Thyla - Kate Gordon [69]
Gingerly, I took the cuff from his fingers. He was right. It just felt like an ordinary bangle. Isaac looked at his with a wry smile. ‘It’s not part of the official police uniform, so I gotta hide mine. It’s more of an anklet than a bracelet for me. Very masculine.’ He laughed bitterly. ‘Now, are you ready to go over?’ he asked, gesturing with his head towards Cascade Falls. ‘If you’re not ready, it’s okay. Delphi was right. There is probably nothing we can do. By the time Delphi got back to us, the Diemens would have been long gone. They have probably already –’
‘Don’t say it!’ I cried. I shook my head. ‘I know, Isaac. I know Laurel’s probably already gone, but I need to be here. I need to make sure the rest of them are okay.’
‘You need to protect them,’ Isaac said, softly. ‘The same old Tessa.’
We began walking towards the school, more slowly now.
Isaac spoke as we walked. ‘Do you remember the story of my cuff yet?’ he asked. I shook my head. Isaac nodded and went on. ‘One night I was walking in the grounds behind the factory, trying to organise my thoughts – I was worried about Hopkins and Chassebury. They seemed to be growing more demented by the day and I didn’t know what to do. I heard a noise coming from the forest. It sounded like something whimpering. I followed it and found a creature huddled in the undergrowth. It was a Thyla, half-turned, though I didn’t know it then. I was really scared, and was going to run away, but then the creature called out in a human voice. “Help me.” The voice was so full of pain, how could I refuse? I moved back over to him and saw that his leg was almost torn right off. He told me that he’d been trying to protect a convict girl who’d strayed too far from the factory grounds when she was collecting firewood. But there had been too many of them and he’d lost her, and they’d taken his leg to punish him. Diemens think that sort of thing is funny. I asked the Thyla who they were and that’s when I first found out about the true extent of Lord’s powers. I said we had to stop them. The Thyla, Adam, told me he knew he would not heal quickly enough to survive his injuries but, if I really wanted it, he could turn me so I might have a chance of fighting Chassebury on equal terms. I agreed and he bit me and gave me his cuff. He died soon after. I wish I could show the world Adam’s cuff. I’m so glad to own it. And you won’t remember this, but your cuff is special too. We melted it down from a necklace your mother wore. It has the added protection of the love she felt for you. You wear it with pride, okay?’
I nodded, feeling tears well in my eyes. For once, I did not shoo them away. ‘Okay,’ I whispered.
I pushed the cuff onto my wrist as Isaac clipped his around his ankle.
My muscles turned to jelly. My joints flamed and contracted and shook and burst. My fingers pulsed with pain. My eyes burned. I gasped, and my hands flew to my face. ‘It hurts!’ I cried. ‘It hurts, Isaac!’
‘I know,’ he said, putting one of his huge hands awkwardly on my shoulder. His hand was trembling. He was hurting too.
‘It didn’t hurt going the other way,’ I moaned. ‘Why does it hurt so much going this way?’
‘Because “the other way” is your natural state, I guess,’ he said, his voice gentle. ‘So shifting to that state is kind of like … I dunno, putting on your comfiest pair of tracky dacks. Shifting to your human state again is like …’
‘It’s not like anything,’ I grunted. ‘It’s agony.’
‘Yeah. Trust me. I’m feeling it too,’ said Isaac.
‘Do you ever get used to it?’
‘Tessa, I hate to break it to you, but you’ve already been doing this for a century and a half, whether you can remember it or not. So no. You never get used to it.’
I began walking again, towards the school.
‘Tess, wait,’ Isaac called. I stopped and turned. Isaac reached into the pocket of his trousers and pulled out a crumpled t-shirt. In his other hand he held a police shirt – equally creased. ‘You might