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I’ll think of something. Even if it’s only getting Tahnee to safety, I’ll find a way.

They stepped past Anne’s body – Robb supposed there was no chance of anyone finding it up here, if these had been her private rooms – and down the twisting stairwell, trepidation and excitement doing battle in Robb’s head. This was going to be their best opportunity for escape.

“Oh, hang on,” said James, just as he was about to open the door. “Here we go.”

Unexpectedly, Robb found himself uncuffed. He blinked in surprise as he felt his powers surging back through his body, and his dingo howled triumphantly, clawing at his consciousness, desperate to shift.

Let me bite out his throat right now, it howled. I’ll tear him to pieces!

With difficulty Robb forced it back down – they were still in the tower, and if he attacked now, there was no way Tahnee could escape.

“Don’t go getting any ideas, now,” James told him. Perhaps he’d sensed the trouble Robb was having keeping his dingo under control. “This is just so that you don’t raise any suspicions while we’re out in public.”

Robb exchanged a quick glance with Tahnee, and caught the flicker of triumph in her eyes.

James grinned. “Don’t get too excited. The grounds are positively crawling with Hargreaves agents – after all, we own this place. One false move, and they’ll come down like a ton of bricks – on all these fine families who are here to enjoy this beautiful day.”

Robb’s spirits fell as quickly as they’d risen. He absolutely wouldn’t put it past Hargreaves to do just that.

James simply knew him too well. He knew that Robb wasn’t about to attempt to make his escape if it meant that innocents might die. And while Robb wasn’t one hundred percent sure whether James had descended to the point of actually harming children, he didn’t want to find out.

“… I won’t try to escape,” Robb muttered.

Internally, though, he was cataloguing potential strategies. James was clearly distractable. Where Anne had been focused on finding the most efficient way to her goal, James was looking to lord his power over Robb and Tahnee. And Robb could use that.

“Okay, let’s go,” James said. “Just remember: these people’s lives depend on you being a good boy.”

The mid-morning sun hit Robb full in the face as he went through the door, and he took a moment to just appreciate the cool, fresh air on his face, the scent of roasting meat, and the sound of happy families, none of them with any idea of what they were right in the middle of.

We will protect them, the dingo promised. You have my vow.

And mine, Robb thought grimly.

Robb thought that they made a bit of a strange-looking group, given the two enormous Hargreaves agents, the lyrebird on James’s shoulder, and Robb himself, who probably looked like he had a bad hangover at this point, but no one seemed to pay them any mind. A few kids pointed at the bird in surprise, but James just smiled and waved at them. Everyone probably thought he was just part of one of the acts that went on here, one of the strolling players who wandered the grounds, delighting the guests with short skits and songs. A tamed bird would fit in easily with that.

“Where exactly are we going?” asked Tahnee.

“To the airfield just on the other side of the castle grounds,” James said. “We have a couple of jets waiting for us there to take us back to Hargreaves’s Sydney office. And then, after that, we’re off to New York City for a demonstration of your powers – while we’ve known about you for a while, I’m sure most of our management and investors would prefer to see what you can do in person. I know a lot of them are still quite skeptical that it’s all real.”

Things just get better and better, Robb thought.

He looked about as they walked, trying to get an idea of the layout of the place. He hadn’t been here since he was a kid, and a lot had changed.

The clank of sword on shield caught his attention, and he turned his head to watch the swordsmen who were dueling nearby.

I wonder if James would anticipate a sword attack...

It was something to keep in mind. He was going to have to think outside the box if he was going to get everyone out of here alive. Snatching a sword from a fake medieval knight would, he hoped, be at least a little unexpected.

A princess in a green silken dress and a tall coned hat, a thin maidenly veil over the lower half of her face, waved her handkerchief at the duelers, making her favor clear for her preferred knight.

A very tall and very unconvincing princess.

Almost as tall as…

Robb almost stopped dead in his tracks, only his training keeping him walking at a steady pace.

He didn’t stop looking at the spectacle, though, and his eyes narrowed in recognition, even as the princess waved her handkerchief at him.