Eutopia - Apocalypse

Chapter 19

'I can't believe I'm doing this,' said Jinn with an uncertainty that was alien to him.

'Just keep hold of my hand, it'll be fine.' Eutopia led Jinn like a child from the shadowy fringe of the Wolds, through the twisted branches of the old orchard that hardly ever produced any apples anymore. The scent of honeysuckle was thick and familiar as they hurried closer to the cottage that shone, glistening with dew in the early morning light. It was a magical sight for Eutopia and she could feel relief wash over her and loosen muscles she hadn't realised, up until then, had been tensed. Her heart pounded hard with her footsteps as her face broke out into a grin. She tugged at Jinn's hand and almost tripped over her own feet in her hurry to reach the front door.

'Phoibe!' Eutopia ran the last few metres as they rounded the crumbling corner with Jinn never having to increase his stride. The huddled old woman, wrapped in a loose crocheted scarf, had been bent double over the load she had been carrying from the front porch to the door. Her back was turned to the two as they approached, but she spun at the sound of the girl's voice faster than she had managed to move since the night she had snatched Eutopia and ran through the streets with her to keep her from the wrath of the Nightwatch.

'For the love of all that's good, save my soul,' the old woman cried as the logs tumbled to her feet, bouncing off her worn leather boots with a clatter that drew Horace to the door.

'Bee?' he called with concern as he pulled the door wide, using the pet name he had once confessed to Eutopia was less out of affection and more because of the sting in her tongue.

'Horace!' Eutopia squalled, bundling herself head first into the two people she had been utterly heartsick for. The firewood Phoibe had dropped rolled dangerously around their feet, threatening to trip them up as Eutopia pulled the two closer to herself and stumbled in a blind muddle, catching their tears of shock and disbelief in her wild hair and their relentless kisses on every inch of skin that could be reached.

Jinn hung back, forgotten despite his huge size, and unwilling to interrupt the reunion. His feline-like eyes were narrowed, glowing indigo in the dawn light as he watched with curiosity and the raw human emotion stirred something deep and forgotten inside him. Perhaps it was because he felt a connection with the stupidly defiant girl, or maybe it was because it was slowly dawning on him that he'd had his eyes closed for so long, blindly following Michael's ideal.

The door opened wider and three, then four cautious people trickled out at the commotion.

'Eutopia?' one young man asked in disbelief, 'We thought you were dead!'

'Jed!' Eutopia squirmed out of Phoibe's fearsome grip and flung her arms around the thin shoulders of a curly haired man. 'Where's Maisy?' She blinked a few times, hastily brushing away the tears that begun to fall the moment she found herself wrapped in the arms of her foster parents.

Another head peered out from around the doorframe and Jinn knew it was time to move things back inside. The Nightwatch had ended now that the sun had fully broken the horizon, but his keen ears picked up the rhythmic beat of wings not too far away. The Watchers would be crawling around the Wolds soon. It wasn't safe for them all to gather outside. His huge hands spread, palms out, as he opened his arms to the group in a passive herding gesture.

'I hate to break this up, but we really ought to move this back inside now,' he said. Horace stiffened at the sound of his voice, his sightless eyes suddenly hard. Phoibe let out a wretched sob as she turned and shoved Eutopia behind her considerable bulk and Jed rushed in front of the two of them wielding a thick piece of firewood that he'd scooped up in one fluid movement.