First Light (33 page)

‘Exactly,’ he let out a short unamused laugh. ‘I haven’t done a decent thing for anyone apart from you and that’s only because I wanted you to be mine. I don’t have any decency in me because they drove it out. I care about no one and nothing except you, and only because it would hurt me if something happened to you.’

‘That’s not true. Why did you stop me taking drugs that night? Why did you stop yourself sleeping with me when I practically handed myself to you on a plate? Why didn’t you kill any of those men when they attacked us? You
are
a good person, Kalen. The people who brought you up have convinced you otherwise, but you can’t let a bunch of old men, too frightened to do their own dirty work, decide who you are. They don’t know a thing about you. That night you saved me, if it hadn’t been for you I’d be dead now. Do you get that? That man had raped and murdered–’ I took a breath to steady my voice. ‘Why do you want to live your life in the darkness, hating yourself for everything you’ve done, rather than trying to move forward and make amends?’

He stared at me for a long time. ‘Will you lie with me?’ he asked eventually. ‘I won’t do anything, I just don’t want you to leave my side. Stay with me tonight, Ronnie?’ His voice was so soft, so small and almost desperate that I didn’t know how to respond. Without speaking, I lay down beside him, tucking my body into the curve of his.

36 – Game Over

I opened my eyes to darkness
. It was late and the bed empty beside me. I blinked, scanning the room. Kal sat on a chair in the corner.

‘How long have you been up?’ I asked, my voice still full of sleep.

‘A while,’ he returned flatly.

I pushed myself onto my elbows, my jeans uncomfortable and rigid against my skin where I’d slept in them.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Would your boyfriend be happy to know you slept with me?’ His tone was cold. It was quite obvious he was mad at me.

‘We didn’t sleep together,’ I pointed out.

‘What would you call it?’

‘Why are you being like this?’

He stared at me without feeling. ‘I just wondered what you're doing here with me – does any of this mean anything to you?'

I sighed and fell back onto the pillow, all remnants of my blissful sleep gone. I had come to know Kalen well enough to understand he was angry because he'd opened up to me, and now he felt exposed and vulnerable. I wanted to tell him the truth, but inside me a flame of anger suddenly ignited.

‘What’s your problem?’ I snapped, hoisting myself out of bed. ‘I’ve been worried sick about you for days. I looked for you every day, I cried for you every night! I hold on to every nice thing you say to me – you know why?’ Growing louder by the second, my voice no longer sounded like my own. ‘Because nice words from you are so few and far between, most of the time I spend heartbroken!’ I stormed out of the room to regain some control and in my own en-suite I yanked a brush through my tangled hair and splashed my face with water, before running down the stairs and throwing open the back door in desperate need of air.

Seconds later his footsteps approached from behind me.

‘Ever since you found out it was me who saved your life you’ve been trying to make me into some sort of hero. I’m truly sorry, Ronnie, that I’m such a disappointment to you.’

‘I never said you were a disappointment, that’s not fair.’

‘No, it’s not fair.’ He walked past me and out into the garden, heading for my fence where I knew he would duck out and not come back again until he decided it was time.

Calm left me. ‘Don’t you walk out of here, Kalen Smith! I’m so sick of you leaving on a one-liner and thinking that’s an acceptable end to an argument – it isn’t! You can’t walk out on me all the time. This relationship is never going to work if you keep leaving whenever we talk about something that makes you uncomfortable!’ My breathing was shallow and escalating out of control. To my surprise, however, his confrontational stance had vanished and the corners of his mouth were pulling upwards. He placed a hand casually in front of his mouth in an attempt to hide his smile, but it was obvious something amused him.

I frowned, my heart rate regaining some rhythm as he walked towards me. Now only inches apart, he looked down into my eyes, raising one eyebrow.

‘Relationship?’

Ah. Had I said relationship? Yes, yes I definitely had. I panicked. Instead of removing bricks carefully from the wall between us, they were falling down around me. Yet a warm sensation ran through me all the same. I couldn’t hold back my smile.

‘
I didn’t say that.’

‘Yes,’ he whispered into my mouth, ‘you did.’ His warm breath swept down my neck and his lips followed. I didn’t object. I inhaled his familiar scent of wind and rain and everything outdoors. I tilted my head, willing him to touch my skin. It had been months of fantasising – years even, considering he had literally turned out to be the man of my dreams.

‘Are you mine, Veronica?’ his smooth voice asked into the nape of my neck, still without touching me. I didn’t respond at first, desperate to hold on to some restraint as my emotions spun my whole world out of focus. But when he asked again, his mouth burning against my shoulder, I heard myself saying yes.

In a split second his kiss was on me, his grip tightened fiercely around my back and I finally let myself go. Kalen lifted me so my legs wrapped around his waist. Still kissing me, he carried me inside the house and upstairs. His eyes were ravenous, and though my body yearned for him in return, my nerves were beginning to kick in. We reached my bedroom door and I wrapped my fingers around the frame to stop us going in. I knew I wanted him – I was more certain of it than I’d ever been of anything – but I hadn’t a clue what to do. I suddenly felt incredibly shy.

His eyes were questioning, searching mine and I cringed at what I was about to say. I opened my mouth, but no words came. Cursing internally, I bit my lip. In the same moment, Kal seemed to read my thoughts, his expression softened and while I could see in his eyes that the knowledge he’d be my first definitely excited him, he gently set me down on the ground and tipped my head up so I was forced to meet his gaze.

‘We don’t have to do this,’ he said softly.

‘I want to,’ I blurted.

His mouth stretched into a slow grin. He took a step towards me, pulling me against him. ‘Just relax Red. I’ll take care of you.’

I nodded and his lips found mine. This time I didn’t hesitate. I melted into submission as he scooped me up and carried me to the bed.

I’ve always scoffed when people told me they were in love, or that they
fell
in love. Maybe because Mum walked out on us, or because Rachel and Jared do nothing but argue. Whatever it was, I’d been totally naïve. Kissing Kalen now, his tongue searching mine, his hands gripping my body, I felt as though a light had been turned on inside me and I finally realised who I was.

Nothing good could possibly come from falling in love with an assassin on the run from the government, a criminal who could kill with his bare hands. But the fact was – I loved him.

Game Over.

Lisbon, Portugal – September 2006

K had to go back to the apartment because he’d made a crucial mistake. He’d left behind his book. It wasn’t the object so much as it was what the object signified. It was the only thing he owned – that he had ever owned. Even his clothes were stolen from clotheslines and dumped on a regular basis. His copy of
Little Red Riding Hood
was the only thing he had from the orphanage. It had been a gift on the only birthday he’d ever celebrated and he had an urgent need to keep it. So, against all his training, he made his way back to the Lisbon town centre to retrieve it. He wasn’t armed. He’d chosen this consciously since they’d found refuge in Portugal. Carrying a weapon meant looking for trouble. It was the opposite of what he wanted, though now he was regretting the decision.

He scoped the building from a distance. Whatever car Ace had seen was no longer around. It could be Ace had the whole thing wrong, though Kalen doubted it. He had a lot of faith in Ace’s abilities, had he trained for longer he’d probably have been the best of them all. So despite the quiet surroundings, the lack of any ominous vehicle, Kal sat for over three hours watching the apartment block. Finally, he moved in. Ducking and hiding where possible – never running – he kept his gait and demeanor that of the sixteen-year-old he was supposed to be and not the trained assassin he was. He managed to get all the way to the side of the apartment block without being seen. Then:

‘Vasco!’ A voice cried from the apartment next door. Kalen cursed under his breath. The old man had invited Kalen and Denver over for dinner one evening after they’d helped him fix a broken window. His wife had cooked them the best meal they’d eaten all year.

Kalen nodded hello and hoped the man would go away, but he came rushing down the fire stairs from his balcony, holding a hot loaf of bread and waving it in Kalen’s direction.

‘My wife has baked this for you,’ he yelled in Portuguese. Kalen stopped because there was no other option, and let the man greet him with a hug. He wasn’t used to affectionate contact but managed to hide his unease and pat the man on the back.

‘Thank you, sir,’ Kalen replied in the same tongue, trying to make excuses as to why he couldn’t stay and chat. The man wouldn’t listen, he spoke of strange men he’d seen going into the building where the boys lived. Kalen’s interest picked up at that, but he knew he was blown. He told the man to get inside and stay there, but his warning was too late. The old man went down like a lead weight, a look of surprise on his pudgy face.

The bullet was meant for Kalen so he knew he had no time to help the man, but he managed to drag him to the side of the road.

‘I’m sorry, old friend,’ he said in Portuguese. Looking quickly at the wound, he smiled. ‘But you’ll be okay.’

Then he ran.

A line of bullets followed him, blowing out dust and pieces of concrete from the ground as they barely missed. He threw himself into the side streets using every building he could to shield himself, leaping over anything that crossed his path; taking short cuts he had memorised. He headed for somewhere safe to hide. What he hadn’t anticipated was how many of them there were. They had positioned themselves all across town. No matter how he outran one, there was always another waiting. He was shot at four more times, surprised they managed to miss, but not dwelling on the reason for his good fortune.

Kalen paused to catch his breath when he burst through the bushes and shrubbery to find he was standing at the edge of a freeway. Footsteps were approaching behind him at a run. The one who finally caught up with him was a man armed with a Glock. Kalen hid in the low hanging branches of a tree. He waited. As the assassin approached, he launched down feet first, knocking the weapon from the killer’s grip. It fell into the undergrowth, but the assassin quickly drew out a knife. Kalen unfurled into a standing position, they began to circle one another.

Despite his own reflexes and speed, his opponent managed to get a shot in at Kalen’s face, slicing his cheek open beneath the eye. Kalen had to think fast; blood was pouring out of the wound, blurring his vision. All he had on him was the key to his front door but it was small, which meant he’d have to be incredibly close for it to be of any use. He took it from his pocket anyway. Strength wouldn’t be on his side, so he had to try to use his youth and speed to his advantage. If the assassin caught him again, Kalen knew it would be the end.

The assassin’s eyes glittered as he slashed out at Kalen. Kalen batted the arm away and got in a punch of his own. A side kick came at him next, almost clipping his shoulder, but Kalen grabbed hold of the leg and flipped his attacker to the ground. Like a spring, the man whipped back up. Kalen took his moment and got in close, slamming the key into his opponent’s eye.

It didn’t kill him, but the moment was all Kalen needed. The assassin screamed and fell backwards, the key hanging out of his mangled eye socket. Kalen began running once more.

He could hear the sound of others flooding the canopy of trees and knew his chances of escape were slim. Still, he refused to give up and shot out onto the main road in what would possibly be the final run of his life. Had he been out in the open for more than five minutes he’d have been shot or captured for certain, but something happened that Kalen never expected. A car pulled over.