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WITH THE TWO WOMEN watching for trouble, Wisp closed his eyes to feel for Angus. There was a large knot of people in the school. They were clustered so closely together that they must be in the theatre. He’d seen the flyer at the train station about a debate. Now that he’d heard that Angus was missing, and the attack on the warehouse, all the pieces were falling into place. Jackson was trying to stage a coup.
Angus was close. Wisp had had enough contact with him that he was easy to locate. It felt like he was in the school, but that wouldn’t make sense. Jackson would want to get him out of the center of his power.
Bridget started to ask a question, but Tillie shushed her. “Empty your mind,” Tillie whispered. “Think of blue sky. We need to keep off of his radar.”
Wisp appreciated the effort, but he could rule Bridget out easily. He’d gotten that used to her presence. Tillie’s mix of anger and fear was a little harder to ignore. He walked a few steps away from the women tightening his focus on Angus. “He’s underground.”
Tillie’s fear skyrocketed. Wisp realized that he shouldn’t have phrased it that way. “In the tunnels, I think.”
“Oh. Yes. That’s good. Lead on.”
It made sense to avoid the upper levels of the school. Jackson probably had men watching. Wisp went around to the back of the field house where he’d lived for awhile. There was a tunnel from the field house to the school that had plenty of disused storage closets and utility cupboards where a person could be held. Wisp headed down the stairs, feeling for any people ahead.
He stopped at the first landing to spread out his senses and listen. Thick steel fire doors led to equipment rooms. The entrance to the tunnel was one more floor down. They continued as silently as possible. Bridget barely made a sound. Tillie, with no training, did surprisingly well. He halted on the next landing, sensing ahead again. There were a few strangers nearby. He gestured for them to crouch behind the fire doors. “Two,” he whispered. “With Angus.”
“Distraction?” Bridget mouthed.
Wisp was about to agree when running footsteps came from the opposite direction. Someone was coming from the school.
“They’re dead!” a man’s voice yelped.
“Who?”
“The attack failed. They’re all dead.”
“He said it would be a piece of cake.”
“He lied.”
There was a lot of cursing. Wisp held up a hand for patience. Tillie was chomping at the bit. If they could retrieve Angus without any violence, it would be better for all of them. And to do it without alerting anyone gave them a greater advantage.
After a lot more cursing, Wisp heard the words he’d been hoping for: “I’m out of here.” The men were leaving. He waited for the clang of the fire doors on the far end before letting Tillie enter the tunnel. A line of doors ran down either side. A faint thumping came from one of them, but the chair under the doorknob was the main clue.
Tillie dashed past him to tug at the chair. “Angus?”
The door crashed open almost knocking Tillie over. Angus stood there, red-faced and furious, a broken lacrosse stick in his hands. “Tillie?” His clothes were askew, one sleeve torn and stained with blood. “Wisp,” he said in greeting. “Is Shaggy okay? Poor little thing got treated worse than I did.”
Tillie grabbed his face to plant a kiss on his lips. “The puppy is fine. Come on old man, you’re late for the debate.”
“The what?”
Wisp felt Angus’s fury dissipate leaving him in pain and tired. “Jackson called for a debate. He’ll be making a point about you standing him up.”
Anger flowed back into Angus. “Pompous, arrogant...”
Tillie tried to smooth his hair. “What happened to your arm?”
“Nothing. A scratch.” Angus snorted. “And I don’t have time to clean up for the event.”
Wisp offered his jacket. It was a little too big for Angus, but it was cleaner than his shirt.
“Excellent.” Angus shrugged into the jacket, settling it across his shoulders. “Let’s go.”