Hit Squad by Sophie McKenzie Page B

I said, keeping my voice very low, so Jack and the others in the front of the car wouldn’t hear.
    Nico’s eyes widened and I felt the horror of the loss all over again. I couldn’t bear talking about it, but I had to tell him. I leaned forward and whispered in his ear what Dylan
had just told me.
    ‘So . . . so . . . Dylan says she drowned,’ I finished.
    Nico just stared at me. He blinked rapidly, as if he couldn’t take in what I was saying.
    ‘And now they’ve sprayed me again and the connection with Dylan has gone,’ I stammered. ‘But it doesn’t matter,’ I said, close to tears. ‘Nothing
matters any more.’
    I drew back. Nico turned away. I didn’t know what to say to him. There wasn’t anything to say. A second later Knife Man bound and gagged us. I sat back, numb, as we drove the rest of
the way to the castle in shocked silence.
    Jack left the gags on when we arrived, but he unbound our hands and feet so we could walk back to our room in the castle. After shouting at us when he recaptured us, he was now treating us with
contemptuous disdain. When we reached the room, he sprayed us again with Medutox and left, locking the door behind him.
    I didn’t care what he did. I didn’t even care we were prisoners again. All I cared about was Ketty. And she was gone.
    As soon as Jack walked out of the room, I tore off my gag and slumped onto one of the brocade sofas, my head in my hands. Nico sat opposite me. Since we’d arrived back at the castle
he’d lost the bleary look in his eye. Whatever Jack had given him was obviously wearing off.
    ‘Ketty . . .’ he said, his voice cracking as he spoke. ‘Are you sure? Was Dylan sure?’
    ‘Cal saw her . . . unconscious underwater,’ I said, not looking up. ‘How can you be unconscious underwater and survive?’
    Nico shook his head.
    After about twenty minutes, Jack returned.
    ‘Where are the others?’ Nico jumped up. ‘What’s happened to them?’
    ‘Come with me, Ed,’ Jack said, acting as if Nico hadn’t spoken.
    I stood up.
    ‘Where are you taking him?’ Nico’s voice rose.
    Jack still said nothing. I followed him out of the room. I didn’t care where he took me. If Ketty wasn’t in the world any more, what did it matter where I went?
    Jack led me down a couple of corridors. I didn’t take much notice of my surroundings, though I was aware that we were still in the warmer, furnished part of the castle. We went down a
short flight of stairs to what I thought was the side of the building, and through a large fire door.
    I found myself in another corridor. This one was painted plain white and had a clinical feel, completely different from the rooms through which we’d come. Jack arrived at a swing door. He
pushed it open and ushered me inside.
    I looked around, shocked. We were inside some sort of laboratory. Two rows of counter tops, complete with sinks and pipes snaking out from the walls, stood in front of us. There were shelves
neatly stacked with files, a couple of computers and two large microscopes. A row of barrels marked ‘oil’ stood against the far wall.
    The window was barred, just like the room where Nico and I had waited upstairs. I looked through the glass to the glistening expanse of water outside. I thought of Ketty again and my heart gave
a sick lurch.
    ‘No questions, Ed?’ Jack said lightly.
    I turned to face him. ‘Where’s Ketty?’ I said. ‘What happened to her?’
    Jack looked away. He was no longer wearing his sunglasses – there was no need. My mind-reading abilities were redundant, thanks to the Medutox, but I could tell he felt uncomfortable. Was
that because of Ketty?
    ‘Why won’t you tell me what happened to her?’ I said.
    The door behind me opened. I spun round. A tall, thickset man with intense grey eyes walked into the room. He held out his hand to shake mine, smiling at the look of shock on my face.
    ‘Hello, Ed,’ he said. ‘Remember me?’

14: The Duel
    The man who had just walked