Mount Asteria

Chapter Thirty Eight

"What is this place?"

They were on a dark, empty street somewhere in London. At least, Alexandra assumed they were in London. They hadn't been driving for that long. Around them seemed only to be deserted warehouses, apart from a single, lit window on the upper level of one of the buildings.

It was Hestia who asked the question, but Alexandra added, "Um, should we be here?"

Daniel looked at them reassuringly. "Don't worry, Knightsbridge stuff is always safe enough - even for sixth-years. There are probably ten different agents watching us right now."

"And they won't mind me and Hestia tagging along?" she said, hugging her jacket to her. She wasn't sure if it was the cold or the eeriness of the area that made her shiver.

Daniel shrugged. "No rules against it, and you might come in handy."

"Right." Alexandra looked up again at the window.

"Okay, allons-y, let's go," Pierre said, taking a briefcase from the boot of the car. Daniel led the girls to a plain black door at the base of the building. It opened without a problem and they continued into a narrow, shadowy passageway up a set of metal stairs. Alexandra was uneasy. It didn't take a genius to know that you shouldn't get into cars with older boys in the dark, or follow them up empty stairwells, especially when you didn't know where you were were. After all, she didn't kow Daniel particularly well, and had yet to exchange more than two words with Pierre. She felt around in her pocket, relief running through her as she felt the cold metal of her phone. At least there was a plan B.

Alexandra could hear soft music coming from somewhere upstairs. It was slow, laid back... jazzy.

"Where are we?" she asked, though she supposed she would soon find out. She was right; before either Pierre or Daniel could reply, they had arrived at the top landing, outside another plain black door, this one slightly open. She could hear the music far more clearly now; it was a piano.

"Ready?" Pierre asked.

"Well, considering we literally have no idea where we are or what we are supposed to be doing - "

"Relax, Hestie, you're staying out here," Daniel said.

Pierre opened the door wide and the two boys filed in. For a moment the music was louder and Alexandra could here the low hum of voices. Then the door swung shut and it was quiet again.

"Well this is great," Hestia huffed, folding her arms. "How long are they going to be?"

Alexandra shrugged, keeping her hands warm in her pockets. They were indoors but it was cold enough that her breath was visible in the air.

"I'm going in," Hestia announced after a moment.

"What?" Alexandra scarcely had time to look astonished before the door was pulled open again and Hestia dragged her inside.

There were lots of people in the room, Alexandra noted, as she and Hestia stood at the edge pausing to allow their eyes to adjust to the bright light. They were looking at paintings, she realised, as she took in the scene. It was an art gallery. The piano she had heard was in the centre of the room, a shiny, black, baby grand. A man in a blue suit was playing it.

"I think we'll draw too much attention to ourselves," she hissed to Hestia who was marching towards her brother, who shrugged.

"Well, Daniel can deal with it. Serves him right for not thinking ahead if it messes up their... whatever this is."

Nodding, Alexandra moved towards Pierre and Daniel, who were making their way across the room slowly, pretending to take interest in the paintings. Daniel turned around, looking only mildly surprised to see them. He beckoned to them to follow.