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It was five minutes, ten, and then half an hour. She kept moving, although she was hot and tired, and her feet were beginning to hurt. Friction had rubbed her skin red and blisters would come again soon. She stopped for a little while and bought something to drink, all the time half watching over her shoulder.
It was late afternoon, the sun was beginning to sink in the west, when she saw him. He was only yards from her, the sunlight on his head. He was fairer and taller than most others around him, and she knew immediately, with an absolute certainty, that she was caught.
She turned to run, just as his hand closed like a vice on her arm. There was no point in fighting: he would only injure her. He could pull her arm out of its socket if he needed to. They were in the open, but she saw his anger, his contempt for her for having fooled him, even for a few hours.
Their eyes met. He said nothing, but it was startling how his face had changed. What was once almost beautiful now was frightening in its hatred. She thought of screaming but knew she would be dead before a sound came from her.
They went together all the way back to the port. People looked at them, but Aiden conducted a one
-way conversation, as if she were arguing with him. He twisted her arm so she cried out. People were embarrassed. Some might have been sorry for her, but no one intervened. The more she protested, the more hysterical she seemed.
Before the sky was blood red in the west, she was back on the ship.
“Don’t bother trying to persuade any of the crew,” Aiden said close to her ear. “They’ve all seen how hysterical you are, how emotionally unbalanced. I’ve told them the truth about our journey: that I’m taking you back to England for a doctor to help you. They understand, most of them, and not one of them will listen to you. I think perhaps you’d better have your meal in our cabin. You don’t want to embarrass yourself in front of those men.”
She could not think of any reply. Everything was closing in, getting harder, in fact, impenetrable. By nightfall, there might be nothing left. Aiden could take her up on deck after dark and easily knock her unconscious and toss her body overboard. He would say in the morning that she went out while he was asleep. He had locked the door, but she had found the key. She had been threatening suicide for a while. He was distraught with grief.
There would be nobody to argue with him, no proof of anything different, no one to question him, no one to ever know where she was. Lucas would never know.
That was the essence of spying, wasn’t it? Not being known? Utter aloneness? Disappearing without a trace.
Elena would not go quietly without leaving a mark. Gabrielle had given her a weapon. It might not save her, but she would damn well use it.
She dressed for dinner and, with some difficulty, twisted up her hair and fixed it at the back with Gabrielle’s comb. She put hairpins close to it, to stop it from falling out. If a few strands of hair escaped, it hardly mattered. She looked good, wearing a dress with red flowers, cheerful, as if she were happy.
The door was locked, but Aiden came back to wash and change into his clean shirt for dinner. One of the crew members passed by; Elena took the chance. “I’m glad you’ve come,” she said to Aiden. “I’ll go up and keep your place for you.” And she slipped through the doorway, almost touching him, but smiling at the crewman. It was all over in a moment. She put her hand lightly on the crewman’s arm and walked with him.
Dinner passed with little comment. They talked about all manner of irrelevant things. Elena listened politely, as if she were genuinely interested. She asked questions.
The meal was over just as the sun’s edge dipped below the horizon, the color deepening, staining the water as if it were spattered with blood.
Elena insisted that she be permitted to go up and look at it before the color died away. She asked Aiden to go with her to share the glory and make sure she did not slip or fall in.
He hesitated a moment. She saw the struggle in his eyes, and the second in which he took the bait. “All right,” he agreed, “why not?” He smiled and offered his arm.
Elena looked away quickly. Was she afraid she might read something in his eyes? What? Cruelty? Triumph? Even regret? Don’t be a fool, she told herself. This was no time for emotion. If ever anyone knew that, it was Aiden.
They went up the main steps to the deck. None of the crew was visible. Did they know what he meant to do? Or did they guess and prefer not to be certain?
She touched the comb in her hair, Gabrielle’s comb. She got rid of one of the hairpins so it would slide out easily. She was as ready as she would ever be. All doubt was gone. She knew it was her life or his.
They made their way to the stern, where they had a view of the blazing sunset, uncluttered by ropes or wires or any back railings over the path of fire across the water. The orange of the ball of the sun dimmed at the bottom, where it was already below the horizon. Gold was turning to bronze, scarlet, and crimson.
“I’m sorry it had to end like this,” Aiden said quietly, gripping her hard. “At first you were a bore. Sorry, but that’s the truth. No time for lies now.”
She reached up, as if to push back a stray wisp of hair, and took the comb out. “I can see that, looking back,” she admitted truthfully.
“It’s a pity you became interesting too late.” He looked away from the sunset and directly at her. “But you’ve outlived your usefulness. You’re not so much fun.”
He let go of her arm and she knew that this was the instant. She must use it; the next one might be too late.
“I’m sorry, Elena,” he repeated.
She raised the comb, exposed its blade, and slashed at his throat as hard as she could, high up, just under his ear. Her aim was perfect. The blood gushed out in a fountain, as crimson as the dying sun.
He let out a gasp of surprise and put his hand to his neck. But the cut was deep and long; there was nothing he could do to stem the flow of blood. Rage twisted his face and he grabbed for her with his other hand.
She stared back and then hacked at his hand, catching his arm and causing another deep slash.
