The Mortal Knife (10 page)

Melissa had disappeared into the store briefly, returning carrying a heavy camera. She came towards him, turning the lense. ‘OK. So I want to get some photos of your eyes first.'

That was probably OK. He stared straight ahead as she stepped right up until only the camera was between them. The air was full of the smell of her perfume – slightly sweet and fruity. He could feel the warmth from her body close to his.

‘Try not to move,' she said softly. The shutter closed and opened, closed and opened. ‘You have really nice eyes.'

‘Thanks,' Adam said. His eyeballs were burning from holding them open but he didn't care. He could have stayed there all day.

Melissa stepped back. ‘OK, so now I want to get your lips. In the photos.' She smiled, half embarrassed.

‘OK,' Adam murmured. It was weird knowing that her whole focus was on his mouth. He was usually focusing on hers.

It felt like they were there for a long time but it was only a few minutes later that Melissa finally put the camera down. ‘Body parts' had thankfully turned out to mean his face and jaw and hands rather than anything Adam normally kept undercover. And even though she put the camera down Melissa stayed very close and for once Adam could read what she wanted him to do and he wanted it too. So, he kissed her.

She didn't have any lip gloss on today and somehow that was even nicer because she tasted like
her.
And kissing her properly was different from the other kisses – the short kisses in the alleyway and in front of Michael Bulber. This kiss went on and on and it was like kissing her with his whole body because this time he was able to put his arms round her and pull her in against him. And, like the time she had touched his hand in biology, he got that feeling like an electric current was running through his whole body, a tingling that ran from the back of his neck down to the base of his spine and made him want to kiss her more and more and more.

He'd worried all this time that he wouldn't know what to do and that was so stupid because of course he knew what to do. He could have stayed there forever because it was so easy and so brilliant kissing her, like the sun was shining through his whole body and lighting him up and lighting her up too.

When the bell went they ignored it, just as they ignored the bustle of other people clearing up around them. Unfortunately they couldn't ignore the arrival of Ms Havens, the art teacher. She was hard to ignore – she had bright red hair and lots of tattoos down her arms. ‘Break it up, you two,' she said, not unkindly. In fact, she was smirking a little.

Melissa grinned. ‘Sorry miss.'

She didn't look sorry at all. She looked happy and her happiness made the warm feeling in Adam soar, like it might burst out and shower the room with little golden lights. As they walked to the door, Melissa slipped her hand into his and whispered, ‘Don't worry, she doesn't mind. She's really nice.'

‘Yeah, she seems to be!' He tried to imagine kissing her in front of the Buzzard, their tiny but terrifying biology teacher. She would probably flay them alive and pin them onto one of her specimen boards.

‘So I'll see you later,' Melissa said. She gave him one last kiss on the lips.

‘Yeah,' Adam said, beaming. He could feel it in his cheeks. ‘See you later.'

It wasn't the most inspiring thing he'd ever said. But the great thing was, Melissa didn't seem to mind.

The next couple of weeks were some of the happiest that Adam had ever had and that was mostly because of Melissa. He'd always liked school and seeing his mates – but seeing her too was the best bit of every day. He still couldn't believe she'd given him another chance after their disastrous after-school dates – but for now she didn't seem to mind just seeing him at lunchtimes, usually in the art room to avoid Michael Bulber.

Operation Wonderfish had fallen at the first hurdle – namely that it required the Beast to use his school email. Still dazzled by their success with The Bulb, Adam and his friends had been confident that the son would follow in his father's idiotic footsteps. Unfortunately the Beast never seemed to log in at all.

Spike wasn't used to his plans failing and was taking it personally. ‘He
has
to use his email. That's how the sixth formers get all their homework from teachers.'

Dan was shelling monkey nuts and making a mess all over their table in the library. ‘Yeah, but he's the Beast. He doesn't do homework. He just terrorises other people and takes theirs.'

A gloomy silence had followed this pronouncement. It was true. That was the difference between The Bulb and his son. The Bulb might be a disgraced wrestler but now that he was a teacher he wasn't actually allowed to maim students, no matter how much he wanted to. The Beast on the other hand lived by a different set of laws and was smart enough to fly below the radar most of the time.

Spike was in vile form about the whole thing. He hadn't mentioned any more about the photo of the bomber either. Apparently his survivalist contact had gone even deeper underground, paranoid that he was being watched. Spike hadn't been able to get his hands on the facial recognition software he needed, putting his plans on hold.

So for now things were going Adam's way. He didn't mind hanging out in the art room – it was warmer than being outside and Ms Havens was pretty cool. He could chat to Melissa while she worked on her piece and then they left some time for kissing. He was feeling pretty expert these days.

All in all, things should have been perfect. There was only one blot on the horizon. Lots of people were dying.

It started gradually – an extra sudden death one day, a couple of extra the next. Adam, like all Lumen, felt his death sense flare every time a person died – but he was well practised at tuning it out. When he was in school and away from the Mortson house and Keystones it was easy to ignore. He should have noticed sooner but he was enjoying his ‘normal' life too much.

The third week back at school things changed again. Exams were getting closer and Adam had to stay late on Monday for chemistry revision. Arriving home, he bumped into a flustered-looking Nathanial coming out of the back door, still smoothing down his camel-hair coat. He gave Adam a brief nod and smile and disappeared into the Hinterland.

In the kitchen Adam found his mother and Auntie Jo standing together looking worried. To his alarm Auntie Jo wasn't even waiting by the toaster – which meant that she must have actually been
talking
with Elise. Something was wrong. ‘What's up?'

The two women exchanged glances. ‘Nothing probably,' Auntie Jo muttered. ‘It's just been a busy day. Busier than usual.'

Elise pursed her lips. ‘
Much
busier than usual.' She paced around the kitchen holding an unlit cigarette. The nervous
pock-pock
of her heels on the stone floor beat a tattoo in Adam's brain. ‘Last week was busy too but today  … ' She stopped and frowned.

Adam shrugged. ‘Well, maybe it was a bad day on the roads. There was lots of snow in Scotland. Was it mostly car accidents?'

Auntie Jo shook her head. ‘They were all individual jobs. Silly things.'

‘A fall down stairs, six chokings, three house fires, a scarf in machinery, two falls from scaffolding, three falls from bicycles. Plus the usual car accidents and unexpected heart problems.' Elise had been counting on her hands but quickly ran out of fingers.

Adam frowned. That
was
a lot of sudden deaths for one day. ‘Where were they?'

‘All over the place. A few in London. One of them was just down the road from here. The man got a bit of a shock seeing Nathanial in the Hinterland – he knew his face. Not that he can tell anyone now I suppose,' Auntie Jo mused.

Adam felt a pang of guilt. With so many deaths he should have felt
something
, especially when one of them had been close by. Thinking about it, he hadn't been having his premonitions either – and when he
had
felt the occasional twinge it had been easy to block. His happiness in school was insulating him from the Luman world, at least in the daytime. It was getting too easy to ignore his doom sense and death sense, especially when it was so risky intervening.

‘It's probably just a blip,' Auntie Jo said. ‘And once Aron comes of age Nathanial will have more help. Someone to help share the load.'

The problem with individual deaths was that only Lumen who had come of age could attend them alone. Luc and Aron could only assist at the minute, not work solo. A thought struck Adam. ‘Will the Marking be able to go ahead? If there are lots of deaths?'

‘The Fates have granted their permission. They will concentrate deaths in other parts of the globe,' Elise said. ‘I imagine the new Atropos was most reluctant to put down the Mortal Knife.' Her expression could have curdled milk.

Luc came into the kitchen. ‘What are we having for dinner? I'm starving.'

‘Roast beef. It's in the oven,' Elise said distractedly. ‘But we cannot eat until your father returns.'

As if on cue the back door opened and Nathanial came inside. He looked exhausted. ‘Another job done. It was a sad one – young chap, an addict. Had an overdose. Could happen any day of the week.' He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

‘Yes, but it didn't happen any day. It happened today, along with all the others,' Auntie Jo muttered.

Chloe came into the kitchen looking pained. ‘My stomach is really sore. My death sense is going mad today. What's going on?'

Elise smoothed her daughter's hair back off her face. ‘Try to ignore it, darling. It's just a busy day.'

Chloe scowled. ‘It's not fair. Why do we even have to get a death sense if we're not allowed to do anything with it? If I can't be a Luman I'd be better off not having one. Mine's really strong too.'

It was true. Chloe had always felt deaths especially keenly. Adam had never really thought about how annoying it must be. After all, if you couldn't actually guide souls it was just pointless – and in Chloe's case painful. Adam had another twinge of guilt that he was escaping the worst of it.

Luc smirked. ‘It's so you'll know when your husband is going on a job. That way you can put his dinner in the oven to keep it warm.' He sniggered at Chloe's glare.

Aron came in the back door in running shorts, soaked with sweat after his daily gym session. He looked surprised to see them all in the kitchen. ‘What's going on? Are we having dinner early?' He sniffed appreciatively. Aron loved his food.

Elise frowned and glanced at Nathanial. ‘Perhaps we should,
oui
?'

‘Yes, I think that would be a great idea –' Nathanial began, then stopped.

There was a collective groan. Here, surrounded by Mortson Keystones even Adam couldn't escape the sensation as his death sense flared. Nathanial closed his eyes and massaged his temples. He winced. ‘It seems someone fell on a garden cane and managed to impale themselves.'

‘A garden cane?' Luc said. His eyebrows were arched until they seemed to be suspended in space. ‘
Seriously?
How unlucky is
that
?'

‘How unlucky indeed,' Nathanial murmured. His face was grey and strained. ‘Elise, I think you should eat without me. I'll get something when I come back.'

‘Do you want me to go with you Father?' Aron plucked at his sweaty clothes. ‘I can run up and get changed.'

Nathanial shook his head. ‘Don't worry Aron. I'd have to go along anyway. No point both of us missing dinner.' He gave his eldest son a weary smile. ‘Come Saturday you'll be able to work alone. Enjoy your last few days of freedom.' He gave Elise a peck on the cheek and disappeared back into the garden.

There was a long moment of silence. It was Auntie Jo who summed up what they were all thinking. ‘What the bloody hell is going on?'

Luc threw a sardonic glance at Aron. ‘Roll on Saturday.'

‘Yeah,' Aron said. He looked anything but eager.

Everyone hoped it had just been an especially bad day, that Tuesday would be better. It wasn't. If anything, the week kept getting worse. Nathanial was barely home – which meant that a task which usually fell on his shoulders fell on Adam's instead.

He'd spent a cheerful Wednesday in school messing around with his mates, followed by some quality time with Melissa. For once he'd managed to revise enough of his biology to sail through a test (being threatened by the apex predator had a way of fixing food chains in his mind). He sat on the bus grinning to himself, blithely unaware of what lay in store.

The first clue was that there was no sign of Auntie Jo when he got home. Usually she was in the den in the afternoon, watching her programmes or having a nap. The room was cold and silent, with no fire glowing or horror-movie heroine fleeing a madman. The whole house seemed too quiet.

It was almost dinner time before Chloe and Elise appeared home. They had been out for a last-minute dress fitting. The coming-of-age ball was just three days away and Elise's nerves were stretched to breaking point. It didn't help that Nathanial's calming presence was largely absent from the house.

Chloe came into the den and rolled her eyes. Adam could hear Elise ranting to herself in French out in the hall – never a good sign. ‘What's up?'

Chloe closed the door and spoke in a whisper. ‘Auntie Jo didn't show up for her dress fitting. Mother is furious with her.'

Adam smirked. Having a dress fitting was pretty much Auntie Jo's idea of hell on earth. ‘It's not really Auntie Jo's thing though, is it? She'd probably rather go to the ball in a kaftan.'

Chloe looked distracted. ‘She's always like this. You know, at this time of the year. I don't know what it is about this date but she's always weird.'

Adam stared at her in confusion. ‘Like what?'

Chloe glared. ‘You know, considering you're her favourite you don't really notice much, do you? Today, every single year, Auntie Jo goes nuts. She locks herself in her room and won't come out until Father talks her down. Only he's not here to do it today. He's had like another million call-outs.'

‘Seriously?' This was news to Adam – the Auntie Jo bit, not the call-out bit. The call-out thing was becoming almost normal – which was scary for the average human in the Kingdom of Britain.

‘Yes! The nineteenth of March every year. I suppose you're usually at
school
.' Chloe managed to say ‘school' the way other people said ‘dentist'.

Adam scowled. ‘Look, Auntie Jo never goes longer than two hours without a piece of toast. So she's hardly locking herself in.'

‘She hasn't been downstairs all day! Mother even left some fresh bread out by the toaster before we went out and she hasn't touched it.'

Now even Adam was getting alarmed. ‘And she does this
every
year?'

Before Chloe could respond Elise burst in with a loaded plate. ‘Adam. Go upstairs to your aunt and tell her she must get dressed and go to Madame Gazor! Her dress is ready! I know this is a bad day but the ball is on Saturday!'

Adam took the plate of toast. It was thickly sliced and oozing butter – the ultimate lure for Auntie Jo. ‘But why would she listen to me?'

Elise looked distracted. ‘She'll listen. I don't know when your father will be home and Madame Gazor is  … 
capricieuse
! Temperamental! She will take the scissors to the dress if Josephine does not go for her fitting!'

Adam was doubtful of his powers of persuasion but it was nice that for once Elise expected more of him, not less of him. ‘I'll see what I can do.'

A minute later he was standing outside Auntie Jo's room holding the plate of toast, not quite sure what he was going to say. He could hear music playing faintly behind the door. After a moment's hesitation he knocked. ‘Auntie Jo? It's Adam. Can I come in?'

There was a long pause. ‘Go away,' Auntie Jo croaked.

Adam cleared his throat. ‘The thing is  …  erm  …  well, you missed your fitting. With Madame Gazor. And Mother says you need to go and see her or she'll get a bit mental with the scissors.'

There was a loud crash and Adam jumped, almost dropping the plate. Something had just shattered against the door and Auntie Jo let loose a string of profanity that would have shamed even Spike, master of swearing as a poetic form. In between the curses Adam gathered a fairly good idea of where exactly Madame Gazor could put her scissors – and the sun didn't shine in any of the places mentioned.

He was beginning to realise how woefully unequipped he was to deal with this situation. In fact, he might have given up – but for one thing. There was a new sound from inside the room and it wasn't a sound Adam had ever heard before. Auntie Jo was crying.

Hearing that brought the world to a standstill for Adam. Auntie Jo was the one person in his family who had always cheered him on – always fought on his side. Part of him felt like running away – but there was no way he was leaving her like this. ‘Auntie Jo, let me in!' He jiggled the door handle and found that the door was locked. ‘Seriously, open up.' In the face of resounding silence he cleared his throat and tried to sound commanding. ‘If you don't open the door I'm going to have to break it down!'