Pete McGee and the Master of Darkness by Adam Wallace Page B

touch a hair on her head, you will pay.’
    Syra laughed.
    â€˜It is not her head you should worry about, little fireball. In fact, perhaps you are a little fireball!’
    Pete groaned.
    â€˜This really isn’t a good time,’ he said wearily.
    â€˜And that is why it is a good time … if you know what I mean.’
    With that, Syra Tanooth put in place the third test. He sent down a ball of fire that struck Pete, setting his clothes alight. Pete cried out in pain and Smithers tried to bat out the fire, earning himself a burnt hand in the process. Pete rolled around on the ground, but it wasn’t working. They could hear Syra and Bob laughing in the background. The voice of the Master of Darkness boomed out again.
    â€˜And now, to finish you off, I shall drown you!’
    A gush of water, like a waterfall from the sky, rushed down over Pete and Smithers. It made them cough and gag and they got water up their nose, but in reality all it did was put out the fire and leave them drenched. Bob groaned.
    â€˜Oh, Syra.’
    â€˜Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the best of my ideas. But at least you know my power now, Pete McGee. Never fear, I shall return.’
    Pete stood there, drenched. That guy was nuts. He looked at Smithers, who was rubbing his hand against an aloe plant to soothe the burn. He looked at Tahnee writhing on the ground, sweating, crying out. He looked at Ashlyn trying to hold her still, calm her down, fighting against her own pain from the battle with the spiders. He saw Molloy sprinting back towards his sister, his arms full of plants. Molloy dropped the plants before grabbing some things out of his pack and starting to mush them together. Pete continued to watch. These people were so important to him. Improve their quality of life, Santora had said. Well, he wasn’t doing that at the moment. If anything he was making it worse.
    He watched Molloy hold a cup up to Tahnee and, as Ashlyn held her chin, he poured something into her mouth. Tahnee gagged and tried not to swallow, but Molloy forced the liquid down, speaking to her as he did so. Tahnee thrashed around for a little longer and then stopped, her body slumping, her face relaxing. Pete had been watching the black lines of poison move up her leg, but now they seemed to stop, or at least slow a little. Molloy sat with his sister a while longer and then walked over to Pete. He looked so drained, so tired.
    â€˜She’ll be okay, Pete. I think I got to her in time. The poison has stopped spreading, and if I give her some more potion during the night, she should be okay by the morning.’
    Pete nodded. That was all he needed to hear. He couldn’t have made the move he wanted to make without knowing Tahnee was going to be okay. Come morning, okay was what she would be. Come morning, he would no longer be part of this team.

Chapter Nineteen
    Going solo
    P ete was having a wonderful dream. He dreamt he was at home and Tahnee and Molloy had come over to visit. Tahnee walked up and kissed him on the cheek. Then it got weird. She licked his cheek. Then she rubbed her nose against his, and her nose was really wet.
    Pete woke up with a start and got an amazing surprise. Standing over him was Lightning! Pete, careful not to wake the others, stood and walked Lightning away from the group. Lightning was all prancy and happy and Pete knew he would make some noise.
    â€˜What are you doing here?’ Pete whispered to his horse. ‘I told you to stay and watch the house. How did you find us anyway?’
    Lightning snorted, as if to say, ‘Well, watching the house was the most boring thing ever. I wanted to be part of the adventure. As to how I found you, that’s for me to know and you to find out!’
    Pete smiled at the look on his horse’s face.
    â€˜Well,’ he said. ‘You know what? I’m really glad you’re here.’
    Lightning showed all his teeth in what Pete could