Hunt and Power. Stephen Hayes

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СКАЧАТЬ do you know is going to happen?” asked Craig. “Like where do we go after this?”

      “And how come we weren’t allowed to have dinner before coming?” added Sophie.

      “Well,” said Marc before Stella could respond. He suddenly picked up a bag which had been lying—unnoticed—at his feet the whole time. “The reason we had to meet before going is because they have security preventing unauthorised access. It’s not so much a guest list they go by, but more validation. Anyone with these gets in.”

      He took an item from the bag, then passed the bag to Amelia. She took one and passed it on. I couldn’t see exactly what the things were, and even when the bag came around to me and I picked one out, I wasn’t sure exactly what it was. I held in my hand a small, metallic cube, small enough to fit in the palm of my hand, with nothing on it but a small magnetic strip, which I assumed was meant for some sort of scanning.

      “It’s an enchanted place, where we’re going,” said Stella. “The same enchantments that protect my family’s headquarters protect this place. The entrance is in Hamster’s Stretch Reserve, but the actual party room is underground. You’ll need these to get in.”

      “And what’s the order of events once we get in there?” asked Nicole nervously.

      “I’m not sure there’s much of an order at all, really,” said Stella, shrugging. “I mean, I know there’s dinner, that’s first, but after that it just becomes like any other party. There’s a bar and a dance floor, so it’s clearly supposed to be a fun evening.”

      “So they’re enticing us to relax,” suggested Lisa.

      “Pretty much,” said Stella. “And I suppose you can, a bit, but not enough to let your guard down. There are still a lot of untrustworthy people in there.”

      My stomach had lurched with dread at the confirmation that there really was going to be dancing. I could now see Lena trying to catch my eye, and I stared so hard at Stella that my eyes were on the point of watering. That didn’t work any better though, because she caught my eye too and blushed. At that point, I was forced to stare at Marc instead. Blimey—there were simply too many women going on …

      “How do we know they won’t try to poison us at dinner?” suggested Peter. “They wouldn’t need magic to do that.”

      Several people gasped and turned wildly to Stella, who actually sniggered. “Can’t see them pulling that off,” she said. “Actually, they probably haven’t even thought of it. It’s all serve for yourself, so they can’t possibly get you without getting everyone else as well.”

      “How do we know they wouldn’t be prepared to sacrifice all the people in there to take the Seventh Sorcerer out of the equation?” asked Lucien.

      Stella blanched. “I can’t say that’s not something they’d think of doing, but I don’t think they’d throw caution to the wind like that. They know that even that way, there’s only a remote chance that Marc will actually eat something. Particularly if people are dropping dead around him. I don’t think they would try doing that tonight.”

      “What if the effects aren’t instantaneous?” asked Sebastian.

      Stella shook her head. “You don’t have to eat it if you don’t trust them,” she said. “I don’t think anyone will make you, but I don’t think there’s anything to fear from the food. If they’ve got plans, they’ll no doubt set them into motion a little later on, when people are having fun.”

      Most people didn’t like the sound of that. I didn’t find Stella’s words very encouraging either; she didn’t sound entirely sure of herself. I had the impression that Peter may have hit the mark with something here, and if he hadn’t, then Lucien and/or Sebastian probably had. But I also thought that Stella knew how her family thought, and I had to agree that after everything they’d done, poisoning was a bit tame by their standards. But that didn’t necessarily mean that they wouldn’t stoop a bit, since they couldn’t use magic. I decided that I would wait until I got to the place before making any more tough decisions. This was going to be a long night …

      Stella didn’t stay much longer, claiming she would be missed and had to get to the party. The rest of us hung around in the Hidden Quarters for some time, just discussing the possibilities for that evening. I had to admit to myself it was one of the weirdest situations I could remember being in—surrounded by people who were looking forward to a good party while also wondering if they’d make it home in one piece that night for reasons other than alcohol.

      I only had to glance around the room to deduce that most people had come prepared to treat this like any other party, at least before a hint of trouble. I couldn’t see one person who hadn’t dressed up for the occasion, just like they would with any other party. Most of the guys looked much the same as Peter, James and I, although Sebastian had died his hair a ridiculous colour green for the occasion—I could only assume this was meant to advertise his availability. Unsurprisingly, the girls had gone all out for the night. Nicole, Jessica and Felicity’s efforts to have their hair done could almost be considered tame compared to what some of the year-nines had done. Katie, in particular, was looking absolutely stunning. Lucky boy, Harry, to have a chance to dance with that.

      At about twenty to 8, Marc waved for quiet again, and beckoned us to follow him. We ascended the stairs and came out in front of Marc’s house on his still very-dull lawn. He and Lucien led the procession through the quiet streets of Chopville under the setting sun, across the bridge and into the stretch. I looked around as we entered, but couldn’t see any signs of life anywhere, not even over by the river where we would often jump from the bridges. Marc and Lucien weren’t phased by the lack of people, though; apparently Stella had given them directions as to exactly where to go.

      We turned off the path after them and moved deep into the trees. I wondered for a moment if we were heading for the hole I had seen Rob and Bob digging here a few weeks ago; after all, the party was underground. But it seemed I was wrong because we didn’t go in that direction, but off in the general direction of the school, although I knew we couldn’t actually get to the school from in here—there was a street lined with houses between here and there. I had never been this far in this direction through the trees before, and the compressed darkness made me very nervous. Surely this would be an ideal time for anyone to attack …

      Suddenly, a line of people came into view. None of us could see in the dim light what they were lining up along, but Marc and Lucien joined the back of the line, so the rest of us took it that this must be where we would get in. The queue moved fairly quickly compared to what I had expected, and when we got close to the front, I saw that a door had been propped up against a thick tree trunk. Suddenly it all made sense. I’d seen Stella create doors like that on camp, and she had told us that we were going to an enchanted place.

      Standing in front of the door was a security guard about the size of the average semi-trailer. He was taking the cubed objects from people and scanning them before allowing them to enter behind him. One person, however, apparently did not have validation, for whatever reason, and the guard discarded him by seizing him one-handed around the waste and tossing him lazily over his shoulder. The young man flew through the air, his yells echoing in the night, before landing painfully in bushes some way away. I shuddered; these things Stella had given us better work.

      Lucien was the first of us to reach the front. He had his validator scanned and was let through with no trouble at all. When Marc attempted to follow, the guard paused, staring at him with a look of recognition on his face, and I wondered whether the Hammersons had asked him to hurt Marc if he turned up. But a moment СКАЧАТЬ