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me.
    ‘Ketty’s right,’ Ed said. ‘Jack’s one of the bad guys.’
    ‘Where is this other boy . . . Bradley?’ Nico asked.
    ‘I . . . I don’t know.’ Tania looked uncertainly from Nico to me.
    The van turned a corner and we started bumping along a rough, ridged track.
    ‘I don’t understand how Jack laid this trap for us,’ Ed said thoughtfully. ‘I mean, he knew we would probably come to Lovistov, but how did he know exactly when
we’d arrive?’
    ‘Did anyone mention the fact that we were coming to anyone?’ Nico glared round the truck.
    ‘No, of course we didn’t,’ I said.
    ‘Actually, I told Harry,’ Dylan said, a defensive note in her voice.
    We all stared at her. Harry Linden was Jack’s son. There was no love lost between father and son, to be sure, but still I was shocked Dylan had taken such a risk.
    She threw me a defiant look. ‘There’s no way Harry would have said anything. You know he doesn’t even talk to his dad.’
    This was true. Since being used by Jack to trick us earlier in the year, Harry had worked tirelessly to help us. He and Dylan were going out together too and Harry clearly adored her – a
fact which frankly baffled the rest of us.
    Ed shook his head. ‘Jack could have hacked into Harry’s phone. Harry wouldn’t have needed to say anything.’
    ‘Well done, Ed.’ Jack’s voice echoed out from the front of the truck. ‘Got it in one.’
    I froze. So did the others.
    ‘He can hear us,’ Ed whispered.
    ‘You’re a genius,’ came Jack’s reply.
    ‘I told you Harry didn’t say anything deliberately,’ Dylan said.
    ‘Sssh,’ Nico ordered. We all lowered our voices.
    ‘What are we going to do?’ I whispered.
    ‘Okay, listen. The Medutox will wear off after thirty minutes,’ Nico hissed. ‘We have to keep trying our powers. Hopefully there’ll be a few minutes when they don’t
realise we can use our abilities. That’s when we have to act.’
    ‘That’s right,’ Cal added quietly. ‘When we get wherever we’re going, look out for air vents, skylights . . . places they might not think we can use. We don’t
know how much this Jack Linden knows about our skills.’
    I looked at Ed. Dylan gave a low snort.
    ‘Jack knows everything about our skills,’ she said.
    ‘Not mine,’ Cal protested.
    ‘I wouldn’t be too sure of that,’ I said. ‘Jack’s smart.’
    ‘And ruthless,’ Ed added.
    ‘The important thing is that we stay together,’ Nico whispered.
    A few minutes later, the truck stopped and we got out. We were parked in front of a huge grey castle with a lake to one side and pine trees on the hill beyond. I looked round
at the windswept landscape. There were no other buildings in view.
    The area was completely deserted.
    ‘Man, what a place.’ Nico looked up at the turrets on top of the castle. It rose gloomily over us, an intimidating presence against a steel-grey sky.
    Tania huddled next to me. I put my arm round her shoulder.
    ‘We here before,’ she whispered. ‘Bradley here too.’
    Jack and the two guards herded us inside. We stood in a hall, high-ceilinged and made of grey stone. It was virtually empty – no lights, no furniture. Our voices echoed around the cold,
damp room.
    ‘Why are we here?’ Nico demanded.
    ‘What are you going to do with us?’ Dylan said. ‘Is Harry here too? Is he okay?’
    ‘Harry’s not here but he’s fine.’ Jack gave her a charming smile. ‘He’ll be pleased to know you were asking, that’s if I can ever get him to speak to me
again.’
    ‘How are you involved with Medusix?’ I asked.
    To my surprise, Jack stopped and turned to me. ‘We’re hoping to make it work. Now you’re here, things should get easier.’
    ‘What d’you mean “make it work”?’ I said. I glanced at Tania, remembering what she’d said about the other boy, Bradley. He’d been given Medusix and was
now sick. ‘You got that boy to take it. Didn’t it work with him? You said someone had been