Black Holes - The Mors Mortis Trilogy Book 3

Chapter Forty Seven

A groan came from the back, a decidedly male one, and Zarah turned in her seat.

Cassandra had gone stiff, her eyes fixed on the divide that separated the boot as one of the Brentons glanced over the top. He took stock of where he was, who he was with, and then he looked out the window, watching the landscape roll by.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

His still looked pale and drawn, but there was no emotion in his voice, no hint of anything, and Zarah felt the threat that was Brenton fall over her once again.

"Sydney," she said, and then squinted at him. "Which one are you?"

When the Brentons stood next to each other, it was easy to tell who was who, but with only one in front of her now, she couldn't figure it out. They were the same person, after all, even if they'd led very different existences for many years.

"The one from here," he said. He glanced down at the boot beside him, clearly eyeing his other half. "He's weaker than me at the moment. He'll take longer to recover."

"Right," Zarah said. She eyed him for a moment longer, letting her thoughts settle before she spoke again.

"Are you feeling okay?"

Brenton's gaze moved back to her, and the corner of his mouth turned up a fraction, as if her question was amusing.

"I'm fine. Thank you for asking."

Cassandra scoffed, and her hand moved to the gun at her waist.

"What happened back there?" Zarah asked, trying to defuse the tension that was already building.

Brenton's gaze was blank, uninterested, even as the spot where the bullet had entered his skull shone shiny and red on his forehead.

"What do you mean?"

"With Arelie," Zarah said. "Why did she shoot you? It seemed like she panicked when she realised you were there."

Something ugly rolled across Brenton's face, there one second and then gone the next.

"Yes," he said, and Zarah knew he was reliving the last few moments before Arelie shot him, just like she was. "She did. Didn't she?"

"Do you two know each other?"

"Of course. She was Leah's friend, just like you."

"That's not what I meant."

Brenton was quiet for a moment, clearly weighing up his options.

"Arelie was my contact here," he said eventually. "When I was first experimenting with immortality, she was the person I was told to find if I made it to this world."

"Who told you that?"

"Maud Malem."

Danny and Cassandra froze, barely breathing, and Zarah's mind swung back to the phone call of Arelie's she'd overheard. That'd been to someone called Maud too.

"Who is Maud Malem?" Zarah asked. "Why are you all acting so strange?"

"Because she's a wildcard," Danny said quietly. "She knows more about the way the worlds interact than anyone else, but she never took a side when he went rogue."

Danny jerked his head to the rearview mirror, gesturing at Brenton.

"She helped us, but she helped him too. We all needed her, but none of us could trust her. She only ever responded to bribes or money."

"But how did she have so much knowledge if no one else did?" Zarah asked.

Danny shrugged, and his gaze flickering to Brenton again. "Maybe she was more honest with him than she was with us, but we never found out. When Dad and Brenton were young she just appeared one day, offering her services. The S.I.S didn't know what to do her."