Tide Read Free Page A

exist. They were a blur at the edge of his perception.
    Sarah turned her head away. A woman with a fiddle case strapped across her back was walking up the steps of the Royal Concert Hall. One day, that would be her.
    “Is your heart set on this?” asked Juliet.
    Sarah nodded.
    “Right.” A moment of silence while Juliet absorbed her defeat. “I just wish we could come with you. To Islay. But Trevor and the girls, spending Christmas up there …”
    “No, no. That just wouldn’t work,” Sarah hurried to reply. No way. She wouldn’t be able to do what she had set out to do with the McKettricks there too.
    After a moment, Juliet tried again. “But going alone with Nicholas … are you sure it’s a good idea? He seems like a nice lad, but … You’ve been with him what – only a matter of weeks? Do you know anything about him?”
    He saved my life.
    “He comes from a good family, Aunt Juliet, I told you. His parents are both lawyers. They’re based in Aberdeen, but they’re abroad all the time. He’s alone for Christmas.”
    “Oh. Oh well. I suppose it’s a bit early for us to meet his family …?”
    “I haven’t met them either,” Sarah said quickly, adding, “but I will, soon.” Another lie.
    She was surprised herself at how quickly her relationship with Nicholas was moving. Sometimes it felt as if someone else was making all her decisions. It was almost puzzling.
    “That house is in the middle of nowhere. How will you manage?”
    “We’ll be fine, Aunt Juliet!” Sarah pulled her jacket from the back of the chair and swivelled her cello case so that she could shrug the straps over her shoulders. “Better go. Nicholas will be waiting for me. He’ll want to know how the audition went. There’s no need for you to take me home, I’ll just take the train.”
    “Sarah …” Juliet put a hand on Sarah’s sleeve as they got up. Her eyes were warm, but her voice was steely. “Harry must be back by Christmas or just after, or you’re moving in with us. It’d only be until you’re eighteen. But that’s the way it must be.”
    The thought of being removed from her home made Sarah’s stomach churn. “You’ll report me to the solicitor?” Her voice trembled with hurt.
    “I’ll protect you, Sarah. It’s for your own good.”
    Sarah threw up her hands. “You’ll protect me? Like my parents did?” she spat. “This conversation is over.” She strode off, leaving Juliet to hurry after her through the shop.

     
    *
     

     
    Neither of them noticed the hunched, thin figure who’d sat at a table behind them, at such an angle that he wouldn’t be seen, but he could see them. Neither of them, therefore, was aware of the fact that the figure’s eyes had never left them throughout the conversation, that he’d heard every word Sarah and Juliet said, and that he’d followed them on their way out.

Stolen
     
    I saw you falling slowly
    For many years
    Death told me
    She’d come for you first

     
    Of course, Juliet insisted on driving Sarah home. There was no chance Sarah could convince her aunt to let her go back by train.
    Sarah didn’t say a word as they travelled along the motorway, her cello resting on the backseat and her thoughts all tangled up. My parents’ will. Selfish, selfish and stupid.
    But it wasn’t, really, it wasn’t stupid or selfish. A girl alone in a huge house – it was a risk in any circumstance, even more so if the girl in question was a precious Secret heir, and a Dreamer. The selfish thing had been not to teach her to fight – to leave her helpless and force her to learn fast, and alone.
    So much for protecting me , she said to herself. All she knew when they’d died was that she was a Dreamer, and that her parents used her dreams to know if there were demons around, and where. That was her knowledge of the Midnight mission, in a nutshell. A drop in the sea of what she should have learnt.
    Each Secret Family has one Dreamer whose gift awakens at the age of