Gabriella Poole: Divided Souls (Darke Academy)

nonetheless true.

Summoning every last shred of her power, Cassie felt her face twist into a soundless snarl of implacable fury, and the force coalesced in

her hands. Twisting them on thin air, she felt Ranjit’s throat. And she squeezed.

He stumbled, went down on one knee, a look of shock in his bulging scarlet eyes. Grimly she let her hands fall to her sides, but she

didn’t let the force loosen on his neck. She had the focus now. Keep it. She had to keep it.

His beautiful face was purpling and swelling, his lips drawn back from his teeth as his fingers snatched at his throat. He grimaced in

agony, sucked for air he couldn’t get.

Tears stung her eyes, blurred her red vision, but she didn’t let go.

Tighter. Harder. She focused the force, crushing his neck, not letting him gather himself enough to strike back. A horrible sound was

coming from Ranjit’s throat, and he was on both knees now, falling forward.

Something swung forward again, gleaming malevolently in the pale dawn. Writhing jade creatures, frantic now, squirming as if it was

them she was choking.

With the last of his strength he twisted his face up to hers. It was full of hate, full of fury, full of thwarted blood-lust, but it was Ranjit’s

face.

Ranjit’s.

Oh, God, what was she doing?

With a shriek she released his throat, but in the same motion she looped the disembodied force around the silver chain, yanking it hard.

Ranjit gurgled as it jolted him sideways on to the stone floor.

He was beaten. Raising the Pendant with her power, dragging his head till it was once more twisted towards her, till she was hanging him

on the thing, she gritted her teeth and snapped the chain.

Ranjit collapsed to the ground. But the Pendant flew clear, hitting the nearest sarcophagus, clattering on to the floor with its broken chain

snaking round it.

And then there was silence.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Cassie began to shake, her hands at her mouth. She didn’t dare look at any of the three unmoving bodies, so she stepped hesitantly

closer to the jade Pendant.

It still glowed faintly, with a ghostly green light, but the creatures were frozen in place, motionless. Warily she stepped around it and next

to the nearest sarcophagus. The surface of the jade looked so smooth and touchable; her fingers flexed towards it, but then she lifted her

hand to her mouth and bit her knuckles.

‘Cassie …?’

She whirled around. The whisper was dazed and shaky. She saw Ranjit half sitting up, rubbing at his bruised neck. Her heart bounded,

and she couldn’t repress a cry of relief. She knew instantly. He was himself again. He was Ranjit again.

She fell to her knees beside him, weeping. ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.’

‘You had to … I … I didn’t mean to …’ He clutched at his head, shaking it, and whispered again, so low she had to lean close to him to

hear. Little electric impulses sparked between his skin and hers. She leaned her face against his bleeding head, and put her arms around

his trembling shoulders.

Whatever the circumstances, it felt good to touch him again.

‘Oh, God.’ He was barely audible, and he didn’t respond to her touch. ‘Cassie. What have I done?’

‘It’s OK. It’s OK.’

‘No. It isn’t.’

She gulped. Somehow it hadn’t occurred to her that he might remember it all, remember everything …

‘I’m s-sorry,’ he croaked. He tried to lift his head to look at Richard and Jake, but Cassie held him fiercely, not letting him see them.

‘I’m telling you, it’s OK. It was the Pendant. The Pendant, it was cursed, it made you …’ She tailed off and kissed his hair, but he flinched

away.

He drew a ragged breath, shaking his head violently. ‘It couldn’t have happened without me seeking it out, without me doing it. The m-

murders. Somewhere deep inside, that must have been my idea. It must have come from me.’

She could think of nothing to say, so she hugged him harder. It was probably true. Him – and his spirit. It was strong, but it was dark. A

personality clash, he’d once said.

A sound, drawing closer, hard to recognise at first. She turned towards it, craning her ears desperately. Was that a car? No, not a car.

Could it be a speedboat, out on the quiet night-time Bosphorus? Yes. It was coming from the Academy’s direction, the sound travelling

across the otherwise still water; her senses still bristling with power, Cassie knew it for sure. It was still distant, but it was drawing in

closer to the shore.

Ranjit must have heard it too. He went rigid in her arms, then sprang up, shaking her off.