Fumbling at her belt, she reached down and gripped the hilt of the Knife.
She drew it and held it out before her. Marat’s eyes turned to slits of spiteful malice. Ankle-deep at the river’s edge he paused, tilting his head as if to guess at her next move. If he gets this Knife off me, I’m dust, Cassie thought, gripping it tighter.
That thought must have occurred to Marat at exactly the same moment. His lips stretched in a vicious grin, and he wiped blood off his face with the back of a balled fist. He was within an instant of lunging for the Knife when his grin became a grimace, and he let out a sudden short scream. Cassie backed away, startled. For an insane moment she thought he’d stumbled on a log in the water.
But it wasn’t a log.
Marat fell forward on to his face, clutching at handfuls of thick mud, and Cassie saw his leg. Incredulously, she realised it was gripped in a crocodile’s jaws. The creature was pulling him back now, and he could get no hold on the soft riverbank.
The sight was horrendous. Somewhere in her brain, an automatic humanity switched on. Plunging forward, Cassie grabbed at his reaching arm and hauled on it, but it was too late. The jaws snapped once, taking a better grip of Marat’s thigh, and a moment later the crocodile was dragging him relentlessly out into the water. Cassie could see other shapes now, cutting silently through the water to where blood was pooling on the grey-green surface of the water, while Marat thrashed and screamed.
Cassie stumbled back, staring in horror. As the creature moved into the deeper water, Marat twisted, belatedly, hammering uselessly at its eyes and head, striking it with his fists. The crocodile shook its great prehistoric head, thrashing him twice on the surface with a sound like beaten laundry, and then began to submerge.
Cassie could no longer see the creature, but she saw Marat’s face, turned once more towards her, beseeching. As his mouth and nose went under the water his screams stopped, and his terrified eyes were the last thing she saw of him.
And then there was nothing but a spreading pool of blood, staining the thick water a dark and hideous muddy red.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Panting for breath, Cassie ran backwards so fast she stumbled and fell on a rock, but then she was up and running towards the thinning trees. The Knife was still in her hand and she kept it there, clutched tightly.
No, she thought, no. Not back to the trees. Downhill, downhill. Go back to the river path, you’ll get to Ranjit faster.
Her lungs ached and stung, but she stumbled on down the uneven slope, meeting the thin beaten path at an angle. The roaring in her ears could have been her own blood or the river rapids, she didn’t know. Where was Ranjit? Where was the Eldest? The fight with Marat had held her up far too long. She was further behind than ever. Tripping on another tree root, she fell hard on to her face, scraping blood from her palms.
Goddammit, Estelle. You said we could do anything together! Now do it!
No more disembodied voice in her head; no more snide remarks. Just a sudden gathering of strength, as if her spirit was concentrating all her reserves. It wasn’t Estelle and Cassie any more; there was no separation. She was Cassie Bell – one of the Few.
Just run.
Cassie grabbed a branch and hauled herself to her feet. I won’t let Ranjit down. Power surged back into her limbs, and though the pain was still there, it meant nothing. With a low snarl, she sprinted down the hill.
The ground flew beneath her feet; there was no more tripping, no more stumbling. Her body felt like a featherweight as she raced, and her power was electricity in her limbs. Following the trail of wreckage, following the path, she sprinted over a ridge of ground, sprang down into a hollow beside a cliff.
And as she did so, Ranjit collided with the ground at her feet.
Cassie staggered, almost stumbling over him, crying out in surprise. Seeing who it was, she reached down and clasped his hand to haul him up. He gave her the briefest of looks, then they turned together to face the Eldest.
The monstrous creature roared, raising herself to strike again. As the pounding of her own blood calmed in her ears, Cassie recognised the roaring rush of water. Just metres from where they faced the Eldest, the brooding river vanished over an edge into nothingness, hazed with spray. They were on the edge of a huge waterfall.
‘Take her from two sides,’ gasped Ranjit.
He attacked again. Running to the other side, Cassie launched herself at the Eldest’s back, catching and gripping on tight, tearing at the silver-blonde hair of Katerina’s shell as she wrenched the monster’s head back, desperate to snap the vertebrae. Not a chance. The Eldest’s spine rippled nightmarishly like a snake, and Cassie was flung backwards and slammed against a tree trunk. She sprang back instantly, in time to see Ranjit attack the Eldest yet again, lunging his fists into her powerful torso. The Eldest simply grabbed him, swinging him sideways, and he flew through the air and collided with Cassie.
As they scrambled back to their feet, his eyes met hers. ‘She’s too strong …’ he gasped.
‘We’ve got to try—’ Cassie said desperately, but as she spoke, the Eldest’s clawed hand caught her face with a glancing blow. Reeling back, Cassie put a hand to her cheekbone and brought it away dripping blood. She was playing with them, Cassie realised.
‘Scarred!’ The Eldest screeched at the delicious irony. ‘Like my dear Katerina was.’
‘Yeah, but I’m not just a pretty face.’ Cassie jumped and kicked, catching the Eldest in the ribs, but she might as well have been made of rubber. The Eldest laughed, caught her ankle, and tossed her aside. Spray from the torrent beyond made an incongruous rainbow halo around them as she flexed Katerina’s newly-supernatural muscles, smiling.