The Turncoats (The Thirteenth Series #2) (28 page)

As the last word escaped her lips, Daniel, who was standing only a few feet from her started to convulse. Val and the others had seen this before. Instinct took over. Val pulled out her sword, dashing around him to protect Wendy who was still on the ground in Zac’s arms. She raised her hand as what looked like a miniature wind started to swirl in the centre of the store, between them and Daniel.

Daniel stopped shaking, shook his head and surveyed his surroundings. He looked from Wendy to Zac, and then he glared across at Val. “That was rude. This offer will expire in exactly two hours. You had better choose me because if you don’t, not only will you have to deal with Delta, but this time I won’t fail.”

“Why go to all the bother of visiting, Excariot? It would have been so much easier to call one-four-seven-one.” Val taunted him over the ever-growing winds that were whipping up a mess in the store.

“You deserved Delta,” Excariot hissed and Daniels body dropped to the floor.

Val slowly lowered her hand and as soon as the wind died down, she dashed over to see how he was doing.

His eyes flickered open. Val helped pull him into sitting position. He rubbed his head, totally confused. “What just happened?”

“Our buddy, Excariot, decided to use you as his mobile phone.” She patted him on the shoulder. “I think now would be a good time for you to leave. Take Wendy with you and get as far away from here as you can.” Val gave Daniel her hand and helped pull him up.

“No! How dare you make that decision for me?” Wendy used Zac to help her stand and face Val, fury in her eyes. “After all I’ve been through for you; you would let me go just like that, without a second thought. My whole life has been dedicated to you, and don’t you forget that the dellatrax only works properly for me. So no, you don’t get to let me go. In any case,
I’m
the one he’s going to kill.”

“Don’t say that,” Val snapped. “He’s not going to kill any of us.”

“I want to stay with Wendy,” Daniel spoke up.

“I don’t think you have any choice, Val. I have told you before that you must trust them to look after themselves.” Zac was right, she couldn’t be responsible for them and she couldn’t tell them what to do either, and it was true that Wendy was the only person who could really work the dellatrax.

“I just want to keep everyone safe,” she whispered, not trusting her voice. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate you, Wendy. It’s just….it’s just that I am
so
scared for you, all of you!”

“We know and I absolve you from any responsibility for my safety,” said Wendy, smiling now.

Val took a deep breath. “Well, if you’re staying, we need to make some plans, Excariot said we had two hours to make up our minds, so that probably means that he won’t attack for two hours. He’s obviously putting everyone in position. That gives us a little time, but it doesn’t solve the problem of Delta.” Val started to pick up the debris from the mini tornado, mumbling to herself about powers and mess. “We need to go to the bookshop while we still can,” she announced finally.

They all agreed.

“Wendy, text Jason and tell him and Fran to stay there, that we’re coming.”

Jason rode through the streets with caution, keeping his speed down, aware that anything could lie around the next corner. He could tell Fran was scared by the way she was squeezing him around the middle.

As they got closer to the bookshop he noticed an unusual number of people, dotted in groups all along the street, and they all seemed to be looking at him. It was like one of those cheap zombie movies. He started to feel very uneasy. These were obviously the prisoners, but why weren’t they doing anything?

They found a large group had gathered in front of the entrance. Jason pulled up, but left the bike ticking over, just in case they needed a quick getaway. Fran pulled up her visor.

“What are you going to do?” she asked still holding onto him for dear life.

“I get the feeling they either aren’t after us, or something bigger is going on. They have had ample opportunity to knock us off and no one has made any moves yet. Trust me baby, let’s go.” Jason switched the bike off and pulled out the keys shoving them into his pocket. Fran held his hand as tightly as she had held his waist and they headed towards the door. The group at the doorway parted placidly and allowed them to enter.

“See I told you we would be ok. Looks like Val is getting it all sorted from her end,” Jason said as Fran’s mobile sprung into life.

“It’s a text from Wendy. Something about them coming here; that we have two hours before Excariot’s followers attack. They want us to stay put. Well, that shouldn’t be hard. So much for Val’s got it under control,” she said.

“Then let’s get ready the best we can. Come on.” They headed for the cupboard.

Val and the others left Wendy’s mum’s shop; they too noticed straightaway that they were being watched.

“What’s your plan?” Zac asked her when they were all safely in the car.

“Not sure, but at least in the bookshop we have control over the portal. Do you think the Warden will send us any back up?” She asked him, sure she was clutching at straws, but if she didn’t ask now it would be too late.

“I suppose I had better tell you why I’m here and then you will understand how things work in Alchany. I told you I was on a hunt when my guard was taken from me by the Tucklets.”

Val nodded.

“What I didn’t tell you was what happened next. I called for backup, as you know, and it was denied. They didn’t feel that it was worth the risk to come and help us. They told me to leave him and return. Val, we had been together for so long; I couldn’t abandon him. I took his body and gave him a decent burial, removed his bracelet. Then I went looking for his killers. The Warden demanded that I return. I hunted for several days and night, but to no avail. In the end I had to go back; to shame and accusations that I had deserted my post. The Warden put me on extraction duties. It wasn’t until you came along that he asked me if I wanted a second chance. So, if you want to know if they will help us, the answer is no. But if you want to know if I will stay with you till the end, it’s a yes.”

“Cool.” Val held his hand and they travelled in silence. What could anyone say at this point? They arrived to the same welcome as Jason and Fran although now it wasn’t quite as tame. Some of the prisoners recognised Zac and began to jostle him. Luckily for them Fran was waiting at the door and they managed to get inside safely.

“No need to push,” Val called back at them through the glass door. “Alien prisoners! They have no manners. How’s it going, Fran?” Val grinned at them, she needed to keep morale up. She got her warped sense of humour from her dad; he always made her mum laugh when things went wrong.

“I’m really scared,” said Fran.

Val hadn’t been expecting Fran’s blunt answer. She put her arm around her shoulder. “Look at me, Fran. Me and Zac here, we’re going to protect you and Jason, and if we are in serious danger, I promise I will teleport you all out.”

“Val, you know the price that comes with unauthorised teleporting,” Zac butted in.

“Listen to me; they will have to catch me first. It’s my fault that these crazy psychos are all over town, but I will deal with it. Wendy, why don’t you start on the dellatrax? See if you can find any information for us.”

Wendy nodded, pulling Daniel behind the counter with her.

“We have a problem, Fran,” Jason called from his little room.

“What’s new, mate,” Val called, hurrying to the cupboard.

He moved his chair to the side as they all piled in so they could all see the screen. “Look at this. There is an alarm going off on the screen and I don’t have a clue what it means. I can see that we are all here and Dad’s there, but there is another signal over here, that’s flashing.” Jason pointed to the flickering dot on the screen.

“That’s Flo,” said Zac.

“How do you know that?” Jason seemed slightly bemused.

“Sam planted a tracking device onto her,”

“Well ok. So why is she flashing?” Jason asked, hoping Zac would also be able to answer that question.

“I have no idea,” Zac shook his head.

“Well at least we know it’s not one of us. So what’s going on?”

“Let’s get you up to speed.” Val sat down and started to explain. Meanwhile, Fran got a call on her mobile. She mouthed to them that it was her sister Yassmin and walked out of the cupboard.

“Hi Yass. What you up to on this sunny Sunday?” Fran gave her best ‘nothing is wrong’ performance. This fell on deaf ears as usual. “No, everything’s fine. I hope you’re not coming here. Go home. I don’t want to see you. No, I’m not being weird. Me and Jason get no time to ourselves. I don’t want to see you here, Yass, do you understand? Good. Now hang up and do something interesting with your life. I love you. Tell Mum and Dad I love them too.” She hung up. “Stupid sisters, no telling them,” she told Val who had also come back into the shop.

“If it’s any consolation, I’m scared as well,” Val said.

“A little,” she grinned. “You know Jason and I won’t leave don’t you? And he believes you can do this. Please prove him right.”

“You can’t imagine how much that means to me,” Val hugged Fran, then they headed back to the front to find Wendy opening the door.

“What are you doing?” Val started to run but it was too late, the figure was inside. Val pulled her sword out. Behind her the water cooler started to tremble, the new bottle beginning to boil.

“Stop!” Wendy yelled.

The urgency in her voice got through to Val and the water settled to a gentle simmer..

“It’s my mother,” Wendy said calmly.

Belinda, Wendy’s mother, seemed completely unfazed by her dubious welcome and merely waited patiently for things to return to normal.

“I’m so sorry,” Val slithered to a standstill inches away from her. She retracted her sword and the water in the cooler stilled.

“It’s fine. I’m just pleased you want to protect my daughter so ferociously.”

“I thought you were going to Norfolk, Mum,” Wendy said, giving Val time to recover from her embarrassment. “You said you wouldn’t help us, so what’s changed all of a sudden?” her irritation with her mum plain in her challenging tone.

“Well, after you rang me earlier I was concerned that things we’re getting too much for you and I wanted to help anyway I could.” She floated over to the counter. “Who is this young man?”

“This is Daniel,” Wendy replied, still watching her mum with cautious eyes.

“I’m pleased to meet you Mrs Whitmore,” Daniel said politely.

“Call me Belinda,” she simpered in a totally uncharacteristic manner.

Val was now starting to see things from Wendy’s point of view and feeling very uneasy. She had only met Wendy’s mum a couple of times but right now she seemed a little odd.

“Hey, good news we have an answer to the question…. Oh hello.” Jason joined them. “How are you Belinda? Sorry to interrupt, but I’ve just been on the phone with my dad and he tells me that the reason Flo’s flashing is because she hasn’t moved in a prolonged period of time. It’s so soldiers know if another solider is dead or inactive, for example if they are captured.”

“So what you are saying is that Flo’s either been taken prisoner or hasn’t moved. Couldn’t she just be asleep?” Val asked.

“No, this is a stillness that comes with death or being tied up very tightly.”

“Wow, lucky girl,” Belinda giggled.

“Are you serious?” Fran turned to her, shocked.

“Grab her!” Wendy yelled suddenly, lunging for the counter.

Val only had a split second to register what was happening.

Belinda stepped back as Wendy hit the counter. “Wow, I’m just in shock that you lot have made it this far. Watching you idiots all together makes my skin crawl. No, I take that back, it makes Belinda’s skin crawl.”

“Flo!” Val leapt forward, but Flo had now positioned herself perfectly behind Wendy who was dazed by her impact with the counter. She pulled Wendy in close and held a weapon that looked like a metal tube at her neck. Val hadn’t been able to get near to her.

“Back off chosen one,” Flo laughed. “God, I’ve missed saying that. You have become no fun at all since you turned all guard like.”

“Is Belinda dead?” Jason asked the question on everyone’s minds.

“Don’t insult me, little boy. I can get into anyone I choose. I could be your dad or her mother,” she pointed at Fran. “My power is beyond your planet’s comprehension. I was your Prime Minister for a few days, but I got bored”

“Wendy, don’t panic; this woman isn’t your mum,” Val said.

“Do you think!” Wendy hissed at her.

“Sorry.” Val pulled out her sword. “Do you want to say anything before we send you back to Alchany where you belong?”

“Well, if you want poor Belinda to go through the extraction process, then go ahead. You know how much it hurts, don’t you, Val?”

“I’m not going to listen to you. I know Belinda would want me to take you back to prison.” Val moved forward another step.

“That’s probably true, but do you know what I can do to her before you get me to the portal? I have the ability to remove all her memories. I can make her forget that she’s a woman. She won’t remember Wendy-pops here and it will all be your fault, Val. So, you give me Wendy and I think I will take the dellatrax for a little light reading, how does that sound to you?”

“You must be insane if you think I would do that.” Val’s eyes never moved away from Flo.

“Tick-Tock hunny. How long did Excariot give you? Two hours. Not long when you have four hundred prisoners waiting to break down your door.”

“How did you know there were four hundred?” Zac interrupted.

“What relevance does this have to anything?” Flo retorted angrily.

“Excariot didn’t give us a figure, yet you know how many. How?” Zac was moving forwards towards Flo and Wendy.

“Because I was with the witch when she cast the damn spell,” Flo snapped.

“What spell? You don’t need a spell for a prisoner to take form; they do it as individuals. This is the work of magic, isn’t it?” Zac was so close that he could have grabbed Wendy at this point.

“Don’t be stupid, you pathetic hunter.” She had noticed his proximity and started to back towards the door, pulling Wendy with her, Zac still stalking her.