‘Shame it didn’t die!’ spits Santiago.

  ‘Il male non muore mai,’ mutters Viviana as she tenderly strokes Tasha’s blond hair in an effort to comfort the girl.

  ‘Sorry?’ I ask, not understanding her Italian.

  With a grave look at each First Ascendant in turn, Viviana repeats in accented English, ‘Evil never dies.’

  23

  ‘I need to find Phoenix,’ I tell Caleb as my fellow First Ascendants disperse. Each will need to come to terms with Saul’s death and Tanas’s unexpected return.

  ‘Don’t worry, Genna. You’re perfectly safe here,’ assures Caleb, taking my arm and walking me across the lawn.

  ‘I’d feel safer with Phoenix by my side,’ I say. ‘He can protect me from Tanas, like he’s done in this life and all my previous lives.’

  Caleb nods sympathetically. ‘I appreciate your desire to be with your Soul Protector, but it’s best you stay within Haven and not go searching for him. You saw for yourself how many Watchers are out there. Trust that Phoenix will find you. Besides, you have Jude here. She’s more than capable as a Warrior.’

  ‘That may be true,’ I say, recalling Jude’s sword skills as the mute bodyguard Raneb. ‘But what about Phoenix? Where is he? Is he even aware Tanas is back?’

  Caleb gently pats my arm. ‘Don’t fret now. Phoenix can look after himself, and you and your Light are safe here. That’s all that matters.’

  I frown, perplexed by the Soul Seer’s apparent disregard for the danger. ‘But what’s to stop Tanas or his Hunters finding this place?’ I persist. ‘I glimpsed that vision of Saul’s death too. You and I both know Tanas is searching for Haven.’

  ‘And he’ll never find it,’ Caleb replies with surprising certainty. ‘I’ve been very careful to conceal this sanctuary. Moreover, we’re on sacred ground. No Soul Hunter can enter this valley without prejudicing their soul.’

  ‘But Tanas managed to enter a sanctified church, where he killed your fellow Soul Seer Gabriel and sacrificed his soul,’ I grimly remind him.

  Caleb’s shoulders slump and his head drops. ‘Yes, I felt my friend’s passing like a knife to my heart. That was indeed a dark day.’ He looks me gravely in the eye. ‘Which is why I’ve put precautions in place. Haven isn’t on any map. Its entrance is concealed within an abandoned mine. Overhead, a holographic shield has been installed. And by virtue of the dead zone this place isn’t detectable from the ground or the sky. In this valley, Genna, we’re hidden from the world.’

  ‘But is that enough?’ I question. ‘Just because we’re not on a map, it doesn’t mean Tanas can’t find us.’

  ‘Genna, you need to be led to Haven by someone who has been here before,’ he reveals. ‘That is the key to entering the valley. Our combined Light cloaks our presence here. Like a sea mist hiding a ship, Haven is effectively invisible to the Incarnates.’

  He comes to a stop outside one of the sea-blue doors in the south-west corner of the courtyard. ‘Ah, here we are. This is your apartment,’ he announces brightly. ‘I’ll leave you to get settled, then we can catch up later. In the meantime, rest and recover. You’ve had a long and fraught journey.’ Bidding me farewell, he limps off to speak with the others.

  Hoping his confidence in Haven’s security isn’t misplaced, I enter my small yet neat apartment. My backpack is already on the bed, and fresh clothes have been laid out. There’s a chilled bottle of water waiting for me on the sideboard. Nefe is there too, curled up beside my pillow. I give her a cuddle, her deep purr reassuringly familiar after all the uncertainty and worry of the last few days. After I’ve drunk my fill of water, I unpack my meagre belongings, take a much-needed shower and change into denim shorts, black Converse trainers and a cream T-shirt. When I emerge again, blinking in the bright light, I discover breakfast has been set for me on a small round table – fresh fruit, yogurt, granola, bread and orange juice. I tuck in hungrily.

  The past forty-eight hours have been a nightmarish blur. How I wish I could talk things over with Mei and Prisha, but I know I can’t risk contacting them in case I give away Haven’s location. Anyhow, I’ve no phone and there’s no signal. What must my friends be thinking? I fled the scene of my own parents’ murder and became an international fugitive, wanted by not only the police in England but the FBI in America. And I told Mei that the Incarnates are back. She’ll think I’ve lost it again, that the brutal death of my parents has triggered another breakdown …

  For a moment I wonder if I am having a breakdown. Is this all in my head? Then I look out across the courtyard where Viviana is comforting Tasha in the rocking chair; Thabisa is feeding little Kagiso; Jintao and his family are having their breakfast; and Santiago and Mick are seated in the shade of an olive tree, deep in discussion; and I realize that all this feels more real than anything in my life. There’s an undeniable, unspoken connection between us, a brightness that seems magnified by our combined presences and a sense of something else too … a sense of homecoming.

  Despite the months I’ve spent in therapy being convinced otherwise, I know this to be my reality.

  I am a First Ascendant, and always have been.

  The trauma I suffered as a result of Damien’s first attack and Tanas’s attempt to ritually sacrifice me now gains some perspective. While those violent events are still distressing for me, I no longer question the reason for them, or feel such a helpless victim. My soul’s purpose strengthens me and my shared experience with my fellow First Ascendants fortifies my resolve. I’m not alone in my suffering or my journey. I’m surrounded by people who understand me and what I’ve gone through.

  Dr Larsson was right about one thing, though. I’ve shifted from victim to survivor, and given time I hope to become a thriver.

  Still, I cannot help but question what the future holds. Having barely mourned the loss of my present-life parents, have I now gained my true family? Is Haven to be my permanent home? As beautiful and peaceful as it is, I can imagine it could quickly become a gilded cage. Am I to be trapped here for the rest of my life, hiding from Tanas and his Hunters? And how does that serve the Light, beyond keeping my soul safe from a ritual sacrifice? I still have these and many more questions for Caleb. And, whatever he says about how safe I am in Haven, I’d feel safer if Phoenix was here at my side.

  Fabian strolls up to me as I take a sip of juice. ‘The oranges were picked this morning from the garden,’ he says.

  ‘No wonder it tastes so good,’ I reply, smiling and inviting him to join me at the table. ‘So, tell me, how long have you been here?’

  ‘In Haven? I guess a year now.’

  I peer at him over the rim of my glass. ‘And have you been beyond the walls in that time?’

  Fabian shakes his head. ‘No, far too dangerous. I barely made it here alive in the first place!’

  As he pours himself a juice, I notice his hands are trembling. ‘What happened?’

  He takes a gulp before explaining. ‘I was backpacking through Europe when Tanas and his Hunters caught up with me in Paris. They took me down into the city’s catacombs to perform their ritual. It’s a horrific place – the passageways are lined with the skulls and bones of those unfortunate souls killed during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. I thought I was going to join them!’

  A chill runs down my spine as I recall my own Glimmer of that time: the heavy thunk of the guillotine blade, Marie Antoinette’s head tumbling into a basket, then myself being dragged up the steps of the scaffold to face the same gruesome fate. I wonder grimly if my former bones are among those in the catacombs. ‘How did you escape?’ I ask, breathless.

  Fabian takes another unsteady sip of juice before continuing. ‘I’ve my Soul Protector, Mateo, to thank for that. He rescued me from that labyrinth of death, then helped me to reach Haven.’

  ‘Is Mateo here too?’ I enquire hopefully.

  Swallowing hard, Fabian’s shimmering eyes well up. ‘No, he didn’t make it. He sacrificed himself for me.’

  I reach out and clasp Fabian’s hand. ‘I’m so sorry. You must be devastated.’

  ‘Don’t be sorry,’ replies Fabian, forcing a smile back on his lean face. ‘Mateo’s soul lives on. I’ll see him again in another life – assuming I make it to the next life …’ His smile slumps into a look of dread. ‘Tanas must be getting stronger if he can incarnate himself straight into a living body.’

  Nodding gravely, I glance round the courtyard at the other Ascendants, all still grieving Saul and Maddy’s loss, and wonder what their stories are. Then I’m struck by a troubling thought. ‘With Tanas back, aren’t we endangering our souls by being in the same place?’

  Fabian shakes his head. ‘Caleb says that, together, our Light is brighter and stronger, and that our combined power acts as a form of protective shield against the Incarnates. He’s convinced that we’re safer in Haven than we would be spread out across the world – and after what I went through, I believe him.’

  ‘Well, let’s hope he’s right,’ I say, not entirely sharing that conviction. Finishing my orange juice, I rise to my feet with purpose. ‘Do you know where I’ll find Jude?’

  Fabian points to the domed building beyond the courtyard. ‘Knowing her, she’s probably in the Glimmer Dome.’

  24

  Haven proves to be far larger than I first thought. Leaving the courtyard, I cross a paved plaza and enter a glass atrium into the next building. Despite its high-tech office appearance, the atrium has the Zen-like calm of a temple. The air is cool and carries the soft scent of spiced incense; tall stems of bamboo stand lush and green against its chalk-white walls, and an artificial waterfall flows freely into a pond, its gentle burble echoing through the open space.

  There appears to be no one around, so I head down a corridor in what I hope is the direction of the Glimmer Dome. I pass a number of rooms including a lounge, a dining area, a small lecture hall, and a well-equipped gym where a woman of Amazonian proportions is bench-pressing a heavy stack of weights. In an adjacent exercise zone, a martial arts class is in progress: a bald-headed black man with the muscles of an ox is teaching a brutal takedown method to four students – a young dark-haired girl, two men (twins by the look of their matching straw-blond hair, ridged noses and rock-solid jawlines) and an older woman with a jagged scar across her pale right cheek. But Jude isn’t among them. In the middle of demonstrating the takedown, the instructor looks at me through the porthole in the door. His stare is intimidating and I quickly move on.

  Further along, I come to a dormitory block with windows overlooking a training ground. I pause to watch a small group of people in combat fatigues tackling a fitness assault course – but none of them sport Jude’s spiky hair or green beanie. Reaching a junction at the end of the corridor, I wonder which way to turn. Then I spot a young lad with bushy eyebrows and wiry black hair in a nearby room. Dressed in a smart blue polo shirt and chinos, he’s sat at a computer desk peering intently through a pair of square-framed glasses at a laptop screen and fiddling with the wires of a slim, mirrored tube. I knock on the door and he glances up from his work.

  ‘Hey, you must be Genna!’ he says, greeting me with a gap-toothed smile. ‘Jude said she’d rescued a First Ascendant.’ Rising from his desk, he lays a hand upon his heart and inclines his head. ‘As-salaam ’alaykum. My name’s Tarek.’

  ‘Wa ’alaykum as-salaam,’ I reply, surprising myself at how natural my Arabic is, before recalling my Saharan Glimmer on the plane as the Berber girl Sura. ‘Are you a … Soul Protector?’ I ask, noting the starlit gleam to his brown eyes.

  He gives me a regretful look. ‘Not any more. I lost my Ascendant to Tanas during the American Civil War. A stroke of bad luck. I was hit by a mortar during the Battle of Gettysburg and lost a leg, so I was unable to give chase and protect my charge. But, believe me, I tried!’

  ‘I’m sure you did,’ I say kindly. ‘It seems we’ve lost many First Ascendants over time … along with their Soul Protectors.’

  Tarek nods solemnly. ‘Too many. Hence I’ve been a Warrior ever since; although, to be honest –’ his gaze drops to his laptop – ‘I’m more of a keyboard warrior in this life.’

  ‘I thought we were in a dead zone,’ I say, noticing he’s online. ‘Isn’t Caleb hyper-sensitive to computers and such stuff?’

  ‘Yes, but this room’s an electronic isolation chamber, a Faraday cage,’ Tarek explains, casting his hand around at the fine metal mesh lining the walls and windows. ‘The mesh prevents any electromagnetic waves escaping that may adversely affect him. We need to stay connected to the outside world so, even though there’s no Wi-Fi, the internet is fibre-wired in and heavily firewalled to prevent hackers.’

  I nod at the slim, mirrored capsule on his desk. ‘And what’s that?’

  ‘Oh, just a little project I’m working on,’ he says bashfully, pushing his glasses up his nose. ‘A Light grenade.’

  I give him a questioning look.

  ‘It’s like a standard flash-bang used by SWAT teams,’ he explains, picking up the tube, ‘except I’m attempting to use energy captured in the Sun Room to power an immense burst of Light. My hope is that the Light stored in this device will stun Hunters, if not temporarily blind them, without affecting Ascendants or Protectors.’

  ‘Sounds neat!’ I say. ‘Does it work?’

  ‘No idea,’ he admits with a sigh. ‘I haven’t field-tested it yet. So, are you just taking a stroll? Or are you looking for someone?’

  ‘Jude, if she’s around,’ I reply. ‘I was told she might be in the Glimmer Dome.’

  Tarek grins. ‘She basically lives there!’ He shuts down his laptop and pockets the Light grenade. ‘Come with me – I’ll show you the way.’

  As I follow Tarek round the corner and down another corridor, I hear the muffled retort of a gunshot and instinctively tense. ‘What was that?’ I say, readying myself to run.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ he replies as more shots go off. ‘It’s just the firing range.’ He points to a door with a red light above it and a sign warning: CAUTION – FIRING IN PROGRESS. Through the range’s observation window, I see a girl with copper-red hair emptying a clip into a target, every round hitting its mark.

  ‘As Warriors and Protectors, we train in multiple skills,’ Tarek explains. ‘Firearms, defensive driving, martial arts – basically anything that might help us now or in a future life. I’ve been focusing on cyberwarfare and hacking techniques,’ he tells me as we continue along the corridor. ‘The future’s only going to become more and more digital and we need to be at the cutting edge if we’re going to stay one step ahead of the Incarnates.’

  ‘So how many Soul Protectors and Warriors are there here?’ I ask.

  ‘Within Haven at present, there are nine Protectors and fifteen Warriors,’ Tarek replies proudly.

  ‘Is that all?’ I almost stop in my tracks. Having seen with my own eyes Tanas’s ever-growing army of Watchers and Hunters, I wonder how such a small number of us can ever hope to fend off the Incarnates.

  ‘There are some more around the world – at least a dozen that I’m aware of,’ says Tarek. He notices my uneasiness. ‘Don’t look so disheartened, Genna. Granted, our numbers may have dwindled, but we’re still a force to be reckoned with,’ he reassures me.

  I think of Phoenix and his prowess in a fight. If the other Protectors and Warriors possess even half his skills and bravery, then Tarek has good reason to believe we can resist Tanas. Still, it seems a very uneven battle to me.

  Heading outside through a back door, my attention is caught by the sight of an aircraft hangar, where a sleek white cockpit is just visible through a gap in the doors. ‘Hey, is that a private jet?’ I ask, incredulous.

  Tarek nods. ‘The newest hybrid-electric. Pretty swish, eh? There isn’t much that’s not at our disposal.’

  I stare at Tarek. ‘But all this must cost a fortune! Where does the money come from?’

  ‘There’s profit in the past,’ he explains with a wry smile. ‘Caleb has always used his knowledge and insights to invest wisely, in this life and in previous lives. He set up a trust fund for Ascendants. That’s how he became a billionaire and was able to build Haven.’

  We stop at the base of the domed building that I first spotted from the courtyard. ‘Here we are,’ Tarek announces, gesturing for me to go in first. ‘The Glimmer Dome!’

  We enter a short, darkened hallway leading to a pair of heavy wooden doors. Pushing them open, I step inside and gasp with amazement. Whatever I was expecting, it certainly wasn’t this.

  The immense circular room is a cross between a museum and a martial arts dojo. In the muted light I can make out five levels with wide landings running round a central open space. Housed in the middle is a square wooden platform carpeted with tatami mats. On each of the levels are artefacts from different ages and civilizations, going back millennia – stone tablets from ancient Egypt; wooden spears and bows from the Amazon; a rack of swords comprising straight-bladed rapiers all the way up to curved scimitars; a display of firearms from muskets to sub-machine guns; leatherbound books; African clay pots; antique framed paintings; marble statues; gold and silver jewellery; a long rail of period clothes; a magnificent collection of armour … It’s as if all the rarest, most unusual and most lethal treasures have been plucked from every major museum from around the world and deposited here.

  Standing in the centre of the room, alone upon the raised platform, is Jude. Her eyes are closed, her hands clasped round an old oak staff. She’s spotlit by shafts of the red, blue and green light that shine through the small stained-glass rose windows in the domed roof, high above our heads.

  ‘What’s she doing?’ I whisper to Tarek.

  ‘Glimmering,’ he replies.

  As I shoot him a puzzled look, Jude’s eyelids start to flutter, her body trembles and her grip tightens on the oak staff. A moment later her eyes snap open, their starlit gleam bright and dazzling. She twirls the staff in her hand, expertly executing a series of strikes, blocks and thrusts. The staff whistles through the air as she leaps, turns and glides across the mat battling an imaginary enemy. When she spots Tarek and me in the doorway, she stops mid-strike, the staff quivering. Her brow is slick with sweat and she’s panting hard.