The Potion Diaries (34 page)

I grimace. No magical danger will keep me from my sister in this moment. ‘Molly?’ I whisper. I can see the gentle rise and fall of her chest, her brow smooth, and she looks so peaceful. But I know after expending all that energy that she must be close to drained, and she will need medical attention quickly.

We approach cautiously.

‘I’ve never been so close to a unicorn before,’ says Kirsty, tears in her eyes. ‘I mean, at least not for long enough to really examine it properly.’

I know what she means. When the unicorn had been raging in the clearing, it had been moving too fast for us to truly appreciate its beauty. But lying here, so powerful yet gentle in sleep, it’s possible to really appreciate it. It appears white, but every individual strand of its fur seems translucent, like diamonds stretched out into strands. Its horn isn’t pearlescent, as I would have expected, but more like a spear – a twisted sheet of precious metal – like silver, but even stronger. It looks slightly damaged at the tip, and streaked with drying blood which is quickly turning from crimson to dark brown.

I wonder briefly where that blood has come from, but now I can guess what happened to Kirsty’s shoulder.

‘Careful,’ said Kirsty, as I move closer to the two sleeping figures. I reach out and touch Molly’s arm. She shifts, and the unicorn shifts beside her.

‘Mols?’ I whisper.

She groans in response, but at least it’s a response. I gradually lift her arm, moving ever closer to her, extricating her from the unicorn’s side. I lift her up in my arms, and she feels light as a feather; lighter than normal.

‘Wait,’ she says, through slightly damp lips. Her eyes flutter open.

‘What is it, my love?’

‘Did you get the ingredient?’

‘Don’t worry about that, Mols,’ I whisper into her hair, gripping her tighter.

‘No, it’s okay. I asked.’

‘You . . .’ It is almost too unreal for me to ask for an explanation. I move her so she’s close enough to reach the unicorn’s tail, and she gently breaks off a single strand. Kirsty stands back at a respectful distance. Maybe putting my little sister in so much danger has had an effect on her too. There aren’t very many people who meet Molly, who then didn’t want to protect her.

But then, it’s obvious that Molly doesn’t need as much protection as I think. She escaped from those bats herself. She didn’t need me. She came out here to get the ingredient, she chose to be brave, despite the barriers that we put up around her ever since we found out she was Talented. She could have become insular; spoiled. But instead, she grew strong.

I’m so proud of her, even looking at her now as she falls asleep in my arms.

I turn back to look at the unicorn one last time, but it’s gone – melted back into the woods – the space where it had lain to rest empty.

Lights begin flashing through the trees, and I realise that it must be Arjun, waiting in the jeep. We can finally leave this nightmare . . . and get back home.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Samantha

J
UST ON THE EDGE OF THE FOREST, A metallic stench reaches my nostrils. I recognise it even before she speaks and this time, I’m expecting it. I close my eyes, take a breath, before turning around to face her.

‘Well done, Samantha.’ Emilia emerges from the trees. Her clothes are singed and dirty, her wand smoking in her hand. She must have been hit by Molly’s blast. Good. I can only hope that’s stopped her from jamming the phone signal. ‘To be honest, I’m impressed. You’re the last one left in the Hunt and you’re still standing. Well, sort of.’

‘The last one?’ I’m not able to hide my surprise. Molly is heavy in my arms, and Kirsty leans on me, barely able to stand up straight. I sense her glaring at Emilia but if she doesn’t even have the strength to make a snappy comeback, she’s not going to be able to help defend me in any way. The only thing I can do is keep Emilia talking. ‘What did you do to ZA?’

‘Oh, an incident with their transporting might have occurred. To be honest, it’s been all too easy.’ The lights continue to flicker at me, and I wish I could signal back to Arjun in some way. I wonder if he can see Emilia from where he is. ‘It’s simply been a matter of clearing away the competition, one Participant at a time.’

‘All I want is to save the Princess,’ I say.

‘How nice of you. But I think the other Participants had that in mind too, and they’re no longer here. And don’t worry; the Princess will be cured. We both know this potion is nearly done, and each defeated team has handed me the ingredient I need. So long as I am the one to create it, the Royals will just have to hand the crown over to me, or risk watching their beloved Evelyn destroy their own kingdom.’

‘They won’t let you!’ I say.

‘What choice will they have? The Royals are desperate. The Princess is deteriorating rapidly, the love potion ravishing her mind and sending her power spiralling out of control. She’s destroying every room they put her in. If it continues, she will end up levelling Kingstown – even killing her won’t stop it now. She needs the cure. And in exchange, the power of the Novaen throne will become mine.’ The dreamy look leaves her eyes; they flash bright as steel. ‘Hand over the last ingredient,’ she says, all business now.

‘How do you know it’s the last one? What if there’s more?’

‘Don’t play games with me, Kemi.’

I don’t move. I can’t. I’m paralysed with fear.

‘Fine, then I’ll take it from you.’ She storms over and snatches at my bag, pushing Molly.

‘Don’t touch her!’ I scream, my instincts finally awakening. My face is wet with tears. I place Molly, who is mercifully still sleeping, down on the ground. ‘Take it.’ I shrug my bag off my shoulder and hold it out.

She grabs it. ‘Good choice.’

‘You’re nothing but a traitor, Emilia,’ I spit at her.

‘I was going to leave you alive, Kemi,’ she says, her voice filled with hate. She throws down her smoking wand and pulls out a handgun, pointing it at me. ‘Who shall I kill first? You?’ She moves the gun towards Molly. ‘Or your sister?’

‘Go ahead,’ I say. ‘When the world sees what you’re doing, you’ll never rule Nova.’

‘What?’ She looks up, drawing back the gun.

The air around us fills with the thud of helicopter blades, the wind picking up and whipping around my head. A spotlight dips low over our heads and I can see a man leaning out of the window, a video camera perched on his shoulder. It’s Dan. He waves and gives me a thumbs-up.

‘Smile, Emilia,’ I say. ‘You’re on camera, broadcasting to the whole world.’

My plan worked. Why fight the media, when I can use them?

Emilia throws her arms up over her face and runs into the forest. The helicopter doors open, and several rope ladders are thrown over the side.

Four men in khaki-coloured uniforms with large weapons strapped to their backs climb down the ladders and surround us. ‘She went back into the forest!’ I shout, terrified that she’s going to get away again. One of the men shouts an order and the rest run into the trees after her.

Dan is the last man down, and the helicopter swings away. He rushes over to help me with Kirsty.

‘You made it!’ I smile.

‘Thanks for the scoop of the century. I transported straight to Zambi after I got your call but I was worried when I didn’t hear from you about your exact location. When I finally did get the call from Arjun, I thought I might be too late.’

‘Emilia was jamming the signal right up until Molly saved us from the vampire bats. Did you get it on camera when she pulled the gun on us?’

‘Everything. The world will know she’s behind the sabotage of the Wilde Hunt now. Plus, I brought reinforcements.’ He gestures to the men around him.

The man in charge has several gold stripes on his shoulder. A badge on his chest reads PROTECT. SUSTAIN. THRIVE. ‘I am Colonel James Odoyo of the Zambi Wilds Protection Agency,’ he says, extending his hand.

‘I’m Samantha Kemi. This is my sister Molly Kemi and our Finder Kirsty Donovan. Another friend, Arjun Patel, the one who called you here, is still in our car. Please, we need urgent medical attention.’

‘We will take you to a hospital. But first, we must search you for illegal unicorn-derived substances on your person.’

I nod and they rifle through our bags and pat down our bodies – except for Kirsty whose shoulder is still streaming blood. Her hand is clamped down tight over the wound, and even the guards can see that removing it would be dangerous. Molly is still passed out on the ground. I keep my head up high. Thanks to Emilia, we have nothing to hide.

Once Colonel Odoyo is satisfied that we have no unicorn parts in our possession, he leads us out of the forest, towards several big trucks that will take us away. I see Arjun already sitting in the back seat of one truck, and I place Molly next to him.

‘Not the hospital,’ Kirsty whispers to me when we’re inside the truck. ‘We need to go straight to the transport terminal.’

‘But . . .’

‘No arguing. Sort it.’

I tap the window of the truck. ‘Colonel Odoyo, can you take us to the Zambi transport terminal? I need to get my sister home.’

‘The hospital is on the way, miss,’ he replies.

‘Please. I know Zambi doesn’t follow the Novaen Wilde Hunt tradition, but I must get back. Our Princess’s life is at stake.’ I need to tell someone – Renel, the King, anyone – about what Emilia has done and see if we can get the unicorn tail another way.

The man sitting next to Colonel Odoyo turns in his chair, smiling broadly. ‘We know Princess Evelyn! My wife follows her in all the magazines. She came to Zambi on a visit last year, and I had to line up on the streets with my wife just so she could get a look at her. She said she’s much thinner in real life than in the pictures.’

‘Then you’ll help?’ I say.

Colonel Odoyo changes the direction of the truck, and takes us to the terminal. ‘You can leave to do what you must. But your friends . . .’ he gestures to Kirsty and Arjun, ‘they will need treatment first.’

At the terminal, Colonel Odoyo is proved right – they won’t let Arjun or Kirsty through. Neither of them is fit enough to travel. Arjun is still weak from his first transporting experience, and I think he’s happy to head back on a plane later on in the day. Kirsty is strangely silent, but she’s lost so much blood it’s no wonder she can barely argue. They allow Molly and me to use our return tickets though, especially since we’re heading home, so Dan volunteers to stay to make sure Kirsty and Arjun are cared for. And he wants to write up his blog as quickly as possible.

Before we head through security, Kirsty calls me over and asks to speak to me privately. The only place we can find is the ladies’ bathroom. Classy.

I assume she wants to apologise for kidnapping Molly, so I come in with my arms crossed, immediately on the defensive. What she did was stupid, reckless, dangerous . . .

She pulls me into one of the stalls, shuts the door, then locks it. There’s hardly room in here for both of us. ‘What the heck?’ I say, my leg jammed up against the toilet bowl.

She peels off her shirt from shoulder, wincing as she does it, and reveals a ragged, deep hole from where the unicorn gored her. I cover my mouth with my hand.

‘Sam,’ she says, through gritted teeth. ‘Focus.’ Then she holds up a pair of tweezers. ‘The unicorn will have left some splinters of its horn in my shoulder.’

‘Oh no, I’m not doing that.’

‘You have to.’

‘Oh god . . . what for? I don’t know if I can.’

‘We don’t have the tail any more, Sam. But hopefully you can use these as a replacement.’

My mind goes blank. ‘I . . . I . . . I guess it might work?’ I say, the realisation that maybe I’m not out of the Hunt finally dawning. The horn will have the same properties as the tail, but it’s much less commonly used because of the increased difficulty to acquire.

‘Good, because I’m not going to have had myself gored for nothing. I was going to sell them on but you need to have them. After all, I wouldn’t have been able to get it without . . .’

‘Without Molly. Right.’

‘Sam, she begged me to take her. I know I—’ She stops. ‘Well anyway, make it quick.’

It’s not quite an apology, but Kirsty is the toughest Finder – toughest person – I’ve ever known. She’s gone through so much. I feel like being gored by a unicorn is probably punishment enough.