I can hear your whisper and distant mutter. 

I can smell your damp on the breeze and in the sky I see the halo of your violence. 

Storm I know you are coming. 

- Robert Fanney 

Leah wasn't entirely sure how far they'd gone before Jared came to a stop. The last hour had been spent navigating their way through dense bushland with little light and had proven more challenging than Leah expected.

In the rare moments when she wasn't running into trees or tripping on roots, she was crashing into Jared, a mistake that sent mumbled curses and insults flying her way. Usually, she would be swearing right back, but the roof incident had disoriented her. Their demi-kiss had been startling, and Leah wasn't entirely sure how to deal with it.

She was seconds away from inevitably running into him again when she felt his hands on her shoulders, halting her movement. The darkness was so complete that she couldn't even see his face.

"What –"

"Shhhh."

Jared's hands left her and some rustling ensued. She was about to ask what he was doing when a bright light flared up, momentarily blinding her. Leah resisted the urge to curse and blinked the spots out of her eyes.

Her gaze followed the flashlights trail as Jared moved it away from her face and scanned their surroundings. His torch landed on an abrupt drop only metres away and she edged closer and looked down. They were standing on the edge of a cliff, the ground below indistinguishable in the darkness.

"Did you know this was here?" she whispered.

"I guessed."

"And you didn't think to tell me?"

"You were behind me. If you'd managed to fall off before I did, I would've been impressed."

Leah shot him a glare, watching as he put the torch and his bag on the ground and began unpacking.

"What are you doing?"

Jared paused and looked up at her, raising an eyebrow. "I want to get some sleep."

"Right here?" Leah asked, gesturing at the death drop behind her.

"Yes."

"But we've cornered ourselves."

"Exactly. If someone's following us, they won't expect us to stop here."

"I don't think –"

Jared groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. "Stop worrying about the cliff. As long as you don't try jumping off this one, we'll be fine."

Leah bit back a cutting remark and dropped her bag into a patch of loosely packed dirt beside Jared, sending a puff of dust into his face. The look he gave her harboured a satisfying degree of exasperation.

"That was unnecessary," Jared said.

"So was shooting Matt," Leah snapped, pulling out her sleeping bag and flopping down with her back to him.

She heard him sigh before he switched the torch off. It was silent for a moment and Leah felt her body deflate, the adrenaline leaching out of her system and leaving her numb. These last two days had been emotionally exhausting and she could feel the stress and lack of sleep catching up.

"I had to kill him, Leah," Jared said out of the darkness. "You know I did. He was a loose end."

Leah shifted uncomfortably. Despite the guilt that leaked from his voice, Jared's words were ruthless, and they made her blood run cold. This was just part of a plan to him. A job that had to be done as quickly and painlessly as possible.

"Don't make excuses, Jared."

I don't want to hear the type of excuses you'll be using when you inevitably betray me.

...

The sun was just beginning to rise when Matt woke. He jolted upright with a gasp and clutched at his head, prodding his scalp to ensure it was all in one piece. He'd only died twice before. Both had been slow, prolonged declines that left time to process what was happening. But this had been violent. Sudden. He'd been looking at Leah and then his head had exploded.

He glanced up and found three people standing at the edge of the bed he lay on. One of them was the owner of the pub, Church, but he didn't recognise the blonde girl or the lady with the black hair and dark eyes. They were all watching him silently.

Church moved forward, eyeing him. "How's your head feeling?"

"A bit foggy," Matt said, glancing past him at the others.

Church cleared his throat. "This is Cassandra, and my daughter, Ash. They helped me move you up here."

"Right," Matt said. He prodded at his head once more and winced. "Bloody hell. What happened to me?"

"You got shot in the head," Church said. "And then you fell off the roof."

Matt's mouth gaped open.

Cassandra moved forward, her eyes were narrowed with a high level of distrust. "What were you doing on the roof with Leah?"

Matt frowned. "What?"

Cassandra just stared at him, waiting for a different response.

Matt's brow furrowed in confusion at the intensity of her gaze.

"A friend of mine is looking for her," he mumbled.

Cassandra scoffed and rounded on Church. "He's just another smuggler. I thought you said you got background checks on everyone that was here while Leah and Jared were."

"I did," Church said dryly. "I didn't think Matt would be a problem. He's here all the time."

"I'm not a smuggler," Matt interrupted angrily. "I was just asked to keep an eye out for her."

"Why?" Cassandra asked sharply.

"I'm friends with her brother. Her face has been all over the news lately and he's been worried," Matt said defensively.

Cassandra's reaction was immediate, her eyes fixed on Matt with an off-putting intensity. He felt like his brain was being combed through.

"Her brother?" she asked.

Matt blinked. "Yeah, Danny."

The effect was immediate. Cassandra and Church's faces set with grim lines, their eyes widening in surprise. Matt was beginning to get the feeling he'd stumbled into something he probably should stumble right back out of. He'd been aware that Danny's sister was... unique. But he hadn't realised simply talking to her would get his head blown off, or make him the subject of an interrogation.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Cassandra and Church shared a look that Matt didn't fully understand before Cassandra turned to him again.

"Do you know where Danny is?"

"Yeah," Matt admitted uncertainty.

"Good. You're going to take me to him."