Divided Souls (5 page)

‘That’s all very—’ Cassie began, but Ranjit took a step forward, as if to seize her, only controlling himself at the last moment.

‘I don’t care what Sir Alric says. And I don’t give a damn about the Council of Elders either …’ He paused.

‘What are you—’

‘I love you. I love you, Cassie.’

Cassie froze. OK, the boy knew how to get her attention.

‘What?’

‘Listen to me. I love you. I have done since the moment I laid eyes on you. And it’s not about our bloody spirits.’ Cassie heard Estelle protest faintly in the background of her spinning mind. Ranjit continued. ‘The fact that we’re Few – or part Few – that’s all irrelevant. I don’t care what’s between our spirits. I love
you
.’

She must have looked like a gobsmacked fish, but as his eyes bored inside her soul Cassie couldn’t think of anything to say. How could she? He’d never said anything
like
it when he had the proper chance. He’d never said all of that when he could have. When it would have mattered, when they were together …

Ranjit leaned a little towards her, smiling wryly. ‘I’m glad I finally shut you up.’

She shook her head violently, as much to clear her brain as to reject him. ‘Ranjit – no.’ She spoke through clenched teeth. ‘It’s no good. It’s too late. We can’t be together,
you said so
. And you tell me now you don’t care about Sir Alric, but look what happened. As soon as he clicked his fingers, you let me down. You left me alone, Ranjit! You left me alone to face the Elders, and I’ve never been so scared in my life.’

Damn, damn. Her eyes stung, and she hadn’t wanted that to happen. It made her angry. So angry, in fact, that there was suddenly more than a tear in her eye. Her vision was reddening, reddening … No. She blinked back the fury. He wouldn’t make her lose control. Never again.

‘I know I let you down, Cassie, and believe me, I’ve never stopped tormenting myself.’ His voice was so beautiful, so intense. And his golden eyes were tinged with redness, too. Not anger, though: passion. ‘I
will
make that up to you. I’ll make amends for what I did, Cassie. I’ve found a way.’ He stepped back from her, clenching his fists. ‘I’ve found a way for us to be together.’

‘Oh, you have? That’s a turnaround since—’

‘Sh!’ He put a finger against her lips, and the electric shock of his touch shut her up once more. She stepped back to a safer distance.

‘What do you want, Ranjit?’

‘I want us to be together.’ He smiled, his eyes intense. ‘I’ve found something that’s going to solve our problem. I just need a little more time.’

Cassie let out a short laugh at that. ‘Of course. I knew it. Well, Ranjit, I’ll believe that when I see it. And when pigs fly over the Bosphorus.’

He ignored her. ‘Listen, Cassie. I’ll leave you alone for now … But just one more thing – the Knife. Do you have it?’

‘The—’

‘The Knife! I know you took it from Keiko and I—’

‘What? No. I had dropped it in Central Park after … after the fight with Katerina and her mother. I’m pretty sure Jake has it now.’ As soon as it was out of her mouth, she wished she hadn’t said it, but she folded her arms defiantly.

‘Jake?’ Ranjit’s face darkened and he frowned, but then he bit his lip and nodded to himself.

‘Yes, Jake. Why?’ she said.

Ranjit shook his head. Meeting Cassie’s eyes once more, he smiled broadly. ‘Never mind. We’ll be together. I promise you that.’

He turned on his heel.

Cassie couldn’t say a word. Her throat was clogged with rage, and disbelief, and unbearable desire, and she could barely even breathe. She could only watch as he walked away, boots clicking on ancient tiles, as he moved beneath the archway and vanished from sight.

‘T
HIS BUILDING IS AN ANCIENT MONUMENT!’

Isabella screamed above the music from the open doorway, hands clamped over her ears, but Cassie ignored her. Sure, the Bose sound system was cranked up to full volume, but she didn’t care. She needed to blast Ranjit-bloody-Singh
right
out of her system.

‘THIS WING IS SIX HUNDRED YEARS OLD, YOU VANDAL!’

‘WHAT’S THAT GOT TO DO WITH ANYTHING?’ Cassie yelled back, annoyed.

‘THE VIBRATIONS WILL DAMAGE THE MOSAIC TILES IF YOU CARRY ON! TURN THAT DOWN!’

Isabella stormed across to the stereo, making a dramatic show of battling the sound waves, and clicked the mute. The silence that fell was like a wet blanket.

Cassie scowled. ‘Spoilsport.’

Scowling right back, Isabella tilted her head to one side, banging her ear as if to loosen music that was lodged in it. ‘And now, you can tell me what’s wrong. I was right, wasn’t I? You’re pining!’

‘Trust me, I’m not!’

‘Cassie Bell, nobody plays that kind of music unless they are slitting their wrists over some boy, even if they are ready to kill him to boot! Out with it, girl!’ Isabella plonked down on to the bed beside her. Cassie sighed.

‘Ranjit
bloody
Singh—’

‘I happen to know,’ said Isabella primly, ‘that that is
not
his middle name. However much you wish to make it so.’

Cassie sighed. ‘Ranjit, then. Ranjit!’

‘What has he done now? Or do you just need him here to punch? Shall I go and fetch him?’

‘You don’t have to,’ spat Cassie. ‘You just missed him, as it happens.’

Isabella’s mouth gaped, then stretched into a grin. ‘He came to see you?’

‘Yeah,’ Cassie said angrily. ‘Like I haven’t got better things to do than listen to him make excuses.’

‘Oh, Cassie.’ Isabella put an arm round her shoulder and practically squeezed the breath out of her. ‘This is
good
! This means he is sorry, this means he regrets what he did!’

‘What he
didn’t
do,’ Cassie corrected her bitterly.

‘Yes, yes, I know. But he
did
come to see you! At least he’s here, wanting to be with you, wanting to make amends. Not like …’ Her face fell for a moment, and she gave Cassie an imploring look. ‘You can’t give him a chance?’

No, thought Cassie, though with another pang of guilt for her friend’s misery. Ranjit was worse than Jake, much worse. Jake had his sister’s death at the hands of the Few to contend with, not to mention the fact that his girlfriend was being fed on by one of them. Ranjit’s excuses paled in comparison.

‘How many chances does he need?’ Cassie exclaimed. ‘As far as I’m concerned, Isabella, he’s run out. How could I
ever
trust him? Tell me that! When I was summoned to see the Elders, it was—I was terrified! He knew that! He promised to be there with me, and he knew how important it was to me. And he
didn’t show up
!’ Cassie bit hard on her lip, feeling the pain of the betrayal all over again.

‘Cassie,’ soothed Isabella. ‘You told me he had his reasons. That Sir Alric would have voted you into the Confine if he’d shown up. Ranjit had to do what Sir Alric told him to do. You know that.’

Cassie shook her head firmly. ‘No. He could have at least got word to me. He could have found a way around it all. I’ve had a long time to think it over. All over the holidays, when, by the way, he didn’t bother to get in touch with me. Not so much as a bloody text!’ She drew a hand down her face, feeling the dangerous heat in her eyes again, breathing deeply to calm herself. ‘Sure, he had his excuses for what he did. But he can always get his way, if he really tries! If he
wants
to.’

‘Cassie, you can’t say he didn’t want to—’

‘Well he can’t have wanted it very much. Except now, all of a sudden, apparently he’s got the magic solution. Well it’s too late.’

‘What?’ Isabella said, blinking in surprise.

‘Yeah. He says he’ll find a way for us to be together! Right, sure.
Now
he decides he’s made a mistake, so now he can find a solution. How convenient! Well, you know what? It doesn’t suit
me
, not any more. He had his chance to fight for this relationship. As far as I’m concerned, Ranjit’s all mouth. All talk, no action. And I can’t stand that. I’m done with him.’

Cassie stopped, catching her breath. She was annoyed that she was getting so angry about Ranjit, and his ridiculous, mysterious plans. What was all that about the Knife, anyway? It was on the tip of her tongue to mention it to Isabella, but something held her back. She didn’t want to bring Jake up again, especially not in relation to the strange, jade-hilted Few Knife. Oh, to hell with the Knife and to hell with Ranjit, Cassie thought. He was taking up space in her head again, and that was the last thing she wanted.

Isabella leaned back on her hands, watching Cassie thoughtfully. ‘Well. Maybe you’re right.’

‘I know I’m right,’ Cassie replied dully.

‘OK. So it’s time to move on!’

‘What d’you mean?’ Cassie gave her roommate a wary look as Isabella stood up and began to count on her fingers.

‘Yusuf? No, he is all right but he’s a rake and a scoundrel. Vassily? Mm, he’s quite a nice one, Cassie. He has a very fetching – what do you call it? Arse? I think it’s all that gymnastics. Or there’s Perry Hutton …?’

Cassie lurched forward, pretending to gag. ‘Besides, I highly doubt I’m his type,’ she said pointedly.

‘That’s true,’ Isabella agreed, giggling. ‘OK. Not Perry! Let me see: Bjorn Madsen? Michael Leaming? Jiri, Daniel, Kristofer? I’m running out here …’

‘Mmm, sooner the better,’ laughed Cassie. ‘Give me a break!’

‘Hang on. I’ve got it!’ Isabella paused and gave her a sly look. ‘Richard Halton-Jones!’

Cassie flung a pillow at her. ‘Get lost! No
way
!’

‘No …?’ Isabella nibbled her lip and eyed her closely. ‘I thought you were getting a little bit fond of him again. Just a little? He did used to like you very much. Remember how into you he was in your first term?’

‘Are you joking? Do I need to remind you where that led? Out of the question! Next?’

‘Hm. OK. I still think you protest a little too much … But fine, then I’m stuck.’ Her roommate pouted prettily.

‘Good! Anyway, enough about me. When are
you
going to snap out of it and hit on somebody?’

As soon as she saw the look in her friend’s eyes, Cassie regretted it. Isabella forced a laugh, but she could barely get her mouth to curve the right way. ‘You are right, Cassie. I shouldn’t make light of it. If
I’m
not ready, then maybe it’s not fair to think you would be.’

‘Don’t be daft, babe. You were just being funny! Damn. I’m sorry, Isabella, I shouldn’t have said anything.’

You idiot, she berated herself. Bad enough being responsible for their break-up in the first place: now you have to take the mickey out of the poor girl? It
was
different for Isabella.

For a start, Cassie was over Ranjit. Well, the rational part of her definitely was, in any case. Whereas Isabella wasn’t even
starting
to get over Jake. And Isabella hadn’t broken up Ranjit and Cassie; they’d managed that fine all by themselves. Isabella’s romance with Jake, on the other hand, had been sacrificed to Cassie’s new life amongst the Few. For Cassie’s needs. For Cassie’s sake. She didn’t have any right to compare their situations; it was her who’d
caused
Isabella’s.

‘I’m really, really sorry. Truly.’

‘No, Cassie, it’s OK,’ Isabella said, squeezing her friend’s hand. With a visible effort, she brightened and knelt down by the stereo. ‘We’ll put the music back on, yes? Exorcise the pair of them!’

‘Not a bad idea,’ muttered Cassie.

‘Good!’ Isabella got up and bounced on to her bed as music exploded into the room again.

‘UGH, CHANGE IT! THIS GUY’S
TERRIBLE
!’ screamed Cassie. ‘I’M NOT IN THE MOOD FOR DISCO DANCING!’

Isabella grabbed her arm and dragged her up, trampolining, limbs flailing, forcing Cassie to join in or be bounced off the bed.

‘OH, YOU WILL BE!’

Hell, if you couldn’t beat ’em … and Isabella was right. Why should they be miserable for the sake of two feckless boys? It was good to see her friend smiling, in any case. Laughing, Cassie bounced on her backside, then back up again. They were shrieking and laughing to outdo the music when Cassie heard another voice. It seemed no decibel level could drown this one out.

Yes, my dear, laugh! We’ve nothing to be sad about! We’re going to conquer the world, Cassandra, just you and me. We don’t need him, we don’t need anyone else! Laugh!

R
anjit really had thrown a spanner in the works of her head. It was almost twenty-four hours later, and Cassie was still feeling a bit put out about his declarations. She had to get back on track, rededicate herself to Project New Cassie, New Attitude. Leaning over the marble basin in her bathroom, she filled it to the brim with cold water and dunked her head in. Gasping with the chill, she forced herself to submerge her face completely. She
would
get him out of her mind, even if she had to wash him out.

From under water she heard her familiar ringtone, and groaning, she flung up her head in a shower of droplets.

‘Hello?’ she yelped. The phone was slippery in her wet hand, and she almost dropped it, then grabbed it and pressed it to her ear again.

‘Cassie? It’s me, Patrick.’

She gasped. ‘Patrick! You’re here!’

‘Yes.’ He sounded worried for a moment, as though despite their conversations and Cassie’s agreeing for him to come, she may have changed her mind. ‘You didn’t forget my plane came in today …?’ he said, attempting a quick laugh.

‘No! No, of course I didn’t forget,’ Cassie lied. And that was one more thing to blame Ranjit for, she thought grimly. ‘I was just, uh, washing my hair.’

‘Great. Well, that means you’ll be fit to be seen at least, eh? Come and have dinner with me this evening? Meet you here at the hotel?’

‘I dunno.’ She grinned widely. ‘Hmm. How much are you willing to spend?’

‘I’m willing to spend a fiver, maybe.’

‘Wow, the whole year’s salary, eh?’ she said with a laugh.

‘Ha ha,’ Patrick replied sarcastically, though she could hear his smile as he relaxed. ‘It’s really good to hear your voice, Cassie. I can’t wait to see you. I mean, presuming that was a yes, right?’

Cassie chuckled again. ‘See you at seven?’

‘Hey, Cassie.’ He opened his arms and grinned.

‘Who are you again?’ Cassie furrowed her brow, then smiled back and hugged him fiercely. ‘I missed you. God knows why, since I’ve no idea who you are, but I did.’ She was surprised at just how good it was to see Patrick again at last, and she felt nervous butterflies mixed with a warm, relieved glow.

The hotel was quite sleek and modern, and could have been anywhere in the world. It was a bit soulless, but who cared? Patrick was there, with his brilliant blue eyes and the laughter lines crinkling around them, just like always. He’d made an effort to smarten up, and his blue shirt actually had a collar, but he still looked as if he was religiously opposed to ironing.

‘Listen,’ she said, suddenly self-conscious again. ‘Before we go in, I just wanted to say, uh, I’m sorry for cutting you off for a while there.’ She gave him a rueful look.

‘Oh, God, don’t apologise. It was my fault, Cassie.’ He hugged her again. ‘I had no idea that … that all this would happen to you. You know that, right?’

She walked alongside him to the restaurant, keeping her arm linked through his. ‘I know. I was still a bit pissed off with you, though. Couldn’t help it.’

‘It’s OK. You were right to be angry.’ He rubbed his forehead wearily. ‘I knew what the Academy was about, but I was promised that no scholarship kid ever became Few. Nobody ever had. It was such a strict rule, I could never have imagined …’

‘Hmm. Scholarships aren’t supposed to be Few. They’re often “food”, though. Didn’t you think I might end up as a life-source?’

‘Yes, maybe.’ Guiltily he rubbed a hand across his face. ‘But I had such a good experience with my roommate Erik when I was at the Academy. He was honest, straightforward, no deception. I was happy to help him and he never abused my trust. I suppose I was naive; I suppose I thought it was always like that.’

‘Yeah.’ She let the maître d’ draw out a chair for her, and sat down opposite Patrick, watching his hands as he nervously smoothed the white linen tablecloth.

‘I thought it was worth it,’ he continued. ‘I thought, for the educational advantage you’d be getting, coming from your background—’

‘I know, honestly. And you know what?’ She quirked an eyebrow at him. ‘I appreciate what you did. It’s been a wonderful experience. I mean
everything
– the ravenous hunger for life-energy, the spirit I’ve got hanging about to chat to now, the supernatural fights …’ She smiled at him. ‘It’s been fabulous.’

He remained solemn as he watched her eyes, then caught hers twinkling. ‘Oh. That’s a little Cassie Bell sarcasm, isn’t it?’

‘Yes,’ she said contritely. ‘Hey, it’s been … different. But in a weird way it hasn’t been terrible. I’m getting used to it all.’

He leaned forward, touched her hand. ‘Are you sure, Cassie? Are you sure you’re OK?’

‘Sure. Really. I’m moving on, Patrick. New start. I’m Few’ – or half-Few, she added silently to herself – ‘and I’ll live with it. It’s not so bad. I’m controlling the hunger, it isn’t hard, and Isabella is as understanding as I’m sure you must have been to Erik.’

‘You’re lucky to have such a good roommate.’ He looked up at her over his menu. ‘I was so happy when I heard that, Cassie. It makes a difference. I think she’s a real rock, Isabella, isn’t she?’

‘I don’t know what I’d do without her,’ said Cassie truthfully. She laid down her menu and traced patterns on it with her finger. ‘I bet Erik appreciated you too. Do you … do you still miss him?’

‘All the time.’ Patrick smiled with half his mouth. ‘Erik was an amazing person. Even all these years later, it’s hard to believe he’s gone.’

Cassie clasped her hands and looked at him directly. ‘What happened to him? When I asked Sir Alric about it last term, he wouldn’t really go into details.’

Patrick took a breath and sat back in his chair. ‘It was nearly twenty years ago now. In our final term. The Academy was in Mexico City, and we had all these special classes and field trips in archaeology. It was a bit like here in Istanbul, actually. Anyway, Erik was working on a project with Sir Alric; they’d gone off to the Yucatán for a week. I remember how excited Erik was, how pleased he was that Sir Alric had chosen him out of all the Few students, trusted him. And he was fascinated by the project too, whatever it was.’

‘You never found out?’

‘Sir Alric came back alone on the third day. I knew something was up but no one was told anything. Not till he called me to his office and broke the news that Erik had been killed. In a landslide.’

‘God.’ Cassie touched his hand. ‘You must have been devastated.’

‘Yeah. I mean, he was so young, so intelligent, so full of promise and potential. Beautiful-looking, of course. He was one of the Few, after all. I suppose I had a little bit of a crush on him. Still, he had a lifetime’s happiness and success ahead of him.’ Patrick stared at the tablecloth. ‘And it was all gone, just like that. Surreal.’

The silence that fell wasn’t uncomfortable. It felt quite appropriate. At last, Patrick looked up and nodded to the hovering waiter.

‘I always wondered what they were looking for, out there in the Yucatán.’ He shrugged. ‘But Sir Alric never said. I suppose, after Erik died, it was irrelevant. Now.’ He sat up, trying to look more cheerful, and smiled at the waiter. ‘Are you ready to order, Cassie?’

When they’d chosen – Cassie with some difficulty, since she wanted at least five of the things on the menu – Patrick shook his head and smiled more positively. ‘Let’s not talk about sad things any more, eh? I want to hear what you’ve been up to here this term. Any nice boys? Whatever happened with that Ran—’

‘Uh, we’re not talking about him,’ she interjected, with a slightly stiff smile.

‘Ah.’ Patrick nodded. ‘Fair enough! I’ll stick to safer subjects. What’s the Academy building like? We never came to this one while I was a student.’

Cassie smiled, relieved he didn’t press her any further on romance. ‘It’s pretty spectacular actually. Certainly a far cry from Cranlake.’

‘I don’t doubt it! Well, tell me all about it, and while you’re at it, give me some gossip about the teachers. Some of them haven’t changed since my day, you know.’

‘Yeah, the ones with the cobwebs hanging off their eyebrows might be familiar to you,’ she ribbed.

‘Hey! I’m not that old!’

As Patrick began to list off some of the teachers he’d had while he was at the Academy, Cassie sighed contentedly. One thing was sorted at least. Giggling at his irreverent comments, Cassie realised with a huge sense of relief how much she’d missed him. Thank God she’d sent that text. This was just what she’d needed, a connection to her old life. She wouldn’t forget it, or him, just because of this new start of hers. He was family.

Now all she needed to do was kick Ranjit out of her thoughts for good, and she’d be sorted.