London Eye: 1 (Toxic City)(70)

“You betcha!” Emily stood slightly in front of their mother, like a bodyguard preparing to take a bullet. Her face was so stern that Jack laughed out loud.

The thought of leaving his mother so soon after finding her again was incredibly painful. But the longer they remained together, the less inclined he'd be to leave at all. And he owed his father everything.

“That camera,” he said to Emily. “It's precious. It's almost priceless, for all the people we've seen in London. You know that, don't you?”

“Of course I do! I'm not a bloody kid, you know.”

“I know you're not, Emily. You're my hero.”

“See, Mum?” she said, beaming proudly. “Jack's hero!”

“So when you get out, put the camera somewhere safe and sound. Don't take it home with you. When I come out with Sparky and Jenna, we'll retrieve it and do what we can.”

“And Dad?” Emily said.

“I'll do my best.”

“Why does he call himself Reaper now?” his little sister asked.

“Because he's forgotten who he is. I'm going to remind him.”

“Please keep them safe,” Jack said to Rosemary.

The old woman smiled. “Keep yourself safe. Good luck with Reaper.”

“His name's Graham. And I'm looking forward to seeing my father again.” Jack knew what she wanted to hear: I'll speak to him, persuade him, plead with him if I have to. But he could not say that yet, because his priority was completing his family. Perhaps the two aims would run side by side, or maybe they would collide. Time would tell.

Jack, Sparky, and Jenna watched them leave the underground hospital. Jenna put an arm around Jack's shoulder.

“Wimp,” Sparky muttered, and Jack coughed, half-laugh, half-sob.

Jack saw his mother and sister pass out of sight, and he could not fight away the feeling that he would never see his family again. Standing there with his two best friends in the world, he had never felt so alone.





Birmingham is the new capital city of Great Britain.

—Government Proclamation, 3:44 p.m. GMT, July 29, 2019

Lucy-Anne was too terrified to ask him about his dreams. Her own scared her enough. So she walked with Rook in silence, and he told her they had somewhere special to go.

“But I need to find Andrew,” she said.

“And you've told me where he is. ‘North of here,’ you said.”

“Yeah.”

“Girl…where north of here?” She still hadn't told him her name, because in some ways it still felt distant to her. It belonged to a girl with other friends, another life.

“Well…” she began, but there was little else she could say. Your brother is alive north of here, she remembered a man saying, and if that was all he'd said, perhaps that thing in her mind would not have snapped. But he had gone on, told her more.

“North is a big place,” Rook said. “And like I mentioned, it's a wild place.” He looked up at the clear blue sky, speckled with hundreds of dark spots where the rooks kept pace with them. “Everywhere in the city is wild now.”

“So where are you taking me?” she asked.

Rook laughed, and high above Lucy-Anne heard the cawing of many birds.

“Girl, I don't believe I can take you anywhere. But if you'll come with me, I'll introduce you to some people who might help.”

“Why might they?”

He frowned a little, looked away, but then smiled at her again. “Because I'll ask them.”

The boy seemed friendly enough to Lucy-Anne. And he was strong, not just in his wiry frame, but mentally. He exuded a power that frightened her a little, but alongside that fright she had to admit it turned her on as well. His was a power she had never imagined, and something about the fact he had changed his name made him seem closer to the city. She had come to this place with friends, but they paled when compared to Rook.

“Okay,” she said. “But first I have to pee.”

Rook glanced around, then pointed at an overgrown parking lot beside a burnt-out pub. “Public toilets!” he said, giggling at his own joke.

Lucy-Anne dashed across the road, feeling his eyes burning into her back. His dark eyes. So like a rook's, she thought, almost lifeless. But the rest of his face made up for it; he always wore a smile, and there were laughter lines in his young man's skin.