beats per minute (15 page)

The crystal clear liquid had never tasted so good, and
neither had the yoghurt and dry toast that followed; Raegan was so hungry and
thirsty that she didn’t even mind being fed like a child.

When she’d had enough, she looked at Bree’s toned arm
curiously. ‘Have you always had a tattoo?’

Bree burst out laughing. ‘You’ve been out of it for over
twenty four hours and that’s the first thing you ask?’ She pulled her arm
across her body, eyed the celtic band for a moment and shrugged. It should have
been oddly incongruous when paired with her elegant French manicure; yet
somehow it worked. Raegan smiled to herself. That was Bree all over - she might
be Lady Clifton, but she could rip a man apart with her bare yet
well-moisturised hands.

‘Bit of a cliché, isn’t it? I was going through a ‘bad girl’
phase.’ Her upper-class drawl was wry. ‘I ran away from
home,
thought I could escape all this family duty destiny bollocks, set the world to
rights.
Didn’t last very long.’

‘Then what did you do?’ Raegan squinted at her through
sleep-fogged pupils. Her eyes felt strange, as if they couldn’t quite get used
to all this bright light.

 
‘Trained as an actress.
The
clichés continue.’ Having disposed of the breakfast tray, Bree came back to sit
beside her.
‘Enough about me.
How are you feeling?’

‘Sore.’ Raegan answered truthfully.

‘I’m not surprised. The nurse will be along to see you in a
bit. Try and relax, for now. You can press this little clicker if you need some
pain relief.’ Bree nudged the little plastic box toward her. ‘I wouldn’t go too
mad though – you’ll be stoned.’

Raegan, who had reached for it gratefully, hesitated. ‘Maybe
I’ll wait for the nurse.’

‘Up to you.’

Raegan didn’t reply, instead turning her head on the pillow
to look at the sun streaming through the window. It might have only been a day
since she’d seen it but it felt much longer. Bree waited patiently.

Eventually, the younger girl pulled herself up, hugging her
knees with her good arm, resting the injured wrist along the top.

‘So...’ she pleated the coverlet between her fingers. ‘How
did I even get here?’

Bree could not keep the surprise out of her voice. ‘I was
hoping you could tell me. You don’t remember?
Nothing at
all?’

Raegan shrugged. ‘Not much, right now.’

‘Ok.’ Bree moved to sit on the bed and put a hand on
Raegan’s good arm. ‘Raegan, you hit your head and you were unconscious for a
while. But you’ve been checked out since you regained consciousness and there’s
no serious damage. It’s perfectly normal to experience some memory loss. It
doesn’t mean anything.’

‘Ok.’ Raegan felt a little better. ‘So... I fell? That’s why
I hit my head and broke my arm and my wrist?’

‘Your left arm is broken, but the wrist of your right arm is
only sprained, which is good news.’ Bree smiled, but her eyes were serious.
‘But to answer your question, yes. You did fall.’

Raegan closed her eyes, willing herself to remember.
The rain.
Running.
Tired, aching
legs.
A flash of lightening.
Christian. ‘The last
thing I remember is the Labyrinth.’

‘That’s great!’ Her friend’s smile was genuine now. ‘It
happened during the Lab – see
,
you haven’t forgotten
much at all.’

‘I can’t- I mean, it’s not clear. Was it…’ The white
blanket, bunched up in her fingers, suddenly swam in front of her eyes. ‘Why I
fell. Was it Christian?’

Bree moved closer in concern. ‘Christian? Oh, you mean the
Fay? The one before you came here? No.’

‘But…’ The words kept sticking in her throat.

‘Sweetie, he’s dead. You know that.’

‘I saw him.
In the Labyrinth.
Before the storm.’

‘You saw what the mages conjured up for you.’ Bree said
patiently. ‘I thought you knew the Lab wasn’t going to be all sprints and
drills. They always mix it up. Although…’ she hesitated, as if unsure how much
she should say. ‘Right now the Praetor is
über
keen to introduce Fay simulations into the training at an earlier stage. You
didn’t use to face one of those until you were a Level 3, at least. So maybe
that’s why it popped up today.
Part of his new drive to ‘move
the threat of the Fay beyond the theoretical’.
Not that you really need
reminding what the Fay are like – but you’re a special case. Most cadets are
totally clueless.’

Raegan’s tired eyes seemed to look right through Bree.

‘How about starting from when the storm started?’ Bree
coaxed, when Raegan made no move to speak. ‘Facing the Fay mirage was tough, I
understand that - but it’s over now. Don’t let it trouble you. So what else do
you remember?’

By the time Raegan finally replied her face was nearly as
white as the pillow, strained with the concentration. ‘The race was nearly
over, but the weather got really bad. I was freaking out. When I reached the
top of the hill, Declan wasn’t far behind me, and he gained more ground on the
zip wires. We swung down into the valley at nearly the same time, but the mud
down there was so thick we both fell on landing. It was hard to see, but I kept
running. I wanted to beat him. And then...’ She flushed slightly.

‘What?’ Bree prompted, gently.

‘I switched lanes.’ Her cheeks were
flaming
now. ‘I know, it was out of order – but Declan wasn’t meant to be running in
lane one, that was the lot I’d drawn! He’d just taken my lane to try and freak
me out. So, because I was ahead, I cut across him. He was shouting, but I just
ignored it. There was thunder and lightning, and trees started to fall around
us. I wanted to win, but mostly I just wanted to get to higher ground. The last
obstacle was ahead. I headed for the rope and...’ She frowned. ‘That’s all I
remember.’

Bree looked steadily at her.

‘Is that where I fell?
From the rope?’

‘You were nearly at the top, as far as we could tell.’ Bree
tried to make light of it. ‘This is where being a superhero really comes in
handy. That fall would have been much more serious for the lesser mortals.’

‘How serious?’
Raegan had slid down
her knees and now only a thick fringe of red hair and two shocked eyes peeped
out over the top. ‘Could I have... died?’

‘Best not to think of it.’

‘Please.’ At first Raegan tried to appear nonchalant.
Inside, she felt sick. Maybe she should have been angry at the Unit for making
her run the course in the first place, but she wasn’t. Instead she was furious
with herself. Not to mention totally embarrassed.The truth was she had gotten
so competitive that she had not concentrated as she should have.
As she had been taught to.

She could have died.

All at once she got that feeling, that feeling she hated,
where her mouth dragged down at the corners, and she knew the tears were
coming.

‘Are you – Raegan, do you want me to-‘

‘I’m fine,’ she said hoarsely, biting her lip to keep from
crying.
‘Just being stupid.
Please, tell me.’ She took
a deep breath; blinked the tears back. There was no mummy to boohoo to anymore.
She wasn’t a kid – couldn’t be, if she wanted to stay alive. ‘I need to hear
this.’

‘If you want me to be candid, I will.’ Bree regarded her
squarely. ‘It was nasty. You fell from a great height and at an awkward angle.
You were unconscious by the time we got to you and there was a great big gash
on the back of your head.
Blood everywhere.
That alone
might have meant serious head trauma, a coma.’ Raegan felt for stitches. There
were none. ‘It’s already healed, poppet. The Awakening means that your healing
powers are already much stronger than they were a few weeks ago, and as you
gain more control over your abilities it’ll increase. You wouldn’t believe the
healing rate of some of the Masters. I nicked Robert with a sword once when we
were fencing – which is difficult enough in itself, his hide is tougher than
leather – and before my eyes, the cut closed up. And I mean, within a matter of
moments.
Pretty incredible.’

To Raegan, being a Regent had seemed an exciting and
challenging job – but still a job: something to put up with and work at. A
lifelong duty she was born into. She had never thought of her powers as a
blessing.

Suddenly she felt very small. ‘I’ve been really lucky.’

‘Yes. And we still don’t know why you fell; you might have
screwed up there. That aside, you’ve got some fire in your belly, lady. Your
injuries were relatively minor –
don’t look
like that,
Raegan, you’ve got a broken arm, big whoop, it could have been a broken back or
spinal damage! Yes, relatively minor, which means your natural
strength
is excellent, not to mention your healing rate:
very impressive for this stage in the training. You’re only a newbie for
Christ’s sake. Don’t be too self-effacing.’

Her face was impassive but her tone was not unkind. Raegan
knew that Bree was glad to see her awake. She was surprised how glad she was to
see her, too. The days of training, with Bree by her side, bossing her about,
making her laugh just when she thought she might cry, had cemented a bond. She
realised now that this fierce, glamorous Regent was becoming a real friend.

The realisation cheered her up. Bree read Raegan’s
expression as a response to her blunt words.

‘Good. That’s the closest you’ll get to a pep-talk from me.’

‘Gosh.’ Raegan lay back and grinned. ‘Who needs enemies,
huh?’

‘You better believe it. I’m not one for sugarcoating.’ Bree
retorted smoothly. Her hazel eyes glinted in the morning light. ‘I’ll tell you
something, though – you’re certainly one to watch.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean, as a Regent. Either you’ve got friends in high
places or they’ve got very high hopes for you. I’ve never seen such a rally to
come to your aid.’

‘I thought you said you found me?’

She shook her glossy head. ‘No. Everything I’ve told you
I’ve learnt through hearsay. Yali found you.’

‘Yali came to get me?’ Raegan pushed her fringe out of her
eyes, incredulous. ‘But it wasn’t his test! I didn’t think he even knew it was
happening.’

‘I’ve never seen anything like it.’ It was peculiar to hear
Bree, habitually blasé, sounding awestruck. ‘Rather, I’ve never felt anything
like it. Yali was in Centurion House, watching you two run the course with
Robert. Warwick was monitoring the camera feed from one of the towers – yes,
obviously we had cameras on you – and saw you fall.  The storm had knocked
the feed out for us by then. He ran to Centurion House, sharpish, to update us.
Truthfully, after that it’s a little fuzzy. One minute I was standing up, and
then I was on the floor, and Yali had zoomed past us.’

The confusion on Raegan’s face was enough to prompt Bree to
continue. ‘He traversed, Raegan, but the jolt was huge: in a split-second, he
slowed time to a virtual stand-still.’

Raegan thought of the crystals scattered around the
compound. ‘But I thought you couldn’t just traverse here? Only in controlled
areas, areas we practice in – and only if the teachers remove the restrictions,
which takes a while?’

‘That’s what I thought. And while I always suspected that
there must be shortcuts they could take, I’ve never seen it happen before. And
I’ve seen a
lot
of injuries Raegan, particularly in the Lab. It’s
unpleasant but,’ Bree shrugged. ‘It happens.
Often.’

The unspoken question,
why make an exception for one very
new, very junior cadet?
tingled
in the silence
between them, but Raegan wasn’t bold enough to voice it. Instead, she asked,
‘So what was the shortcut?’

‘A fairly enormous crystal was smashed, at Yali’s command.
Robert did it. Again, I’ve never seen the like before. It was black.
Ugly.
Not like the protective crystals we have around the
Unit. Some sort of magickal antithesis, perhaps.’ Bree mused.
‘Something about the law of opposites.
Well. Whatever it
was, it worked. Robert broke that thing and then Yali was gone. Seconds later –
less, maybe – you were in the hospital wing. Declan got quite the fright; you
were there, and then you weren’t. He didn’t even
see
Yali.’

Raegan was too shocked by everything else to feel surprised
that Declan had been watching over her. ‘This is... unbelievable.’

‘Indeed.’

‘No – well, yeah, the fact that he rescued me is
unbelievable, I can’t get over that. But also – I mean, I know Yali is
powerful ,
so powerful – but how did he do that? We can’t
stop time.’

‘Very true.’
Bree nodded soberly.
‘I remember that class with Ingmar. Scary, isn’t it?’

Raegan shuddered, fuzzily remembering the tales of Regents
who had been carried away by their own brilliance, pushing and pushing the
limits of time control – until it killed them.
‘Terrifying.’

‘To stop time is to stop our own time: our own heart.
Perfectly logical.
But the more skilled a Regent gets, the
more control a Regent has over bpm... it appears that you can get pretty damn
close.
Particularly when you can move as fast as Yali.’
The admiration was clear in Bree’s voice. ‘He’s Brain, through and through, but
he could easily teach Body if he wanted. He could teach all three.’

The excitement and shock, for Raegan, was beginning to ebb
into weariness. Her head was suddenly complaining of information overload. Her
words came out in a tired stream, uncensored for user-friendliness. ‘The whole
thing about two hearts, though. I find it so confusing. I don’t feel I’ll ever
manage it. To move quickly while slowing your heart down...’