best?
I climbed into the van.
Zach and Bryn joined me. I glanced at the divider that was made of smoke-colored glass. I’d never seen a van with one like it, and both the guys had been eyeing it suspiciously on the drive to headquarters.
“I don’t like that. Kinda feels like a prisoner transport van, huh?” I said.
“Nailed what I was thinkin’,” Zach agreed.
Bryn was silent.
The driver closed the doors and got in front, and then we were under way.
Looking over his shoulder, Zach said, “The black sedans are still keeping us company.”
After we’d driven for ten minutes, Bryn stared out the window, then frowned and shook his head.
“What?” I asked as we got on the expressway.
“This isn’t the way to Heathrow.”
I unbuckled my belt and jumped up, slamming my palms against the glass. “I knew it!” I banged my fists on the divider. The driver didn’t even turn around.
Jerk!
“Didn’t have the nerve to shake my hand when you were going to abduct us, huh?” I pointed my finger at him, trying to catch his eye. He stared straight ahead.
“That doesn’t make it any less rude,” I snapped, and then turned back to Bryn and Zach. “What do you think? Should we bust the glass?”
“We’d never reach the driver before he did something to prevent us from getting control of the car. And the Conclave members in the sedans would be on top of us.”
I scowled, but nodded. I really wanted to break that darn divider. Vandalism seemed the least I could do to annoy Driver. My fist stayed clenched for several minutes; then my temper finally cooled.
Bryn sensed the change in my mood. “Ready to talk?” he asked.
I gave a jerk of a nod. “Got a plan?”
“Working on it,” he said with a small smile. Zach swiveled his chair to face us, and he leaned forward so it was like we were in a football huddle.
“I assume the driver is taking us to Scotland. Anderson said the amber was discovered in the highlands. If we can’t escape before we reach the destination the Conclave has in mind, at least we’ll have an idea where to begin looking for the artifact when we return from seeing your mother, assuming that she doesn’t have it or know where it is.”
“But the president has Edie and Andre. We said we’d try to get the artifact. How come they’re kidnapping us?”
“The Conclave doesn’t trust us. Or anyone. They likely want to hold on to us until they have the amber.”
We spent the entire ride whispering to each other, with Bryn’s magic swirling around us to muffle the things we said from any devices or spells that might be trying to listen in. Yeah, wizards are tricky like that.
Since we’d already flown for eight hours, it was really annoying to have to drive for another eight. If we’d flown from London to Dublin like we’d planned, we could’ve been there with seven hours to spare, I thought bitterly. So far my international adventure didn’t have a lot of sights to recommend it.
I shuffled between the seats and kicked the small cooler that the driver had directed us to earlier, when he’d turned the intercom on to respond to my complaint that I was hungry. The cooler just had sandwiches. No cookies. No brownies. No Cadbury bars. I tried to get him to make a stop so I could get my Hershey’s out of my suitcase in the back, but nothing doing.
Huge jerk!
Actually, he was much worse than a jerk probably, but I was reserving judgment until I saw what his reaction would be to our escape attempt.
* * *
I’M NOT SURE what I expected when we turned into the woods, but the road was rough and the trees were thick around us.
“Now we’re talking,” I said. “We must be getting close.”
We finally pulled up alongside a small cabin. The two sedans that had followed us the entire way flanked our vehicle. When the driver got out and unlocked the back door, sliding it open to let us out, we found five Conclave operatives dressed in cat-burglar black, with automatic
I climbed into the van.
Zach and Bryn joined me. I glanced at the divider that was made of smoke-colored glass. I’d never seen a van with one like it, and both the guys had been eyeing it suspiciously on the drive to headquarters.
“I don’t like that. Kinda feels like a prisoner transport van, huh?” I said.
“Nailed what I was thinkin’,” Zach agreed.
Bryn was silent.
The driver closed the doors and got in front, and then we were under way.
Looking over his shoulder, Zach said, “The black sedans are still keeping us company.”
After we’d driven for ten minutes, Bryn stared out the window, then frowned and shook his head.
“What?” I asked as we got on the expressway.
“This isn’t the way to Heathrow.”
I unbuckled my belt and jumped up, slamming my palms against the glass. “I knew it!” I banged my fists on the divider. The driver didn’t even turn around.
Jerk!
“Didn’t have the nerve to shake my hand when you were going to abduct us, huh?” I pointed my finger at him, trying to catch his eye. He stared straight ahead.
“That doesn’t make it any less rude,” I snapped, and then turned back to Bryn and Zach. “What do you think? Should we bust the glass?”
“We’d never reach the driver before he did something to prevent us from getting control of the car. And the Conclave members in the sedans would be on top of us.”
I scowled, but nodded. I really wanted to break that darn divider. Vandalism seemed the least I could do to annoy Driver. My fist stayed clenched for several minutes; then my temper finally cooled.
Bryn sensed the change in my mood. “Ready to talk?” he asked.
I gave a jerk of a nod. “Got a plan?”
“Working on it,” he said with a small smile. Zach swiveled his chair to face us, and he leaned forward so it was like we were in a football huddle.
“I assume the driver is taking us to Scotland. Anderson said the amber was discovered in the highlands. If we can’t escape before we reach the destination the Conclave has in mind, at least we’ll have an idea where to begin looking for the artifact when we return from seeing your mother, assuming that she doesn’t have it or know where it is.”
“But the president has Edie and Andre. We said we’d try to get the artifact. How come they’re kidnapping us?”
“The Conclave doesn’t trust us. Or anyone. They likely want to hold on to us until they have the amber.”
We spent the entire ride whispering to each other, with Bryn’s magic swirling around us to muffle the things we said from any devices or spells that might be trying to listen in. Yeah, wizards are tricky like that.
Since we’d already flown for eight hours, it was really annoying to have to drive for another eight. If we’d flown from London to Dublin like we’d planned, we could’ve been there with seven hours to spare, I thought bitterly. So far my international adventure didn’t have a lot of sights to recommend it.
I shuffled between the seats and kicked the small cooler that the driver had directed us to earlier, when he’d turned the intercom on to respond to my complaint that I was hungry. The cooler just had sandwiches. No cookies. No brownies. No Cadbury bars. I tried to get him to make a stop so I could get my Hershey’s out of my suitcase in the back, but nothing doing.
Huge jerk!
Actually, he was much worse than a jerk probably, but I was reserving judgment until I saw what his reaction would be to our escape attempt.
* * *
I’M NOT SURE what I expected when we turned into the woods, but the road was rough and the trees were thick around us.
“Now we’re talking,” I said. “We must be getting close.”
We finally pulled up alongside a small cabin. The two sedans that had followed us the entire way flanked our vehicle. When the driver got out and unlocked the back door, sliding it open to let us out, we found five Conclave operatives dressed in cat-burglar black, with automatic
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