The creatures didn’t speak as they bound first Finn’s and then Faye’s hands behind their backs, and then to a thick pipe that ran around the room, and then tied their legs together at the ankles. Even if they had, Faye wouldn’t have been listening. Her eyes were fixed on Lucas. He was secured to some kind of evil contraption – wires trailed from his chair to a box on the wall, and although none of them seemed to be connected, the effect was horrifying. Lucas looked terrible – sick, weak, as if all the blood had been drained from his body. Faye’s eyes filled with tears. He must have been here, restrained like this, all the time – while they were at the party, while they were on the road . . . She wondered now what had made her so certain that he was in trouble, when everyone else – Finn, mainly – hadn’t been worried at all. But then, she and Lucas had always had a connection . . .

 

The door of the white room slammed shut. As soon as they were alone, Finn began to struggle. Faye watched as he strained against his ropes, wishing she were closer. If she had been, they might have been able to help each other.

 

‘Faye – are you OK? Did they – did they hurt you?’ Finn asked, his voice echoing strangely in the sterile room.

 

‘N-no,’ she said, trying to stop her tears. ‘I’m fine. It’s just . . . Lucas . . . He looks so sick. What have they done to him?’

 

‘He’s alive,’ Finn pointed out shortly as he continued to work at the rope.

 

Faye was shocked by the coldness of his voice. ‘Don’t you care?’ she asked. ‘He’s your brother – look at him, Finn! He’s in pain, he’s been hurt . . . and all you can say is—’

 

Finn made a noise in his throat. ‘What do you want me to say, Faye?’ he asked. ‘You want me to just sit here and wail about it, or do you want me to concentrate on getting us out of here? And he’s not my brother, OK? He’s my half-brother. Everyone keeps forgetting that.’

 

Faye shook her head in disbelief. ‘What difference does that make?’

 

‘It means,’ Finn rasped, finally giving up on the rope and collapsing back against the wall in frustration, ‘that we’re nothing alike. And who knows, Faye – maybe that’s why you like him so much.’

 

 

Alexei Koskay leaned back in his chair and, resting his elbows on its arms, steepled his fingers thoughtfully. In front of him, the banks of cameras showed his little medical room in stark black and white. He’d had the concealed cameras and microphones built in when the room was constructed. It was impossible to spot them from inside, but Koskay had a perfect view – not to mention audio stream – of everything that went on in there. It had proven useful in the past, he’d found. It never ceased to surprise the Russian what people talked about when they thought they were alone.

 

Well, well, well, he thought to himself. A brother. And he walked straight in through my front door. How fortunate. For me, anyway . . .

 

Liz stood in front of her mirror, putting her head on one side as she considered the look she was trying out. On her shopping trip she’d bought a pair of soft grey leather brogues, and now she was trying to find the perfect outfit to wear with them. Liz wasn’t sure if the city shorts and white blouse she’d just put on looked right.

 

She sighed and pulled off her top, thinking that it might be a good idea to try the rock-chic T-shirt she had picked up at the same time. But suddenly she wasn’t sure if she even cared. Clothes just didn’t seem as much fun without Faye around to discuss them with, even if this beautiful summer weather was the perfect time for a new wardrobe.

 

With another sigh, Liz checked her phone, but there was no missed call from her best friend. Jimmy was still manning the fort at his place, but she’d hoped Faye might have called her, if only for a chat. The last she and Jimmy had heard, they were nearing their destination, but hadn’t reached it yet. Liz couldn’t imagine what Faye was doing down there in Silver Cross. In fact, the point was, she didn’t want to imagine. She wanted to be there, right in the middle of whatever was going on, helping Faye and Finn, not idly waiting for news. It was driving her crazy, and she knew poor Jimmy was finding it difficult too.

 

The doorbell rang. Liz quickly pulled on the T-shirt she’d been deliberating over and ran down the stairs, wondering who it could be. Both her parents were out, her sister Poppy hadn’t finished her college term yet, and everyone else had given up asking her to go out as she’d continually said no. Which only left . . .

 

‘Jimmy!’ Liz stared in shock to find her boyfriend standing on her doorstep. She looked down at his leg. ‘Where’s your cast?’

 

Jimmy grinned. Raising his leg, he rotated his ankle, which was clad in one of his new black leather biker boots. ‘I got the doctors to take it off early. It was pretty much healed. Actually, I felt better a couple of days ago, but I didn’t want to get your hopes up until I’d been back to the hospital. They were amazed – they’ve never seen a break like mine heal so fast.’

 

Liz looked at him, still wide-eyed. ‘Do you think it was the werewolf bite?’

 

‘Must be. Not only did being infected by that bite get rid of my stutter, it obviously gave me something that helps my bones to heal really fast.’

 

Liz threw her arms around him in a huge hug. ‘Oh my God! That’s amazing!’

 

‘So,’ Jimmy said when she pulled back to look up at him, ‘are you ready to take that car of yours on a road trip? Because we have a lot of catching up to do!’