A World of New (A Shade of Vampire, #26)(38)

“Not yet…”

“Okay,” she said. “I’m going to make us invisible and we’re going to cross to the other side to get a closer look.” Shayla and Josh disappeared from my sight as the witch performed the spell. I kept my grip on the wheelchair so that I wouldn’t lose them. We reached the other side and peered through the fence.

When Josh still didn’t say anything, we continued walking along the road until the fence gave way to a towering gate. There were two small buildings on either side—more modern than the ones located in the main compound—and I could make out security guards through the windows.

We ought not get too much closer, or we might trigger alarms.

We kept moving along the road. When we finally reached the end of it, we took a right turn, following the compound fence round the corner at a ninety-degree angle. We emerged on a smaller road this time and continued circling the compound while our eyes remained fixed on the gaps in the fence’s bars. Since we moved slowly, it took us about two hours to circle the compound—it consisted of not only buildings but also fields and training grounds. When we arrived back where we’d started, Josh still hadn’t said a word, and I was already writing off the idea that he was from London after all. Heck, maybe even the idea of him being a hunter was all a stupid speculation, too.

But as we walked the final stretch of road, past a vast parking lot, finally Josh spoke. “Clyderly,” he murmured.

Shayla and I stopped walking abruptly.

“What?” we both demanded at once.

“Clyderly. That’s what it says on that van.” I looked toward a large cluster of black vans in the parking lot. They had “IBSI” painted on their sides in bold white letters, and beneath, in smaller type, were printed the names of various locations. “Leicester”, “Southport”, “Oxford”… “Clyderly.”

Clyderly.

My nose wrinkled. Where was Clyderly?

“I’ve been there before,” Josh said, his tone intensifying. “Clyderly. It rings such a bell. It’s in… Scotland, isn’t it?”

Shayla let out a breath before quickly moving us to the other side. She took us behind a tree before making us all visible again, so that we could both take in Josh’s expression. It was that of deep thought and wonder.

“Yes,” Shayla breathed. “Clyderly is the location of one of the IBSI’s bases in Scotland.”

“I’ve been there before.” He squinted, his whole face contorted as though it took everything he had to recall the memory. “It’s… it’s in the Scottish Highlands. A base. Lots of buildings. Brown buildings with lots of glass.”

Shayla’s gaze shot to mine. “We must leave for Clyderly. Immediately.”





Grace





Although we had paid for another night in our London hotel, Shayla managed to convince them to give us a partial refund. We hurried back to our rooms, where I packed up all of our stuff again, and then we left the hotel like normal people—through the main exit, before heading down to the small lane that we’d first arrived at near the hotel. It was here that Shayla vanished us.

When we landed this time, my teeth chattered. A harsh wind howled around us, penetrating through my clothes. My feet felt like ice cubes. I feared for Josh. I reached instinctively for him and readjusted his scarf, wrapping it more tightly around him, as well as making sure that his hat covered his ears. We were standing in the middle of a snowdrift, rolling hills and mountains surrounding us for as far as I could see. Behind us was a road, whose tarmac I could barely make out beneath the snow. It wound down the mountain we were standing on toward what appeared to be a small, quaint village, about half a mile away.

“Aha,” Shayla said. “Let me take us closer.”

She brought us closer to the village, which was filled with mostly cottages. The largest building was a castle, bordering a mini-town square with frozen fountains.

“This is the nearest settlement to Clyderly that I’m aware of,” Shayla said, striding forward toward the old castle. “And this”—she pointed to the castle—“was once a hotel.”

“Once a hotel?” I asked.

“Mm-hm. Just as this was once a pretty little tourist resort.”

When I gazed more closely at the buildings surrounding the square, all of them appeared to be deserted. Dilapidated, in fact—windows smashed in, doors broken open.

“What is this place?” I whispered.

“Ogres have traveled through these parts,” Shayla said darkly. “The inhabitants upped and left, a long time ago now.”

My stomach tensed. “Why do we need to stay here at all, then? Can’t we just go to Clyderly and then be done with it? We could find some proper hotel somewhere else that’s safe, if we really have to stay another night in this country.”

“Don’t worry, Grace,” Shayla said. “I’ll make it safe for us. I’ll cast a protective charm. And I’ll also make it warm. We may not need to stay the night here at all—which would be preferable—but we might as well leave our stuff here, and it might come in handy to have a base nearby… We never know what could happen.”

The wooden door to the old castle had been ripped open, and an icy breeze ran through the dark lobby as we entered. Shayla strode to the empty reception desk and bent down behind it, rummaging and withdrawing a key. Then she vanished us upstairs to what appeared to be the highest floor in the castle, judging from the view outside. She stopped outside Room 109. The lock still worked fine and none of the rooms here appeared to have been broken into—at least, not on this floor.