Where Foundlings Hide

Chapter 31

My legs feel like they're about to give way beneath me. The capital city. London. "Ivy and Parker are there."

"They'll be OK, Casey," Roma says, appearing behind me. "The rioters won't get near enough to hurt them and the power station is miles away from the city. Some of my agents have already gone ahead to deal with the melt down and Nicholas has assembled a team of Smith soldiers and Vedmak agents to extract Parker and Ivy."

"I want to go."

"It's too dangerous," Roma shakes her head firmly. "You've only just started your training."

"I can't stay here waiting to find out if they're OK, I have to go."

"Ivy made me responsible for you," Roma says. "I can't let you leave."

I stare at her intently. You promised I could go home whenever I wanted. I'm choosing to go now. Let me do this and I promise to come back.

Roma's mouth tightens into a thin line as she hears my silent plea. She considers me for a moment and then sighs a little exasperatedly. "Nicholas, I want you to take Acacia with you."

He looks at her in surprise.

"She should see what we are dealing with. You'll take care of her?"

"With my life." Nicholas says, taking her hand and skimming a gloved thumb over her knuckles.

She takes a long inward breath, looking me up and down. "Well you can't go dressed like that."

Ten minutes later I stand between Nicholas and Haydn wearing a compression suit in Vedmak-blue, my hair tied in a knot on top of my head.

Nicholas slides a sword into the sheath at my back. This is no training sword; I see the glint of sharp steel as it is slotted securely in place. "We don't really use these, do we?" I ask, my stomach twisting.

Nicholas smiles. "Only in extreme circumstances, they're mostly just a scare tactic. No one's going to mess with you when you have a sword in your hand."

We near the front of the line and I step up on to the ledge of the fountain, my stomach squirming with nerves. I look over my shoulder at the group assembled behind us and I see Caleb. He catches my eye and I hastily look away, wondering for a brief moment if my quarters are still in devastation.

Haydn pulls my hood up over my head and wraps his arms around me. "I'll need to hold on to you so I can guide you through to the other side."

I nod. "And thank you... for not saying anything to Nicholas about what I told you."

He frowns, then he plants a quick kiss on my forehead. "We can talk about it later. Now, on three. One, two, three..."

I feel a stab of panic as he pitches us into the fountain, but this time the temperature of the water is bearable, the compression suit protecting me from the icy sting. Electricity flashes and crackles around us, but my head doesn't spin like it did before.

Before I know it, we are swimming towards a dim light and then my face breaks the surface. I wade towards the edge of the fountain, and as my eyes clear, I take in the familiar surroundings.

Haydn pulls back his hood, shaking out his dark mane. "Are you OK?"

"Trafalgar Square," I say. "We're in Trafalgar Square."

But it's not the Trafalgar Square I remember. Instead of the usual hustle and bustle of tourists and the surrounding traffic, the square is empty except for a man sleeping on a nearby bench, his body covered with a sheet of cardboard. There are no rioters, no police sirens like I had imagined, just an eerie silence.