To find out more about this book or to contact the author, please visit:
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Copyright © 2017 Karyn Sepulveda
ISBN: 978-1-925590-08-1 (eBook)
Published by Vivid Publishing
P.O. Box 948, Fremantle Western Australia 6959
www.vividpublishing.com.au
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For Mum and Dad.
Thank you for your support, love and encouragement.
CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Epilogue
PROLOGUE
March 1961, Sydney
Sophia gripped the metal handrail, watching the veins in her thin hands pulsate rhythmically. Soon, the flow of blood would stop, she thought. She would never have to worry about the fighting, the screaming, the hatred, ever again. Sophia closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh air. It smelled of trees, of rain and of peace. She wasn’t scared now; the pain would soon be gone. She would soon be gone. Sophia opened her eyes, gazing at the thick bush that filled the deep valley beneath her. She quickly glanced behind her, to make sure no-one was around. She didn’t want to traumatise anyone by dying in front of them. But the bridge was deserted. Sophia looked straight up into the drizzly grey sky and then she simply stepped off.
As she fell, Sophia didn’t think of anything. Her life didn’t flash before her eyes; she didn’t feel regret or fear. She just fell; completely aware of the wind rushing through her, the tiny droplets of rain splattering her face, the weightlessness of her empty stomach and then… Nothing. It was over.
‘Hold still. Don’t try to move. Not yet.’ A deep voice filled the darkness. Sophia was thrashing about, lying amidst broken branches and thick wet grass. Her arms and legs seemed to be moving by themselves. Her back arched, creating a nauseating crunch. She opened her eyes, but everything was blurry. She managed to focus on her hand, staring at the blue veins that had not changed. She was still alive. How?
‘OK, now, let’s take it slowly. Can you try to sit up?’ That voice again.
Sophia squinted. Someone was hunched over, cradling her in his slender arms. The stranger brushed the hair from her eyes and helped ease her to a sitting position. Their faces were close now and he was wiping something wet from her cheeks. He was an angel, she realised. He had to be. All the crap she’d gone through in her life had been worth it. She was in heaven and this was an angel greeting her.
‘Well, you must be OK if you’re smiling. I’m Nathan; it’s nice to meet you, Sophia.’ The angel put his arm around Sophia and guided her to her feet.
Sophia looked down at her body. She was soaked, muddy, and her clothes ripped to shreds. But there was not a scratch on her. She’d felt crushing pain for a moment, she remembered, before she’d blacked out. But now, here in heaven, everything was OK. Sophia, for the first time in many years, felt OK. She must have been smiling again because the angel was smiling too.
‘Sophia, do you feel OK?’ he asked.
She nodded her head. ‘Are we going to stay here?’ She asked, wondering where the fluffy white clouds she’d heard about in primary school were.
‘No, I’m going to take you back to my place. Is that OK?’
‘Is it a cloud?’ Sophia asked as Nathan took her hand in his and began walking up the steep, bushy wall of the valley.
Nathan chuckled. ‘No, just a regular flat I’m afraid. Are you sure you’re OK? How much do you know about transitioning? Physically, you regenerated perfectly. But it must be a lot to absorb.’
Transitioning, regenerating – what funny ways to describe death, Sophia thought.
‘I’m OK. I wanted this. I didn’t want to live anymore, so I guess that’s why I regenerated or transitioned or whatever so well. I’m happy to be dead. I didn’t think it would feel so, real.’
Nathan stopped walking and turned to face her. He was higher up and towered over Sophia, but there was not a single intimidating feature in this man. Everything about him was gentle and calm. His soft brown hair fell easily around his delicate face. And blue eyes that Sophia imagined herself swimming in radiated kindness. Sophia felt an odd sensation around him; trust.
‘Sophia, you’re not dead. You’re sixteen today, you’ve transitioned.’
‘I jumped from a bridge. I’m dead,’ Sophia said. Of course she was dead. But as Nathan shook his head, she couldn’t explain why she knew that she wasn’t. That something else had happened.
‘You’re not dead,’ Nathan repeated. ‘Actually, your real life has just begun. You’re a Xaverique, Sophia.’
March 1963, Sydney
Sophia held Nathan tightly. ‘Why do you have to go?’
Nathan wrapped his arms around Sophia. ‘I’m going to the shops, we need groceries.’
‘We can survive without food, we’re strong enough,’ Sophia said and kissed Nathan firmly on the lips. He returned her kiss, but pulled away when she started running her fingers through his hair.
‘Soph, I’m hungry. I’ll be back in an hour OK?’
Sophia sighed loudly and threw herself onto the huge bed. She laid her head on the soft pillow. ‘Fine, but get me some chocolate.’
Nathan laughed and kissed her on the forehead. ‘I forget how young you are sometimes. Chocolate it is.’
Sophia sat up and threw one of the pillows at him. ‘Eighteen is not that young!’
‘Of course it isn’t.’ Nathan threw the pillow back and Sophia ducked.
‘I’ll see you soon,’ Nathan said and whistled as he closed the door to their apartment behind him.
Sophia smiled and lay back down on the comfortable bed. She still wasn’t used to feeling so happy. She and Nathan had been living together for over two years, ever since the day he found her broken, under the bridge. She could barely remember the desperate misery she had felt during the days before she decided to jump. The life she’d had before Nathan was now just a blur.
She continued to smile as she ran a hot bath and began undressing. As she slipped her dress off and stepped into the steaming water, she thought about Nathan’s eyes. They were blue, but not just any blue; they were the dark blue of the ocean. Every time she looked into them she felt she would always be happy. Sophia bunched up a dry hand towel and placed it under her head to act as a pillow as she lay in the lavender-scented bath. She breathed in deeply and felt happiness reach every part of her body. Yes, she was undoubtedly the luckiest Xaverique that ever existed.
Sophia woke with a start. The water was cold and the bathroom had darkened. She was shivering and reached for a towel. She wrapped it around her body and rubbed at her arms, trying to warm up. She heard the front door close.
‘Nathan?’ Sophia called out and opened the bathroom door. Nathan was standing in the entrance. He was looking around the apartment.
‘Sophia, ah, hello,’ he said in his deep voice. He had no shopping bags with him.
‘Where’s the groceries?’
‘Oh,’ Nathan glanced at his empty hands. He looked up again and this time he smiled. ‘I must have forgotten them.’
‘But you were so hungry. Did you eat out? Where have you been?’
‘I had something to attend to.’ Nathan walked slowly towards Sophia and she got the goosebumps. She wasn’t sure if it was because she was still cold from the bath or if it was a warning. Something about Nathan was different.
He stood in front of her and looked her up and down. She pulled the towel tighter and shivered.
‘So what did you do?’ she asked again.
Nathan glared at her.
‘None of your business.’ Sophia took a step back. Something was very wrong. Nathan had never spoken to her like that before. His voice was different too; it was coarse and cold. He threw his head back and laughed.
‘Take a joke will you? Actually, I think I will go back out and eat. See you.’ He looked into her eyes for a moment, then turned and stormed out. Sophia’s body froze, as she realised his eyes were no longer blue; they were black.
Before this week ends, I will lose three people I love. Two will die and one will succumb to the darkness that has been assailing them for so long. If I went back in time, I’m not sure there’s a thing I could have done to stop any of it. The guilt lies with one person; Sophia. And I will never forgive her.
ONE
I was walking through a dark alley and my heart was pounding. Not because of the heavy footsteps of the huge man behind me. But because of what I was about to do to him. I spun around and the giant of a man stopped suddenly. He was unshaven and had greasy hair that had obviously not been washed in months. Wearing a long soaking coat with holes in it and walking in bare feet despite the cold rain, he looked like a typical bum. If I had passed him sitting on the corner of a street I would have given him a few coins and felt sorry for the poor guy that had no home. But he was not sitting on some corner; he was following me, with a large knife in his hand, and he was planning on robbing me and possibly even worse. He opened his mouth to speak and even in the dark, I noticed the disgusting yellow and brown staining of his teeth. Before he could say a word I kicked the knife from his hand. The force sent the man stumbling backwards. He regained his balance fairly quickly and grinned.
‘Tough girl are ya?’ He slurred and lurched towards me with his arms outstretched.
I grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm behind his back until I heard it crack. Then I lifted my knee into his crotch. He howled and fell to the ground. I placed my foot on top of his chest and crouched over him.
‘If I ever hear that you’ve attacked a girl again, next time it will be your neck I break. Understood?’
‘You bi-’ I pressed down with my foot and heard two further cracks from his ribcage. I swallowed hard.
He cried out in pain and nodded his head furiously. I stepped away.
‘That’s good.’ I turned and walked away, ignoring the guilt that was like lead in my stomach, as he whimpered. I reminded myself of the three girls, no older than me, whom he’d put in hospital during the past few months. I pulled my jacket around me tightly and heard a loud knocking from behind me. I spun around and saw that the man had sat up and was holding what looked like a small wooden door. He was staring straight at me and knocking loudly. He smiled and said, ‘Gabby, are you home?’
My eyes flew open and I sat up. I looked around my bedroom. My clothes from the night before were strewn all over the floor and bright sunlight crept in through the gap in my heavy curtains. It was morning; it was over. The man wasn’t in the street anymore; he was in a hospital bed under police guard. My room still looked blurry so I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. What had woken me?
‘Gabby, would you open the door already,’ Mia called from the front porch. I could picture her with her hands on her hips and her foot tapping. I squinted at my alarm clock; it was already 11 am. I kicked my warm covers off and rolled out of bed. I winced when my feet touched the cold floorboards. It was already spring but still freezing in the mornings. I wrapped my fluffy pink dressing gown around me and caught a glimpse of myself in the wardrobe mirror as I opened my bedroom door; I looked like a marshmallow. I thought about taking it off, but it was only Mia and I was too cold to care.
‘Hurry up, it’s cold out here!’ Mia’s voice was higher pitched now. She was the most impatient person ever.
I unlocked the door and yanked it open.
‘Huh, you dressed up for me,’ Mia chuckled as she kissed me on the cheek. She gasped and pulled away from me. ‘Oh my God, you smell, Gabby, what were you doing? You smell all,’ she leaned in again and breathed in deeply before screwing her nose up, ‘sweaty and dirty and … eww … like onions or something.’
‘Thanks a lot, I love you too, Mia,’ I said and walked off towards the bathroom. She closed the front door and followed me down the hallway.
‘I’ve never smelt you before. I mean, you’ve never been stinky before. What did you do?’ She sat on the edge of the bath as I brushed my teeth at the bathroom sink.
‘It’s from last night. I was too tired to take a shower. I went patrolling by myself.’ I looked up at the mirror after I spat the toothpaste out and saw Mia’s eyes grow rounder behind me. She did that every time I spoke about anything to do with being a Xaverique. She was so easy to frighten.
‘Did you…? I mean were there any…’ her voice was all hushed as though we were talking about the biggest secret in the world.
‘Mmhmm. I sort of beat this guy up. You know those three girls who were attacked last week at Castle Hill Towers? He was the guy who did it. He was homeless I think, or maybe just spending a lot of his time out on the streets. Anyway, he won’t be hurting anyone else for a very long time. Hopefully never again.’
‘What did you do to him?’ Mia’s face had gone a little white, but she’d managed to get her voice back to normal. I smiled and turned around to face her.
‘Nothing bad. I just pushed him a little bit and warned him away. I’m pretty sure it worked.’ Mia nodded and the colour returned to her face.
‘I want to come with you one day. It would be so amazing,’ Mia was smiling, but it was forced. She was the best to talk to about anything and everything. She knew all about my powers and how I worked with my dad and grandmother Sophia. She acted very excited that I had chosen to become a Xaverique, but I knew deep down it freaked her out. I think it still even freaked me out.
I grabbed her hands and pulled her up off the bathtub. ‘Mia, you are the best, best friend in the world, could you please, pretty please make me a hot chocolate and toast while I have my shower?’ I hugged Mia and she pushed me off, making gagging noises.
‘You are soo gross right now, Gabby. Yes I’ll make your bloody breakfast, just get off me and promise to scrub hard, OK?’ Mia said and gave me one last ‘you disgust me’ scowl before she shut the bathroom door.
I stayed in the shower for over twenty minutes. I washed my hair twice and scrubbed every inch of my body, first with soap, then with Mum’s body wash. Mia was right, I really had smelled. I would have to burn my clothes from the night before, and probably my pyjamas and bed sheets too. That guy had probably not showered for months and he’d been all over me. I thought about how disgusted the girls he’d attacked must have been when he was on top of them, his revolting body violating them so horribly. Any guilt I felt about his injuries evaporated when I thought of their suffering.
Mia had made us both a Milo and two pieces of toast each, mine soaked in honey and hers covered in thick brown Vegemite.
‘And you call me gross. How can you eat that stuff?’ I asked as she shoved the toast into her mouth and I sat down next to her at the kitchen table.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she mumbled with her mouth full.
I sipped my Milo; it was hot and sweet and seemed to seep through my body.
‘So what do you want to do today?’ I asked.
Mia shrugged. ‘I don’t really care, maybe the shops or something? Pablo and the guys are going to be at the Towers at about 4 or something. Maybe we could meet up with them later?’
I nodded. ‘Yeah OK,’ I said, trying to sound enthusiastic. Pablo was Mia’s boyfriend. He was nice and everything but it was pretty boring when we went out with him and his friends. He and Mia were off in their own little lala land and his friends only talked about soccer and food.
‘Or we could go to the movies if you want?’ I suggested.
‘Yeah, let’s do that. What’s out?’ Mia took out her phone out and looked up the times of movies. I shovelled in the rest of my toast.
‘OK, awesome. It’s 11.30 now and there’s a good one that starts at 12.30. We could watch that and then meet up with Pablo just for like an hour or so after it. Go get dressed now, Gabby, I’ll clean up these things.’ Mia took my plate from me and I fought the urge to give my bossy best friend a kick in her ass.
As I walked down the hallway there was a loud knock on the door.
‘Gabby, are you home?’ It sounded like Graeme.
‘Someone’s at the door, Gabby,’ Mia called from back in the kitchen.
‘What would I do without you?’ I called out and went to open the front door. I opened it just as Graeme was about to knock again. He froze with his fist raised.
‘You’re home,’ he said and smiled.
TWO
‘Hey, Graeme, what’s happening?’ I said and opened the door a little wider.
‘Nothing. Is your father home?’ he asked and I laughed.
‘My father? You’re so formal, sir. No, everyone’s at Zac’s soccer game.’ Graeme smiled back but looked past me up the hallway.
‘Oh, that’s right, it’s soccer day, isn’t it?’ Graeme pushed past me and walked straight down the hallway to the kitchen. He was way too comfortable in this house, I thought. Even Mia waited to be invited in and she was here pretty much every single weekend.
‘Hi, Graeme,’ Mia said as she dried the dishes.
‘Hi,’ Graeme replied and sat down at the kitchen table. ‘What are you lovely girls planning on doing today?’ he said and folded his hands in the most peculiar way on the table. He sort of wrapped them around each other over and over again; it looked really uncomfortable.
‘Gabby, I’m going to quickly run home and get my wallet. Hurry up and get dressed. I’ll be back in five minutes. Bye, Graeme.’ Mia wiped her wet hands on a tea towel and took off down the hall and out the front door. She only lived two streets away, but I knew she’d be at least 20 minutes – she had never run anywhere in her life.
I looked back at Graeme and hoped he would leave now that he knew I was in a rush. But he sat perfectly still, except for his hands which he kept folding and unfolding.
‘Aren’t you working today?’ I asked.
Dad was at the soccer and I was pretty sure Sophia was there too. Graeme should have been at the office monitoring Zlanythe and his group. It had been six months since we’d all but destroyed his group and they’d moved to the Blue Mountains. They were still living in the same house and things had been fairly quiet. They came and went, of course, in different cars all the time. There didn’t seem to be much to be concerned about. Even Sophia had relaxed – slightly. She still insisted on continuing the monitoring diligently. She kept saying that if we weren’t careful Zlanythe would surprise us.
‘Just taking a break. I wanted to see Danny, but obviously I missed him.’
‘Yeah, too bad. You should go meet him at the soccer; you might catch the last few minutes.’ I hoped he would take a hint. I liked Graeme, he was cool for an old guy, but I didn’t want to sit around with him; and I desperately wanted to get out of my stupid pink dressing gown. I was surprised Graeme hadn’t teased me about it yet.
‘No, there would be no point. I’ll just wait for him here.’ Graeme smiled again. He was staring intently at his hands, but I could tell he was watching me as well. I looked at him carefully. There was something very weird about him today; not just the way he was acting, but he looked different too. I rubbed my eyes, which still had a bit of sleep in them despite all the scrubbing, and focused on his face.
‘What? Seeing things, Gabby?’ Graeme smirked. Definitely weird. He was giving me the creeps. I racked my brain trying to remember if I’d ever been completely alone with him before. I hoped he wasn’t like one of those perverts you hear about on the news who put on an act to gain the trust of their victims and then, bang, when you least expect it, they attack. I pulled my dressing gown tightly around my waist, suddenly very conscious that I was only in my bra and undies underneath it.
I stood up. ‘I’m going to go and get changed. And I’ll call Dad, let him know you’re waiting. I’m sure he’ll be back any minute.’
Graeme nodded. ‘I’m sure he will. Take your time, Gabby. I’m not going anywhere.’
I quickly went back to my room and shut the door behind me. I pulled off my robe and shoved it in my wardrobe. I searched through the clothes scattered all over my floor, eventually settling on my dark denim jeans and a long-sleeved black top. As I did up my jeans, something clicked to me; Graeme had been calling my name at the door. He hadn’t called out to Dad; he’d known he wasn’t home. I shook my head. No way. I’d known Graeme my whole life and had worked with him for months. I would have known if he was a weirdo, wouldn’t I? Just then my phone vibrated; it was still on my bedside table, switched to silent. My hand was shaking a little when I picked it up. It was a text message. My heart stopped when I saw who it was from; Noah.
I had deleted and reinstalled his number a dozen times but I’d never expected to ever talk to him again. As I pressed the button to open the message, my heart beat a little quicker. Maybe he had finally left Zlanythe and – ‘Look at his eyes!’ I dropped my phone onto the bed. I don’t know why I knew what he meant but somehow I did. My stomach felt as though it had fallen through the floor. I walked, very slowly, over to my bedroom door and silently opened it. I crept down the hall and stood in the kitchen doorway. Graeme was staring at his hands, rubbing them over each other. He stopped and slowly raised his gaze to me. I glared at him, straight into the black eyes of the most evil creature in this world; Zlanythe.
‘You’re a clever little thing aren’t you? You didn’t let me have any fun,’ Graeme’s voice said. I had to remind myself that the man sitting at my table was really Zlanythe.
I ignored my trembling legs and stood a little straighter. ‘Where’s Graeme?’
Zlanythe laughed. It sounded so much like Graeme’s laugh that it shocked me. I had a flash of Graeme a couple of weeks ago, telling us about a bird that had flown into his house and broke every glass he owned before he’d been able to get it out. He had bellowed with laughter, just like Zlanythe did right now.
‘Graeme is right here. You’re not blind are you, Gabby?’
‘Where is he?’ I asked again and held onto the door frame to steady myself. I quickly tried to formulate a plan. I would keep Zlanythe talking as long as I could. I had no idea of the amount of power he had regained now. He certainly wasn’t the frail skeleton we had last seen.
Somehow he had made himself look like Graeme; that could mean he had all of Graeme’s powers. And possibly still his own. I couldn’t chance fighting him alone. I stole a glance at the microwave clock, it was 11.40. If Dad came straight home after the game he’d be here in less than 10 minutes. I had to keep Zlanythe talking that long. And I just had to hope that Mia would be an extra slow walker today and not arrive first.
Zlanythe shuffled in his seat, sitting a little taller.
‘Graeme’s having a rest. But I’m more interested in where Sophia is.’
‘Sophia has gone away. She went overseas.’ Looking into Zlanythe’s eyes was like looking into a nightmare; desperate emotions of fear and sadness swept over me. I directed my gaze to Graeme’s mouth instead.
‘Really? Well, that’s a shame. I wanted to say hello.’ Zlanythe smiled. It was just like Graeme’s smile, only there was no warmth.
‘Have you hurt Graeme?’
‘Define hurt.’ Zlanythe leaned back in his chair and placed his hands behind his head.
‘Is Graeme still alive?’ I knew the answer already. I could tell by the smile on his face that Graeme was dead. I felt sick.
‘I’m sure you can see that Graeme is alive and well.’
I could barely think. How could Graeme be dead? ‘What do you want?’ I flinched at how shaky my voice was.
Zlanythe’s smile disappeared. He dropped his arms onto the wooden kitchen table; the solid wood split with a loud crack.
‘What do you think I want?’
‘Revenge.’
‘No, revenge is not enough. A word has not yet been invented for what I want. What I will get.’ The black in Zlanythe’s eyes seemed to get smaller then expand again; almost as though his eyes would explode.
My phone jumped to life in my back pocket.
‘Tell Noah I said hello.’ Zlanythe leaned back again.
I pulled my phone out. ‘I’m outside. He’ll know I’m here. Stay calm.’
Zlanythe stood up. ‘I will see myself out now. Enjoy what’s left of your life, Gabby.’
Zlanythe strode past me, Graeme’s chequered shirt brushing my arm. He kicked the front door open, which was ridiculous because it wasn’t even locked. The wooden door was jolted from its frame and by the time it had flown through the front yard and landed in the middle of the street, Zlanythe was gone.
I walked slowly to the doorway and peered out to the side of the house; at the tree I forced myself not to look at every day. Noah’s tree. It had been almost six months since I’d last sat with Noah in that tree. Now, he was standing beneath it. I wasn’t sure what to do.
The last time I’d seen him, he’d told me I was his enemy. He chose to be evil instead of being with me. But my stomach still lurched when I saw him. His face was softer than the last time I’d seen him, his eyes full of warmth. His hair had grown, sort of falling over his forehead now, which made his dark green eyes look even more amazing. His lips moved in to an almost smile. Maybe he was finally coming to his senses. But then he turned and disappeared. He moved even faster than Zlanythe. I stood in my doorway, holding on to the broken doorway, and stared at the empty tree.
THREE
It can’t be him. It can’t be him, was all I could think as I ran to Zac’s soccer ground. It was about a forty-minute walk away, so I had to use my powers. I tried to use as many back streets as I could and just hoped that if anybody did see me, they would be too confused to understand what was speeding past. As much as I wanted there to be another explanation for Graeme’s black eyes, for the hate that had radiated from him, I knew there was only one; Graeme was dead and somehow Zlanythe had managed to take over his body. I slowed to a normal running pace as I reached the street behind the soccer field. I was a little out of breath, I’d run faster than I was used to. I scanned the parents huddled around the sidelines. Dad was easy to spot, his arms were flying around as he shouted at the ref. Mum was sitting on a fold-out chair, sipping coffee and looking serene.
Mum saw me first as I made my way through the other spectators. Her face lit up and she waved, just like she always did when she saw me. She had this way of making me feel like she was always thrilled to see me. Dad smiled too but then went back to ordering the coach around. My stomach lurched about. How was I going to tell Dad that his best friend was dead? And that Zlanythe was still alive.
*
Graeme wasn’t used to panicking. He didn’t know how to slow his heartbeat or stop shaking. Zlanythe stood before him, looking stronger than Graeme had seen him in the many years they’d been watching him. He had no idea how the shrivelled, decaying creature they’d left Zlanythe as, was now towering over him.
‘What do you want, Zlanythe?’ Graeme cringed as his voice broke. Zlanythe took a step closer, and peered down at him. Graeme knew not to look into his eyes, so stared at his wrinkled chin instead.
‘I want many things.’ Zlanythe placed his hand on Graeme’s shoulder and squeezed. Graeme knew he should try to fight back. He was a lot younger than Zlanythe; he could at least put up a fight. But something inside of him felt broken, like a car without an engine. He felt useless … he knew he’d already lost. Zlanythe tilted his head and cackled.
‘Don’t disappoint me now, Graeme. I had hoped for at least a slight pretense of a fight.’