Julie and Gareth burst into the room—the knights in shining armour galloping in to rescue the damsel in a lot of distress. I wished I could hug them, and it said a lot for the relief that I felt that I didn't even mind that they'd clocked me, jeans soaked with pee.

Carly rose to her feet, expression unruffled but the fingers by her side curled into a fist. I'd always reckoned Julie could beast her in a fight. Biting her ankles, perhaps, seeing as Julie was about half her height. Maybe I was about to be proved right.

"We are within our rights. Ms Dupont is complicit in covering up a crime—theft from Sunshine Health that—"

Julie pounced. "Sunshine Health? Not from Vampire Security then?"

"Doesn't matter," Carly snapped. "Sunshine Health sub-contracts us to provide security services for them so—"

"Maya," Julie turned to me. She kept her tone reasonable, though behind the polite inquiry I sensed pent-up fury. "Have you been tortured?"

I nodded. "Ryan punched me and pulled my hair." I twisted in my seat and tipped my head to one side. Julie gasped. I'd suspected it at the time. Ryan had ripped the hair from my scalp. Thanks to the fact my hands were bound behind my back, I couldn't run my fingers over my head and circle my forefingers around what I guessed to be a bald spot.

"That's it," Julie said, marching past me and squaring up to Carly as much as someone about a metre shorter than their opponent could. "You release her right now. And I get you sacked. Again. After I've filed an action against Vampire Security for supposedly firing you in the first place and then continuing to employ you!"

Carly rolled her eyes. "Sure. You try it, honey."

Gareth stepped forward. "You're absolutely right," he said, addressing Carly. "Trouble is, you're not allowed to question someone with a man who is currently wanted as part of an attempted murder inquiry."

Carly drew breath, her lips pursing and stopping. Ryan shifted, his movement taking him behind Carly—the door handle at the back of the room within all too easy reach. Gareth sprung—the coiled cat charging forward, his hands gripping Ryan's arms as he did his best to twist out of Gareth's grip.

"Ryan Hannah," Gareth shouted at him, pinning his arms behind his back. "I'm arresting you on suspicion of attempted murder. It may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence."

He dragged him out of the room, Ryan brushing against me as he did so. If someone had handed me a knife right at that moment, I'd have stabbed him. And loved every second of it. I had to make do with the sound of Gareth dragging him out, thumps and bumps in the corridor as Ryan tried and failed to resist.

"Unchain Maya!" Julie demanded.

Carly tried arguing with her. I was still, she said, the main suspect in a crime. Fine, Julie snapped back. Dunrovia's normal police force would question me, and Carly would be allowed to sit in as an observer. That is, if she hadn't been sacked by that point, as that would be Julie's number one mission after this.

Unchained, I took my time standing up unsure if my legs would support me. Julie took my arm. "Come on."

She led me down the darkened corridor as I battled tears. There was no way I was giving the guards the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

Are you okay?

The words in my head made me stop, Julie turning to me.

"Are you okay?"

"Is Justin in here?" I asked, and she nodded. "I can't do anything right now, but I'll get him, Dorian and Kirsty out as soon as I can."

"Dorian? What does he have to do with any of this?"

Julie pressed her forefinger to her lips.

The words, Don't worry about me or anything else. Do as Julie says, seemed to come from nearby. The room on the right of us—a cell, its black iron door firmly closed. I leant against it briefly, the cold metal comforting against the throbbing heat of my scalp where Ryan had ripped my hair out.

"They can't prove anything." Defiance made me bold. A nearby guard moved forward, gesturing that I should move away. I stayed in place.

"And I'll use my influence to make sure everyone here loses their job!"

Bravado, but satisfying anyway.

Maya, I...

Julie took my arm again. "Come on. We must go."

I looked over my shoulder as we left, simultaneously desperate to go and wishing to stay. The guard could shove me in that cell with Justin, and it would be just me and him. The world could take care of itself.

*****

The scream had ripped through Justin's head, making him jump to his feet and bolt to the peephole on the door to his cell.

"Open up!" he yelled, knocking on the door. No-one paid him any attention. He kicked the door instead. "Open up, I've got stuff to tell you!"

He'd known the scream instinctively. Maya. They must have picked her up too, which meant she was here. Here, and suffering.

Someone drew back the peephole cover at the other side of the door and eyes peered in on him. "Yeah? What stuff?"

"I can tell you about the stolen goods. Where they came from and how they got there," Justin said, loading his voice with as much confidence as he could muster. The van had brought him, Kirsty and Dorian here three hours ago and since then, they'd all been locked up separately in the cells. Enough time to rehearse the story Dorian had come up with, Justin going over it again and again to ensure he was word perfect.

It didn't come as a surprise that they'd picked up Maya, but he hadn't expected them to bring her here. Sure, they'd dumped Dorian and Kirsty here, but Maya was a member of the assembly, FFS.

"Fine," the guard said. "hope you're ready to sing like a canary because the boss is in a foul mood and if you're wasting her time, who knows what she might do?"

Another scream rang out. Maya again. Justin's eyes glittered and his teeth came out. He stifled the impulse—the one that made him want to rip the guard apart, tear through the endless long dark corridors here and find her. It wouldn't help. He channelled his thoughts, trying to find Maya's head and send her reassurance.

Nothing.

He tried again, picturing her—that dark hair and the little pink spots on her cheeks when she smiled. Where are you...?

Nothing again.

Weird.

The guard opened the door and another guard entered, taking Justin by the arms. "No funny business, right? The boss doesn't care if we're trigger happy."

"Stop right there, you fuckers!"

The posh voice made him smile, despite everything. Julie Tree, fired up with righteous indignation, hurried towards them. She looked as if she'd dressed in a hurry. A button had popped off the shirt she wore, affording Justin a glimpse of her bra. He looked away hastily.

"Take your hands off him immediately! Why's my client under arrest? What justification do you have for this?"

The other guard faced her. "Take it up with the boss, love."

"I'm not your love," Julie snarled at him. He mimed fright, the faux bit turning real when another man appeared by Julie's side. Bear-like, his head covered with short grey fuzz and a forehead furrowed with wrinkles, the man's age didn't disguise the underlying menace.

The man flashed his lanyard. "You, pal," he said, "are in a lot of fucking trouble. As is your boss. Fetch her for us."

The guard hesitated.

"Now."

He scuttled off.

"I'm Gareth," the bear-like man held out a hand, "Maya's security guy. They should have contacted me before they arrested her. Any idea where she is?"

"No, but I heard her scream," Justin said, "and it came from that direction."

He made to follow them, but Julie stuck her arm out. "You better stay here. They're within their rights to hold and question you—just not Maya, Dorian and Kirsty."

They hurried off. The second guard, having recovered his equilibrium, shoved Justin unceremoniously back into his cell, and made a point of shutting the peephole.

Justin thumped his head against the wall, stiffening when he heard the gentle pitter-patter of the heartbeat he knew so well nearby minutes later. The brief exchange soothed him. At least she was safe but worrying about Maya had distracted him from his own fear. A frustrated Carly Wang would not be in a sunny mood. His chances of survival narrowed down to wafer thin.

Don't be such a wuss. You'll live to fight another day.

Lewis! Where are...

The back wall of the cell thrummed—energy vibrating from a body the other side of it. The layout of the prison confused Justin. Its labyrinth of corridors and half flights of stairs up and down making it impossible to figure out, but his cell must face outwards. He leapt up to the window at the top, clinging onto the four bars across it. The space framed his face—just. Nowhere near big enough to squeeze out of.

The real-life Lewis beamed at him from the other side.

"Pathetically easy," he said, "to get past the shower of shits that guard this place."

"How are you going to get me out of here?" Justin asked. Their noses just about touched. It shouldn't have amused Justin. Any second now, guards might burst in, armed with crossbows and decide today was the day they transformed another vampire into a pile of ash. Nasty bastards had assaulted the love of his life, and he didn't know for sure if she was safe, but this, the ridiculousness of being nose-to-nose with his brother either side of a dank brick wall felt so... right.

Weirdo. Lewis in his head again, but suddenly the stuff in Justin's head was no longer random thoughts communicating from one brother to another but an electric charge firing up. Justin lowered his hands, hovering a metre above the ground, face in front of that tiny window, as he floated there.

Lewis's face drew back.

Ready?

Justin nodded, and moved backwards towards the cell door. They fused their thoughts together, as the central one concentrated on imagining an explosion that sent the bricks and mortar of the back wall flying in all directions. The almighty bang almost deafened him as shards of stonework burst out in a cloud of dust, bricks bouncing off Justin.

Lewis held out a hand. "Come on, then!"

Justin stepped out of the cell. Above them, a siren sounded. Over the public address system, a voice demanded all available guards made their way to Location 3GN.

Lewis reached for Justin's hand. "Ready?"

Justin nodded. The two of them soared into the skies followed by as hail of stakes fired from automated crossbows, all of them falling .

"Where are we going?" Justin asked as the ground fell away underneath them. Lewis twisted onto his side, making the two of them torpedo-like as they whizzed through the skies over trees, tower blocks and the landmark rock that jutted out into the sea.

"Wanna find that kid you've made friends with?"

"Fraser?"

"Yeah. He's got that other USB stick, right?"

The contents of which Justin hadn't told anyone about. His twin gave him that half-smile—the one he used when Justin worked something out for himself. He hadn't managed to keep anything secret from Lewis.

"And after that," Lewis added, turning once more so that he faced forward, "how about we drop into a house in the west of the city where someone will tell us what exactly is going on in this fucked-up world?"