes … images … snatches of conversation … things that don’t fit anywhere into my life at all, but feel more real than anything I do remember properly. You get that?’
‘I do. And it is growing stronger. We are throwing off the shackles of the Void. Moving closer to who we really are.’
‘So, us having sex together, on a warm night, with the stars overhead …’ She stopped, embarrassed at the dreamy tone that had materialised in her voice. ‘What does that mean?’
‘That you have excellent taste.’ He gave a teasing grin.
‘Did I mention it was a nightmare?’
‘I recall one thing from my previous life: an emptiness,’ Shavi said thoughtfully. ‘I remember searching many spiritual paths for answers, finding none. Until I joined with you.’
His words echoed Laura’s own thoughts.
They were interrupted by Church and Ruth returning from the adjoining carriage. ‘This train isn’t going anywhere we need to be,’ Church said. ‘We should get off as soon as we can.’
Laura glanced out into the dark. ‘Don’t want to burst your bubble, Chief, but no Railcard is getting us back home from here.’
‘We’re not going home.’
‘Where, then?’
‘Not sure exactly, but somewhere in Scandinavia.’
‘That narrows it down,’ Laura said sarcastically. ‘Any particular reason for that destination, or do you just like cheap furniture with clean lines?’
‘Puck told me we needed to look in a cold land where rainbows bring the gods to Earth. In Norse mythology, the Rainbow Bridge is the link between Earth and the gods.’
‘You’re putting all your trust in some mischievous imp that spends its time leading humans into swamps?’
‘And saving them from them,’ Church said. ‘Don’t forget the other side of the coin.’
‘I have to agree with Laura,’ Shavi said. ‘At best the Puck’s intentions are ambiguous. How do you know we can trust him? None of the Tuatha De Danann appears to hold him in high regard.’
‘He’s got his own agenda,’ Church concurred, ‘but my instinct says this time we need to follow his suggestion.’
‘All right, so how do we get off this damn thing?’ Ruth said.
‘You ask. I exist only to serve.’ Everyone started; Ahken was standing near the doors halfway down the carriage.
‘Is that how people get off?’ Laura snapped. ‘You pop up like a rat from a drain and give them a heart attack?’
‘Many have died on the Last Train.’ Ahken clasped his hands in a gesture of deference that also appeared triumphal. He smiled and raised one hand. The train slowed. ‘The Last Train is at your service whenever you might need it. One small thing will summon it: a spot of blood on the tracks.’ Ahken bowed.
‘You really think we’re getting on this thing again?’ Laura sneered.
Ahken smiled again, this time sly and cold. ‘Everyone takes a scheduled trip on the Last Train once in their existence. Yours is still to come. A seat has been reserved.’
Laura felt a chill, resisted the urge to ask when that would be.
The doors slid open and they stepped onto the clean, modern platform of Heathrow Airport Underground Station.
‘Shit. How did he know where we needed to be?’ Laura turned to ask Ahken, but the Last Train had already departed, as silent as the grave.
Chapter Three
1
The last leg of the journey through the Kent countryside was illuminated by the silvery light of approaching day, and by the time Mallory drove the stolen rental transit across Canterbury’s city limits, the sun was a pink and gold glow low in the eastern sky.
Sophie sat in the passenger seat, with Jerzy and Caitlin in the back. Now and then, she’d glance at Mallory, confused by emotions shifting deep inside her. Every day at Steelguard, she had watched him move around the office with his cleaning products, wishing she could talk to him, but with no rational explanation for why she would want that. He was always sullen, with a clipped politeness that undercut all his comments with contempt. Some of her colleagues, usually the braying, arrogant ones, were convinced their cleaner was a psychopath waiting to gut them in the lift one night. Sophie had never felt threatened by Mallory, though she had caught him looking at her on more than one occasion.
He was certainly good-looking, but a hardness shadowed his features that suggested his life experiences had not all been good. More troubling was that Sophie’s feelings for him went beyond attraction to something deeper and more nuanced. It made no sense, and that left her frustrated and angry.
‘I keep remembering something really sad, only I can’t remember what it is,’ Caitlin whined from the back in her little girl’s voice.
‘Can’t you shut her up?’ Mallory snapped.
‘Have some compassion,’ Sophie hissed harshly. ‘She’s not well.’
‘Compassion is way down the list at the moment, behind anxiety and fear. I tell you, she’s going to drop us in it big time.’
‘Get a grip. You can deal with it.’
‘I’ll take that as a vote of confidence.’ Mallory glanced at Jerzy in the back. The Mocker’s mask gleamed above a voluminous blanket. ‘All right, tell me now, you little weasel — why Canterbury? I don’t know of any standing stones in this area.’
‘Don’t bully him,’ Sophie said sharply.
‘Get off my back, will you?’
‘The Enemy will be observing the old stones where the Blue Fire is strongest,’ Jerzy replied, ‘but they are not the only places where it can be found. Anywhere with sufficient spiritual power will do if you know the right key to unlock the door. The ground in those places is like a battery, soaking up the energies of worship.’
‘You know what worship gets you?’ Mallory said. ‘Sore knees and a sore throat.’
‘Somebody died.’ Caitlin began to cry quietly. Sophie watched a flicker of pity cross Mallory’s face, but he hid
