Hunted (14 page)

Harry winced. ‘I hadn’t seen Jack in years,’ he protested. ‘Then he rang me and . . .’

‘I get it,’ I snapped. ‘He’s teaching you to be a man, like those freakin’ Roman soldiers he was talking about. Way to go, Daddy’s Boy.’

‘Don’t tell me you wouldn’t do the same, if you had a chance to spend time with your dad again.’

‘My dad’s
dead,’
I hissed. ‘But even if he came back from the grave and offered me a million pounds, I would never sink so low as to lie and—’

‘I didn’t lie, not about most of it.’ Harry sat forward on the couch, his bright blue eyes intent on mine. ‘My birthday
is
in early February, like yours. And our parents
were
friends. Jack’s your godfather, remember . . . and my mum – who
is
called Laura – was one of your dad’s research assistants as well as your mum’s best friend. That’s how—’

‘I don’t care,’ I snarled. ‘All you thought about was yourself and impressing Daddy. You’re the most selfish person I’ve ever met.’

There was a short pause.

‘Actually, you’re pretty selfish,’ Harry said, clearly stung. ‘I looked through my dad’s notes. All the others have worked at what they can do . . . Their Medusa gift – they’ve developed it. But you,
no.
You have something that protects
you
and you don’t care about anything else. You haven’t even tried to extend that force field you create so that it protects other people.’

I stared at him, remembering what Ketty had said during our resuscitation training.
Helping others isn’t exactly Dylan’s strong point.

‘At least I haven’t betrayed my friends,’ I said with as much venom as I could muster. ‘At least I’m not a coward.’

Harry stared at me, like I’d slapped him. ‘I’m
not
a coward,’ he said. But he sounded uncertain.

I lowered my voice, suddenly sure I’d got through to him. ‘Help me,’ I whispered. ‘You don’t have to do this. Please, help—’

‘Harry!’ Jack’s voice was icy. He stood in the doorway of the next room, his phone in his hand. ‘This is
not
what I asked you to do.’

Harry stared at the floor.

Jack turned to me. ‘The doctor’s on his way.’

I jumped to my feet. ‘I’m not letting any doctor near me,’ I said.

‘May I remind you of our three hostages next door?’ Jack said.

I clenched my fists. If only I’d thought to work out how to extend my force field around other people. I clutched at the back of the couch beside me, desperate to push the protective energy across the fabric. But nothing happened.

Harry was right. I had a selfish skill. And I’d only ever used it in a selfish way. Nico had said exactly the same thing, just a few days ago during that training session in the woods. And in the garage last night it hadn’t even occurred to me to try and protect Ketty and Jez and Alex as they crouched, helpless, in the midst of Nico’s telekinetic rage.

‘I’m hungry,’ Jack said. ‘I’m going to order room service. Burger, Harry?’

Harry shook his head. ‘What about Dylan?’ he said.

‘Better not risk food in case the doctor decides she needs a general anaesthetic.’ Jack turned to me. ‘Don’t worry, that’s not very likely.’

‘Awesome,’ I said.

Jack picked up the phone on the desk next to the window and ordered a club sandwich and a beer.

After a moment, Harry walked to the bathroom. He stopped for a second at the door, his fingers resting on the handle. Then he looked over his shoulder at me.

I’m sorry
, he mouthed.

So what?
I mouthed back.

I was
sooo
furious at him . . . at Jack . . . at myself . . .

I turned, angrily, and stared at the blank screen of the hotel TV. A moment later I heard the door shut.

Jack put the phone down and grinned. ‘Food’s on the way.’

‘When will the doctor be here?’ I asked.

Jack shrugged. ‘Half an hour or so.’

I sank back into my couch. How could everything have gone so wrong so fast? An hour ago I’d been on the run, with my friends, looking forward to seeing Harry and meeting his dad – the one person I thought believed in
my
dad – so that I could protect the Medusa gene code from falling into the wrong hands.

And now I was a prisoner, my friends were unconscious and the Medusa code was about to be taken and sold and used for who knew what terrible purpose.

Worst of all, Harry had betrayed me. He’d looked into my eyes and lied and, like a total idiot, I’d trusted him. His
I’m sorry
meant nothing. He didn’t care about me at all.

I closed my eyes.

I didn’t feel numb any longer.

For a moment I didn’t even feel angry.

I hurt.

I shook myself. I wasn’t going to let Harry and Jack beat me. Somehow I had to find a way out of here – with the others
and
the Medusa code.

15: The microchip

It was nearly midday before the doctor arrived. He was a slight, elderly man with greying hair and a stoop. His name, or so he said, was Dr Mims. He didn’t look me in the eyes as he passed the scanner back and forth over my neck, then directed Jack, Harry and me into an empty bedroom.

I lay face down on the bed, fuming. Every cell of my body wanted to resist . . . to protect myself with my force field . . . but Jack’s threat that he would hurt the others if I didn’t co-operate rang in my ears.

Somehow I
had
to find a way out of this that didn’t leave Ed and Nico and Ketty at Jack’s mercy.

Dr Mims applied an anaesthetic cream to the back of my neck.

‘That’ll just need a few minutes to take effect,’ he said.

I looked around.
Think, Dylan, think.
My heart pounded.

Jack checked his watch, then pulled a bottle of pills from his pocket. He tipped three into his hand and handed them to Harry.

‘Go and top up the others,’ he said. ‘Just one pill under the tongue. I don’t want to take any chances.’

As Harry left the room, Jack spoke in a low voice to Dr Mims.

I felt the back of my neck. The patch of skin where Dr Mims had applied the anaesthetic cream was numb. Any minute now the two men were going to come over and Dr Mims would take his scalpel and cut through to the microchip.

I couldn’t let it happen.

I looked around the room for a weapon.

My eyes lit on the glass bottle of mineral water on the table by the bed. I could smash that and use it to keep both men at bay while I escaped from this room. It had its own lock, which meant I’d even be able to keep them contained afterwards.

That would just leave Harry. Hopefully, I’d be able to deal with him, too. Even if I couldn’t take the others with me, at least I could get down to the hotel lobby and raise the alarm.

I shuffled towards the bottle of water, but instantly Jack was at my side.

‘It’s time,’ he said.

Dr Mims hovered over me, scalpel poised in his hand.

Instinctively, I tensed, ready to use my force field. Then I let the energy field dissipate. It was better to let Dr Mims remove the microchip first. Afterwards, he and Jack would be focused on that, not me, which would give me a better chance of taking them by surprise.

‘Don’t move,’ Dr Mims warned.

I lay rigid, feeling the sharp blade tingle against my skin. There was no pain.

The room fell silent. Then Jack gasped.

‘There it is.’ Dr Mims’ voice rose in triumph above my head. ‘Perfectly intact.’

‘Amazing,’ Jack breathed. ‘Let me see it in the light.’

Face down on the bed, I couldn’t feel, or see, what they were looking at.

Dr Mims bent over me again. ‘No need for a stitch,’ he said. ‘The cut was tiny. There’s hardly any blood.’

I heard the ripping sound of a plaster being torn away from its backing, then felt the doctor’s fingers pressing on my neck.

As he turned away from me, I rolled off the bed and grabbed the water bottle.

Wham.
I smashed it against the bedside table. Water splashed out, over the floor, down my leg. Dr Mims jumped back.

I glared at Jack. He was across the room, by the window. His eyes widened in horror as I brandished the bottle.

I rushed towards him. He drew his gun, silencer attached. Dr Mims shrank back against the wall.

Jack pointed his gun at me. The tiny microchip lay on the window sill at his side, a black dot on a piece of white card.

‘No.’ Jack’s voice was resolute. He pointed the gun at me.

I braced myself. My force field should hold against a single bullet.

I reached for the microchip. Jack pointed the gun at my head. His hands were shaking.

‘Stop, Dylan.’

Keeping my eyes on him, I fumbled for the microchip. There. I snatched it up.

‘No.’ Jack frowned, like he was trying to force himself to pull the trigger.

‘Harry!’ he yelled.

He lowered the gun so it was aiming at my knee. I suddenly knew he wouldn’t shoot to kill.

My instincts had been right. Jack, for all his many faults, was incapable of cold-blooded murder.

Microchip clutched in my hand, I backed towards the door. Dr Mims was now cowering against the wall on the other side of the room.

‘Stop or I’ll shoot,’ Jack said.

‘Go right ahead.’ I steeled myself, force field still fully primed.

Jack pulled the trigger. The bullet exploded out of the gun. I held my breath, feeling it tap lightly against my shin, then fall to the ground.

Triumphant, I hurled the broken bottle at Jack.

As he ducked, the glass smashed against the wall. I darted outside the room, fumbling for the key.

It was a flimsy lock. Jack would break it down in seconds. That’s if he didn’t shoot his way out.

I didn’t have much time.

I hurtled across the room, force field primed. With a roar, I pushed open the door to the other bedroom. Surely Harry had heard the shot and the yells . . .? I was ready for whatever he threw at me.

He was bent over Ed. I couldn’t see Nico or Ketty.

‘Get away from him,’ I shouted.

Harry glanced up, his eyes full of alarm. Ed was blinking, rubbing his sandy hair.

‘It’s okay, Dylan.’ Nico appeared from the other side of the room, Ketty at his side. ‘Harry’s helping us. He gave us something to bring us round.’

I stared at Harry. He looked back at me, an expression of shame and defiance in his eyes.

‘About time,’ I snarled.

A loud thump sounded from the other side of the suite.

‘Jack’s gonna break that door down any second,’ I said. ‘We need to get out of here.’

‘Come on.’ Harry helped Ed to his feet.

The five of us fled towards the suite door.

Another huge thump. The door rattled on its hinges.

‘Have you got the Medusa gene code, Dylan?’ Ketty grabbed my arm.

‘Here.’ I opened my fist. The microchip nestled, still on its white card, in my palm.

Harry and Ed reached the suite door. They sped out, into the hotel corridor. Ketty raced after them.

With a violent crack, Jack’s door flew open. Red-faced, Jack appeared in the doorway. He raised his gun and pointed it at Nico.

Harry’s words about me being selfish flashed into my head. I concentrated on willing my force field – still surrounding me – to cover Nico, too.

It didn’t work.

Nico teleported the table by the window into the air. With a yell, he slammed it against Jack.

Jack stumbled. Fell. Behind him Dr Mims shrank back, his face white.

Nico grabbed my arm and we flew down the corridor after the others.

Harry, Ketty and Ed were at the elevator. Harry pressed the button frantically. As Nico and I speeded up, the door opened. We all bundled inside.

Ketty pressed for the ground floor.

A sudden silence descended. My heart pumped through it, drowning out my thoughts. I could feel Harry’s gaze on my face, but I didn’t look at him.

The elevator door opened and the five of us hurtled out and across the hotel lobby. We ran at full speed, following Nico down a series of streets.

After a few minutes, Nico stopped. We stood panting.

Ketty recovered first. ‘Where now?’ she said.

‘Where’s the microchip, Dylan?’ Ed asked anxiously.

‘Here.’ I felt for the tiny dot again. How could something this small contain so much powerful information? ‘But I don’t think we should go to Geri until we’ve worked out what we want to do with it.’

The others nodded.

‘That means going to the cops is out, too,’ Nico said. ‘If we go to the police, we’ll be back with Geri, Jez and Alex in hours.’

Harry cleared his throat. ‘I have a suggestion,’ he said.

‘Why should we listen to you?’ I said.

‘He did help us escape,’ Ketty said.

‘I didn’t realise . . .’ Harry paused.

‘Didn’t realise what?’ I snorted. ‘What Jack was going to do? Don’t make me laugh.’

Harry shook his head. ‘I didn’t realise how it was going to feel betraying your trust.’ He fixed his eyes on me and it was like the rest of the world and the traffic around us and Nico, Ketty and Ed vanished. ‘I didn’t realise how bad I was going to feel.’

We stared at each other.

‘So what’s your suggestion, Harry?’ Nico said impatiently.