Severed(21)

‘Usually,' Issa said, ignoring his sarcasm, ‘when things are blurry it's because there are still choices to be made that could change the outcome.' She hesitated. ‘You walking away, for example, leaving right now with me, could change things, make things clearer.'

‘Or not, as the case may be,' he answered back.

A hurt look crossed her face. ‘It would change things. I know it would. Don't do this, Lucas,' she said, her voice breaking as she spoke his name. ‘It's futile, you know that, you said it yourself. That's why the Sybll hid the prophecies, to stop people from trying. From trying and failing to change what will be. Enough people have died, Lucas, because of you interfering.'

She seemed to realise she had gone too far as she stopped abruptly, biting her lip.

It felt like a thorn was stuck in Lucas's throat when he tried to swallow. ‘Every single second of my life,' he said, ‘I will have to live with remembering what happened to the others. With the knowledge that I could have stopped it. I see Neena and Tristan's faces every minute of the day. I hear Grace's warnings. I see Risper dying. And I know it's all on me. Because of the choices I've made, people have died. And people are paying for my crimes. And don't think for a second that I don't hate myself for that. That I don't wish I could change it. But I can't. Whatever fate is pulling Evie in this direction is also pulling me. I'm as marked as she is. This feeling I have for her isn't something I can fight. I've tried that. It's pointless. As futile as trying to change the prophecy.' He drew a breath, and let it out slowly, holding Issa's gaze. ‘So the only thing I can do is keep moving forwards, make sure it does happen, sooner rather than later, and make sure that no one else gets hurt.'

A tear tracked a lonely path down Issa's cheek.

Lucas let the ache inside him subside and took a breath. Then he smiled at her. It's OK, he wanted to say to her, it's OK. But a noise made him turn his head, his ears pricking at the sound of footsteps across the concrete floor of the warehouse. He could feel Evie. She was coming towards them, getting closer. He turned quickly back to Issa. ‘You should leave,' he said.

She opened her mouth to say something, then shut it and nodded once. ‘Here, take this,' she said, pushing a bag quickly towards him.

He glanced down but before he could ask what it was Evie had walked up behind him and slipped her hands around his waist.

She pressed her cheek against his shoulder. ‘Hi,' she said.

Lucas breathed out, feeling the heat of her body seeping into his, feeling his sense of certainty returning. ‘Issa just came by to see we were OK,' he said, inclining his head towards Evie.

‘I'm just leaving,' Issa added.

‘Wait,' Evie called, as Issa made to leave.

Issa turned slowly back to face them, her shoulders stiff, her eyes flickering to Lucas.

‘Did you see something?' Evie asked, her voice shaking. ‘Is that why you're here? Is something going to happen to Lucas?'

Issa shook her head. ‘No,' she said, ‘I didn't see anything. I just came to bring you that.' She pointed to the bag by Lucas's feet. Then, without another word or a backwards glance at either of them, she walked off.

They watched her go and when she rounded the corner Evie turned to him. ‘Did she see something? Is there anything you're not telling me?' she asked.

‘No. She didn't see anything,' Lucas lied.

Evie studied him, her eyes blazing dark blue in the sunlight.

He held her gaze for as long as he could, then grabbed her around the waist and spun her towards the door. ‘Come on, let's get inside.'

She hesitated for a moment as though she wanted to ask him another question but then she took his hand without a word and let him lead her back inside.

It was only in the elevator that he noticed she didn't have any shoes on. And that she was looking hot. In both senses of the word. Tendrils of hair were slicked against the white of her throat. Her thin camisole was sticking to her body, her cheeks were flushed. She looked like she'd looked last night  –  unbelievably desirable.

It had taken every ounce of control he possessed to back off yesterday, at just the point he thought chivalry might have completely deserted him. But he didn't want to mess things up or rush anything. He wanted her to be sure. Which reminded him, he still needed to offer Cyrus some polite warnings about what he'd do if he ever heard him call Evie sexy again.

Evie noticed him looking at her and ran a hand self-consciously through her hair. ‘I need a shower,' she said. She pulled the damp top away from her body. ‘And a change of clothes.'

The elevator cranked to a halt and Lucas drew back the grille, sighing under his breath as he saw Cyrus standing there in front of them. A towel was slung loosely around his waist and he was dripping wet from the shower. He looked as if he had poured half a litre of baby oil over himself and then taken up position by the elevator, waiting for them to come back.

‘I don't have anything else to wear though,' Evie murmured, not appearing to have noticed Cyrus standing there half-naked and glistening in front of them. ‘We didn't think of that.'

‘You can borrow a shirt of mine if you want,' Cyrus grinned.

Definitely a warning was on the cards. Maybe not such a polite one either, Lucas thought to himself. He gritted his teeth and looked down, trying to stay calm, and then he noticed the bag that he was holding. He looked up, smiling. Issa's visions weren't all that faulty after all. ‘No, it's OK,' he said, offering the bag to Evie. ‘Issa brought us a change of clothes.'






     
 

      Chapter 22



She thought Cyrus was stopping for coffee, so she leapt out of the car and stood on the sidewalk, hands on hips, and blocked the entrance to the café and bookshop he'd pulled up in front of.

‘We've had breakfast. We've had lunch. We've had coffee. I don't need to buy any books today and, sorry to disappoint you, but it doesn't look like they sell comics or porn in here, so can we just get going and see your mum already?'

She had never known a man take so long in the bathroom. It was nearly five o'clock and it had taken Cyrus until then to prettify himself, arrange his hair, select his outfit, drink two cups of coffee, play a game of air hockey, rile Lucas with a dozen jokes about unhumans, and then finally locate his keys and drive them across town in his top-of-the-range Prius. Evie had sat in the front feeling the pressure coming at her from all sides like over-inflated air bags. She wasn't even sure how Cyrus had managed to drive straight seeing how he'd been permanently looking in the rear-view mirror as he engaged in some sort of one-way blinking contest with Lucas.

Cyrus tipped his head to one side, cool, sea-coloured eyes appraising her. He checked his watch. ‘That's where I'm heading now. You're making us late.' He nodded at the door.

Evie turned around. ‘Oh,' she said. ‘She works here?'

‘No. She owns here.'

‘Oh.'

Cyrus gave her a condescending smile and then breezed on past. Evie turned to Lucas. He gave her a small shrug and then they followed Cyrus who was holding the door open for them, one foot tapping impatiently. Cyrus waited until she'd passed, then let go of the door so it caught Lucas on the shoulder.

She heard Lucas make a sound in response, which could have been a curse, could have been him just clearing his throat. She didn't need to guess which.

‘Hi Cyrus!'

Evie looked up. A tall, skinny waitress with long braids was waving at Cyrus from behind the counter. Cyrus raised a hand in greeting. Then, from out of nowhere a squealing thing came barrelling towards them on platform heels. It pulled up in front of them and Evie saw it was a small blonde girl wearing a tight, midriff-exposing white shirt.

‘Hey Cyrus,' the girl said, thrusting her chest out and up towards his face. She was holding a tray on which were balanced two cups of coffee and a chocolate cupcake. Behind her, Evie could see two customers frowning at their delayed order.

‘Hey beautiful,' Cyrus said, his eyes grazing the girl's breasts.

‘Here to see your mum?' she asked, looking up at him with an expression that was one part hope and two parts desperation.

‘Nope, I'm here to see you, Marcy,' Cyrus answered, flashing her a wide smile.

The girl's face fell. ‘Marissa,' she said.

Cyrus swallowed his laugh. ‘Marissa,' he said, shaking his head. ‘I knew that.'

The girl scowled at him, her face scrunching up. ‘Sure you did.'

Cyrus grinned, then lifted the cupcake off the tray, leaning forward as he did so and planting a kiss on her cheek. ‘Is my mum here?' he asked.

‘She's upstairs,' the waitress replied slightly breathlessly. Evie tried to control the eyeball roll, which around Cyrus seemed to have become an automated response, similar to a gag reflex.

They followed Cyrus's lead through the café part of the shop, between smart LA couples nursing their coffees while playing with their iPads, towards a door behind the counter. Cyrus stopped to punch a code on the security system on the wall and Evie found herself suddenly being elbowed aside by the skinny waitress with braids who planted herself securely against Cyrus's thigh.

‘Hi,' she smiled, her lip-glossed lips reflecting Cyrus's nervous expression. ‘Did you lose my number or something? You said you'd call,' she said. Then bending closer towards him she dropped her voice. ‘The other night was  … '