Eternal Hope (The Hope Series) (3 page)

Daniel knocked the indicator up, signalling left. He turned the car down a pitch-black exit, almost invisible in the darkness, and headed into the sea of trees that stood watch over the highway. As they left the tarmac, they left behind all promise of civilisation. “No,” he sighed. “Alas. No Starbucks.”

“Don’t panic,” Oliver said. “I’ll make sure you get some instant coffee or something.”

A weighty silence followed, and Farley tensed, biting back her laughter. Suggesting Tess drink instant coffee was like suggesting she might like to wash in a bath of crawling maggots, or fly coach, or maybe shop at discount stores and rub shoulders with the great-unwashed masses. You just didn’t do it.

Instead of screaming, Tess hissed, “
You!
You don’t get to talk anymore.”

Farley caught Oliver’s bemused shrug in the rear-view, and their eyes met for a second. Sometimes it was just too weird. Too weird to even think that he was her brother; too weird to think that he was technically a Reaver now, or at least on paper anyway. He had gained his immortality when he jumped in and cut the heads off the Reavers, essentially taking all of their power. But he was nothing like them.

In her mind, he was just Tess’ boyfriend. These other aspects to him seemed improbable, like someone had been messing around with his shadow and replaced his normal one with that of an elephant or a giraffe. It just didn’t make any sense. Oliver gave her a small smile that said he might be thinking something pretty similar about her too, and then turned back to Tess.

The Viper’s headlights lanced through the night, illuminating the narrow, single lane track that cut through the trees, always twisting and turning. The trunks of the spruces and lodgepole pines spun past too quickly to really focus on, and Farley kept expecting to catch a flash of something sinister standing amongst them. Maybe the pale, bloody face of some half-dead girl. That’s what it usually was in the movies, anyway.

A few moments later the trees abruptly ended and they weren’t climbing anymore. Daniel broke and the car turned a sharp switchback around a rocky outcrop, bringing them out into a huge clearing nestled into the mountainside.

At the far end of the clearing was the cabin. Cedar built and blaring lights into the darkness from every window, it was massive. The only way they hadn’t seen it from further down the track was thanks to the huge rocky tors that protected it on either side, punching up like giant stone fists above the treetops into the air. Trees surrounded the place, crowding in neat lines, only just making room for the meadow-like lawn in front of the cabin. There seemed to be some sort of tennis court around the back. Daniel pulled up alongside the building, parking next to a burgundy Jeep Cherokee that had seen better days.

“Looks like Grayson’s home,” he said, unclipping his seatbelt and climbing out of the car.

For the fifty millionth time, a jolt of nerves rushed up through Farley. What if these people hated her? What if they knew about the prophecy and thought she sho
uld have died back in the Tower
- that she was unnatural? They were part of the Reaver’s society, after all, and a female descendant of a Reaver was just unheard of. Deep breath. She needed a deep breath.

Tess started to unfold herself out of the backseat, groaning. “Looks like your boyfriend’s a big fat liar and they
do
have electricity.”

“I told you he was messing with you.” Farley hopped out, ignoring the wobble in her legs, and met the others at the Viper’s non-existent trunk to collect her bag. They hadn’t been able to bring much with them, because they couldn’t fit much in the car, a factor Farley clung onto desperately. She only had four changes of underwear with her, and that meant they had to go home soon. Or so she hoped.

As they pulled their things out of the back, the front door to the cabin opened, pouring light onto the front lawn area. A tall, slim silhouette appeared in the doorway.

“Took you long enough to get here!” a voice called to them. Daniel broke out in a grin, dropping his bag onto the gravel.

“Gray!”

The two of them met halfway between the car and the cabin, shaking hands furiously before they both gave in and locked into a bear hug. After a moment of typical macho guy rough housing that Grayson didn’t look built for, Daniel dragged the man over to the car. He was even taller up close, and skinny too, like he had been stretched thin. His thick brown hair was mussed and in need of a cut. It fell into his face, curtaining the small, round glass
es perched on his narrow nose.
He didn’t look any older than his late twenties, but looks were definitely deceptive with people like these.

“Guys, this is Grayson,” Daniel said. “This is Tess and Oliver.”

The tall man smiled a shy smile and held out a too-big-for-his-body hand to greet them with. “Welcome. I hope the journey wasn’t too long for you. You’re probably exhausted. We have rooms set up for all of you.”

Tess smiled sweetly before saying, “Hi, Grayson. Do you have a wireless internet connection here?”

“Uh… yes. We do.”

Oliver gave him an apologetic look and shrugged. “Facebook.”

Grayson nodded as though that explained everything and turned to face Farley. “And you are?”

Daniel stepped to her side and took hold of her hand in a move that seemed both possessive and proud. It was enough to calm her nerves instantly. “I’m Farley,” she told him, holding out her free hand.

Grayson froze, studying both of them for a moment too long, before he took her hand and shook it. “Oh… Very pleased to meet you.” He looked at Daniel. “There’s… there’s something you should probably know.”

“What?” Daniel’s face clouded over. He let go of Farley’s hand just as a small shadow raced out of the cabin towards them.

It took less than a second for the shadow to reach them, at which point Farley could make out the petite girl running out to the car. Olive skin, long, thick brown hair that tumbled around her shoulders in loose curls, almond shaped eyes highlighted with very black liner, and arms covered from her wrists to the tops of her t-shirt sleeves in tattoos. About five feet away from where they stood, she squealed, “
Daniel!”
and launched herself at him.

That left just enough time for him to give Farley a horrified look before the girl landed on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and grabbing hold of his head so she could plant a kiss directly onto his lips.

*******

If there was ever a time vanishing into thin air would have been a valuable skill, this was it. The term
awkward
did not do justice to how unbelievably bad this moment was. It took three attempts to pry Cassie off, and even once her feet were firmly back on the ground she lunged in for another kiss before he could say anything. He shoved her firmly- not hard enough that she fell, but hard enough that she had to grab hold of Grayson to keep her balance. She fixed him with a confused look, which he returned.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Farley standing next to him, deathly pale in the moonlight. There was a fixed, blank expression on her face that he couldn’t read- a carefully constructed mask.

The faces of the others were much easier to discern. Oliver and Grayson wore identical expressions of discomfort, and Tess…Tess looked like she was about to explode. “Who the hell are you?” she hissed at Cassie, all the while never taking her eyes off Daniel.

Cassie ignored her, still staring at Daniel. It seemed like nearly everyone else was staring at him too: four pairs of eyes, ranging from wounded and furious to awkward. The only eyes he wanted to be looking at him- those pale grey ones- were looking everywhere and anywhere
but
at him.

“What’s wrong with you?” Cassie asked him, her voice a little high pitched. “Why are you trying to shove me on the floor?”

He gave her a sharp look. “I wasn’t trying to shove you on the floor, Cass. I was just a little shocked. I was in the middle of trying to introduce Grayson to Farley,
my girlfriend
.” He gestured to Farley, still a frozen statue at his side.

A shadow of confusion passed over Cassie’s face, and she gave Farley a cursory glance. “Oh.”

This wasn’t going well at all. Cassie’s eyes immediately started to get that wet look to them that meant she might cry, and Farley was so carefully poised it seemed like she might either burst into hysterics herself or punch him in the face. The crying would definitely be worse. He reached for Farley’s hand and held it in his own, giving Cass a pointed look. She glared at him for another second before pulling herself up tall and trying out a half-hearted smile.

“Wow. Well, don’t I feel pretty stupid right now?” Her voice was a little too breathy, like she was trying to force a light note into it. “I guess I owe you an apology. Farley, was it?”

Farley just looked at her- a cool look, devoid of any emotion. Grayson cleared his throat. “Uh… maybe we should all go inside. I don’t sense this moment getting any less weird if we carry on standing here staring at one another.”

“Great idea,” Daniel agreed.

“That would be lovely, wouldn’t it?” Tess said. “Let’s go inside. I always find walking inside buildings has this bizarre effect on me. I immediately forget uncomfortable situations, like when tiny midget women straddle my best friend’s boyfriend and face-rape him.”

Cassie bristled at that, but a warning look from Grayson seemed to make her think twice about saying anything. She gave Daniel a tight smile. “It’s great to have you home, Danny. As for the rest of you, we’re very glad to have you here, too. Please make yourselves comfortable.”

With that, Cassie spun on her heel and marched back indoors almost as quickly as she had raced out. Farley stared at the ground, biting her lower lip. In all the time he’d known her, she had never looked like this. She’d been petulant and angry and scared, but she had never looked
hurt.

“Farley, I-”

“Grayson, can you show us where our rooms are please?” she whispered. She didn’t look at Daniel. She didn’t look at Grayson either, just stared at the floor, as though there were some explanation as to what the hell was going on etched into the dirt.

Grayson nodded and picked up her bag. “Sure thing. I’m assuming that you’ll uh… you’ll want a single room?”

“Yes, she will,” Tess told him, pushing passed Daniel. She hooked an arm through Farley’s and dragged her off towards the cabin, shooting a hateful look over her shoulder. It was a look that said
I don’t care how big you are. I don’t care that you have insane supernatural powers. I Am Going To Mess You Up
.

Even Oliver flinched. He knocked one balled up fist on top of the other and then gave Daniel a sympathetic slap on the back. “Dude, right now…
so
glad I’m not you.”

Daniel didn’t blame him. Farley was probably never going to look at him again, and he could only wish that Tess wouldn’t. “Yeah. I had no clue Cassie was going to be here.”

“Supreme bad luck, then.
But don’t you think it’s a bit of a dog thing to do, cheating on your girlfriend with my…um, with Farley? Am I supposed to do something brotherly here?”

“Cassie’s not my
girlfriend.
She’s just a friend.”

“Yeah, it looked that way. Maybe you ought to explain that Farley. And it probably wouldn’t hurt if you made sure that Cassie chick knows too.”

Daniel scrubbed his hand through his hair, screwing up his face. “It looked bad, didn’t it?”

“Bad?” Oliver gave him a bemused look. “Try disastrous.”

Morning sunlight speared through the curtains, travelling slowly across the wall on the other side of the room in increments. The shaft of pale golden light had started on the ceiling, descending steadily over the past hour. Now it fell diagonally across her body on the bed, a strip of liquid warmth resting over her hands, which were stacked on top of her stomach.

It had been too hot to sleep. Los Angeles was humid as hell sometimes, but for some reason the air seemed too thick to breathe here. Her brain wouldn’t stop working, either. That had played a big part in her sleepless night. The other reasons were twofold: firstly, the instant she fell asleep, just like any other night since the Queen of Hearts motel, Farley saw her mom. Except last night, when Farley found herself slashing and cutting at her mother, she wasn’t a whyte. Her face, her eyes, her clothes, everything about her was normal. She’d stared up with bewildered acceptance as Farley shoved her into the murky pool and stabbed her over and over again. The terror of that nightmare woke Farley on the brink a panic attack.

And secondly, of course, was whatever the hell had happened with Daniel and that girl last night. But Farley wasn’t thinking about that. She refused; it only led to manic sobbing, which made her feel ridiculous. She’d never cried over a boy before, and she was damned if she was going to make a habit of it.