Crowned (25 page)

He scowls in reply.

Emily turns her attention to me. “You look awful. Rough day?”

I remember now that the Puppetmaster’s focus is on the Loosening. His surveillance must be slipping, so there’s a chance he doesn’t know what happened today. “Are you here to give me another lecture?”

“No. I’m here to tell you that John wants to see you tomorrow. Nine a.m. The usual place.” Her eyes narrow. “Something’s different about you.”

“New jacket. Goodnight.” I start to close the door, but she presses her hand against it. I don’t want her to figure out what happened today. I feel as though it’s written all over my face. Once she knows I can access the Ultima, she’ll go running to the Puppetmaster. The longer he’s out of the loop, the better.

“You’re not even going to invite me in?” She reaches out with her tiny, freakishly strong hand and shoves me, then steps into the house.

“Hey!” Rakwena comes forward.

“I’m fine,” I tell him.

Emily smirks and shoves me again. She’s baiting me. I know this, and yet I can’t stop myself from reacting. I’m wrung out after everything that’s happened, and the last thing I need is some upstart kid giving me a hard time. I hurl my gift at Emily, but before I can get into her head she starts to skid backwards across the floor. My gift curls back in again. I glance at Rakwena, standing cool as can be beside me. Funny. I thought
he
was the hothead and
I
was the one who had to keep him in check.

He’s grown. The last time I saw him he could barely lift a pen without lighting up like a blue lantern, but now he can move a whole Emily without so much as a glimmer.

I turn back to her. “Careful – the floor’s slippery.”

There’s a trace of suspicion in her eyes, but she doesn’t act on it. “Tomorrow. Don’t be late.” She’s out the door in a flash.

“That was close,” says Rakwena.

Too close. I shake my head, annoyed with myself. “Thanks.”

“I’m not sure I did you any favours. She might have figured out that I only intervened to keep her from seeing what you can do.”

“She’s smart, but not that smart.” I study his face. “That was amazing, by the way. Did you train with your brothers?”

He grins. “You mean because I didn’t slam her into the wall or set anything on fire?”

“That too, but I’m more interested in how you learned to use your gift without giving off any signals.”

He frowns. “What do you mean?”

“The blue light. When you pushed Emily there was nothing. Is that because you’re off the serum?”

He looks puzzled. “No. I’ve never done that before. My gift is stronger now that I’m with the cell, and my threshold has increased, but I don’t have any more control over it than I did before. Are you sure there was no light?”

“Of course I’m sure! Your gift always gives off a visible signature.”

He shrugs. “Hey, this is your last Puppetmaster meeting, right?” He waits for my nod. I’m still thinking about his inexplicable level of control, so the nod is slightly delayed. “I’m coming with you. Even if I have to wait outside.”

I nod again, only half listening. I give him one last hug before he leaves, then I close the door and stare into my open palm. I think I know what affected Rakwena’s gift. As if responding to my thoughts, green light rises up from the centre of my palm. I drop my hand with a gasp. It’s only when I turn around that I notice Dad standing in the dark corridor, his face ashen.

“Dad, you scared me!” Not a clever thing to say when obviously the person who’s really frightened is him.

“What was that? In your hand?”

Oops.

“Something’s going on. Something you haven’t told me.” He licks his lips. “That’s what the Puppetmaster wants, isn’t it? It’s not because you’re a telepath and medium, it’s because of that green light in your hand.”

I hesitate, then nod. He turns on his heel and hurries back towards his room, then changes his mind and stops in the corridor. He stands there for an agonising moment, then finally turns back to face me.

“Dad? Are you OK?”

He lets out a haggard breath. “I don’t know how your grandfather does it. Watching you walk into these crazy situations, knowing you might not come back…”

“Dad!” I hurry towards him, alarmed by the fear in his voice. “I always come back.”

“So far. I’ve been trying to wrap my head around all this, and I think I’m getting to the point where I understand that my daughter can do things, and that’s OK. I can handle it. And then I see something
impossible
, and I just…” He shakes his head.

I don’t know what to say except “I’m sorry.”

“What?” He raises his head and looks at me in dismay, then steps forward and wraps me in a fierce hug. “It’s not your fault. It’s mine. If I had made more effort to understand from the start, I might be better at dealing with it by now.”

“I’ve tried–”

“To tell me, I know. And I didn’t listen, because it made no sense. Because it was impossible. And now it’s not. Except it
is
!”

“It’s going to be OK,” I whisper as he releases me.

“How do you know that?”

I give him a look.

“Oh.” He blushes. “Right. You’re psychic.” He takes a deep breath. “And you’re also…something else.”

“I can’t even explain that one to myself yet.”

He takes my hand and turns it so the palm is facing up. “Does it hurt?”

“No.”

He lowers my hand with a weary sigh. “I just want you to be safe, Connie.”

“I will be. I am.”

I offer him my biggest, brightest smile, grateful that he can’t read me. I’m not sure it’s going to be OK, and I’m certainly not sure I’m going to be safe. But that’s not the sort of thing to tell your father. You can’t tell him you’ve become a vessel for a mythological force. You tell him what he needs to hear, and then you do your best to make it true.

Chapter Ten

The phone rings before dawn the next morning, jolting me awake. It’s Ntatemogolo.

“I got your message about the meeting.” He sounds wide awake, as always. “I would feel better if you stayed away from the Puppetmaster.”

“So would I, but a deal’s a deal.” I sit up in bed.

“His timing is very convenient. He knows about your other power?”

“I don’t know. Emily was here last night, and she noticed something, but I don’t think she has anything concrete to report to him.”

Ntatemogolo sighs.

“I’ll be fine,” I tell him in my sensible grown-up tone. “Rakwena’s coming along.”

There’s a pause. “Is that wise?”

“Well, there’s safety in numbers, right?”

I can tell he’s got a lot more to contribute to this topic, but all he says is, “Be careful,” and hangs up.

I lie awake for another hour, going over yesterday’s events, then get up to take a quick shower. I’m still experiencing the occasional shooting pain in my limbs, and I remember that Ntatemogolo said whatever was changing me affected my nerves.

After my shower I use the bell. In the ensuing calm, certainty rings clearer than ever. The Ultima is real. I don’t know how she operates or where she’s been all this time, but she’s come to stop the Loosening and I’m the body she chose to help her do it. But she didn’t just waltz into my body the way the Puppetmaster enters my head. This process has been slow and painful, at least for me. She’s been binding herself to me bit by bit, interlacing her energy with mine. My body reacted, which is why I’ve been feeling so off. She’s becoming part of me in the most literal sense, and once the process is complete we will be one. When that happens, the Puppetmaster will strike.

I put the bell away. My fear has been replaced by grim resolve. I glance at the puzzle box, still unopened on my desk. Now I know why he gave it to me. It’s no ordinary test. I couldn’t open it because it’s too advanced for me – but not for the Ultima. The Puppetmaster knows that the day I manage to break it is the day the Ultima is fully integrated into my body. The puzzle box represents my graduation.

My stomach feels like it’s made of lead. I’ve gone beyond fear and panic to something suspiciously resembling resignation. It’s as though control of my life has been snatched away from me – assuming I ever had it to start with. On one side the Puppetmaster is pulling his strings, and on the other the Ultima is pulling hers. Two great powers at war, and I’m the pawn caught between them.

Now I understand what happened in the kitchen the other day. The Puppetmaster pumped my head full of images he thought would trigger the Ultima’s emergence, but she wasn’t ready and she fought back. I want to be angry, but if she’s slowly becoming part of me, getting angry won’t chase her away. She’s the only one who can stop the Loosening.

I pick up the bell again, hoping it will let me tap into her mind (or whatever passes for a mind in a powerful primal force) and figure out how she plans to play this game. Instead of the calm quiet I expect, the chime fills my mind with misty shadows that point to things I can’t yet see. My head becomes a swirling mass of ideas and hunches – knowledge, guesses and something in between. I put the bell away, frustrated. The Ultima is blowing cobwebs into my head. Doesn’t she want me to stop the Puppetmaster?

Rakwena arrives shortly after and Dad shuffles out of bed to see what’s going on.

“Are you going out with Rakwena?” he asks, stifling a yawn.

I nod. That’s all he needs to know, for now. “I might be out for a while.”

“That’s OK. Have fun.” He gives me a sleepy smile and goes back to bed.

I feel the tiniest pang of guilt. He trusts Rakwena to keep me from danger, not walk me into it.

I close the door and hurry down the driveway, then freeze in front of the gate. The Isuzu is packed with drifters. Duma and Spencer are in the backseat of the twin cab, and the tarp that usually covers the back has been removed to make way for the twins.

Rakwena climbs out of the driver’s seat and gives me a sheepish grin. “They insisted.”

“No!” I exclaim, horrified. “He might not mind you tagging along, but there’s no way he’ll accept a whole entourage!”

“Just think of us as your security detail,” says Elias, crunching on an apple. He winks. “Not that you need it, eh?”

Reetsang snickers. “Come sit in the back and give us another demonstration.”

I turn to Rakwena. “This is
not
a good idea.”

“They’ll stay in the car,” he assures me, leading me round to the passenger seat, but he must know that there’s no way to guarantee that.

I get into the car and offer Duma and Spencer a reluctant greeting. Spencer nods.

“Hey, Connie,” says Duma. “You don’t mind if we come, do you? Temper and Mandla are busy with clan stuff and we didn’t feel like staying home.”

“Isn’t it a little late to ask my permission?”

Duma’s eyes widen at my tone. “Sorry,” he says softly. “We were just curious.”

“Ja, we’ve heard so much about this Puppetmaster character,” adds Spencer. “Is he as bad as Rakwena says?”

“Worse.” I catch the excited glance that passes between them. “Hey, this isn’t a game! You shouldn’t be coming at all! You’d better stay in the car.”

“Sure.” Spencer laughs.

My stomach churns at his cavalier tone. Don’t these guys understand how volatile the situation is?

Rakwena pulls the car into the street and glances at me. “You haven’t had a premonition, have you?”

“No, but I’m not an idiot,” I snap.

“No need to bite my head off! I tried to leave without them. You don’t know what they’re like when they get an idea in their heads.”

I rub my forehead; I feel a headache coming on. “Sorry. I’m a little tense.”

“I’d be tense too if I could knock out a full-grown drifter.” Spencer chuckles. “Not that he didn’t have it coming. I’m telling you, everyone was happy to see Senzo go down.”

“Glad to be of service,” I mutter. My mood has darkened considerably. I was looking forward to having a little time alone with Rakwena to soak up some of his special strength, but that’s not my biggest worry now. I sense something murky in the ether, and I don’t want to be responsible for any of the drifters getting hurt.

Spencer leans forward so his head is right behind my ear. “So how did you do it?”

“Back off, man,” says Rakwena.

“Come on, you can tell me. That’s not a telepath thing, right? Not that I know a lot of telepaths, but I’m pretty sure that green light isn’t–”

“Back off!”

Spencer leans back. “I don’t think she needs
you
fighting her battles.”

Rakwena glowers into the rear-view mirror. For the remainder of the drive the only sound is the radio, apart from the brief directions I give him. The streets are quiet and it’s not long before we arrive in front of the familiar gate.

As soon as Rakwena kills the engine, I feel the Puppetmaster enter my mind.

I’m running a little late.

What?
Why?

Nothing you need to worry about. Just wait there. I’ll come as soon as I can.

I swallow my rising fear. I don’t like this one bit.
What are you doing, John?

He doesn’t respond. He’s still there, though. With increasing trepidation, I relay the message to Rakwena.

He frowns. “You think he’s up to something?”

“John is always up to something.”

Rakwena looks sharply at me. “John?”

I’m in no mood for another lecture on my frenemy status with the Puppetmaster. “That’s his name, isn’t it?”

He doesn’t respond, but I see that angry twitch in his jaw that tells me this conversation isn’t over. Well, he’ll have to get in line. I tap my feet against the floor of the car. My eyes sweep the quiet street. The Puppetmaster is always punctual, and if he knew he’d be late he would have changed the time of the meeting. Is it the drifters? Has their presence thrown him off? No. Not even a tornado could throw him off.

He’s at the warehouse. He must be. Maybe something’s happening with the Loosening and he can’t get away. Maybe he’s stripping his victims’ gifts right now, or kidnapping someone else. I have to find that warehouse! Where could it be?

Think, Connie, think! If I wait for the Ultima to decide when she’s ready to do something I might be waiting for ever. I need to make a move
now
. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Somewhere in the jumble of clues and snippets, there’s an answer. I think back to Wiki’s map, the one with the spiral marking the ten locations involved in the Loosening – the nine markers and the vortex. The vortex is here in Botswana, otherwise the Puppetmaster would be kidnapping South Africans or Brazilians. And if the vortex is here, then it’s close to the warehouse. Maybe they’re even one and the same.