beats per minute (8 page)

‘I wish I could tell you more, but I simply don’t know. You
have to remember that I was not chosen.’

It seemed to hit her all at once, like the life she had and
thought she would have was flashing before her eyes, now replaced with the dark
and scary notion of destiny. She wiped her eyes. ‘But if you weren’t a Regent,
and Dad wasn’t, how did you know it was in our family?’

‘My father passed on what he knew; what he had gleaned from
his own father. The Sentinel filled in the blanks – they found me when Bridey was
pregnant.’ At Raegan’s perplexed look, he hastened to elaborate. ‘The Sentinel
are
the governing body of the Regents.
The
officials.
It will be up to them to reveal more, as and when they wish
to.’

‘As and when.’ Raegan looked into Con’s eyes. Suddenly, with
terrible certainty, she knew. ‘I’m leaving you, aren’t I?’

‘You aren’t safe here anymore, Raegan. You need to be with
those who can teach you to use your powers and protect you properly.’

‘No.’ Raegan sprang to her feet. ‘My mother wanted me to be
here with you. She knew about this, this, bloody
abnormality
I
apparently have, and she wanted me to live here with you and Grandma.’

Con was advancing on her, and she had an awful premonition
of being within the iron grasp of his talons, once more, speeding towards the
fate that had been piled on top of her. She wasn’t ready, but that didn’t seem
to matter; she knew he would remove her by force if he had to.

‘What about Dad,’ she gasped. Nothing was off limits now.
‘He didn’t agree
,
that’s what you said. He wanted you
to protect me; he wanted you to keep me away from all of this. He trusted you!’

All at once the fight went out of Con. It was an
unbelievable sight to see his huge bulk collapse in on itself, like air out of
a balloon. The wall took the full weight of his slumping form.

When he lifted his face to meet hers it was wet with tears.

‘What you must think of me,’ he mumbled. ‘All those lost
years when I could have been with you.
And now this.
It was all my pride.
My stubborn, foolish pride.
My fault.’

Aghast, she moved to him. ‘It wasn’t your fault. I’m sorry,
Grandda, I didn’t mean it. I just don’t want to go.’ For the first time, Raegan
looked at Con and felt that they contemplated each other with true
understanding. ‘I’m scared.’

‘I am too, lass.’

Raegan was agog.
‘You?
You’re the
bravest person I’ve ever met!’

‘Oh, get on with you! If you only knew... truth be told,
I’ve been afraid since the day you were born. I kept hoping Joe would change
his mind; he kept hoping I would change mine. We had the most terrible argument
and parted ways.’ Con’s breath caught in his throat. He shut his eyes briefly.
‘And then it was too late.’

‘I was blind, perhaps. For now the day is here and I don’t want
you to go.’ Roughly, he pressed his palm against her cheek. ‘I tried hard not
to care about you, Raegan; I was as horrible to you when you got here as I
could bring myself to be. Bridey told me I was being an arse and I knew it was
true.

‘But how I love you, child. I always have.’

Raegan let out something that was both a laugh and a sob,
and tears dropped onto his hand as she leaned against it. They stood together
for a long minute; Raegan could feel his strength and warmth, and felt as safe
as if she was sheltered under an ancient tree, anchored by its massive web of
roots.

But she knew now that this could not last.

 ‘I can’t make out that I’m ready,’ Raegan did her best
to smile. ‘But I understand. And I’ll go wherever you tell me to.’

‘We can go in the morning,’ Con said quietly. ‘You deserve a
good sleep.’

‘But you’d rather go now. It’s ok. Honestly.’ She held her
hands out in front of her. They were steady. ‘See? I can do this.’

Con took her hands in his. ‘So be it.’

Gently he drew her towards the window. For a moment, she was
distracted with butterflies in her gut, filling her with the nervous sense that
she would never look out on this view again. She drank in the beauty of the
island at night; the birds fluttering against the milky crescent moon, the
clearness of the air, and the twinkling lights in the distance.

Con did not move.

‘Aren’t you-
‘ Raegan
flapped her
hands about clumsily. The bemused look on his face halted her. ‘Do you need me
to go somewhere while you change?’

The wonderful, rarely seen smile split his face. ‘Oh! You
thought that I- oh, you poor wee thing. Don’t worry, I won’t be flying any more
tonight.’

‘Oh.’ Raegan felt a bit stupid. ‘So how are we getting
there, then?’

Smiling broadly, Con pointed out into the night. Raegan followed
the line of his arm to the twinkling horizon she had admired. She now noticed
that these lights were getting closer; matched by the rapid, buzzing crescendo
of whirring blades. She looked on in wonder as a flash of khaki camouflage
print gleamed out of the darkness when the helicopters flew across the moon.

On this cool spring night, the sleepy town of St Jude’s was
experiencing some out of the ordinary occurrences. Fortunately  - though
the village gossips would have not seen it this way, perhaps - none of the
residents were aware of the scuffle between a young girl and a unusually agile
man on Briar Walk earlier in the evening, and were by now largely happily
asleep, either on their sofas or in bed, and thus undisturbed by the
helicopters flying overhead.

For though three helicopters had indeed headed straight for
Ramsey Island, a fourth diverged from the others, speeding into the depths of
Lydgale Forest.

Crewed by only two people, a man and a woman, it made a
smooth landing in a suitably large clearing. The pilots dismounted quickly.
They had done this before. Separating without a word, they walked in separate
directions and melted into the night.

Soon, they returned, this time together; and the success of
their trip was contained in the large bundle that they toted between them.
Movements were economic, precise; clearly there was no time to be wasted. Hunks
of wood surely too heavy for one person to carry were lofted onto the woman’s
shoulder with ease. She carried these well away from the helicopter, crossing
the great length of the clearing with impressive speed. The man busied himself
at the far end, digging a sizeable hole.

Depositing the logs by the edge, she addressed her companion
for the first time.

‘We should probably radio in. That took longer than I
expected.’

He didn’t respond.

‘Warwick? Warwick. Warwick!’ Annoyed to be kept waiting, she
kicked some dirt into the hole.

Warwick stiffened, the soil sliding off his helmet. ‘What
the hell are you doing?

She thrust the device into his face. ‘We’re late. Radio in.’

 ‘Jesus, Bree. Why they had to stick me with you
tonight, I
ain’t never
going to understand.’

‘Probably because your sister was careless enough to knacker
her leg on manoeuvres,’ Bree replied sweetly, her hands on her hips. ‘I’m only
doing this as a favour to her.’

‘Well if you’re so damned helpful, why don’t you check in?’

‘But this is your mission. You wouldn’t want them to think you
were shirking your responsibilities now, would you?’

Warwick
snorted,
the derision clear
in his Tennessee twang.
‘Yeah.
Because you’re all
about decorum, aren’t you? Give me a break.’

‘Just do it.’ Rolling her eyes, she stalked away. Despite
her annoying, hoity toity English drawl hanging in the air, Warwick couldn’t
help but admire the sway of her hips. The commander’s voice on the other end
soon brought him to his senses. He listened intently.

When Bree returned, dragging the bundle behind her out of laziness
rather than tiredness, the wood was assembled neatly. Warwick waited for her to
draw near. He was grinning smugly from earring to earring.

‘What do you look so pleased about?’ She hefted the bundle
into the middle of the pile, wiping her sweaty palms on her trousers.

‘You owe me five bucks,’ he drawled, cracking his knuckles
in satisfaction.

Bree winced. ‘Care to elaborate?’

‘They got her.’ Bringing up his boot, Warwick struck a match
on the edge and lit a cigarette. Then he tossed the match onto the pile. With a
whoosh, the entire structure went up in flames in the blink of an eye.

Bree leaped back. ‘Hell! You might have warned me that you’d
already doused the thing.’

‘It’s good to keep you on your toes.’

‘Whatever.’ They watched the smoke rising for a moment. ‘So
what do you mean, they got her?’

‘Old man finally gave her up. She actually fell into a
traverse tonight.
Incomplete, of course.
Remember
those?’

‘Barely.’

‘Oh, right.
Because you’re
such
a
fast learner.’

‘Correct… still. Once was enough.’ Bree shuddered.

‘Tell me about it.’

‘No control. Not the faintest
idea that
it’s your power making the world spin
.
Pitiful,
really.’

‘Yeah, well, maybe she agrees with you. She’s coming
willingly. Max confirmed it a few minutes ago.’ Warwick picked up the empty
petrol can and packed it neatly in his black canvas bag. Taking off his leather
gloves, he wiped his forehead. Beads of sweat were already forming from the
fierce heat of the blaze.

‘Damn.’ Bree let out a low whistle. ‘Good for her. Shame we
couldn’t have left this one, then.
Would have been a good
first kill.’

They both turned to look at the flaming bundle in the middle
of the firewood. The surrounding canvas had begun to burn away, and some golden
hairs, clinging to a pale, moon-like forehead were barely visible.

Warwick’s reply was quiet.

‘There will be others.’

***

Raegan had never been in a helicopter before. Her experience
was limited to what she had seen on TV. But those helicopter rides had not
begun like this. Those passengers were not ushered aboard in the middle of the
night from some secret spot hidden by high trees. Their hosts were not
commandoes wearing night-vision goggles
who
abseiled
out of the chopper on cords before it even landed.

Those helicopters had also not been part of an armed convoy.
From her position by the window, she could see two other helicopters closely
flanking their own.

If Raegan hadn’t felt intimidated by the small glimpse Con
had given her into her new life, she definitely did now. She almost felt as if
she was in one of those prank TV shows and that any moment someone was going to
leap out and shout ‘Surprise! It was all a joke!’ Either that or it would be
down to her to grab someone and force them to realise that they’d got the wrong
girl.

Con, sitting opposite her, looked uncomfortable in his
harness. No surprise really, she thought; being strapped into a metal
contraption would be rubbish when you could be soaring through the skies on
your own wings.
Wings.
Big, feathery ones.
She shook her head. The fact that her
grandfather was an RSPB warden half the time and a giant eagle the other half
was not going to sink in easily. That said, she thought, a tiny smile curling
at her lips, when she remembered the hours he spent consulting his surveys and
studying the birds, it did make an unreal kind of sense.

The whirring of the blades made it too loud to talk so
Raegan was left alone with her thoughts. Her mind felt uncomfortably full, as
if she’d had the mental equivalent of a twelve course meal. There was so much
to get her head around. She didn’t feel like she’d ever understand it – any of
it. She could only hang onto the wobbly sense that whatever Con had been
hinting at was enormous, something untapped that she, along with only a few
others, had to offer.

And her untapped gift, as he had deemed it, would relate to
time.
Huge, inconceivable, fourth-dimensional time.
Time that was now linked to her heartbeat.
Time that she could learn to
control
.
She pressed a
hand to her chest now, feeling the warm, steady thump beneath her palm. The
concept was so alien that she could do nothing but reach out with her mind and
touch it lightly
,
then leave it there to soak in. She
had nowhere to put that information; it connected to nothing else she had ever
known.

And there was still Marie to think about. Though in some way
it was comforting to know that she hadn’t turned her friend’s disappearance
into a deranged fantasy, the truth of what had happened to her, now confirmed,
was so much worse. Raegan only had to feel the bruises on her neck gingerly to
guess at what her friend must have gone through. Better for Raegan to have been
delusional and for Marie to still be alive.

But Marie was gone and the body of an old woman was all that
was left; which was maybe the cruellest thing of all. Raegan’s friend had been
so alive: so young. But no one would recognise her now. No one would mourn her.

It was this thought that had first stopped Raegan’s feet
from moving as Con was guiding her towards the helicopter.

‘Wait.’ Raegan’s long nose was already pink from the cold as
she struggled to be heard over the increasing howl of the choppers.

‘Marie.’ The name was thick with unshed tears. ‘When I found
her, she wasn’t herself. She was an old lady. But it was her. I could feel it.’

Con nodded with sympathy but not surprise. Raegan knew then
that this was not the first time.

‘She’s still where I found her, in the woods.’ Raegan had to
raise her voice; the helicopters were nearly overhead. ‘I can’t believe she’s
dead, and she’s just lying there, as if she never existed. I never should have
left her.’

‘There was nothing you could have done.’ Con held her by the
shoulders, firmly, and crouched so that he was on her level. He looked at her
squarely. ‘I mean that, Raegan. If you’d have stayed, you would have joined
her.’

She flinched but he did not let go. ‘My God, she did not
deserve what was done to her. But it’s not your fault.’

Raegan was crying now, red hair catching on her wet cheeks
as it blew in the rising wind. ‘She’s there, all by herself.
Unsung,
unknown.
I can’t bear it.’

‘She won’t be. Bridey will go to her. She will be laid to
rest with at least one friend looking on.’

‘Really?’
She croaked, hardly
daring to believe it.

‘I promise.’

It wasn’t much; but the thought that Marie could at least be
given this small dignity eased Raegan’s mind. It also strengthened her
determination to learn more about this new world. If she had known the truth
before she might have been able to help Marie. Something steely formed inside
her. She would do anything the Sentinel asked, absorb everything they would
teach her – she’d work until her bones gave out.
Whatever it
took.

***

It was very late by the time the helicopter finally began to
descend; but even without a great deal of light the structure was hard to miss.

It was a fort. There was no other way to describe it.

Impenetrable, smooth walls rose from the banks of a vast
moat and curved around as far as the eye could see. Then one of the walls
seemed to crack as, with imperious slowness, a huge drawbridge was extended.
Next moment a fleet of commandoes flowed over it in seamless formation. Con
smiled as Raegan pressed her face against the glass in awe.

‘Welcome to Unit Prime.’

She turned back to Con only when the helicopter had landed
and there was little more to see than a swarm of commandoes surrounding the
glass bubble. Raegan smiled nervously. ‘Where are we?’

‘Crosshaven, not too far from Cork.
Why are you whispering?’

Raegan blushed as she heard one of the soldiers snickering.
She waited until the hatch had opened and the helicopter began to empty before
replying. ‘Subtle, Grandda, cheers. So who are our new chums, anyway?’

‘You didn’t think the Sentinel would operate outside of the
government, did you?’

Raegan’s eyes popped out. ‘You mean I’m joining the army?’
She hissed, ignoring his proffered hand and leaping down from the helicopter
without assistance.

Con shook his head and steered Raegan after their
camouflaged escorts, who had evidently been given some signal to move on.

‘Use your head, girl. Did you really think that a group as
powerful as the Regents would go unnoticed? The military lend their assistance
where
necessary,
and the Sentinel communicate with
them and the rest of the government on a need to know basis. The Sentinel
are
like a hidden branch of the Department of Defence, if
that makes more sense to you.’

‘But why-‘

Con made an impatient sound. ‘Max Savage, head of the Unit
and one of the Sentinel’s leading members, will explain more.
When we get up there.
Come on, we’re falling behind with all
this chattering.’ With that he broke away from her and jogged off up the trail.
Already a little out of breath, Raegan had no choice but to follow.

Despite her initial misgivings Raegan was soon a big fan of military
efficiency. The speed with which Raegan and Con were whisked through the Unit’s
various security measures was mindboggling. Raegan was glad. The initial
excitement had faded and she was knackered. Not to mention starving. Reduced to
a basic state where all she could think about was a cheese sandwich, she didn’t
feel much like a gifted being, or whatever Con had tried to convince her she
was.

Fortunately, all tests passed, it was not long before they
were in a lift zipping up to meet Mr Savage himself. Despite military precision
and economy of movement, Raegan did not miss the amount of effort it took to
work the lift; several cards were swiped, codes were punched, and their escort
even had to press a thumb into a groove by the button that said ‘Praetor’ (like
‘Penthouse’ in a hotel lift) before it would move. She couldn’t help wondering
what kind of person needed to surround
himself
with so
much security. But before she could say anything, Con – as if reading her mind
- gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. Clearly it was not a good
idea to ask questions about their protective procedures.

Instead, she focused her gaze on the shiny metal surface in
front of her. She was interested but not surprised to see a white, delicately
cloudy stone embedded in it; she had noticed similar crystals set at regular
intervals all around the Unit. Now was probably not the time to ask about
these, either.

A few seconds later, there was a ping, and the doors opened.