The Sentinels of Eden, Books 1-4

Chapter 25

‘Is that why Harry brought around those drums of water before he left? I thought it was a bit strange at the time. Mum refused to answer when I asked about it.’

‘And did you?’ Bane asked. ‘Go to the doctor, I mean.’

Noah smiled ruefully. ‘And say what, that my girlfriend doesn’t think I’m energetic enough?’ Then he groaned. ‘I shouldn’t have dodged her just then, should I? She looked furious with me.’

Bane looked at me, his eyes going wide. My mouth dropped open as a suspicion began to form. He subtly put his finger to his lips and I nodded. We would want to be pretty certain before we told Noah that Tessa was supposed to be his bodyguard. He was a sweet guy but I was pretty sure his male ego would struggle with that one.

A heavy feeling settled in my chest as I thought about what that meant. Tessa Bright? Linked to Noah the way Bane was linked to me? But Noah was mine. I had always looked after him! Where had she been the day he’d burnt his leg on the exhaust of his first dirt bike? Or the day his Aunt Kelly had been killed in that car accident? When had she ever bullied him into studying for a maths test? The ferocity of my sudden jealousy shocked me into silent retreat. There was simply too much that I had to think through but I just couldn’t get my head around it all.

As Noah went back to reading the tablet to research his new role, Bane and Aunt Lily went out to put all the fire-fighting equipment away. I moved over to the couch in a daze, staring out the window at the rain. My mind was flipping like a fish out of water between the calling of the storm and Bane’s kiss. There just didn’t seem to be any room left in my brain to think about anything else, and anyway I refused to let myself think about skinny little Tessa Bright for even a second.

A little while later Noah found a blanket and wrapped it around my shoulders. I must have been cold but I hadn’t noticed. Outside, the rain was starting to ease off, which came as a massive relief. I had been quietly concerned that it would keep going until I sent it away and I honestly didn’t know how to do it. I’d even had a panicked thought that maybe one of my predecessors had done something similar and accidentally been responsible for the Great Flood because they couldn’t switch it off. Maybe Noah really was named after one of his ancestors …

Aunt Lily shook me awake. ‘Are you all right?’

I nodded, wiped away the usual tears and mumbled something about a bad dream. Someone had wrapped me up like a burrito in the blanket and as I untangled my legs I noticed that the rain had stopped. Just as well.

Noah had already left to check on his family and I wondered what he would say to his mum. I felt like I should have at least given him some sort of booklet titled Cherubship For Dummies, but no one had given me one either so there wouldn’t have been very much in it. His mum would most likely be able to do a much better job anyhow. Hopefully she could clear up some questions for me too.

I yawned and stood up, deciding that I could really use a shower. My clothes and hair stank of smoke. As I passed the kitchen I could feel Bane’s eyes on me but I chickened out of looking back. What was I supposed to tell him? Loved the kiss, let’s do it again but just please ignore the fact that you don’t actually love me, you’re just compelled to make out with me so we can have little Cherub babies together and continue the line? I had visions of the traditional fat baby winged putti flying around the farm. People might notice. Maybe we could dress them in woollen jumpers and tell people they were sheep. Flying sheep. It was a bit startling to realise how relaxed a mood I was in. The nap must have done me a lot of good. Or maybe it was the euphoria from creating my own personal weather system to quench a bushfire. Or maybe it was the other thing.

We got a call from the Country Fire Authority late in the afternoon to give us the all clear and ask if we could take in any injured wildlife. They warned us to remain on alert and not hesitate to call them if there was anything we were unsure about. Even if they saw no further evidence of flames they wouldn’t declare the region as officially safe for at least another 24 hours, just in case. Luckily Noah and I had managed to drown the blaze fairly quickly before it had been given a chance to really take hold. The CFA only considered it a minor incident, as bushfires went. Everyone knew it could have been a lot worse and so they were checking things out pretty thoroughly.

I’d spent the day trying to concentrate on my ‘spidey-sense’ to feel if anyone was getting too close to Eden, and all I’d felt were vague impressions of people driving around, far to the west. My mood continued to lift so I took that as a good sign. It probably helped that Bane and Aunt Lily seemed to be doing their best to do all my chores before I could. They were babying me terribly and I didn’t know why.

As the evening progressed I began to wonder if I really had ‘seen’ two people out there when the fire started. Considering I had been asleep at the time, perhaps it had just been a regular dream, rather than a vision, yet somehow that just didn’t feel right. Fire bugs were not unheard of but everyone knew how deadly bushfires were, and the punishment for arsonists both from the law and from the community was severe. It just seemed so unlikely that two people would be involved if that were the case. Maybe kids? I didn’t think so. The people I saw didn’t seem to be all that young. Still, I could hardly call the police and tell them I’d had a vision of two suspicious people out in the bush in the middle of the night just as the fire started. I hoped the CFA investigators would find something. So long as they looked well away from Eden, of course.

As I slipped into bed that night I cranked up the music in my headphones to try to distract myself from thinking about it anymore. It didn’t really help.

Relishing the brief coolness of the new day, I sat huddled on the old tractor tyre that used to be my sandpit as I bottle fed an orphaned joey and squinted hard at the clouds above me. A soft chuckle came from behind me.

‘Are you trying to make it rain or send the clouds away?’ Bane asked, bringing me a steaming mug of tea. I passed the pillowcase full of wriggling joey over to him so I could warm my frozen hands around the mug. It was still early and I had hardly slept. The young wallaby had been found in its dead mother’s pouch not far from the edge of the burn zone and still needed feeding every four hours. Luckily she hadn’t been injured herself, and was fully covered in hair so she had a good chance of survival, but she would need some serious TLC for the next few weeks.

‘You have to admit, we could run a great sheep station here if I could control how much rain we get.’ I puffed out a wistful sigh.

‘And? Any luck?’

‘I honestly have no idea how I did it. I know I was saying something but not in any language that I know. I just knew that I had the authority to do it.’

‘But not anymore?’ he asked.

‘Only the power we need, when we need it, remember? Just as well, I suppose. Who knows what havoc I would wreak otherwise. Let alone Noah—he would probably start parading around with his undies on the outside just to let people know what he could do.’

He waited.

‘Okay. Fine. You were right when you said there might be more to being a Cherub than just visions, but seriously, who would have expected that?’

I watched him cradle the tiny joey as it guzzled down the milk. It was hard to believe he was the same person that everyone had been so intimidated by at school. I really didn’t know who he was at all. Staring into my mug, I procrastinated for a full minute before choosing to do the right thing.

‘I’m sorry about yesterday. I should never have put you in danger like that. And also …’ I struggled to say the words.

‘I kissed you, Lainie,’ he said softly, still looking down so that his dark hair hid his eyes. ‘I’m the one who should apologise. I had no right, not after everything I’ve done to you.’

How could I explain this to him? As frightened as I was about his reaction, it would be unfair not to tell him. Inside my brain, my conscience wrestled bravely with my unruly teenage hormones. Then Bane smiled at the baby marsupial, his lips making a quirky little shape in the corners, and my hormones nearly won but my conscience managed a sneaky body slam and pinned them down mercilessly. I ran the tip of my finger nervously around the rim of my tea.

‘Ben,’ I choked. No sound came out. I cleared my throat and tried again. ‘Ben, Aunt Lily seems to think we’re supposed to be together. And I mean, be together. Like your compulsion to heal and protect me. It’s not your fault—it’s part of this whole weird package. I will find a way to break it though, somehow. You should be free to be with whoever you want, not forced into something like some old-fashioned arranged marriage.’

He looked up at me in shock, confusion in his large pale eyes, along with … hope? He glanced away before responding.

‘But Noah’s a Cherub … I mean, I was sure that meant that it would be him you would end up with. You’ve always had a strong connection.’ He thought for a moment, and then looked up at me. ‘You want to break it? This compulsion I have?’

‘Of course I do! I could never keep you here. You should be out in the world, making your own choices, not stuck here at the back end of nowhere your whole life.’

For a second he stared at me in utter confusion.

‘Wait,’ I said. ‘If you thought Noah and I … then why did you—’

‘Because I thought it would be the only chance I’d get,’ he interrupted, hiding behind his fringe again. My heart stuttered for a few beats before I reminded myself that none of it was real. You can’t be ‘compelled’ to love someone.

He frowned at the baby marsupial, which was sucking so hard on the bottle it threatened to pull the rubber teat right off. He seemed thoroughly miserable.

‘Your feelings are not your own right now, Ben. Please, if we can just figure out a way to break this you will be grateful, I promise.’

‘Money back guarantee?’.

‘Of course. I’m a Cherub of integrity after all,’ I said with a relieved smile.