Patience (The Patience Trilogy Book 1)

that it mattered, she feared that she would soon be facing death, and there wasn’t much anyone could do about it.

  “Patience, are you okay?” said Grim, she had only just realised that they were both staring at her. She must have looked like a right freak.

  “Yeah, m’fine,” she mumbled, “seriously, stop worrying.” She wasn’t convincing anyone, let alone herself. Her mind just kept jumping towards the possibilities. Would they torture her, make it quick, or bring her to this ‘Mr Big’? She wasn’t sure which option she liked best, so the only thing she could hope for was an extra choice. Live.

  Mortus looked at her deeply as though he was staring into her soul. “Are you sure?” he said, “you look a little pale.”

  “You’re the one talking.”

  “Well, I was brutally killed, woke up in a coffin and dragged myself out by clawing my way through ten feet of dirt with my bare hands. So, I think I have an excuse?”

  “I’ve just been told that every killer in the magical world is gonna be after me,” she said, “is that not justified as well?”

  “I suppose it is.”

  Grim wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Look, I’m not going to let them harm you, alright. Just stay calm and.... why are you looking at me funny?”

  “Just you,” she laughed, attempting to forget about the almost inevitable death, “trying to be all caring, it’s funny, and incredibly patronising.”

  “Oh, sorry.”

  “Come on you big softy,” she said, leading the way, “let’s go get my uncle, kick this Mr Big off the face of the planet and be back in time for tea.”

  Grim frowned. “Considering we were supposed to eat tea at least an hour ago, I find it highly unlikely we will get all that done before then.”

  “It’s a figure of speech.”

  They climbed into Bessy and drove off, leaving Mortus standing in the doorway watching them drive away. His expression was still lacking any emotion, or maybe she was just bad at reading people.

  Somehow that seemed very likely, which made her wonder if she was even able to trust these people.

  She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t put her faith in the wrong people before. It was likely to happen again.

  5

  THE FEARSOME FIVE

  Patience sat on her phone flicking angry birds towards a structure, watching it crumble before repeating the process. It proved to be immensely satisfying, in a barbaric sort of way.

  She looked up. It was impossible to see far ahead. It was like a wall of darkness was hanging over them, even with their headlights on Patience could only make out the repetitive lines on the road in front of them. Grim still kept his foot almost to the ground, glancing in her general direction occasionally to see how many tries it had taken her to destroy the structure.

  “You’re getting worse,” he said.

  Patience scowled. “Well maybe if you slowed down a little I might actually be able to concentrate.”

  “So I’m going a little fast.”

  “A little? You’re going forty over the speed limit in pitch blackness.”

  Grim chuckled to himself, looking at the speedometer almost as though he saw it as a challenge. “Who follows the speed limit anyway? In fact, I see them more as a guideline that normal people, who don’t have my particular skills, should go at to remain safe. But it’s fine for people like me.”

  “No,” said Patience, “I’m pretty certain the speed limit IS A LAW.” She snapped her phone shut and dropped it into the little compartment by her feet.

  Grim glanced over, saw her sullen expression and slowed down slightly. “Fine... happy now? It’s not like there are even any cars out here.” He slid around a corner. “Hey, look, a car.”

  Lights appeared behind them, rising out of the darkness as their headlamps invaded their space. In fact, as it got closer she realised that it wasn’t a car, but a minivan. Strange thing to be driving at this time of night.

  Wheels skidded, and the minivan kept close behind. Each turn they took it seemed to be right on them.

  “You know,” said Grim, “I think they might be following us.” As soon as he spoke, a sound like a cannon erupted from behind them. Patience covered her ears and ducked her head, only looking up to see the circular hole that had been torn through the windscreen. Another bullet rattled towards them, hitting the side of the car.

  “My poor Bessy,” moaned Grim, swerving across the road like he was weaving around obstacles.

  Patience gripped the side of her seat tightly, almost tearing a piece out.

  “Go faster then!” she screamed.

  “You were the one who told me to slow down.”

  “We were driving on a pitch black road with no threat of danger.... now we’re being shot at. I think the circumstances changed!”

  Grim sighed. “You’re so pedantic.” His foot reached the floor within seconds, gear changed, and then sped off forwards. She didn’t know much about cars, but she knew enough to realise a minivan wasn’t the best for a car chase. There was a reason you never saw any of the great action heroes cruising around in a minivan, that would be ridiculous. Which made her surprise even greater when she saw a blinding flash of light to their side. The minivan crashed into the side of Bessy, rolling them over until they were the right way up.

  “I think they popped a tyre.”

  “Never mind about that.... what’re we going to do?”

  Grim undid the seatbelt. “I have a plan. It might be crazy, some would say suicidal, but it’s the best I’ve got.”

  “What is it?”

  “Well we go out and talk to them.” Reluctantly, Patience climbed out her side of the car and joined Grim at the back, ignoring his cries of horror at the sight of Bessy all broken at the side of the road.

  Five men climbed out the minivan, all forming one straight line at the front. Their stares were enough to say they weren’t there to sell cookies. Patience really wanted a cookie right now.

  “This was a bad idea,” said Grim. They began to walk forwards. “Probably a really really bad idea. I didn’t know there were five of them.”

  “They were driving a minivan,” scolded Patience, “if you only have two people, you don’t drive a minivan.” Grim scratched his head, possibly realising the mistake he had made while considering if they should still attempt to talk to them. They could get back in Bessy, but they had probably already seen them.

  Oh, who was she kidding. Of course they’ve seen them.

  A short man stepped up, wearing a sharp suit and a flat wig, he was by far the least scary out of all of them. His face was sinister though. It looked more like a frog than a human, all screwed up, and stuck into the shape of a single expression.

  He straightened his tie. “Mr Grim, as the leader of this little entourage we call, ‘the sinister six’, I would request that you come with us, quietly.”

  Patience squinted in confusion. “But there’s only five of you.”

  The man looked around as though he hadn’t noticed. “Indeed. One of our members has deserted us. So, I suppose we will be needing a new name. Could you excuse us for a moment?”

  “By all means.” The man retreated back to his friends, they all huddled together before he slowly stepped forward again.

  “As of now, we will be known as the fearsome five.”

  Patience stifled a giggle, but he didn’t seem to notice. His face was still as stern as ever. That was what she found funny, the fact that he took all of this so seriously. The fearsome five? How could he not even crack a smile? She was possibly looking into the jaws of death, and even she was laughing about it. Oh dear. She was laughing.

  “Has something I said amused you?” he asked, his tone ashen with malicious spite.

  Grim held a finger close to her like he was telling off a child. “Come now, Patience. Let’s not mock the mad, little man.” The man turned almost as red as a tomato. His face melted with anger. He clenched his fis
ts into tight buns at his side, straightening the arms as though he was resisting some sort of tantrum.

  How cute.

  “Little man? I am Kensuke Addington, leader of the Fearsome Five.” Even Grim lost it at the second mention of that ridiculous name. His laughter filled the street, as tears filled his eyes. “I’ve had enough of your insolence, who are you to mock me? No, I’ve changed my mind about taking you alive. I’ll kill you where you stand.”

  Grim sat down.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Well he can’t kill me where I stand now,” he said, almost pleased with himself, “see, I foiled his plans without violence. I love it when everything works in our favour.

  Kensuke didn’t find it funny, not one bit. Instead he pulled a revolver from his pocket and pointed it in their direction. They had both already dived behind the metal shell of their vehicle. Bullets rained out, soaring above their head until they heard the welcome click to signal he was out. Patience tipped her head over the bonnet and looked at him through the hole in the windscreen. Her hand fell to the floor next to her and scooped up a rock with jagged edges, then she threw it. Kensuke cried out with pain as he clutched his face, a new cut etched across his cheek with pouring blood escaping from it. His face morphed into an angry expression as he pointed in their general direction.

  “What the hell are you lot waiting for?” he yelled, “get them, kill them. Make it painful.” The four other men moved towards them.

  “Do you think we should run yet?” said Patience, her breathing quickening as time ran out.

  “Why? Are you