It fell onto the smashed bottle, lighting up its contents – some sort of cooking oil. The flames flared in the oil.
A proper fire. Shit. And I’d just set light to the only thing to put it out with. Smoke poured upwards. A moment later, the alarm erupted into a drawn-out screech.
‘Come on!’ I grabbed Ketty’s arm. ‘Jack’ll be here any second.’ Coughing, I dragged her into the hallway, with Ed right behind. Footsteps pounded across the landing above . . . and down the stairs.
I opened the bathroom door, shoved Ketty inside and pulled Ed in after us. I pushed the door to, just as Jack leaped the last few steps into the hallway. I could see him through the crack in the door. He raced past us towards the kitchen, his eyes fixed on the fire ahead. He swore, then disappeared from view.
‘Dylan, get down here!’ he shouted.
I could hear Jack fumbling with the kitchen door. Smoke was pouring into the hallway now.
‘I told you a fire wouldn’t work,’ Ed hissed.
‘Sssh.’ I hissed back.
Coughing, Jack re-emerged from the kitchen, just as Dylan flew down the stairs and into the hallway. Dylan’s hair was messy round her face while Jack’s shirt was buttoned up all wrongly – like he’d dragged it on in a hurry.
‘What’s . . .?’
‘They’ve got out of that utility room – door’s wide open – and set a bloody fire in the kitchen.’ Jack was still coughing. The smoke swirling at his feet was dark and toxic-smelling.
‘Where are they now then?’ Dylan shouted.
Jack looked round. His eyes stopped on the bathroom. ‘They must be in here . . .’ He flung open the door and Ketty, Ed and I spilled out into the hallway.
‘What the hell were you doing?’ Jack snarled.
Ed doubled over, coughing.
‘Making sure we left,’ I said, coughing now too.
Jack swore. ‘Come on.’ He grabbed Ketty’s arm, then unlocked the front door.
‘Don’t even think about running.’ He tapped the inside of his shirt – the place where I knew he kept his gun.
We stumbled outside. My eyes were watering. Smoke was pouring out of the house. We stood on the street, coughing, gulping in the fresh air. Fire engine sirens sounded in the distance. Lights were on in the rest of the mews . . . Jack’s neighbours raced out of their houses, talking in anxious voices. The smoke alarm still screeched.
I glanced over at Jack. He was gripping Ketty’s arm tightly.
How were she and Ed and I going to escape?
‘Let’s go,’ Jack said.
We set off up the little street, all bunched together. It was light outside, almost morning. Jack’s neighbours were staring and pointing at the smoke that poured out of his house. A couple of them came over. Jack gave them smiling reassurances that we were all okay. I thought about running up to one of them and asking for help, but what good would it do? Jack was adult, charming and persuasive. Plus, he had that gun – and, whatever Dylan said about him not being prepared to go as far as killing us, I didn’t want to hang around and take the risk.
No. We had to find some way of getting away from him on our own. I looked round. There had to be something here that would help our escape. A large stone urn in the front yard of the mews house on the end of the row caught my eye. If I could crash that into Jack, he’d have to let go of Ketty. Then I could grab her and run.
Ed walked beside me, still coughing. I poked him in the ribs to get his attention. His eyes turned on me straight away. With that, now familiar, rushing sensation, he was inside my head.
What? His thought-voice was curt.
I hesitated. I wasn’t sure how to tell him my plan without him seeing all my thoughts.
If you don’t want me to pry into everything you’ve been thinking, then just think the thought you want me to see.
I thought my plan in words in my head, like I was speaking, but making no sound.
Ed’s eyes burned into me. Okay, but make sure Ketty doesn’t get hurt. He broke the link, then looked back at me. As usual, when he wasn’t trying to read my mind, he didn’t make proper eye contact, but I could still feel the warning intensity of his gaze.
I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes. We had almost reached the stone urn and I had to focus. This had to be fast. There was no time to think. With an in-breath, I brought the urn a fraction above the ground. It hovered in the air, just a centimetre above the tarmac. Jack was right beside it now. He hadn’t noticed. I breathed out, bringing the urn towards Jack. He caught sight of it out of the corner of his eye. Jumped back. Tripped. Stumbled into Ketty. She twisted and fell, heavily, on her ankle.
‘Ow!’ She screamed out in pain.
Shocked, I lost my focus. The urn thudded onto the ground.
Dylan dropped to her knees. ‘Are you okay?’
Ketty clutched her foot. ‘It hurts. My ankle.’
‘What the . . .?’ Jack’s gaze raced from the urn . . . to me. He reached to help Ketty up, still glaring at me. She struggled to her feet. Tested her ankle.
‘Ow.’ She looked up, tears in her eyes. ‘That hurts.’
I stood, staring helplessly at her.
‘Brilliant,’ Ed muttered beside me.
‘Nico, I swear,’ Jack hissed. ‘If you try anything like that again, I’ll . . .’ He let the threat hang in the air and turned to Ketty again. ‘Can you walk?’
Tears in her eyes, Ketty put her weight on her ankle again. ‘Yes, but it hurts.’
Jack swore under his breath. A chill wriggled down my spine. Before, all I’d had to worry about was distracting Jack, so that we could escape. But now how were we going to get away? Ketty could barely walk, let alone run.
‘We have to go.’ Jack checked his watch. ‘I can’t afford to miss my flight.’
Ed put his arm round Ketty. She leaned into him and limped slowly off, just as a fire engine roared into the mews street.
‘She’s not walking fast enough.’ Dylan glanced at Jack.
‘You’re right. Nico, you help too.’ Jack looked over his shoulder at the fire engine. ‘Christ, I hope they can contain the fire.’ He shot me another furious look, as one of the firefighters leaped down from the machine and started yelling at the onlookers to move back, away from the fire.
I wandered over to Ketty’s other side and reached for her arm. The three of us set off in an awkward huddle, Jack just behind.
Behind us, more firefighters were leaping down, shouting out to find out if there was anyone left in the house. I could hear Dylan telling someone that the house had been empty . . . that there was definitely no one inside.
‘Dylan!’ Jack yelled. ‘Hurry.’
As we reached the main street, Dylan caught us up. She and Jack began muttering in low voices behind us. A small crowd had gathered, surging forwards to see the fire. As we pushed our way through, I glanced over my shoulder. Smoke was still billowing out of Jack’s front door, but there was no sign of any flames. The firefighters were unfurling a long hose.
I glanced across at Ed and Ketty. I was sure Ed and I could get away now, if we ran hard enough. But I couldn’t leave Ketty. I had to make sure she escaped too.
We turned onto Long Acre. Most of the shops were still locked up, just a few newsagents with the owners outside, removing their shutters. The sky was bright and the air cold. I guessed it must be gone 6 a.m.
Ketty limped on, with Ed and I on either side.
‘Nice work, Nico,’ Ed said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Irritation snaked into my throat. ‘Well, what’s your plan?’ I hissed.
Ed glanced over his shoulder. Jack and Dylan were still deep in conversation.
‘See that scaffolding up ahead on the corner?’ Ed whispered. ‘First level up?’
I looked up. Several buildings away, at the corner of a narrow alleyway, a network of scaffolding poles crisscrossed half the way up the front of a shop. A long line of bricks sat in piles across the planks laid along the first level up
. More planks were laid against the side of the building, clearly waiting to be used further up the scaffolding.
‘I see it,’ I said, tersely.
‘Well, I can hardly believe I’m asking after what just happened,’ Ed went on, ‘but d’you think you could manage to bring the bricks and planks down? If you caused a distraction I could probably get Ketty away. I’m sure I could carry her for a few streets.’
I looked back at the scaffolding. There was a lot of material up there, but nothing I couldn’t teleport easily.
Ketty squeezed my arm. ‘It’s a good plan.’
I nodded. ‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘but I’ve got a better one.’
‘Oh, God,’ Ed groaned. He glanced over his shoulder at Jack again. ‘What d’you mean?’
‘Well, if you just take Ketty and run, Jack’ll follow you – I mean, even if I distract him for a few seconds, he’ll notice you running off. But if you, me and Ketty run into the alley together and I bring those bricks and stuff down between us and Jack he won’t be able to follow us and we’ll all get away,’ I whispered. ‘There’s a lot of stuff piled up on the scaffolding and it’s a narrow alley. I’m sure I can do it.’
‘But you might hit me or Ketty,’ Ed said.
‘Or yourself,’ Ketty added.
‘I’ll aim carefully,’ I said. ‘Let’s go.’
Ed opened his mouth, as if to say something else, then shut it again. We shuffled on for a few more metres. I looked up at the bricks, getting ready to move as many as possible, as fast as I could.
‘Hurry up,’ Jack called from behind us. I looked over my shoulder. He was frowning, his eyes fixed on the three of us ahead of him. ‘We need to get a move on,’ he went on. ‘I have to catch that chopper. If I miss my slot at the heliport I won’t get to the meet with Carson in time.’
We were almost at the alleyway. I focused on the nearest pile of bricks. We reached the entrance. And then everything happened at once.
‘Now,’ I said.
Supporting Ketty round the waist, Ed darted sideways, into the alley. I followed, teleporting a brick down behind me. It landed at Jack’s feet. He jumped. Swore. I turned and hurled another brick. But this one missed Jack. It swerved out of control and skimmed across the ground – into Ed’s shin.
‘Ow.’ With a yelp he stumbled, letting go of Ketty.
No. As Ed fell towards me, I turned back to the bricks and plates, desperately trying to bring them down between me and Jack. But they were out of control, raining down in all directions as the others ran – or, in Ketty’s case, hobbled – away as fast as they could.
I cast my eyes down, praying it would stop, but the bricks had a momentum of their own now . . . one pile tipping into the next, cascading down.
Finally it ended. I looked up.
Shit. I had indeed formed a wall of rubble and Ed and I were certainly on the alley side of it. Unfortunately, Ketty was still on the other side – with Jack and Dylan. All three were hidden from view.
‘Nico? Ed?’ she called, as the sound of Jack, swearing, rose up above the wall.
‘We’re okay,’ I yelled back, tugging Ed away from the mess.
He turned on me, furious. ‘Can’t you do anything right?’ he hissed. ‘I warned you that you might hit me.’
‘It’s not that easy to control,’ I snapped, pulling him further away. Jack’s voice echoed from the other side of the wall of rubble.
‘We don’t have time to chase them,’ he said.
Ed and I glanced at each other.
‘But . . . but what about Carson?’ That was Dylan.
‘I’ll tell him Nico’s locked up at home – that he’ll get the boy when my money’s safe.’
‘What about me?’ Ketty’s voice shook.
There was a short pause. I held my breath.
‘You’ll have to come with us to the meet,’ Jack said.
‘No,’ Ketty sobbed. ‘Please, no.’
‘Come on.’
Their footsteps echoed away.
Ed stood, head bowed. ‘Oh, God,’ he said.
I grabbed his arm. ‘Come on, if we run we can reach them. Get to the heliport first.’
‘How?’ Ed looked wildly up at me. ‘We don’t even know where the heliport is.’
‘Have you got a phone . . . any money?’
‘No. Jack took it all.’
I thought fast. ‘We need to see an A-Z.’
‘What? How will that . . .?’
‘Come on.’ I grabbed his arm and dragged him through the alley. More shops were opening up now. We passed a corner store. I darted in and rifled the shelves. There was a stack of A-Zs to the left. I took one and thumbed through the index, my hands shaking.
‘There.’
Ed peered over my shoulder as I pointed to the page. The only heliport in the area was clearly marked. Raven Street Pier, just north of the river. It looked like a fifteen-minute walk or so.
‘We’ll have to go the long way round to get there, but if we run we might beat them,’ I said. ‘They’ll have to go slower because of Ketty.’
Ed nodded.
I stared again at the map, making sure I had the route firmly fixed in my head. I put the A-Z back and we raced off, the shopkeeper muttering crossly as we left. We ran hard, swerving round bends and down turnings.
Ten minutes later we reached the heliport. It was a modern building with glass-fronted doors and a large outside tarmac area on which two huge helicopters stood idle. The sun emerged from behind a cloud, warming the cold morning with an orange glow.
I peered inside. A reception area with sofas and a desk. No sign of anyone except a security guard, leafing through a magazine at the desk.
For a second I thought we’d got here first. And then a door to the outside area opened and Jack, Dylan and a limping Ketty appeared, walking towards one of the helicopters with another man.
We ducked back, into the shadow of the wall. I watched, uncertain, as the other man, presumably the helicopter pilot, opened up the doors. Jack stood back to allow Dylan and Ketty to get in first.
‘No,’ I breathed.
‘We have to do something,’ Ed moaned.
But the helicopter’s engines were already whirring. I focused on the blades, trying to calm my breathing. Maybe I could stop them using my telekinesis.
But the force of their spinning was too fast and hard for me to control. There was nothing I could do. A black misery filled my head as I watched the helicopter rise up into the sky, bank, then whirr off into the distance – taking Ketty far away from me.
Ed looked across at me. The fury in his eyes was unmistakable.
‘She’s gone,’ he said. ‘Jack’s going to take her to Carson and Carson’s going to use her like he was going to use you.’
‘What d’you mean?’ I stammered.
‘Did you really think I wouldn’t work it out?’ Ed gritted his teeth. ‘Carson wants you because you’ve got the Medusa gene – he can use you to demonstrate that it works. That’s what Jack meant when he said Carson would get you when Jack got his money. But now you’ve gone, so Jack will have to give him Ketty instead.’
‘You’re being ridiculous,’ I snapped, suddenly filled with panic. ‘Jack and Carson don’t even know Ketty has the Medusa gene. They’ll just let her go.’
‘You don’t know that,’ Ed said coldly. ‘For all you know Jack or Dylan could have overheard us talking about Ketty being Viper. Or they might force the information out of Ketty herself.’
‘They wouldn’t—’
‘You don’t know what they’d do,’ Ed insisted. ‘But you should know this . . .’ He paused. ‘. . . If anything happens to Ketty, it’s all down to you. You’re the only reason Ketty’s mixed up in this – the only reason she’s here.’
I stared at him. ‘I didn’t think—’
‘You never do think, do you?’ Ed clenched his fists. His normally eager, open face screwed up into an angry frown. ‘Ketty was so right about you.’
‘Wha
t?’ My chest tightened. ‘What did she say?’
‘That you only care about yourself,’ Ed snarled. ‘That you’re selfish.’
I reeled back like he’d punched me. Had Ketty really said that?
‘That’s not true,’ I said. ‘I do care about her . . . I . . .’
‘Well, she’s going out with me now, and I’m telling you to stay away from her.’
He stood glaring at me for a second. I could feel he was itching to make proper eye contact and punish me somehow. I looked away, wanting to complain this wasn’t fair. But in my heart I knew he was right.
I had been selfish. It made sense that Ketty wouldn’t like me any more.
Unable to bear these thoughts, I focused on the phone box at the end of the street. Where could we get help?
‘Maybe we should try Fergus again?’ I said.
Ed shrugged. ‘There’s no point. He was adamant we should stay at school. He said there was no point calling the police . . . that he would find you and rescue you, but Ketty didn’t want to wait.’
‘But he doesn’t know where Ketty’s gone.’ My voice rose. ‘We should tell—’
‘Nico, we don’t know where Ketty’s gone.’ Ed’s voice was heavy with contempt.
Ignoring him, I walked to the phone box and reversed the charges to Fox Academy. The switchboard put me through to the flat. Fergus’s answerphone kicked in.
Sorry we can’t get to the phone. If you have a message for Fergus Fox or Nico Rafael, please speak after the tone . . .
A lump rose in my throat. I hadn’t realised Fergus still kept my name on the answerphone.
‘Hi, it’s me. Er . . . Ed and Ketty came to get me out,’ I stammered into the phone. ‘Don’t be cross with them, they were trying to help. But Jack’s taken Ketty—’
‘Nico?’ The phone picked up and Fergus’ anxious voice cut across me. ‘Where are you?’
‘Ed and I got away, but Jack took Ketty somewhere in a helicopter. They set off five minutes ago from Raven Street Pier heliport.’ My voice cracked. ‘I’m going to try and find—’
‘No.’ Fergus’s voice cut me off again. ‘No. You and Ed must come back to school. I’m going to call the police. Let them handle things. I should have done it when you took the papers from my safe, but—’