The Midnight Mercenary Read Online Free Page B

she noticed, was sitting calmly beside her. Obviously Tom hadn’t taken him by surprise.
    â€˜What are you two doing out of the hotel?’ Tom hissed. ‘I know you heard me, Amelia – Krskn’s here somewhere.’
    â€˜And now I know where my dad is!’ she hissed back.
    â€˜So what? You can’t undo the binding tar, so you’re no use to your dad. All you’re doing is handing yourselves to Krskn for free, and what good is that going to do anyone?’
    Brutal as ever. Amelia couldn’t argue with Tom, though. As usual he was right, but she refused to leave just yet. She turned to Dad. ‘Does it hurt?’
    He tapped.
    â€˜NO,’ said Charlie. ‘NOT … AT … ALL.’ And then, as Dad kept tapping, he went on, ‘BUT … I … HAVE … A … TERRIBLE … ITCH … ON … MY … NOSE.’
    Amelia tried to smile as she stepped forward to scratch the end of Dad’s long nose. It was hardly a hug or a kiss or even a proper goodbye, but it was all she could do right now.
    He tapped again.
    â€˜GO,’ said Charlie. ‘GO … NOW. QUICKLY.’
    â€˜Come on,’ said Tom. ‘This door made enough noise to wake the dead when you opened it. It got my attention anyway, and I was halfway down the hill. It’s almost certain Krskn knows we’re all here.’
    That got Amelia moving. She didn’t feel any better about leaving Dad, but she couldn’t stand it if Charlie was kidnapped because of her. She set the torch on the floor so that it pointed at the roof, lighting up the whole meter room with an electric glow that was getting fainter by the minute, but was hopefully better than nothing.
    She followed Charlie and Tom back into the gardens. The moon was still trying to shine through the clouds, but thunder was starting to rumble again in the distance. Every now and then a cloud flicked on like a giant lamp as lightning sparked inside it.
    Amelia trudged through the grass, utterly defeated. How stupid not to be able to do anything. How ghastly if all they could do was sit back and let Krskn do whatever he wanted.
    â€˜Isn’t there something we can do?’ Charlie asked.
    â€˜You?’ Tom said. ‘No. But –’
    â€˜What about my mum?’ Amelia interrupted.
    â€˜What about her?’
    â€˜Whatever she’s doing – is it helping?’
    Tom wheeled around to face them both. ‘Skye’s out here? Alone?’
    â€˜She came out here to help you !’
    He made an angry grunt. ‘I thought she was the only one of you with a bit of sense. Come on.’ He turned back and kept walking, muttering something about fish in a barrel.
    Just as they reached the main steps to the hotel, Grawk gave a low growl.
    â€˜What is it?’ Amelia bent to stroke him, and felt that all the fur on his back was bristling. ‘Grawk?’
    Without another sound, he shot off down the hill and disappeared. Amelia would have called out to him, but Tom had already wrapped a hand over her mouth.
    â€˜Come on – now ,’ he hissed furiously. And taking them each by an arm, he dragged Amelia and Charlie up to the library’s doors and knocked on the glass.
    Mary was there in a second, the heavy poker from the fireplace in one hand and a desperate look on her face. She unlatched the door and when Tom shoved Amelia and Charlie through the gap, she broke into tears. ‘Where have you been? You could have been killed!’ she sobbed, hugging Charlie, shaking him hard, and hugging him again. ‘And you,’ she said, pulling Amelia into the huddle.
    â€˜If they step foot outside this hotel again, I’ll kill them myself,’ said Tom. ‘You got that?’
    Amelia nodded, too overwhelmed to speak.
    â€˜Tom, what on Earth is going on?’ said Mary. ‘What is all this about? ’
    Tom snorted. ‘Do you want the good news, or the