‘Why?’ She looked at it uncertainly. ‘Why would Raffy want a watch that the Brother gave you?’
Lucas smiled sadly. ‘It was our father’s,’ he said. ‘I told Raffy the Brother gave it to me because . . .’ He sighed. ‘I told Raffy a lot of things. Dad wanted Raffy to have it, but it was too dangerous. So I looked after it for him. But now it’s time to hand it over. I want him to remember Dad like he deserves to be remembered. I want him to know how much Dad loved him. How much I . . .’ He trailed off again, his eyes shining.
‘You can give it to him yourself,’ Evie said. ‘When we get over.’
Lucas shook his head. ‘I’m not coming with you,’ he whispered.
Evie stared at him, suddenly feeling chilled to the bone. ‘What do you mean?’ she asked.
‘I mean I need to stay here. People are going to be lost. Confused. They’ll need direction. They’ll need hope. And anyway, someone’s got to help that creepy guy Linus get out of the City.’
Evie shook her head violently. ‘You have to come with us. You have to . . .’ She could feel tears pricking at her eyes, anger and desperation and indignation surging through her veins. She didn’t want to lose Lucas again. ‘You have to come,’ she said again, using her sleeve to wipe at her eyes and nose.
‘I can’t,’ he said softly. ‘You know that really. You go with Raffy. Go to Base Camp. Find one of the other civilisations. Make a life together.’
‘And what if the police guard kill you? What then?’ Evie demanded.
Lucas laughed. ‘I’m not going to walk back to the Meeting House, if that’s what you think,’ he said, before his face went serious again. ‘Evie, I just need to know. I have to know that what you and Raffy and Linus came here to do . . . that it worked. I have to make sure. For Dad’s sake. For Linus’s.’
Evie closed her eyes. She knew he wouldn’t change his mind, knew that she’d lost him, knew he was right, but it felt so very wrong.
‘I’ll . . . miss you,’ she whispered, not letting herself think too much about what she was saying.
‘Evie?’ It was Raffy’s voice.
‘She’s coming,’ Lucas shouted. Then he put his right hand around her face, cupping her jaw, and brought her to him, kissing her tenderly on the lips. ‘The reason I wanted to be matched to you is because you’re beautiful,’ he whispered. ‘Because you’re insightful and intelligent and independent. Because I fell in love with you the first time I saw you. But I always knew you would never be mine. Be safe, Evie. Look after Raffy for me.’
‘Thank you,’ said Evie. ‘For shooting the Brother. For . . . for everything.’
‘I’m going to miss you, too,’ Lucas replied, his voice soft and so full of emotion that she could see his lips trembling.
And with that, he hoisted her up so that her hands could reach the top of the gate, and held her as she pulled herself up and over. And as she went over the top, she lost her grip for a second and began to fall, and she was sure it was over, and for a second she didn’t care . . . But then she felt two arms wrap around her, holding her, squeezing her to him, and she could smell Raffy, feel him – the boy she had loved all her life, the boy who had loved her, and she held him back, tears cascading down her cheeks, and together they climbed down to the ground.
‘Lucas?’ Angel asked when she landed. ‘Where is he?’
‘He’s going back,’ Evie said. ‘He’s going to stay for a bit.’
And if Raffy wanted to protest, wanted to ask why, or to know what else Lucas had confided in her, he didn’t.
‘Does he know what he’s doing?’ Angel asked, frowning.
‘I think so,’ Evie told him. She turned to Raffy, to give him Lucas’s watch, but then stopped herself. Now was not the time. And she wasn’t ready yet. Instead, as they started to run, she held it in her hand, pressing it tightly against her fingers, as though it were Lucas himself that she was holding. As though she were protecting him, as though he had somehow left part of himself in the gold timepiece that had symbolised so much – that had turned out, like Lucas himself, like the City he had appeared to love, to be something so completely different to what she’d thought.
To what they’d all thought.
Dirt, dust and grime in her eyes, in her nose, choking her. A hand around hers, pulling her on, reassuring her. A rock catches her unawares and she falls, her face pressed into the ground; she lifts her head and wipes her forehead – there is blood on the back of her hand. Her lip begins to quiver but before tears can come she is swept up; her arms wrap around a familiar neck and she hears his laughter.
‘Look where you’re going, you idiot,’ he says, grinning. ‘Here, hold my hand.’
She takes it gratefully as they continue their journey. The rhythm of his walking calms her; she feels safe. ‘We’re nearly there,’ he says, squeezing her hand. ‘Nearly there, my darling.’
She walks beside him, walks towards their new life. Soon she will be somewhere else, somewhere new, somewhere better. Raffy grabs her playfully and she smiles, reaching out to hug him. ‘I love you,’ he murmurs. ‘I love you . . .’
END OF BOOK ONE