And it is. It’s just like a massive stone UFO crashed into the ground. Jake throws open his arms in a grand gesture. ‘Welcome to Stonehenge.’
‘It’s … awesome.’ She skips and takes in the heady scene, then wanders back into his arms and kisses him deeply. They hold each other beneath the fading constellations and block out everything that exists except themselves.
‘Come on.’ He takes her by the hand. ‘Let’s go to the centre.’
They run together and she can’t remember when she last felt like this. So free. So energised.
Jake stands back to take photographs. Snaps on an old pocket Nikon and knows he’s going to keep the images for ever. One day when they’re both old, he’ll dig them out and they’ll remember today. History in the making.
Caitlyn pauses, breathless, wraps her arms around one of the sarsens. She looks like a child clinging to the leg of a giant. She laughs and poses for him.
Click.
She scoops a hand behind her hair and pouts.
Click.
She kisses the stone and strokes it.
Click. Click. Click.
‘One more!’ he shouts and she obliges, leaning against the stone and blowing a kiss right down the lens.
Click.
He stops shooting and gives in to another urge to kiss her.
They lock together. Her back against the giant stone, him pressed hard against her soft warm body. Raw sexual energy rushes through them both.
She closes her eyes and goes with it. Rises like a bird on the hot thermals of his passion. She yields to the invasion of his hands beneath her clothes, the conquering of her flesh. The mystery and magic of his romantic surprise have overwhelmed her.
He spasms against her. It’s not as passionate as she hoped. In fact it’s off-putting and embarrassing. Less of an orgasmic peak, more a sudden and awkward crash of his forehead against hers. Caitlyn flinches and grabs her bruised head. Jake pulls away from her.
‘Ow!’ she exclaims, mad that the moment has been ruined.
A hand slaps across her mouth. A stranger’s hand.
She manages a brief panicking glance at her unconscious lover before a hood is pulled over her head and duct tape wrapped around her mouth.
Within sixty seconds the fields are empty and silent, save the first birdsong of a new day. The sun finishes its slow upward arc into the bruised sky above the henge.
48
Serpens drives the Campervan. On the floor in the back is the blindfolded and bound form of Jake Timberland. Lacerta follows in his friend’s old Mitsubishi Warrior. Caitlyn Lock is tied up and tightly gagged in the rear.
The instructions to the Lookers had been clear. Keep surveillance on the site and wait until the Sacreds choose. Be patient. Like the last victim, it would be their will. And it was. The couple arrived in twilight. They invaded the circle. They touched the stone that the Master said would be touched. They had been drawn to it. Just as the Master said.
The Followers call that particular trilithon the Seeking Stone and there’s no doubt in Serpens’ mind these two lovers sought it. They chose their destiny. Draco will be pleased. All of the Inner Circle will be. He and Lacerta have done a good job.
Ordinarily, Serpens doesn’t take them at the circle itself. Once chosen, they are followed. Sometimes for weeks. Sometimes months. Greater care is usually shown before any abduction is executed. But time is against them. The stars are shifting. There is only a week to go to the change of the moon phase. The renewal must be completed. There is barely time to cleanse the sacrifices, to make them pure.
The lad in the back has suddenly started banging his feet on the wooden floor like a toddler having a tantrum. He will learn to be quiet. He’ll soon know to be silent. Serpens turns up the radio. Before long he takes the van off road, through land that the Craft own, through woods and vales once home to Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age tribes.
Serpens pulls over in a quiet place not far from the isolated track that leads to the hidden entrance of the Sanctuary.
Lacerta tucks the Warrior behind the Campervan and waits for his mentor to make the next move. All he knows is that they are going to leave the sacrifices there and drive the van to a barn, where it will be kept until dark. Later it’ll no doubt be taken to a scrapyard and crushed.
Serpens kills the engine and climbs into the back. At least the guy’s stopped kicking. Learned his lesson. Best not to fight it. Best not to resist what’s going to happen next.
49
Lacerta wanders towards the parked Camper. He wonders why Serpens is still in there. Nothing is happening. Through the window he sees him crouched in the back. He opens the door and sticks his head in, ‘Everything okay?’
‘No, it’s not.’ Serpens turns. ‘Everything’s very much not okay.’
Lacerta climbs in and shuts the door. ‘Why, what’s wrong?’
Serpens moves back and reveals the body on the floor. ‘He’s dead.’
‘Dead?’
It’s one of those words that you just have to repeat. ‘Dead.’
He emphasises the point by picking up Jake Timberland’s arm and letting it fall.
‘Fuck.’
‘Fuck indeed.’
Lacerta is in shock. He steps closer and peers at the crumpled form on the floor. ‘What’s wrong with him?’
‘You mean, apart from the fact his heart’s stopped and he has no pulse?’
‘I mean, what killed him?’
Serpens shakes his head. ‘I don’t know. Maybe I hit him too hard. Maybe you tied him up too tight and he suffocated.’
For almost a minute they both stare guiltily at the corpse and wonder which of them was responsible.
Both are aware of the fate that awaited the couple. Sacrifice.
That would have been much worse for the guy. But it would have been done under the eyes of the Gods. Done with their blessing, in their honour and with their protection. Under controlled circumstances. Carefully planned procedures to protect everyone concerned. Nothing like this. This is a screw-up.
Lacerta breaks the silence. ‘What are we going to do?’
The older man sits back and puts his head in his hands. ‘I’m trying to think, trying to work something out.’
‘We could just dump them both.’ He nods towards the pick-up. ‘No one knows about the girl or him. We could drive them somewhere away from here and just leave them.’
Serpens thinks about it. ‘Did she see your face?’
‘No. I don’t reckon so.’ He reconsiders. ‘Maybe. But even if she did, it was only for half a second.’
Serpens grimaces. ‘That’s all it takes. You see a lot in half a second.’ He has another thought. ‘She’ll know where she was, what time. It’s too risky.’
‘Then we kill her.’ Lacerta shrugs. ‘She was going to die anyway. We can make it look like the boyfriend got rough. He was almost humping her back there at the stones. I bet he’s given her one earlier in the night. His DNA will be all over her. The police are bound to think he did it.’
His mentor shakes his head. ‘She’s been chosen. She touched the Sacreds and it’s our duty to supply her to them.’
Lacerta is panicking: ‘It’s our duty to stay out of fucking prison.’
Serpens stays calm, gets his head together. ‘We need to drive this Camper somewhere, get it out of sight. Then I’ll call my contact in the Inner Circle. It’s up to the Master to decide.’