The Burning Man

1

The blue waters of the Mediterranean sparkled in the afternoon sun. At the rail of the cruiser, Veitch peered past the flecks of foam on the churning wake into the cool depths. Once, in a different life, he had seen mermaids swimming alongside his boat. That single glimpse had been a moment of transformation that opened him up to the infinite wonders of the universe, but sometimes he wished it had never happened; nothing had ever lived up to it since.

They were half an hour out of Paphos, heading south, and trying to make up for the time they had lost stealing a boat in a Greek harbour because the authorities had banned all charters to Cyprus. Another hour and a half to land, and then he could divest himself of the Anubis Box, which throbbed dully beneath his arm.

‘Thinking of jumping?’ Ruth had come up silently behind him.

‘You wish.’

‘I could make you, you know. My command of the Craft is getting stronger by the day. A powerful wind, a gentle nudge … over you go.’

‘Do it,’ he said flatly. He could feel her gaze heavy on him. She was struggling to comprehend his mood; he didn’t really understand it himself.

She hesitated, then said, ‘Miller told me how hard you tried to save my life.’

Veitch glared at Miller, who was sauntering in the sun next to the passenger lounge. He saw the murderous look in Veitch’s eyes and darted inside. ‘I might hate you lot, but I hate that Libertarian bastard even more. If he wants you dead, I want you alive.’

He could see in her eyes that she suspected the truth. Feeling raw and exposed, he turned back to the sea. ‘Anyway, I was just paying you back. You could have killed me in London at your flat.’

‘I try to be better than that.’

‘You should have killed me. Tying me up … that was just stupid. Did you think I wouldn’t get free and come after you again?’

‘I thought it would buy us enough time to sort things out.’ She paused thoughtfully. ‘When you caught up with us in Cornwall and tried to kill yourself, and that power jumped from you to Church and me … what did it do? And why did you do it?’

‘Because I wanted to see if the mermaids were still swimming.’

Fire lit her face at the thought that he was contemptuously dismissing her question, but she controlled herself. ‘You’re right, I should have killed you. All those people you’ve slaughtered, all the harm you’ve done … But the fact is, Ryan, despite all that, I still think of you the way you were when we first met. Someone who was selflessly trying to do their best. Someone who cared.’ She weighed whether to continue, and then threw her caution aside. ‘I remember a time we shared-’

‘Stop it.’

She came up sharp at the emotion in his voice, and that stung him even more. He expected her to press harder, but instead she said, ‘Just because you’ve given me my freedom, don’t think I won’t look for a way to trip you up.’ The expression she presented was supposed to be challenging, but there was an odd note of uncertainty in her eyes.

‘I expect it.’

She returned to Miller. Veitch stared back into the depths, but his mind was racing. He sensed deep currents moving in Ruth, and a strange new life within them, but he was afraid to examine them too closely for fear of disappointment.