‘Yes! If that’s what it would’ve taken,’ says Phoenix through clenched teeth. ‘I can’t believe Caleb and Goggins allowed you all to leave.’

  ‘They didn’t,’ I say brusquely, stunned by my Protector’s reaction. ‘And Jude and Tarek aren’t to blame either. I was determined to rescue you, no matter what.’

  Phoenix looks at me despairingly. ‘Genna, you can’t risk your soul like that! Didn’t Caleb explain? Don’t you understand how important you are?’

  ‘He did. But you’re important to me,’ I reply, my voice quivering with emotion. ‘You’re my Soul Protector. I need you –’

  ‘If you were in Haven, there was no need for me. You were safe,’ interrupts Phoenix. ‘Your Light is all that matters.’

  My heart hardens at his words and I have to blink back the tears that threaten to come. ‘So, you only care about the Light … not me.’

  Sighing heavily, Phoenix runs his hands through his hair and wearily shakes his head. ‘You misunderstand, Genna,’ he says. He glances up, his expression softening. ‘Your soul and the Light are one and the same. You are the Light. That’s why you must be protected above all else.’

  ‘But what about you?’ I ask. ‘As my Soul Protector, aren’t you equally important?’

  ‘No,’ says Phoenix bluntly. ‘I vowed to protect your soul. That is my duty and, if necessary, my sacrifice.’

  ‘Well, I think differently,’ I reply, crossing my arms and daring him to challenge me. ‘Your life with mine, as always. Isn’t that what we say? So a little appreciation might be nice. Because if Tanas had sacrificed you, our souls would never reunite again. Not in this life, nor in any of our future lives. I’d be alone. My soul unprotected. And what would become of my precious Light then?’

  ‘A Warrior would step in,’ replies Phoenix. ‘Jude, in fact. She’s guarded you before, and admirably too.’ His gaze flicks to Jude in the front seat, but she stubbornly refuses to make eye contact. Phoenix turns back to me. ‘Genna, you need to understand that Tanas had no intention of sacrificing me. At least not until she’d captured you. I was the bait and you took it.’

  ‘And I’d take it every time,’ I say defiantly.

  Phoenix shakes his head. ‘You can’t let Tanas – or, for that matter, Damien – manipulate you like that! Now they know they can get to you through me. That’s a weakness. One that we can’t afford to have.’

  ‘And I can’t afford to lose you,’ I say with finality. I turn away from him and stare out of the window, determined not to show my Protector how much he truly means to me. The desert scrub whips past and a faded road sign for Route 95 is briefly illuminated in the car’s bright headlights before disappearing back into the darkness.

  After a moment’s silence, Phoenix tenderly and tentatively takes my hand. ‘Genna, I’m sorry,’ he says, the anger in his voice gone. ‘I do understand your reasons; they’re the same reasons you are so important to me. And why I’m so upset that you put yourself at such risk. I can’t afford to lose you either.’

  Despite my determination to resist, I feel my heart thaw at his words. Still, I stare out of the window, observing his reflection in the glass and the look of devotion on his face.

  ‘I am truly grateful – to you, and to Jude and Tarek – for rescuing me,’ he goes on. ‘But don’t you remember what happened the last time? How dangerous it is to put me before your own survival?’

  I mutely shake my head.

  ‘Surely you recall the Glimmer when we were Cheyenne?’ he prompts, squeezing my hand. ‘When we were riding across the Great Plains and one of Tanas’s Hunters shot me off my horse?’

  My memory of that life stirs as I watch the arid rust-coloured sand of the Mojave Desert flit by, the mountains in the far distance rearing up like shadows of sleeping giants against the horizon –

  The horses’ hooves thud in the dry red earth, pounding ever closer as I pull Hiamovi to his feet. The bullet wound in his side gushes like a stream and my own horse whinnies in agony from where she was shot in the flank.

  ‘I said … ride on, Waynoka,’ groans Hiamovi, gritting his teeth against the pain.

  ‘I know,’ I mutter as I stagger under his weight and make for the cover of the hills. ‘But I vowed to be bound to you in life and death.’

  ‘But not … in the death … Tanas promises,’ grunts Hiamovi, limping alongside me.

  As we stumble across the plain, the white-hatted US marshal and his posse ride up and encircle us. Then one of the black-eyed bounty hunters lassoes Hiamovi and me, tightening the rope round our chests and yanking us off our feet. Whooping and hollering, the bounty hunters drag us behind their steeds, the rough ground raking our bare skin raw. After several hundred brutal yards, we come to a stop beneath a crooked tree.

  ‘Yes, sir – time for a lynching!’ says the dark-eyed US marshal, spitting a wad of tobacco on to the ground. ‘Let’s see these worms squirm before we snuff out their Light!’

  Securing a lasso round each of our necks and throwing the ends over a thick branch, they haul us into the air. The marshal takes out a small black leather-bound book from his pocket and begins to mutter a strange incantation. Legs kicking frantically, I fight for breath as my throat is crushed by the coarse rope. Hiamovi pulls weakly at his own noose, rivulets of blood dripping from his lacerated skin into the rust-coloured dirt –

  I gasp for air, my hand instinctively going to my throat. I can still feel the pressure on my windpipe. Turning to Phoenix, I ask, ‘If Tanas and his Hunters had us at their mercy then, why are we here now?’

  ‘Our tribe came to our rescue,’ explains Phoenix. ‘But only in the nick of time. Otherwise we’d have both been ritually sacrificed that day. That’s why you can’t put me before you. If we hadn’t been bound to one another, you might have obeyed me and ridden on when I was shot.’

  I shake my head. ‘Whether we were together or not, I’d still have rescued you.’

  ‘And that’s the chink in our armour,’ insists Phoenix. ‘That’s the vulnerability Tanas will always exploit. Just as he’s done again in this life.’

  I swallow hard, the tightness in my throat fading. ‘But if I hadn’t turned back, you wouldn’t be here today … and nor would I.’

  Phoenix softens at my words. ‘Then I guess we need each other,’ he says, at last opening up his arms to me. ‘Just promise not to take such a risk for me again.’

  ‘I can’t promise that,’ I reply, sinking into his embrace. ‘But I do promise to come better armed next time!’

  Phoenix laughs and shakes his head at my continued stubbornness.

  ‘Sorry, I don’t mean to break up the happy reunion,’ says Jude tetchily, ‘but we’ve got a problem.’

  ‘What?’ asks Phoenix, his body instantly tense and alert.

  A high-pitched bleeping sound is coming from the dashboard and Jude nods to a red warning light flashing on the car’s display. Seconds later the screen blanks out, the alarm cuts off and the vehicle’s headlamps fail entirely.

  We drift in silence through the darkness.

  ‘Dead battery!’ mutters Jude. Wrestling with the steering wheel, she brings the car to an unsteady stop at the verge.

  Tarek flips open his laptop and tries to reboot the car’s computer system, but with no success. ‘A bullet must have damaged one of the fuel cells,’ he suggests.

  ‘So what now?’ I ask, glancing anxiously out of the shattered rear window at the dark and desolate road behind us.

  ‘We walk,’ says Phoenix. ‘We may have escaped this far, but Tanas will be on our trail. And she’ll use every resource at her disposal. We need to get to Haven … before she gets to us.’

  33

  After the air-conditioned interior of the car, the desert air feels warm and still. The night sky is an ocean of stars, the moon a silver disc. We gather what few supplies we have: Jude’s small backpack, an emergency medical kit, a couple of torches, and a single bottle of water. Noticing the blood already seeping through the hastily wrapped bandage round Jude’s arm, I insist on redressing her wound, my past life skills as a wartime nurse once more proving their worth as I apply pressure and stop the bleeding.

  Impressed, Tarek takes note of my technique. ‘I wish you’d been around when my leg got blown off in the Civil War!’ he jokes.

  As soon as I’ve finished tying off Jude’s bandage, we’re ready to start walking. Straight away, Phoenix strides off into the desert.

  ‘It’ll be easier if we follow the road,’ Jude points out. She nods along the highway, wincing slightly as she shoulders her backpack.

  ‘But more risky,’ Phoenix argues, stopping and glancing back over his shoulder. ‘One of Tanas’s Watchers could easily pick us up. We should cut across the desert.’

  ‘That’ll take more time,’ counters Jude. ‘Time we can ill afford. Besides, we could get lost.’

  ‘I grew up in Arizona,’ Phoenix reminds her in an irritated tone. ‘I know where we are and I know which direction to head in for Haven.’

  Jude sighs heavily. ‘Then you’ll obviously know we’re not equipped for crossing a desert.’

  ‘This isn’t the Sahara!’ snorts Phoenix.

  ‘Nor is it a beach with a bar open twenty-four seven!’ shoots back Jude. ‘We’ve only got one bottle of water between us, in case you’ve forgotten. We could die of dehydration out here!’

  As they continue to bicker, Tarek rolls his eyes at me, as if Jude and Phoenix’s disagreements are a familiar occurrence.

  ‘Listen,’ I interrupt. ‘The longer you two argue, the more likely Tanas will catch us up.’ I peer uneasily into the darkness for approaching cars. ‘Tarek, what do you think we should do?’

  Tarek shifts awkwardly on the balls of his feet and adjusts his broken glasses. ‘Erm … you both make a fair point. For speed, I’d favour the road –’ Jude smirks triumphantly at Phoenix – ‘but with nowhere to hide we’d be sitting ducks.’ Now it’s Phoenix’s turn to assume a self-satisfied look.

  ‘Then we take the desert route,’ I say, making a decision for everyone, my trust in Phoenix’s judgement overruling Jude’s common sense.

  ‘Fine,’ says Jude curtly, ‘but don’t blame me if this doesn’t work out.’

  Abandoning the car by the side of the road, we set off into the night, our feet crunching on the bone-dry earth. Phoenix is just ahead of me, leading the way through the arid scrub of thorny bushes and spiky cacti, with Tarek and a disgruntled Jude trailing behind.

  ‘So what’s with you and Jude?’ I ask Phoenix quietly as we hike under the star-studded sky. ‘You seem to have a history.’

  Phoenix snorts a hollow laugh. ‘Yeah, a long history.’

  He walks on for several paces in silence, his face turned away from me, fixed on the path ahead. ‘I assume you were both in the same warrior tribe, the Hakala?’ I prompt. ‘The one that originally saved me and my fellow First Ascendants?’

  Phoenix pauses and I draw level with him. He raises an eyebrow. ‘You remember that far back?’

  I nod. ‘Caleb showed me. During a Glare in the Sun Room.’

  His brow furrows as if a deep memory has just resurfaced. ‘That was a dark night. Never seen a storm like it. But every Hakalan warrior felt a calling. A sense that if we did not intervene in your battle, the sun would never rise again.’ His blue eyes turn to me, gleaming as bright as the stars overhead. ‘None of us realized that we were saving the Light. It was only afterwards, when each of our souls connected to yours, that we fully comprehended the magnitude of our commitment. That we would be forever bound to one another, souls entwined.’

  My hand finds his in the darkness. ‘Well, I’m glad it was you, Asani, who saved me that night.’

  Phoenix blinks in surprise at my use of his soul name, then he smiles, the same knowing, worldly-wise grin he’s worn through the centuries. And for the briefest of moments his face appears to morph into that of the braided warrior: broad-cheeked, strong-jawed and smooth-skinned, as if his features were hewn from the heart of an ebony tree.

  ‘It was fate that I became your Soul Protector, Tishala,’ he says, using my soul name and squeezing my hand in return. ‘And fate that has brought us together again. Look!’ He points to something far overhead –

  ‘You see that star, Tishala,’ whispers Asani as we sit close together on the brow of the hill, a warm breeze wrapping itself round us like a blanket and the soft chirp of crickets lulling us into each other’s arms.

  I gaze up at the night sky that glitters like an ocean over the Rift Valley. ‘Which star?’ I ask, breathless.

  ‘That bright one to the north.’ He draws me closer and points. ‘Wherever you are, in whatever incarnation, look to that star and know that I am with you. Your life with mine, as always –’

  ‘Our star!’ I gasp. I feel my pulse quicken and our connection deepen. The constant star in the heavens linking that very first life as Tishala and Asani to this one as Genna and Phoenix. While our souls may have journeyed far through time, I realize we are still where we always were. Together.

  I look into Phoenix’s face, his weary yet determined features softened by the moonlight. ‘Your life with mine …’

  ‘As always,’ he replies, completing the phrase and affirming our eternal bond.

  For a while, we walk on in silence, at peace with each other, the steady scrunching of our footsteps and Jude and Tarek’s whispered conversation the only sounds. Then Phoenix says, ‘I heard about your parents. I’m truly sorry.’

  The stars in the sky suddenly blur and I have to blink away tears. The unanticipated reminder of my loss threatens to burst the dam in my heart. ‘Thank you …’ I reply, my throat tightening and my voice faltering, ‘I-I-I miss them s-so much.’

  He gently clasps my shoulder as I heave a sob. ‘Don’t despair,’ he says softly. ‘You’ll be reunited one day, of that I’m sure.’

  I wipe away my tears with the back of my hand. ‘You think I really will? But they weren’t First Ascendants.’

  ‘No, and that might be their saving. The Hunters who killed them wouldn’t have bothered with ritual sacrifice,’ he explains. ‘So their souls wouldn’t be prevented from reincarnating. Granted, they may not be your parents in another life, or even look the same, but you’ll recognize them nonetheless. And they’ll show you kindness, even though they won’t remember you as their daughter.’

  The weight of grief in my heart lightens at his words. ‘Thank you. That makes things a little easier to bear,’ I reply with a bittersweet smile. While the loss of my parents still leaves an aching emptiness within me, it’s comforting to know that I may meet them again in a future life.

  As we crest a rise, Phoenix suddenly bears left.

  ‘Do you really know where you’re going?’ I ask. To me, the desert seems the same barren wasteland in all directions.

  ‘More or less,’ he replies, glancing up at the sky. ‘Haven is west of here. So we follow Mintaka,’ he says, pointing to the furthest star on the right in Orion’s belt. Phoenix’s confidence at navigating the desert reminds me of Amastan and the time he taught me how to find my way across the Sahara. Looking up, I begin to get my bearings. I can identify the planet Venus, and there’s Sirius – the brightest star in the sky. And now I can pick out the constellation of Cassiopeia, reliably pointing the way to Polaris in the north. I recall too the importance of smell in the desert, especially of distant camp fires, and how moonlight is better than torchlight for finding one’s way in the hours of darkness.

  We keep walking through the night, Phoenix determined to put as much distance between us and the broken-down car as possible before daylight breaks and we lose the cover of that darkness. But gradually the horizon brightens and the dawn sun chases the stars away. With no shade or shelter, the desert quickly heats up and our exertions soon leave us sweaty, thirsty and tired. We share the bottle of water but between the four of us it doesn’t quench our thirst for long.

  ‘See? I told you we should’ve gone by road,’ Jude mutters irritably as Tarek drains the last few drops. ‘At least we could’ve bought some supplies at the first town we came to.’

  ‘We’ll reach Haven before we die of thirst,’ replies Phoenix calmly.

  Wiping her brow of sweat, Jude scowls. ‘According to my estimates, we’ve still got at least a day’s trek ahead of us.’

  ‘So we’ll find water on the way,’ says Phoenix.

  ‘You kidding? Where?’ questions Jude, waving her hand around. Surrounding us is nothing but sand, scrub and arid hills. A heat haze shimmers in the distance and I’m painfully reminded of my time as Sura in the Saharan desert. Her agonizing thirst in the salt mines of Taghaza isn’t an experience I’d be keen to repeat. My throat feels sore just at the thought of it.

  ‘Don’t fret. I was once a Tuareg,’ reminds Phoenix. ‘I know where to source water in a desert. In the meantime, put this in your mouth,’ he suggests, picking up a smooth, rounded pebble from the ground.

  Jude peers sceptically at it. ‘That won’t stop dehydration,’ she says dismissively.

  ‘No,’ replies Phoenix, ‘but it’ll shut you up, so you won’t lose any more moisture from your blabbering –’

  ‘Hush! Do you hear that?’ says Tarek, interrupting their escalating argument.

  ‘What?’ asks Phoenix, turning to him.

  ‘A buzzing. Like a mosquito …’

  Frowning, Phoenix listens hard. As do I and the others. The desert is eerily quiet, just the occasional chirp of an insect. I begin to think Tarek’s imagined the noise. But then I become aware of a distant whirring, which grows steadily louder. Squinting against the sun, we peer into the bright blue sky, searching for the source of the buzzing.

  ‘Drone!’ cries Tarek, pointing to a small black dot skimming high above the desert.

  ‘You think it’s Tanas?’ I say, feeling dangerously exposed on such open ground.

  ‘Probably,’ replies Jude. ‘A drone would be the quickest way to hunt us down.’

  ‘Come on!’ says Phoenix, breaking into a run. ‘We need to find cover.’