Gabriella Poole - Divided Souls (Darke Academy)

Knife. A pretty good trade, don’t you think? But I am sorry, Jake. I was unavoidably delayed.’

‘Ranjit,’ she cried, fear making her shrill. ‘This isn’t you!’

‘That’s where you’re wrong, Cassie; this is more me than ever! Don’t you see? I’ve done all this for you! Getting the Urn from Sir Alric’s

office was easy. He assumed nobody else was aware of its power but …’ His eyes darted, as though his mind was racing. ‘The Knife, well,

I’d hoped I’d get it sooner, but it’s here now, isn’t it, my friends. But I knew I had to find the Pendant before I could really help you, and I did!

I’ve got it. I told you, didn’t I? I told you I’d fix everything! And I know you’ll be grateful, Cassie. I know it.’

Grateful? Cassandra, we must go NOW!

‘Ranjit, stop this!’ she shouted, furious and afraid. Her voice echoed over the hard surfaces of the mausoleum.

‘But I killed them for you!’ he cried. ‘The ones who got you into this mess! I’m going through them, one by one, those who were at your

ceremony. They forced you to host Estelle’s spirit. But it’s OK. I can get her out of you. I can get her out, and I can punish the ones who did

this! My gift to you, my love! Isn’t it magnificent? My gift: your life back. And their lives – I give you those, too!’

Cassie was reeling. ‘I didn’t want them!’ she screamed.

He wasn’t even listening. Instead he pointed to a bulging canvas bag that lay on the floor, the pale edge of the jade Urn just showing at

the open flap. ‘I have all three of the Eldest’s creations, now that Jake’s come along, now that he’s brought the Knife to me. But fair’s fair! I

wouldn’t deprive him of our deal, I wouldn’t withhold what I promised! That wouldn’t be like me, would it, Cassie?’

‘Ranjit! None of this is like you! It’s the curse, the—’

‘Now Jake can have his answers. And he’ll be glad of this …’ he gestured to Richard, still lying at Ranjit’s feet, his eyes widening in panic.

‘Ranjit. No …’ he said, weakly.

‘… when I tell him that it was Richard here who delayed me the night Jess was killed,’ Ranjit continued, ignoring Richard’s protest. ‘And

trust me, it was very much deliberate.’

Cassie felt like her heart had stopped – and Jake was like cold stone beside her. She couldn’t even hear him breathing.

Ranjit’s eyes seemed to look past them once more. ‘Yes. Yes, Cassie, I loved her once too, like I love you now. I was too late, too late to

get to her because this little weasel kept me back while Keiko and Katerina hunted her down in the forest. Let’s be honest, Jess never

stood a chance.’ He focused back on them. ‘But now you do, my love.’

Cassie wasn’t aware of Jake moving, only of a blur that flew past her and leaped towards the sarcophagus. The Knife was in his hand

and he was screaming, incomprehensibly.

Ranjit’s head turned, almost imperceptibly, his mad grin unchanged. He looked quite unconcerned, but as if in slow motion Cassie saw

one fist flash out, striking Jake with a fluid, lethal grace. Jake grunted with pain as he was flung like a rag across the floor of the tomb, then

slammed into a pillar. Cassie saw it all, heard it all, as if she was watching some crazy piece of theatre, and through a curtain too.

Then she heard the terrible crack as Jake’s skull broke. And she screamed.

‘Ranjit, NO!’

She and Ranjit both stared at Jake’s limp body, heaped untidily on the floor, but Ranjit’s red eyes still held no human expression at all.

Slowly he turned back to Richard, and stretched out a hand. As Ranjit grabbed Richard’s shirt, his chest arched up, head lolling, and a small

rattling whimper came from his lips. He was slipping out of consciousness again …

Rage crept up Cassie’s spine, filling her, and suddenly the beautiful Iznik tiles of the tomb were purple-red in her vision. Snarling, she

clenched her fists and focused her fury, a crackling aura beyond her body, and lashed it at Ranjit.

This time he took notice, head snapping up just too late. As her power hit him he was thrown back, banging into another pillar. He roared,

lunging back towards Richard like an animal, and Cassie hit him harder, flinging Ranjit into the air.

He landed on his feet like a tiger. His eyes boiled as they focused on her, the light mad with passion and rage.

‘You’re protecting him?’ Ranjit’s voice was horrible, hissing through peeled-back lips. ‘He’s the one who got you into this mess! He’s the

reason we’re apart! I’m the one who’s helping you, Cassie!’

‘Get away from him. From both of them!’ Cassie knew here already!’her own voice was shaking, but with fear or fury even she didn’t

know.

Ranjit threw back his head and let rip a hideous, shrieking laugh. ‘God, it’s so ironic! You’re defending Jakey too!’

‘Ranjit, get a grip.’ She snarled it in a low voice, desperate to get through to him. ‘This isn’t you!’

‘I told you, it’s more me than ever, sweetheart.’ He laughed again, head falling forward as he leered at her, and she saw something swing