Her back arched with the drag of the Pendant’s power and she gasped, but no sound came from her open mouth. Dimly she was aware that Ranjit, too, was bending like a bow under the irresistible power of the Pendant. From the corner of her reddening vision she saw his head jerk back, his mouth wide, and then she couldn’t see him any longer because her own head was bent back so far, and she was howling silently at the ceiling.
A short scream from Isabella seemed to come from a long way away, but there was no way of reassuring her. Spirit-power was flowing from Cassie’s mouth and from her chest, mingling in a stream that flowed towards the Urn.
It was agony. He hadn’t told her this part.
Something flashed through the air between her and Sir Alric; something she knew as well as she knew her own hand, something she was never going to see again. Blurred creatures writhed at the edge of her vision. It was the Knife, severing the connections …
And then, abruptly, the pain was gone, and so was her connection to the liquid white light. Her head snapped forward again at the same moment as Ranjit’s, and they both cried out involuntarily.
Sir Alric held the Knife loose at his side, his hand trembling. The link between them and their spirits was finally broken. Cassie saw blurrily that the jade carvings on the Urn were alive, coiling and rising and falling, writhing in something very like ecstasy as the light poured in from the Pendant that Sir Alric still held above it.
The headmaster wasn’t looking at the Urn, and nor was he watching either Ranjit or Cassie. His gaze was fixed on the streaming spirits. They weren’t wispy, like the remains of Estelle’s had been after Cassie’s aborted ceremony. There was a thick twisting rope of glowing light, almost too intense to look at, flowing into the Urn – their two spirits coiled and united. Ranjit was staring too at the brilliant cord of spirit-light, and his eyes were no longer red.
The line writhed, thickened, brightened with a core of lightning. Then it was sucked into the Urn, making it burst into brief blazing light.
And then, it was gone.
They stood, all of them, staring at the Urn. There was still a point of light visible through the translucent jade: a clear brilliant heart like a single star. It was very, very slow to fade. Isabella stepped forward, unable to tear her eyes from the spectacle, and Jake, of course, followed.
Gently Sir Alric touched the Urn, and the light faded. Cassie became aware that even the birdsong and the chatter of monkeys had been silenced; now they started up again as if they had to make up for the pause. A gecko scuttled for cover behind a grinning Maasai mask. A breeze blew through the window, making Cassie shiver and rub her arms.
‘I’ll be damned,’ whispered Ranjit.
‘Not any more,’ remarked Jake drily.
‘What was that?’ Isabella’s voice was hoarse, and she rubbed her eyes – not only, Cassie decided, because she couldn’t believe them.
‘They fused.’ Sir Alric looked as stunned as they were. ‘Did you see that? Of course, of course you did. Good lord, their spirits fused.’
Ranjit reached out a trembling hand to touch the smooth carvings of the Urn, so very still and silent now. ‘How?’
Cassie barked a sudden laugh. ‘They’ve beaten you. Beaten us all!’
Sir Alric shook his head, but he didn’t look angry, only mystified and a little awestruck. ‘Yes, they have. They won’t be separated again.’
‘But they can hardly go to war, either,’ said Cassie.
‘Indeed. That’s going to be one very powerful spirit.’
Ranjit drew his hand away from the Urn, with a single regretful smile. ‘Bye,’ he told it softly.
‘Have fun, you old bat,’ whispered Cassie, as tears stung her eyes again. ‘You’d better be careful who hosts this one, Sir Alric.’
‘Oh, I will. The Council and I will make sure of that. I don’t care how long it has to wait; it’ll get someone who can cope with it. Someone who won’t misuse it, either. And now.’ He turned back to Ranjit and Cassie with a thunderous scowl.
Cassie flinched slightly. ‘What?’ they said together.
‘For heaven’s sake.’ Sir Alric sounded more irritated than ever, but as if he was simply fighting his own instincts, beating down his own regrets. ‘Go on. You’d better kiss the human.’ He added, grumblingly: ‘Both of you.’
Cassie had never been so happy to do as she was told. She felt Ranjit’s arms go around her, and she was already reaching for him. Their lips met, and the spark of energy and heat that raced through her veins was nothing supernatural.
All human, she thought, blissful in his arms. All human.
EPILOGUE
Cassie and Ranjit were silent as they strolled along the beach watching the sky deepen to an apricot twilight. Egrets were flying to their roost in the mangroves, beach vendors gathering up their soapstone wares, handlers leading tired camels home. Normal, Cassie thought. Normal life in Kenya. I wonder what normal life was in Paris, in New York, in Istanbul … Well. Maybe one of these days they’d go there, and finally find out.
‘So,’ she asked Ranjit at last. ‘You still actually fancy me? I’m not so gorgeous as I was.’
He grinned, and pulled her closer against him. ‘I fancied you before you were Few, remember? You’re gorgeous enough for me.’
‘Know what? You’ll do, as well.’ She came to a stop and kissed him yet again, fingers threading into his silky hair, drawing him so close she felt as if they might melt into one, like their spirits had. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered into his ear. ‘Thanks for what you did. Losing your spirit. I never expected that.’