by Jon Robinson
‘You gonna talk to us about this key?’ she said, holding Antonia at bay.
Antonia opened her mouth and bit into Pyra’s hand, causing her to drop the ibis. Pyra yelled, nursing her hand.
Elsa bent down, grabbed the ibis and fired at Antonia’s chest. The five-foot billionaire sailed backwards and flew into the wall.
‘Get outside, Elsa,’ Pyra said.
‘Wait,’ Elsa said, grabbing the sleeve of Pyra’s leather jacket. ‘What are you going to do to her?’
Pyra pointed to the garden. ‘I mean it, Elsa. Meet me on the other side of the maze.’
‘I don’t want you to hurt her, Pyra. Please,’ Elsa went on. ‘We have to show them we’re better than they are!’
‘Then you’d better hope she gives up the key quickly,’ Pyra said.
Elsa ran into the garden. A light snowfall had dusted the ornaments and was coating the frozen pond. She hurried to the maze and noticed a couple of broken branches arranged on the ground. Pyra must’ve left them to help find her way back, Elsa thought. The deeper she journeyed into the maze, the more branches she found.
It took almost fifteen minutes to reach the other side, where she was met with a field and the looming woodland up ahead.
Elsa sat down on an upturned log and checked her hand and arm. Although she hadn’t noticed the pain, the dogs’ teeth had punctured the skin and there were specks of blood.
Eventually Pyra emerged from the hedge maze too. She removed a key from her jeans pocket.
‘So you got her to talk,’ Elsa said, staring at the antique key.
‘I’d never have found it if she hadn’t,’ Pyra answered. ‘It was attached to one of those stupid dogs’ collars.’
‘And you didn’t hurt her?’ Elsa said, looking at Pyra suspiciously.
Pyra put the key back inside her pocket. ‘I didn’t hurt her.’
‘Promise?’
‘Yeah,’ Pyra said. ‘I promise. Happy now?’
They had just started to walk away when there was a shrill cry. Elsa looked back over her shoulder. ‘That came from the maze,’ she said, blinking away crystals of ice.
‘Yep,’ Pyra answered.
‘You left her out there, in that? But it’s snowing; she’ll freeze to death!’
‘The world will be a better place with her gone.’
Elsa tugged at Pyra’s sleeve. ‘We can’t just leave her! You promised me you wouldn’t hurt her!’
‘And I stuck to my word. If she can’t find her way out of her own damned maze, that’s her problem. We’d never be able to find her in there anyway, would we?’
She said no more and walked past Elsa with her eyes lowered. Elsa looked at the hedge maze and in that moment she thought there was something quite wrong with the world, and people, and herself, as she finally turned away and reluctantly followed Pyra’s fading footsteps.
30
Alyn opened his eyes and saw a figure sitting on the end of his bed.
‘Hey,’ Jes said.
‘Hey,’ Alyn whispered, squinting at her. ‘What time is it?’
‘About eleven.’
He groaned and sat up, wiping his hair from his eyes.
‘Luthan wants us to leave soon,’ said Jes, handing him a T-shirt.
‘Right. Of course he does.’ Alyn pulled it on and walked over to the window, rubbing his face with his forearm.
‘Still don’t trust him?’
Alyn shook his head.
‘I still think you’re wrong,’ Jes said. ‘There has to be an explanation. We should probably talk to him.’
‘No. We don’t say a word. Not yet, anyway.’ He pushed away from the window. ‘Just keep alert.’
Jes smiled sadly. ‘You were always the idealistic one. The dreamer. The one to make friends …’
Now all I seem to make are enemies, Alyn thought. She didn’t need to say it aloud. Alyn shrugged and reached for his boots. ‘Yeah, well. I’ve been around a lot of bad people.’
Jes went back over to the door. ‘Just try to remember there are some good ones too.’
Luthan, Alyn, Jes and Julian left the Guild’s headquarters and took the car. Alyn sat in the back seat with Jes, staring out of the window. A couple of times he noticed Luthan drumming his fingers anxiously against the gearstick.
‘Where are you taking us again, Luthan?’ Jes asked.
‘The docks,’ he answered, looking at her in the rear-view mirror. ‘Nover’s supposed to be negotiating some kind of business deal there, according to our surveillance.’
No one in the car said much for the next twenty minutes, until Luthan turned the car on to an industrial estate.
‘You got a plan?’ Jes whispered to Alyn.
His eyes on Luthan, Alyn leant towards Jes to answer when there was a tremendous impact against the side of the car.
He was slammed into Jes, who was thrown against the door.
There was a black van driving beside them filled with men in dark clothing. The driver turned the van and it slammed into their car once more. ‘Nover’s men,’ said Luthan, struggling to regain control of the wheel. He spun the car round a corner, fleeing. The van turned after them.
Just then, Luthan’s phone rang. Luthan picked it up.
‘Still looking for me?’ Stephen giggled. ‘Thought I’d send some friends to give you my regards.’
Luthan ended the call and dropped the phone. The van behind accelerated into their bumper. Jes lurched forward.
‘Might want to throw them off, Alyn,’ Luthan said.
Alyn shut his eyes. ‘I – I can’t concentrate properly,’ he said.
Jes reached between the seats and grabbed Julian’s ibis. ‘Open the sunroof.’
Luthan obeyed and then Jes unbuckled her seat belt and stood on the back seat, standing through the open sunroof. She squinted, trying to see through her blowing hair.
She aimed the ibis at the pursuing van and fired. The blast hit the window, which rattled but failed to shatter. The van swerved.
A man leant out of the rear window and fired with an ibis of his own.
Jes shot again, missing, and then a third time, causing a crack to appear on the van’s window. She lifted the ibis again, looking along the barrel, her hair streaming wildly across her face.
With her final shot, the van’s window exploded into a storm of swirling glass and the van veered into a wall. Luthan slammed on the brakes and the four of them got out and hurried over to the crashed vehicle.
Luthan pulled out the driver, the only one who was still conscious. He fell out of the van on to his knees, whimpering under his breath. His face was covered with streams of blood from the broken glass. He tried crawling away but was lifted up by Luthan.
‘You work for Nover,’ Luthan said, slamming him on to the bonnet.
The man nodded cautiously.
‘Where is he?’
‘I – I don’t know. He only gives us orders over the phone …’
‘You’re lying,’ Jes said, pointing the ibis at his face.
‘I’ve never even met him!’
Jes pressed the ibis against his throat. ‘If you don’t tell us right now, I swear I’ll …’
‘Chill out,’ Alyn said, taking the ibis from her. He turned to Stephen’s driver. ‘Get out of here.’
The man looked at Jes, terrified, and sprinted away over the ice.
‘The more pressing question is how he knew we were coming,’ Julian remarked suspiciously.
‘Yes,’ Luthan said, peering at the unconscious men inside the vehicle. ‘Anyway, we should leave. They’ll probably be looking for our car.’
The three of them followed him in silence over to an alleyway between two rows of buildings. The ground was caked with grey slush. They emerged from the alley on to a yard, dotted with dilapidated-looking storage buildings, many of which were covered in aggressive graffiti. There didn’t seem to be anyone else around, apart from a few seagulls.
‘We’ll lay low,’ said Luthan. ‘Ma
ke sure we aren’t being followed. Then we can head back to base …’
Alyn waited until Luthan had taken a step in front of him, then said, ‘No more games, Luthan. I know what you’re up to.’
‘Hmm?’ When Luthan turned, Alyn was pointing the ibis at him.
‘Alyn?’ Luthan said. ‘What are you –’
‘I know what you’ve been doing,’ he hissed. ‘You’re going to try to exchange us.’
‘Exchange you?’
Without taking his eyes from Luthan, Alyn removed a pair of handcuffs.
‘I took them,’ he said. ‘From your pocket.’
‘Those were for Stephen,’ Luthan protested. ‘That’s what we came here to do after all.’ He looked at Jes and Julian. ‘Come on, you two don’t honestly believe this … ?’
‘Out of everything that’s happened to us, it’s one of the more believable things,’ Julian answered, sighing. ‘Tell me, why were you going to exchange us? The Guild certainly seems to have enough money …’
Luthan shook his head. ‘You don’t understand.’ He marched towards Alyn, his defensive tone turning into aggression. ‘Just give me the ibis before you do something you regret.’
Alyn pointed it at his chest. ‘I heard what you said to Stephen. I followed you.’
The shock was clear on Luthan’s face. ‘You followed me?’
Alyn nodded.
Luthan appealed to the others. ‘I was trying to get close to Stephen. Like we’re supposed to be doing now.’ He gave a dismissive shake of his head. ‘I don’t have time for this.’
Alyn followed him with the ibis, until Julian stepped in his way.
‘It was me,’ Julian said. ‘You were going to trade me. I only just escaped from Stephen’s men. If Alyn hadn’t warned me, I’d be back in the prison right now.’
‘Nonsense,’ said Luthan.
‘No more lies,’ Jes said, folding her arms. ‘Tell us the truth.’
Luthan looked as though he was about to challenge her, but stopped and lowered his hands. ‘If – if you must know, I wasn’t doing it for power. Or for money … or to destroy. I was doing it for the man I love.’
Julian folded his arms. ‘Things had been refreshingly unsentimental until now …’
‘They’ll kill him. I know what these people are like! Wouldn’t you do anything to save the person you loved?’
Jes looked furious. ‘You’re telling me, you’re putting us all at risk to save your boyfriend? You’re risking everything!’
Luthan smiled weakly. ‘I had no choice. Let’s just forget about it all and go back to our base. We can talk there.’
Alyn lowered the ibis. ‘Wait here.’ He pulled Jes and Julian away from Luthan.
‘We can’t let him go,’ Alyn said. ‘We need to keep him somewhere.’
‘I don’t trust him,’ Julian whispered. ‘Come to think of it, I’ve never warmed to him.’
‘So what do we do – tie him up and leave him somewhere?’ Jes looked uncomfortable with the thought. ‘We should take him back to the base. We could tell the others, Pyra and Anton. They’d know what to do.’
Alyn shook his head. ‘It’s our word against his, and I know whose side they’ll take.’
He looked up just as Luthan attacked. Luthan felled him with a punch and snatched the ibis out of his hands.
‘Get back!’ Luthan snarled. ‘All of you! Get back!’
Luthan fired at Julian, catching his leg. Julian let out a cry and collapsed to the ground. Still dazed, Alyn scrambled to his feet.
Jes ran towards Luthan and threw a kick at his leg. He stepped away and fired at Alyn, who was charging at him. Alyn ducked and tackled him to the ground. The pair rolled until Alyn ended up beneath Luthan with the ibis in between them.
‘Give up!’ Luthan snarled, trying to secure his finger against the trigger.
Alyn managed to lever the weapon and squeeze the trigger instead. Luthan wheezed and passed out, tumbling backwards into a puddle.
Julian hobbled to his feet, using the chain-link fence to support his now-useless leg. ‘That settles it then,’ he panted.
Alyn pulled out the handcuffs again and looked around. He spotted a deserted metal storage unit a short way across the yard. ‘In there,’ he said.
He and Jes dragged the unconscious Luthan inside and handcuffed him to a forklift in the corner. Luthan murmured groggily.
‘The Guild can bring him back later, if they want. I just want him gone.’
With that, Alyn reached up and pulled the shutter down. The pair went back outside, to find Julian limping towards them.
‘He was doing it for love,’ Jes said, shaking her head in disbelief.
‘Mm. Surprised you weren’t taken in,’ Julian said to her. ‘You being a girl and all. You love that kind of nonsense.’
Jes raised an eyebrow. She waited until Julian had limped a short way ahead before kicking his good leg from under him, sending him crashing down into a puddle.
31
Ryan and Anton watched as the cackling, red-faced Blythe waddled out of his Rolls-Royce. The pair were standing among a crowd of spectators, outside an orphanage that the Pledge member was due to open. A lilac ribbon was tied in a bow across the iron gates and fluttered in the freezing wind.
Ryan looked up as a red-haired girl walked past him. It wasn’t Jes. He felt his heart sink.
‘Don’t worry,’ Anton whispered. ‘I’m sure she’s fine.’
Ryan looked embarrassed and lowered his eyes. ‘What’s the deal with Pyra? I can tell you like her.’
Anton looked at Ryan then gave a disappointed sigh. ‘She’s not interested.’
‘Well, what are you gonna do?’
Anton looked puzzled.
‘I mean, aren’t you gonna keep trying?’
‘She’s not some prize to be won. Hey, it’s her choice at the end of the day. If she changes her mind some day, great. If not …’ Anton trailed off. ‘Anyway, why do you look so glum all of a sudden?’
A surge of guilt had filled Ryan’s stomach. He had already tried using the Ability to change Jes’s mind, to make her like him. He thought of Pyra’s reaction when she had figured that out. She had been angry, furious even. He hadn’t seen what the big deal was, but now, looking back, he knew it was wrong. After all, how would he feel if someone used the Ability on him?
‘Nothing’s wrong,’ Ryan said, narrowing his eyes as Blythe pushed his way over to the gates. ‘But we’ve still got no idea where his key is. Could be anywhere. Could be in a safe in another country for all we know.’
Anton shook his head. ‘If there was a ton of evidence that might land you in prison for the rest of your life and one thing that might get rid of that evidence, where would you keep it?’
Ryan shrugged. ‘Look, mate, I’m not a bloody detective …’
‘You’re not an idiot either. Come on, Ryan. Think.’
‘Somewhere I could get to it easily enough, I suppose.’
‘Exactly! Wherever that key is, it’s going to be within reach. Anyway, he’s about to speak.’
Ryan glanced over at Blythe, who was now standing in front of the gates with an oversized pair of scissors. He couldn’t have looked less interested if he tried.
‘Yes, yes, great honour to be here and all that. I declare this old people’s home open,’ he announced, moving towards the ribbon with his scissors.
‘Sir, it’s a children’s home,’ said his chaperone quietly.
‘Hmm. Well, they’ll probably be old too some day, won’t they?’ He chuckled, throwing a wave to the press, and stomped away.
‘Man, this guy is some kind of idiot,’ Ryan said, scowling. ‘Makes you wonder how he got his money.’
‘Inherited, of course,’ Anton muttered. He watched as the drunk Blythe collided with a council member.
‘Drunk at the opening of a kids’ home,’ said Ryan. ‘Classy. If he weren’t so dangerous, he’d be a joke.’
Anton sidled through the clapping crow
d, followed by Ryan.
Blythe gave the crowd a final wave and disappeared into his car.
‘Come on,’ Anton said, hailing a taxi. He opened the door for Ryan and they hopped in. ‘Follow that –’
‘Wait,’ Ryan said. ‘Can I say it? Wanted to my whole life.’ He leant towards the driver and pointed. ‘Follow that car. Cheers, mate.’
A short while later, Blythe’s Rolls-Royce pulled up outside a lofty Georgian townhouse. With an enormous amount of effort, Blythe climbed out of the passenger seat and waddled precariously towards the door.
‘Here will do.’ Anton leant forward and passed some money into the taxi driver’s hand. The driver looked at the pair suspiciously and snatched the money from Anton.
Outside, on the pavement, Ryan said, ‘So, we gonna break in or what?’
Anton nodded. ‘But not yet.’ He saw Ryan rolling his eyes in protest, then said, ‘It’ll be easier if he drinks himself into a stupor.’ He checked his watch. ‘Let’s give him a couple of hours.’
‘Suit yourself,’ Ryan grumbled. He marched over to a small park nearby and sat on a bench with his arms folded.
Having not moved from the bench for the past two hours, Ryan was shivering. Anton had been pacing anxiously up and down the road with his hands in his pockets.
Ryan’s thoughts soon turned to Jes again. If she had managed to find her family, there was a good chance she was staying there … lying in bed, wrapped up in some fancy quilt, while he was out freezing his backside off, waiting for some drunk rich guy.
He muttered to himself, driving his knuckles against the bench. Why couldn’t he get her out of his mind? Sometimes, it felt like it was her using the Ability on him.
Maybe he should forget about this Blythe bloke and go looking for her instead. Then he remembered what his mother had said: ‘Just come home, Ryan. And don’t go being a hero.’
Don’t go being a hero. Funny she should say that. If it weren’t for him leading them, none of them would’ve ever escaped the prison. Had any of them thanked him?
‘Time to go, Ryan,’ Anton said. ‘Keep watch while I see to the lock.’
Ryan nodded and looked around the deserted road, shivering.