disgusted. But I’m disgusted at myself for falling for the trick, not at the Angels for pulling it. I should have known better.
‘Come on,’ I grunt at the twins. ‘Let’s leave them to their precious mission. We’ve better things to be doing back at County Hall.’
‘That wasn’t nice, Ingrid,’ Awnya shouts.
‘It was horrible,’ Cian agrees.
‘I know,’ Ingrid says, looking contrite. Then she cackles again. ‘But it was
fun
!’
We head off, pointedly ignoring those who made fools of us, but I stop when Ingrid calls to me.
‘B!’
I turn stiffly, expecting another insult.
‘All joking aside, we respect that you came back to try and help.’
‘Yeah,’ Ivor says. ‘That took guts.’
‘We’ll be seeing you again soon on a mission, I think,’ Ingrid says. ‘But next time you’ll be one of us, in on the joke, not the butt of it.’
‘Whatever,’ I sniff.
I carry on back towards County Hall with the twins, as if what Ingrid and Ivor said meant nothing to me, but it’s a struggle to maintain my scowl and not smile with stupid pride all the
way.
TWELVE
We head back over the river. We can laugh about what happened in the building by the time we’ve crossed the bridge.
‘We’ve got to play a joke on them now,’ Cian says. ‘Not straight away, but within the next day or two. I’ll think of something good. Maybe make them believe
we’re being attacked in the middle of the night, so that they panic and rush outside.’
There’s a strange buzzing in the air as we step off the bridge and start towards County Hall. ‘What’s that?’ I ask, grimacing as I draw to a halt.
‘The speakers,’ Awnya says. ‘There are lots of them positioned around the area, to stop reviveds coming too close. They play this high-pitched noise all the time.’
‘We’ll slip past them as we get closer to the building,’ Cian says. ‘The speakers all point away from it, so we’ll be fine once we’re through.’
‘How come I didn’t hear it before?’ I ask.
‘Most of them have a small button that you can press to temporarily disable them,’ Awnya says. ‘I did that as we were leaving.’
‘I didn’t notice.’
Awnya shrugs. ‘No reason why you should have.’
The twins show me the speakers as we get closer, and show me how to turn them off if I’m ever passing by myself. Then we head on into the building. They take me to my bedroom –
I’m still not sure of the layout of the building, and where everything is – and I lay my gear on the shelves. There’s no sign of Ashtat or any of the others.
The twins go off on their own for a while, leaving me to sort through my stuff and rest. Then they return and guide me to a dining room, close to the kitchen that I passed through earlier.
Circular tables dot the room and groups of teenagers are clustered round them, chatting noisily. I do a quick count — there are just over thirty Angels.
‘That’s yours,’ Awnya says, pointing at a table of three boys and Ashtat.
‘Are those my room-mates?’
‘Yes.’
‘What are they like?’
Awnya shrugs. ‘Ashtat can be moody, like you saw, but she’s not so bad. Carl and Shane are OK. Jakob doesn’t say much.’
‘Which one’s he?’ I ask.
‘The thin, bald one.’
‘Carl’s the dark-haired one,’ Cian adds. ‘Shane’s the ginger.’
I wince, recalling the fate of the last redhead I knew, poor Tiberius.
‘Go on over,’ Awnya says. ‘You don’t want to eat with us. It’ll look strange if you avoid them.’
I nod. ‘Thanks for showing me around today.’
‘That’s our job,’ Cian smirks.
‘All part of the service,’ Awnya grins.
They slip away to their own table and I stare at the teenagers seated at mine. Carl’s dressed in designer gear, real flash. Shane’s wearing a tracksuit, but with a gold chain
dangling from his neck, like a wannabe rapper. Jakob is wearing a white shirt and dark trousers which look about two sizes too big for him. He’s one of the
‘Come on,’ I grunt at the twins. ‘Let’s leave them to their precious mission. We’ve better things to be doing back at County Hall.’
‘That wasn’t nice, Ingrid,’ Awnya shouts.
‘It was horrible,’ Cian agrees.
‘I know,’ Ingrid says, looking contrite. Then she cackles again. ‘But it was
fun
!’
We head off, pointedly ignoring those who made fools of us, but I stop when Ingrid calls to me.
‘B!’
I turn stiffly, expecting another insult.
‘All joking aside, we respect that you came back to try and help.’
‘Yeah,’ Ivor says. ‘That took guts.’
‘We’ll be seeing you again soon on a mission, I think,’ Ingrid says. ‘But next time you’ll be one of us, in on the joke, not the butt of it.’
‘Whatever,’ I sniff.
I carry on back towards County Hall with the twins, as if what Ingrid and Ivor said meant nothing to me, but it’s a struggle to maintain my scowl and not smile with stupid pride all the
way.
TWELVE
We head back over the river. We can laugh about what happened in the building by the time we’ve crossed the bridge.
‘We’ve got to play a joke on them now,’ Cian says. ‘Not straight away, but within the next day or two. I’ll think of something good. Maybe make them believe
we’re being attacked in the middle of the night, so that they panic and rush outside.’
There’s a strange buzzing in the air as we step off the bridge and start towards County Hall. ‘What’s that?’ I ask, grimacing as I draw to a halt.
‘The speakers,’ Awnya says. ‘There are lots of them positioned around the area, to stop reviveds coming too close. They play this high-pitched noise all the time.’
‘We’ll slip past them as we get closer to the building,’ Cian says. ‘The speakers all point away from it, so we’ll be fine once we’re through.’
‘How come I didn’t hear it before?’ I ask.
‘Most of them have a small button that you can press to temporarily disable them,’ Awnya says. ‘I did that as we were leaving.’
‘I didn’t notice.’
Awnya shrugs. ‘No reason why you should have.’
The twins show me the speakers as we get closer, and show me how to turn them off if I’m ever passing by myself. Then we head on into the building. They take me to my bedroom –
I’m still not sure of the layout of the building, and where everything is – and I lay my gear on the shelves. There’s no sign of Ashtat or any of the others.
The twins go off on their own for a while, leaving me to sort through my stuff and rest. Then they return and guide me to a dining room, close to the kitchen that I passed through earlier.
Circular tables dot the room and groups of teenagers are clustered round them, chatting noisily. I do a quick count — there are just over thirty Angels.
‘That’s yours,’ Awnya says, pointing at a table of three boys and Ashtat.
‘Are those my room-mates?’
‘Yes.’
‘What are they like?’
Awnya shrugs. ‘Ashtat can be moody, like you saw, but she’s not so bad. Carl and Shane are OK. Jakob doesn’t say much.’
‘Which one’s he?’ I ask.
‘The thin, bald one.’
‘Carl’s the dark-haired one,’ Cian adds. ‘Shane’s the ginger.’
I wince, recalling the fate of the last redhead I knew, poor Tiberius.
‘Go on over,’ Awnya says. ‘You don’t want to eat with us. It’ll look strange if you avoid them.’
I nod. ‘Thanks for showing me around today.’
‘That’s our job,’ Cian smirks.
‘All part of the service,’ Awnya grins.
They slip away to their own table and I stare at the teenagers seated at mine. Carl’s dressed in designer gear, real flash. Shane’s wearing a tracksuit, but with a gold chain
dangling from his neck, like a wannabe rapper. Jakob is wearing a white shirt and dark trousers which look about two sizes too big for him. He’s one of the
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