Darkest Hour (Age of Misrule, Book 2) by Mark Chadbourn Read Free Book Online

big lies. It had cast a shadow over everything, when they should have been revelling in the feeling of falling in love; that pure sensation had been lost to them and he hated his stepfather for that loss. There was relief when he finally discovered who Lee was seeing after spotting them holding hands on New Street, but that had brought with it a whole different set of problems, the most worrying of which was that Sunita might no longer be safe. His stepfather’s associates from his weekly meetings were brutal men with a harsh view of life that didn’t allow such weak concepts as love the slightest foothold, and they were relentlessly unforgiving.

    Sunita knew all this, and she knew it would be safer for her to leave Lee well alone, but how could she? The choices had been made and imprinted on their souls; they had to live with the consequences. “What are we going to do? Carry on as normal, just … going to different places?”
    “You know we can’t do that. They know where you live.” He took a deep breath. “We’re getting out of Birmingham.” He paused while he watched her expression. “Least, that’s what I think. I know it’ll be hard with your family-“
    “It’ll be a nightmare! My dad‘11 go crazy, my mum … all that wailing!”
    “You’re old enough-“
    “That’s not the point.”
    He winced at being so insensitive, but he found it hard to see anything from the perspective of a loving, caring family. “I’m sorry, Sunny, but, you know, we’ve got to do something-“
    “Where were you thinking of going?”
    “Down south somewhere. Just hit the motorway and see where we end up. They’ll never be able to track us.”
    She sighed. “It’s not just your dad. It’ll be good to get out of this city. Sometimes it seems like it’s choking the life out of me. There’s something … a meanness … it just gets me down.”
    “I know what you mean.” He listened to the drone of city centre traffic drifting over the wasteland and abandoned houses waiting for demolition. “It’ll be good, a fresh start.”
    “Do you think it will work out?”
    “I know it will.” He wondered if he could tell her why he was so sure; saying it out loud made even him feel like he was crazy; and he’d been through it. “Come on, let’s walk.” He took her hand and began to lead her in the direction of the house.
    She looked uncomfortable. “Your dad-“
    “He’s at one of his meetings, wishing we still had an empire.”
    The familiar streets were thankfully empty, adding to the wonderful illusion that they were the only people left in the world. Away from the wasteland the air was a little fresher. They turned down the hill from the imposing big houses towards the line of pokey semis where Lee had lived all his life. It felt odd to think he might not walk down there again. He’d miss his mum, and Kelly, but not Mick; he’d be happy if he never heard Mick’s voice again.
    “When are you thinking of going?” Sunita asked.
    “Now. Tonight.”
    “Oh.”
    He couldn’t tell her that his stepdad’s beetle-browed cronies might act after they’d finished their rebel-rousing for the night. They had to be as far away as possible from Brum before everything blew up. But even though he didn’t say anything, he could tell from Sunita’s response to the tight deadline that she understood the dangers.

    “Mum and Dad will understand,” she said confidently. “I’ll call them once we’re on the road. They’ll be asleep when I get back to pack. Though you know, things aren’t so different between us. They both wish I was with a boy who knew the Koran back to front.”
    He shrugged, said nothing. There were always too many people wanting to interfere in everybody’s life.
    Sunita slipped her arm through his and gave it a squeeze. “We’ll never be able to agree on the music for the car, you know. There’ll be me with my Groove Armada and Basement Jaxx and you with some ancient old toss like The