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  Beth looked back at the first Jelvia as her teeth begin to chatter. It was fear—fear and adrenaline.

  She unclipped her seatbelt and stepped out of her car.

  Everyone had backed away from the sprawled woman the moment the Jelvias appeared. Even the man who’d fallen from his motorbike was nowhere to be seen. As usual, some affected their ‘can’t see Jelvias, won’t get hurt’ approach while others ran. Usually Beth would have been one of the runners, but since her encounter with Yash she didn’t fear the thought of Jelvias as much as she probably should.

  Beth took an uncertain step forward.

  She had an awful feeling that the broken figure of the woman was Macy Shaw.

  ELEVEN

  If a pebble, tossed into a pond, was a Jelvia, then the resulting ripples were the humans running and disappearing into the void of the water. Even though Beth felt like she’d been deserted in the middle of the carnage, she felt watched as she moved towards the lone Jelvia who was kneeling alongside the fallen woman.

  ‘Please don’t move her,’ Beth said to him. Even though he had made no attempt to touch the motionless woman, his hands hovered over her body as if he wanted to scoop her up but was afraid to do so.

  He glanced up, and Beth could tell he was surprised to see her. He hadn’t heard her approach, all his attention was with the woman on the ground. The Jelvia was startlingly good-looking despite the bloody nose and lip. As she neared, she noticed that his all-black eyes were shimmering with unshed tears.

  ‘Is she breathing?’ Beth asked him. She didn’t know where her sudden confidence came from. Maybe it was from being so close to finding Macy, though now it looked like her search might have been in vain. She felt she had nothing else to lose.

  ‘I…’ The Jelvia looked back at the figure on the ground.

  ‘It’s okay, I’ll check.’ Beth looked around at the empty street. She felt unseen eyes on her. ‘Has anyone called an ambulance?’ she shouted.

  ‘It’s on its way,’ a voice answered from somewhere.

  She looked back at the woman, who lay on her side with her arm at an unnatural angle. Beth felt for a pulse in the woman’s neck. It was there and strong.

  Thank god!

  ‘A good pulse,’ she said to the Jelvia.

  He nodded and attempted a smile, and his dimples winked at her.

  She shrugged out of her jacket and draped it over the woman. ‘Do you know her name?’ she asked.

  ‘Macy,’ he confirmed.

  Beth felt sick. She hoped she hid it. She leaned over the woman. ‘Hey, Macy, you’re okay. Just a few bumps.’ She glanced briefly at the Jelvia, who had an expression of utter devastation on his handsome face.

  Macy’s shoes were missing, and Beth spotted a single stiletto-heeled shoe a few metres away in the road. Beth rechecked Macy’s breathing and, reassured, glanced up at the Jelvia as he stood up. The Jelvia appeared at a loss as to what to do. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a mobile phone. He strode away while talking sharply into it.

  ‘Macy, hold in there. I need you,’ Beth whispered to the unconscious woman. Louder, she said, ‘The ambulance is on its way. Not long now.’

  It felt like ages, but it was only five minutes at the most before Beth heard sirens. She looked around for the Jelvia. He was standing a short distance away, watching her. His phone was back in his pocket. He looked over her head, and Beth followed his line of vision—an ambulance.

  It stopped beside Beth, and three paramedics jumped out.

  ‘What happened?’ one asked.

  ‘She fell from a moving car,’ Beth said. Her teeth began to chatter.

  ‘Are you okay, miss?’ he asked her.

  ‘Yes. I’m just a witness. I wasn’t involved.’ Beth looked around for the Jelvia. He hadn’t moved. It was as if he didn’t want to frighten the paramedics away. So far, they hadn’t noticed him. The Jelvia wasn’t dressed in traditional gear, but he was bloody and dishevelled. ‘Her name’s Macy. Macy Shaw,’ Beth offered.

  They checked Macy for life-threatening injuries, and then she was loaded onto a stretcher and placed inside. One of the paramedics turned to Beth, saying, ‘Are you a friend? Coming with us?’

  ‘Yes,’ Beth said. She began to move forward, but she was jerked backwards by a hand circling her upper arm.

  The paramedic noticed the Jelvia for the first time. He slammed the ambulance doors shut and raced to climb into his cabin.

  As the ambulance sped away, its lights flashing, the Jelvia said, ‘Macy Shaw? Where did you get that name?’

  Beth stared up at him, her mouth moving, but her voice was silent. Distantly, she heard sirens. The noise was coming towards them, not disappearing. The police were arriving.

  ‘Okay, we need to go. Is that yours?’ the Jelvia asked, moving and pointing towards her old car. His other hand was still tight around her arm.

  She nodded as he pulled her towards her Fiesta. She had to run to keep from falling and being dragged. He opened the passenger door and pushed her in. Then he circled the car and somehow folded his tall frame into the driver’s seat.

  ‘Keys,’ he said.

  Beth fumbled in her pocket and handed him her keys.

  He set the car into motion.

  Beth said nothing. She was incapable of talking at all. She clutched the sides of her seat and stared straight ahead. Suddenly she realised the Jelvia might think she had something to do with the accident.

  ‘I-I didn’t run her over,’ she said. Her lips were stuck to her teeth. ‘She f-fell from a moving car. I was just an observer.’

  ‘Just an observer? Not a friend of Macy’s, then?’

  Shit! He’d caught her out. Her face must’ve confirmed it as she stared at him, trying and failing to find words.

  Surprising Beth, he sighed, then said, ‘I’m sorry for frightening you. We’re heading towards the hospital. From there you’re free to go, but if I see you near Macy, I’ll kill you, do you understand?’

  ‘I… yes, I understand.’

  ‘So, if you’re not a friend and just an observer, how do you know Macy’s name?’

  ‘I don’t. Not really. I was looking for her—’

  ‘Who are you working for?’ he suddenly interrupted.

  ‘The Dog and Gun,’ she answered automatically.

  His eyes creased in sudden laughter, and those magnificent dimples appeared in his cheeks again. ‘A pub?’

  ‘Yes. M-my sister has been kidnapped by Jelvias, and I’m being blackmailed by a Jelvia—by Yash—he says if I do as he wants, he’ll let Lara go!’ She stopped, mortified that she’d blurted that out. She peeked at the Jelvia. He didn’t look at her, just carried on driving.

  ‘You’re talking about Yashthan?’

  ‘I—I guess so. He told me his name is Yash.’

  ‘Describe him,’ the Jelvia demanded.

  ‘He has a tattoo of a spider on his face,’ she said, remembering the tattoo with distaste.

  ‘Keep talking,’ he said.

  ‘A-about Yash?’

  He glanced at her. ‘No, about Macy. What has Macy got to do with you being blackmailed?’

  ‘I want her to help me. Maybe to have a word with Yash to stop blackmailing me and allow Lara home.’ She stopped and waited for him to speak, but he didn’t, so she felt compelled to fill the silence. ‘I found out Macy worked for London Echo and I got in and… but I got lost. It’s a big building. I asked a man the way to Macy’s office, and he thought I was Courtney, so when I went into Macy’s office, I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself as Courtney. It didn’t work. I was told to leave, but on my way out, I saw postcards on a notice board. I-I took them, and one of them was from Macy. The postcard was of the Seagull Estate here in Cornwall. In the hotel, I pretended to be Courtney again, and they confirmed Macy was staying there.’ She came to a stuttering halt, thinking he’d be angry.

  ‘Good sleuth work,’ he said.

  ‘This afternoon I found where Co
urtney lives, but no one was home. I put my name and number on a bit of paper and shoved it through the letterbox. A-and now, tonight, I was on my way back to their house when I saw… saw the accident.’

  ‘It wasn’t an accident,’ he said, and turned into the hospital carpark.

  He stopped the car but didn’t turn off the engine. He opened the car door and heaved his huge body out, then turned and bent to peer inside at her.

  ‘Okay, listen up. I have two pieces of advice for you: One, Jelvias do not blackmail or kidnap; and two, stay away from Macy and Courtney. Actually, the last isn’t advice, it’s an order.’ Then he stood up and closed her door.

  Beth watched him disappear into the accident and emergency department of the hospital. Then she climbed over the passenger’s seat to the driver’s side. She put her hands on the steering wheel and noticed them shaking.

  If Macy didn’t pull through her injuries, there’d be no one to help her. Beth didn’t know anything about this mysterious Courtney, other than that she was a close friend of Macy. She probably didn’t have the connections that Macy had with Jelvias.

  She drove back to the hostel. Inside, she showered and climbed into bed, her body still damp and her mind in turmoil

  TWELVE

  It was a long night, and Beth woke feeling hollow inside. She dressed and packed up her few belongings. Her phone flashed a text so she checked it, knowing it’d be from her dad. She wasn’t wrong. She had two missed calls and several texts asking, and then finally ordering, her to come home.

  She sent him a quick text to stop him from worrying:

  I’m OK. Coming back after lunch. x

  After she sent it, her phone immediately began to ring. It was her dad, but she didn’t have enough headspace for him at the moment. She needed to concentrate on visiting Macy in the hospital.

  Because of Alison’s accident, hospitals were a familiar place for Beth—she hated them, but if she was honest, she was more terrified of seeing the handsome Jelvia. He worried her, and she didn’t want to meet him again. His easy grin and cute dimples seemed a façade for danger. She much preferred Yash’s already dangerous-looking face. At least she knew where she stood with him.

  She was so nervous about entering the hospital that she hovered outside for twenty minutes, only going inside when a kindly old gentleman pushing his drip on a stand asked if she was okay. Inside, she went to the reception desk where she gave Macy’s details and was told she was in the intensive care unit.

  Beth kept close to the wall as she moved around the hospital corridors, her head down to look as inconspicuous as possible. ICU was on the other side of the hospital and Beth approached the reception desk nervously. She almost expected a tall, handsome Jelvia to grab her and throw her out of the hospital.

  ‘Hi, I’ve come to visit Macy. Macy Shaw. She was brought in last night,’ she added.

  ‘Are you a relation?’ a nurse asked wearily.

  ‘Yes. A cousin.’

  The nurse pointed behind her. ‘She’s in the second room on the left. But she already has two visitors so you’ll have to wait until one of them leaves. It’s a two-visitor per bed rule.’

  ‘Can I just see who the visitors are?’ asked Beth.

  The nurse had already gone back to her paperwork and just grunted a reply. Beth took that as a positive and edged forward. At the open door, she peeked in and saw two blond-haired women sitting beside Macy’s bedside with their backs to the door. At least there was no Jelvia.

  Beth knocked on the opened door to gain their attention, and the women turned around.

  ‘Hi. I’m a friend of Macy. How’s she doing?’ Beth asked as two pairs of blue eyes stared at her.

  One of the women looked a decade or two older than the other. The younger must be Courtney; her long blond hair was flaxen, unlike Beth’s yellow hair and black roots. She had cuts to her face though. In fact, she looked a little battered. The older woman had the same button nose and wide blue eyes. Beth wondered if they were mother and daughter.

  ‘She’s doing really well,’ the older woman said as the younger, Courtney, looked on in suspicion.

  Beth approached the bed. ‘Have you spoken to the doctors yet?’

  The older woman opened her mouth to answer her, but Courtney interrupted, asking, ‘And who are you?’

  Beth had already decided to be honest with her name. ‘I’m Bethany Roberts.’ She glanced at Macy, and realised Macy was awake and staring at her. She was attached to several machines, looking pale and small amid them. Beneath the skullcap she wore, her face was deathly pale—apart from the side, which displayed a purple bruise. There was padding around her jaw, and one eye was swollen, black, and closed. The other eye glinted at her.

  ‘I don’t know you,’ she croaked.

  Courtney stood up, her chair squeaking. ‘She’s a reporter. I’ll get rid of her.’

  ‘No, please. I’m not a reporter,’ Beth said, raising her hands at Courtney. ‘I left a message for you at your house to call me. I need your help.’

  ‘My house?’ asked Courtney frowning.

  The older woman searched through her handbag and pulled out the piece of paper that Beth recognised as the one she’d pushed through the letterbox. She held it up. ‘Is this your message?’

  Beth swallowed and nodded. If she’d thought she had an ally in the other woman, she was wrong. She looked as unfriendly as her daughter. Beth nodded. ‘Yes, and I left one at the hotel, Seagull Estate. I left it with reception.’

  ‘Well, this doesn’t say much,’ the older woman said.

  Courtney took the note from her and read it. ‘Do we look like we can help you?’ she said scornfully, waving an arm towards Macy and herself.

  ‘I know you’ve been through a terrible ordeal.’ Beth suddenly had a thought that both women had been in the car when Macy had fallen. Maybe they’d been abducted, and Macy hadn’t been pushed but had bailed out in the only way she’d known, leaving her friend in the car with the kidnapper. ‘And I know this is poor timing on my part, but once you’re well,’ she said, turning and directing her words to Macy, ‘please will you call me?’

  But Macy’s other eye was closed now, and her breathing had slowed; she was asleep. At least, Beth hoped she was sleeping. She glanced at the heart monitor and was relieved to see a steady trace. She glanced back at Macy and felt a wave of compassion for her. One of her arms was in a cast, the other hidden beneath the hospital regulation sheets. Her fingers, peeping out from the cast, were black and blue.

  Seeing Macy like this now reminded her of her mum after the car crash. It was almost identical to how Alison had been after the accident—only Alison had slipped into a coma for many months afterwards.

  ‘What are you looking so upset for? You don’t know her!’ Courtney’s words brought her back to the present.

  Beth baulked at Courtney. ‘I…’ she floundered. ‘I—it just brought back memories of my own, that’s all.’

  ‘Been shoved out of a moving car, have you?’ Courtney sneered.

  Beth felt the horror prickling the skin on her face. Before she could speak, Courtney’s mum said, ‘Right, I think you should leave.’

  ‘But—please, can you give my message to Macy? I need her help—’

  ‘Enough!’ Courtney’s mum stood up. She pointed to the door. ‘Macy will deal with this when she’s ready. Now go.’

  ‘Wow! Go, Mum!’ said Courtney.

  ‘I’ll only go if you promise to give Macy my phone number,’ said Beth, standing her ground. She felt terrible and hoped the desperation didn’t put them off.

  ‘What, this?’ said Courtney, holding up her scrap of paper. She scrunched it up in her hands.

  Beth looked at her in horror. ‘Please, it really is a matter of life and death. M-my sister has been abducted by Jelvias. I heard that Macy is friends with Jelvias and—’

  ‘Oh, fuck off,’ said Courtney.

  ‘Courtney, not in a hospital!’ admonished her mum.

  �
�Please don’t throw away my number,’ Beth beseeched Courtney. ‘Please. Macy is the only person who can help me. My sister—’

  ‘I won’t tell you again,’ Courtney’s mum warned and took a step forward. Her face was stony-looking. ‘I’m sick and tired of people thinking they can mess with my family. Leave now before I call security.’

  Beth looked at her in horror, knowing she’d blown it. But she felt she had to try with one last plea. ‘Please, let Macy have the final say on whether to call me or not. I’m going, but please don’t throw my number away.’

  Her final plea must have touched a nerve with the older woman because compassion flashed in her icy blue eyes. She held out her hand towards Courtney, saying, ‘Courtney, give me the note.’

  ‘Mum!’ Courtney protested but handed the crumpled piece of paper over anyway.

  ‘Thank—’ Beth began, but the older woman held up a hand to silence her while tucking the number into the pocket of her jeans with the other.

  ‘I will be the judge on whether Macy gets your number or not when she’s well again. Now leave,’ she said.

  Beth was nodding all through the exchange. ‘Thank you, thank you so much—’

  ‘Not you again!’ interrupted a male voice.

  THIRTEEN

  Beth spun round. Her colour left her face dramatically on seeing the Jelvia. He was dressed as casually as the night before, but he’d cleaned up and smelled extremely good. His eyes were covered with sunglasses. He passed Beth and leaned across Macy’s bed to gently kiss her forehead.

  Macy murmured and opened her one good eye. She smiled, and her entire body seemed to relax on seeing him. Then she appeared to fall asleep again.

  Beth had begun to sidle out, but a large hand snaked across and grabbed her wrist. He righted himself from Macy and looked at Beth. ‘What did I say I’d do if I saw you anywhere near Macy, hmmm?’

  ‘That you’d kill me,’ Beth whispered back.

  ‘So let’s go,’ he said and made as if to drag her from the hospital ward.

  ‘No, please! Macy!’ Beth yelped, but Macy didn’t wake up.