TWELVE
FATHER SHOWEDME to a parlour with a blue silk sofa and matching armchairs. I’d been to the Royal Occult Bureau in Oxford a few times, but I hadn’t seen such lovely furniture. The bureau didn’t spend a lot of money on comfortable armchairs and silk wallpaper. Still, the lovely room did nothing to ease the knot of worry in my belly. I sat on the armchair in front of my parents, feeling like a witness at a trial.
“When can Rennie leave the cell?” I asked.
Father plopped onto the sofa and sighed. “Rennie signed a contract.”
“The contract is poppycock,” I said, earning a glare from Mother. “He did nothing but protect me. Oliver wronged me.” The return of my memories was more than welcome though. The fear of being attacked and the pain of that day were still vivid in my mind, but at least I was aware of who Sandro was. He’d charmed me, and I’d fallen for his tricks only because I’d lost my memories. And he’d developed an obsession with me and was chasing me. Not that I could blame my parents or anyone else.
“We trusted Rennie. He has an impeccable record. The agents at the bureau talk highly of him. But we don’t know him well,” Mother said in an icy tone. “We couldn’t choose someone you were familiar with not to trigger your memories. The contract was the only protection we could give you.” Her lips flattened in a white slash. “You seem rather fond of him.”
“And he of you,” Father said, smiling.
“We’re only friends.” My answer came out in a rush of words that tripped over each other. “There’s nothing romantic between us.” I wasn’t sure if I was saying that because it was true or because I wanted to protect Rennie from being flogged. “I care for him very much. He’s been nothing but kind to me. Please I need to be with him.”
A strained silence fell after my last words. I didn’t sound like a woman trying to protect a friend.
“Darling.” Mother touched my hand. “He isn’t the man we wish to see you with. He’s an ordinary occult agent with an average salary. Not to mention the constant threat of being killed by one of the Unnaturals he encounters daily.”
“He isn’t so ordinary.” My tone was defensive. Mother’s words were scrubbing me like sand. “And I wouldn’t care about his position or salary... if I were interested in him, that is.” Father opened his mouth, but in a bold move that didn’t belong to me, I cut him off. “All I’m asking you is not to hurt him. There’s no need for that. He didn’t breach any rules.”
“He put you in danger,” Mother said in a low voice.
“But Oliver?—”
“Forget Oliver! He didn’t sign a contract with us. It was Rennie’s duty to take care of you, and he failed.” Mother rose. “Yes, Oliver has his faults, and so has Rennie. TheFlorentiais still moored at the port of Venice. We will retrieve your luggage and then return home, and that’s it.”
I remained still for a few moments. “No,” I said.
“Excuse me?” Mother tilted her head.
Father fiddled with his hands.
“I said no.” I stood up as well. “First, I’m not a child. I can make my own decisions, and I’ve decided to stay.”
“For what reason?” Mother asked, shock widening her eyes.
“I don’t want to run from an Unnatural. Now that my memories are back, I want to face my fear. I want to face this Unnatural who’s chasing me.” The confidence filling me now would be gone in half an hour, when I realised what I was getting myself into, but I meant what I said. “And I want Rennie to help me. We’ve started this trip together. We’re going to finish it together on board theSS Florentia. We paid for the whole trip.”
Father shook his head. “It’s too dangerous. You’re coming back home with us.”
“No,” I repeated, and it was liberating. “I don’t want to hide. I want to do something instead of fleeing, or I will flee for the rest of my life.”
Tension charged the air. It was the first time I’d challenged my parents. I’d always been obedient and meek, and I ended up being chased by an Unnatural and completely helpless. Not anymore.
“You want to bait the Unnatural to catch him.” My mother’s lips thinned. “This is too dangerous.”
“Sandro is hunting me. It’s time for me to become the hunter and him the prey. I would appreciate it if you freed Rennie from his cell.” I tilted my chin up. “We have a ship to board and an Unnatural to catch.”
I HADN’T EXPECTED my parents to agree to my decision so quickly. I must have been jolly convincing because ten minutes after my outburst, I was in a gondola, heading for the port, and Rennie was sitting next to me. They’d insisted on meeting me again in Ibiza though, a non-negotiable clause. Rennie was covered in cuts and bruises, but the shot of green serum he’d injected himself with was helping him heal. Because that was what the green serum did. It gave supernatural strength to the occult agents and healed them at uncanny speed, which explained how Rennie had healed so quickly from the stab. A doctor of the Demonic Unit had given me a shot as well, a small dose, just to help with the pain and burns. My skin was nearly normal now.
In the cramped space of the gondola, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He was so close to me I could touch his thigh when I stretched out a finger.
“How did you convince your parents to let you continue the cruise?” he asked, staring at me with wide eyes.
I withdrew my finger. “I simply told them the truth, that I didn’t want to run.” I shifted in the seat as the gondola sailed in the canal. “But to be honest, I have no idea how to catch Sandro. I don’t even know what kind of Unnatural he is.”
“I have an idea, and it’s not a pretty one.” His knee brushed against mine when the gondola rocked right and left, and my stomach gave a flip. I gazed up, and he licked his lips before resuming talking. “Your parents thought he was an incubus. That’s why they sent you away. But the fact he followed you bothered me. Incubi can develop an attachment to their prey but not so quickly. Not without...” He raised his eyebrows.
