The Hurst Chronicles (Book 1): Hurst (35 page)

“Hatch, get over here.”

He gestured towards the gentle giant of a man, who wandered closer.

“How long have we known each other? Five, no six years. You my friend have one job. You know what it is? To ensure my safety. To stop people like her trying to do me harm.”

“Yes boss, it was like this...”

“No explanation needed Hatch. You did your best. I get that. I can’t ask for more. And yet your best is not good enough. Not by a long stretch of the imagination. You let this, this feeble woman, smuggle a knife in close without anyone even noticing.”

“Sorry boss, it won’t happen again.” He was all of six feet four inches and yet he looked like a scolded schoolboy.

“That’s right Hatch, it won’t happen again.”

Briggs stepped back and braced himself against the raised outer wall of the castle and kicked hard into the small of Hatch’s back. Despite his size, he was off balance and the railing did little to arrest his forward momentum. He crashed through the barrier and plummeted some hundred feet down on to the rocks below.

Terra and Victor followed his flailing arms and brief fall, hearing his skull crack against the stone foundations of a storage shed. Terra could just make out the slow trickle of blood from a head wound dripping onto the white stone and start pooling beneath his body.

Briggs turned to face Victor.

“Victor. Looks like a position in my organization has just opened up. Do you want in?”

Victor was staring down at the man’s body, whose left foot was still twitching below. He looked up into Briggs’s expressionless eyes and nodded. Briggs turned his back on them and started walking away.

“You can start by clearing up that mess and get that railing fixed. It was an accident waiting to happen.”

Victor nodded and mumbled his assent, hurrying after his new boss. He stopped and turned to find Terra still staring at the crumpled body below, its shape twisted awkwardly, broken against the rock.

“Come on. Let’s get you inside and back in your cell. We’ve had enough excitement for one day.”

Terra looked up with tears in her eyes, shivering in the cold morning breeze. She took a step towards the edge, backing away from him.

“Don’t come any closer or I’ll jump.”

Victor stared at her motionless.

“We both know that’s not going to happen. Don’t we?” he said mocking her.

“I’ll do it. Don’t think I’m not capable,” said Terra shaking her head, her whole body trembling with fear and adrenaline.

“Oh, I know you’re capable Terra. But I also know that you won’t jump.”

“Don’t be so sure. You don’t know what I’ve done to survive. You underestimate me.”

“You’re wrong, I hold you in the highest regard. You’re like me, Terra. You’re an opportunist. You’re adaptable. That’s why you’ve survived because you evolve and adapt, stay close to those in power. Bide your time, make the most of a good thing. I like that, you’re like me.”

She looked confused and relaxed a fraction, puzzling over his words.

“Stick around Terra. Things are about to get interesting, don’t you think? Don’t give up now, just when you’ve landed yourself a position of influence. Those others he took. The hostages. They were worthless. Nobodies. No good to me. He will try to trade them, or hold them as a human shield perhaps. Whereas you Terra. You’re the key to Hurst. The Queen of Hurst he calls you. You could help unite these disparate groups. He needs you. Stay close to Briggs and you’ll be at the heart of this growing rebellion against the Americans. Just imagine, riches and power beyond your wildest dreams. If we work together we can rule this new world. It’s ours for the taking, don’t you think?”

She put her hand back against the railing post behind her, blinking back at him, digesting his offer of partnership. Victor seized his chance and reached out to grab her sleeve before she could react.”

“Don’t touch me. You’re wrong. You’re as bad as the rest of them. You all deserve to die.”

He slapped her hard across the face and hauled her away from the precipice, dragging her back towards the stairs to the main building. Terra took one last look across the countryside to the north and west. She couldn’t see Hurst but she imagined Jack and Zed standing on top of the Gun Tower in the distance. If only she could get a message to them, tell them where she was. She had to believe they would come for her. In the meantime, she must bide her time, do what she could to stay alive and regain Briggs’s trust, whatever it took. The future of the island, even the whole region, depended on her. Fail and nothing would stand between Briggs and his plan for chaos and disorder.

It was an impossible choice. Bend to Briggs’s will, betray everything she had worked so hard for. And for what, wealth and power? What did they really count for versus the new life she had built for herself at Hurst? And yet part of her was silently screaming that it was a price worth paying, wasn’t it?

With a loud sigh, she swallowed her pride and succumbed to logic. She gave in and allowed herself to be hauled back to her cell. There would be no shortage of hours to ponder her next move. It was time for metamorphosis, for the real Terra to emerge and spread her wings.

Was it her imagination or could she hear the sound of breaking waves, carried on the wind? Perhaps the remnants of the late spring storm that had battered the island over the past week, rollers surging in from the English Channel. The sound was distant yet somehow familiar and soothing. It reminded her of home.