All Baz has ever wanted from Simon is his demise. Baz would do anything to get Simon out of his way.
Anything …
What if this is all a trick?
What if Baz is luring Simon to the numpties? The way he lured me into the Wood that night …
Well. He didn’t quite lure me. I followed him. But still. But still …
Baz is a vampire.
Baz is a villain.
Baz is a Pitch.
My phone is on my nightstand. (I’m allowed to have one at home.) I pick it up and text Penny.
Your mum is looking for you. Everyone’s worried.
And:
Are you fighting numpties? Do you need help? I could get help.
Then:
Are you with Baz? I think it might be a trick. That he’s trying to hurt Simon.
And then:
You could have at least left a note. That seems pretty basic.
I throw the mobile down on the bed and pop open my Diet Coke. The photo of Lucy and Davy is stuffed under my pillow. I pull it out.
What would brave, bold Lucy Salisbury do in a hopeless situation like this?
Hot-tail it to California like a rational human being, apparently. Leave it to the heroes.
If Baz has turned on Simon, there’s nothing I can do to help.…
But I can’t just sit here, doing nothing, damn it! (Damn him.) (Damn them all.) Even when I’m not involved in their stupid drama, I’m still involved—I still have to play my part.…
And this is the part where I always scream for help.
*
My mother’s on the phone when I slip out. I take the Volvo.
78
BAZ
It took me a good bit to figure out that Bunce was just possessing the dog—that she wasn’t trapped inside its body. I’ve never even heard of such a thing. I’m certain it isn’t legal.
The real Bunce, terrifying mage that she is, is hiding behind a hedge in Hounslow, waiting for me.
I’m on my way to get her.
“I wouldn’t have had to do this if you weren’t so cagey about your mobile number!” she yaps from the back seat.
PENELOPE
I’m hiding in our neighbour’s garden. I can’t go home because I know if Mum’s there, she won’t let me leave. And I have to leave—I can’t let Simon face the Mage alone. He might already be at Watford. He probably just thought about teleporting and arrived there.
I really blew it with Simon.
He was going to let me go with him, I think, after Baz stormed off. But then I tried to talk him down—I tried to reason with him.
“Maybe Baz is right,” I said.
Simon was pacing around my bedroom, swinging his blade, and he stopped to shoot me a scornful look. “Seriously, Penny? Numpties?”
“No, not about the numpties—but, Simon, think it through, what’s going to happen when people find out about you?”
“I don’t care about people!” he growled.
I shushed him. My little brothers and sisters were still downstairs. “You care about the Mage,” I said. “What’s going to happen when he finds out you’re stealing magic?”
“I’m not stealing it!” he whispered.
“Whatever you’re doing!” I whispered back. “What’s going to happen?”
“I don’t know! The Mage will decide.”
That’s when I probably should have given up. But instead I stood in front of him and reached for his hand. He let me take it.
“Simon,” I said, “maybe we should just go.”
He looked confused. He clenched his sword in his other hand. “Penny. That’s what I’m saying. We have to go.”
“No.” I stepped closer to him, squeezing his hand. “I think this might be our only chance to … to leave.”
He looked at me like I was mental.
I kept at it: “Everyone has already connected you to the Humdrum. When they figure out what’s actually happening, even the people who care about you—you’re a threat to everyone, Simon. To our whole world. Once they find out … Maybe this is our last chance to leave. We could just … go.”
He shook his head. “Go where, Penny?”
“Wherever we have to,” I said. “Away.”
SIMON
Away. There is no away.