THE SECOND RIVETING BOOK IN THE FAST-PACED BLACK SPIRAL TRILOGY.

  Back from Germany and the assignment that went horribly wrong, Violet doesn’t know who to trust:

  It’s fortunate for me that the Foundation staff can’t read my thoughts … If they could read my thoughts, they’d never let me go. I’d be a liability, and I know what happens to liabilities.

  Phoenix is equally adrift:

  For an hour I will forget who I am, what I have done … But … I will wake with the heavy knowledge that I am the Black Wolf, never to be trusted, never to be loved — because the only people I’ve ever loved are either dead or hate my guts.

  The only thing both of them know for sure is that they have to escape the Foundation’s clutches.

  ‘Violet Black hits all the right notes for a thrilling read that teenagers (and older readers) will enjoy … I can’t wait for the next instalment — I’m hooked!’

  — Karen McMillan, nzbooklovers

  Contents

  CHARACTER LIST

  ONE: PHOENIX

  TWO: VIOLET

  THREE: PHOENIX

  FOUR: VIOLET

  FIVE: PHOENIX

  SIX: VIOLET

  SEVEN: PHOENIX

  EIGHT: VIOLET

  NINE: PHOENIX

  TEN: VIOLET

  ELEVEN: PHOENIX

  TWELVE: VIOLET

  THIRTEEN: PHOENIX

  FOURTEEN: VIOLET

  FIFTEEN: PHOENIX

  SIXTEEN: VIOLET

  SEVENTEEN: JOHNNO

  EIGHTEEN: VIOLET

  NINETEEN: JOHNNO

  TWENTY: VIOLET

  TWENTY-ONE: JOHNNO

  TWENTY-TWO: VIOLET

  TWENTY-THREE: JOHNNO

  TWENTY-FOUR: VIOLET

  TWENTY-FIVE: JOHNNO

  TWENTY-SIX: VIOLET

  TWENTY-SEVEN: JOHNNO

  TWENTY-EIGHT: VIOLET

  TWENTY-NINE: BRUNO

  THIRTY: JOHNNO

  THIRTY-ONE: VIOLET

  THIRTY-TWO: JOHNNO

  THIRTY-THREE: VIOLET

  THIRTY-FOUR: JOHNNO

  THIRTY-FIVE: VIOLET

  THIRTY-SIX: JOHNNO

  THIRTY-SEVEN: VIOLET

  THIRTY-EIGHT: JOHNNO

  THIRTY-NINE: VIOLET

  FORTY: JOHNNO

  FORTY-ONE: VIOLET

  FORTY-TWO: JOHNNO

  FORTY-THREE: VIOLET

  FORTY-FOUR: JOHNNO

  FORTY-FIVE: VIOLET

  FORTY-SIX: JOHNNO

  FORTY-SEVEN: VIOLET

  FORTY-EIGHT: JOHNNO

  FORTY-NINE: VIOLET

  FIFTY: JOHNNO

  FIFTY-ONE: VIOLET

  FIFTY-TWO: JOHNNO

  FIFTY-THREE: VIOLET

  FIFTY-FOUR: JOHNNO

  FIFTY-FIVE: VIOLET

  FIFTY-SIX

  EPILOGUE

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  PRAISE

  FOLLOW PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE

  For my brother Michael,

  who knows that there are other worlds than these.

  CHARACTER LIST

  SPIRAL FOUNDATION SURVEILLANCE FILE CONFIDENTIALITY RATING: HIGH

  BLACK FAMILY

  Violet Black: survivor of M-fever; 17 years old

  Nicholas Black: Violet’s father; prominent research scientist

  Ursula Black: Violet’s mother; naturopath

  WRIGHT FAMILY & ASSOCIATES

  Ethan Wright: former survivor of M-fever; Violet’s recently deceased boyfriend

  June Wright: Ethan’s mother; paediatric nurse

  Freddie Wright: Ethan’s 5-year-old brother

  Lyndall Wright: Ethan’s 14-year-old sister

  Rawiri Sullivan: Ethan Wright’s best friend; 18 years old

  OTHER SURVIVORS OF M-FEVER / VORTEX MEMBERS (PHASE II)

  Phoenix (Jonathan) Fletcher: 19 years old

  Audrey Spelling: 18 years old

  Harper Mehta: 17 years old

  Callum Templeman: 16 years old

  PHASE I VIRALLY OPTIMISED

  Sarah Schumann: the prototype; 21 years old

  PHASE III VIRALLY OPTIMISED

  Mila Schmidt: 17 years old

  Leon Sachs: 21 years old

  Emma Wagner: 20 years old

  SPIRAL FOUNDATION STAFF

  Noel Marlow: Director of the Spiral Foundation; neurologist

  Melody Nenge: general physician

  Greta Ziegler: neuropsychologist

  Bruno Hoffman: junior doctor

  Dash Petrakis: physical and weapons trainer

  Jane Griffin: cardiologist

  Alice Wang: junior doctor

  OTHER

  Hans Bauer: Chief of Intelligence, International Terrorism Agency (ITA)

  Conrad Abelson: American tourist

  Kelly Sherman: American tourist

  Scott Murphy: Inspector, Alice Springs Police Department

  Harry Wilson: Detective Constable, Alice Springs Police Department

  ONE:

  PHOENIX

  I am running through the desert, the red earth firm and unyielding beneath my trainers. It’s twenty degrees Celsius, even at midnight. My chest is bare, my singlet knotted around my forehead to stop the sweat running into my eyes.

  I could have chosen to leave my earthly body behind, to join the others in their nightly ritual soaring high above the desert, but I haven’t done that since we returned from Berlin two months ago. I’m scared that if I leave my body behind, I won’t want to return.

  So I’m running, relishing the pain in my muscles, the burning in my lungs. For an hour I will forget who I am, what I have done. For an hour, I will be Phoenix again.

  But in the morning, I know, I will wake with the heavy knowledge that I am the Black Wolf, never to be trusted, never to be loved — because the only people I’ve ever loved are either dead or hate my guts.

  Violet won’t even look at me. At breakfast, she sits at the opposite end of the table. During our physical training sessions, she takes care to avoid me, except in martial arts, where we swap partners every few minutes and she has no choice.

  That’s almost worse, having to touch someone who has the power to burn me with her thoughts alone.

  At least, she would if I were allowed access to her thought-stream, but there’s a permanent blockade coming from that direction.

  That’s fine, because I’m blocking her too.

  This morning, Dash is taking me and the rest of the VORTEX members (aka Virally Optimised Telepaths, aka captives) through drills where we practise turning in for throws but don’t actually throw each other. He’s got us counting in different languages as we do it. First, Audrey counts in Japanese: ichi, ni, san, shi. Next, Callum counts in Māori: tahi, rua, toru, whā. Harper counts in Mandarin, and Violet in Russian.

  It’s my turn, and all I can think is: eins, zwei, drei, vier. But I can’t count in German, not in front of Violet.

  Harper says Violet must have post-traumatic stress disorder, following what happened in Berlin. Who wouldn’t, after being stabbed twice in the back and nearly bleeding to death, after collapsing a lung and finding out her boyfriend had died while she was unconscious?

  I say, ‘Yeah, I guess she must.’ And when I have occasional selfish thoughts like No one asks about whether I get flashbacks too, because shooting a woman in the head and watching her die wasn’t a bloody walk in the park, even if she was a terrorist, I keep them to myself.

  ‘Fletcher,’ Dash barks, ‘where’s your brain?’

  I want to tell him I left it in Berlin, but instead, I start counting in French; un, deux, trois, quatre, as Violet twists and pulls me up on her shoulder again and again. When I get to dix, ten, she bends her knees and sends me flying over her shoulder and — wham — I’m blinking up at the ceiling, all the breath knocked out of my lungs.

  ‘Nice,’ Dash says.

  Violet doesn’t say anything, just leaves me there and moves on to her next partner, Callum.

  No one says, ‘Man, burnt.’ No one even thinks it. If they did, I’d be sure to hear them.

  No one dares, because it’s no laughing matter that Violet hates me because I killed her boyfriend, Ethan.

  If I were her, I’d hate me too.

  TWO:

  VIOLET

  I still can’t believe you’re gone, Ethan. I can’t help thinking that if I keep talking to you, the way I used to, that one day you might reach out from wherever you are — the way you reached out to me the first time, when we were both in hospital, recovering from M-fever. But this morning, for the first morning in two months, I woke up and that split second of unknowing before I realised you were dead wasn’t there. Of all the terrible things that have happened to me over the past several months, your leaving me is the worst.

  It’s time for my debriefing. Melody says I need to stop delaying, that it will be good for me. The last time they tried to debrief me, four weeks ago, I started crying and couldn’t stop.

  I haven’t cried since then. Maybe today will be better.

  DEBRIEFING

  COMMENCED: 2.01 PM

  PRESENT: VIOLET BLACK (VORTEX MEMBER), DR NOEL MARLOW (NEUROLOGIST), MR HANS BAUER (CHIEF OF INTELLIGENCE, INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST AGENCY, ITA), DR MELODY NENGE (GENERAL PHYSICIAN).

  Bauer: I would like to welcome everyone to the meeting. For the record, it is 2.01 pm Australian Central Standard Time.

  Marlow: Thank you.

  Nenge: Would you like a glass of water, Violet?

  Black: (shakes
head)

  Bauer: Thank you for agreeing to meet with us again, Violet. I appreciate the last attempt at debriefing may have been a little too soon for you.

  Black: Can we just get this over with as soon as possible?

  Bauer: Certainly. Violet, I’d like to go over the events that happened in Berlin from the time you arrived on 24 December.

  Black: Right from the start?

  Marlow: Yes, right from the start. As much as you can remember.

  Black: We arrived on the plane.

  Bauer: By we, you mean you and Phoenix?

  Black: Phoenix, Wolf Schwarz, whatever else you want to call him.

  Marlow: Yes, well for the sake of this debriefing you can use your real names rather than your aliases. Which, for the record, were Wolf Schwarz and Liesl Meyer.

  Black: I travelled with Phoenix and Bruno. Bruno left us at the airport in Berlin, and then Phoenix and I took a Zuber to our apartment. We were really tired, so we had a sleep before sightseeing. Then we went to the Christmas markets, had an early dinner and went back to our apartment.

  Bauer: Can we please note for the record that Doctor Bruno Hoffman is a medical officer employed by the Foundation. Violet, did you make contact with the suspects, Thomas and Klara, at any time?

  Black: Not on Christmas Eve, no. Thomas and Klara weren’t due to arrive back from Munich until late that evening. We were really tired.

  Marlow: Did you make contact with anyone else on Christmas Eve?

  Black: Just the people we bought our food and groceries from. We didn’t have any long conversations, if that’s what you mean.

  Marlow: Did you attempt to contact anyone from your former life? Parents, friends, that sort of thing?

  Black: No.

  Nenge: How about your friends back here, did you communicate with them?

  Black: I talked to Ethan. Is that a crime?

  Marlow: The point of this conversation is just to gather facts, Violet. You’re not going to get into trouble.

  Black: (laughs) Yeah, well, what are you going to do? Lock me up? Oops, already done that. You could torture me, I suppose.

  Nenge: That was unnecessary, Violet.

  Black: Look, what do you want to know? We — Phoenix and I — went to Thomas Neumann and Klara Becker’s apartment on Christmas morning. We got a fix on them.

  Bauer: A fix?

  Black: We connected with their thought-streams, which made it easier to track them. We didn’t get much at first, but we intercepted a conversation Thomas had with his friend, Dieter, at lunch time. That’s when we realised they were planning to use explosives to attack the research facility in four days’ time. The following morning, we waited until the family had left the apartment before we went to try and locate the explosives.

  Marlow: Did you try to contact the ITA with this information prior to that?

  Black: No, we didn’t.

  Bauer: Why not?

  Black: We didn’t know if we had enough information for the ITA to make an arrest. We wanted to get as much evidence as possible.

  Marlow: And yet, you put yourselves at significant risk.

  Black (faintly): Clearly.

  Bauer: Tell me what happened from the time you entered the apartment.

  Black: I went straight for the wardrobe in the main bedroom.

  Bauer: Why was that?

  Black: Because … that was the image I’d received from Thomas the day before, of explosives in a wardrobe.

  Marlow: And yet, the explosives were in Dieter Fischer’s wardrobe, in his apartment on the other side of Berlin.

  Black: I guess we got it wrong.

  Bauer: Did you find anything at all in their wardrobe?

  Black: Nothing interesting. Just clothes.

  Bauer: Where was Phoenix while you were searching the wardrobe?

  Black: Outside, in the stairwell. Keeping watch.

  Bauer: Were you aware of the presence of anyone else in the apartment?

  Black: Not until she stuck a knife in me, no.

  Marlow: So you didn’t sense — what do you call it? — her thought-stream?

  Black: No. Just like I can’t hear you now. Funny, that.

  Nenge: Perhaps we should take a break.

  Black: No, I’m fine. Do you know why I couldn’t hear her? Because she had a blocking device in her ear, just like the ones you’re all wearing. Do you know where she got that from?

  Marlow: We’re trying very hard to find out, Violet. But I can assure you that your attacker had nothing to do with the Foundation or the ITA.

  Black: But she knew who we were. She knew what we were.

  Bauer: Yes, somehow she did. But we want to thank you and Phoenix for a successful mission. With the information Phoenix was able to give us, you averted an attack not only on Präzision, but probably future, even more worrisome attacks. We just have one more question for you.

  Black: Let me guess, you want to send me somewhere else?

  Bauer: In time. But that wasn’t the question. Tell me, did you intercept any information from Klara, Thomas or Dieter about the Javier virus?

  Black: Javier what?

  Marlow: It’s a deadly virus.

  Black: Like M-fever?

  Bauer: Much worse. A metal cylinder went missing from the lab, just like the one in this photo.

  Black: I’ve never seen anything like that before.

  Nenge: I think we should give Violet a break. Can we resume this tomorrow?

  Bauer: It’s all right. I think we have all the information we need. And, Violet …

  Black: Yes?

  Bauer: We’re sorry for your loss.

  Black: It wasn’t my loss. Can I go now?

  Marlow: Yes, you may be excused. Thank you, Violet.

  CONCLUDED: 2.23 PM.

  (RECORDING ENDS)

  My loss. It’s not a loss, like misplacing your PA down the side of the couch. Death is final, irretrievable.

  As for Javier, it’s fortunate for me that the Foundation staff can’t read my thoughts. If they did, then perhaps they wouldn’t be treating me quite so well.

  If they could read my thoughts, they’d never let me go. I’d be a liability, and I know what happens to liabilities.

  They die.

  THREE:

  PHOENIX

  Today is Callum’s sixteenth birthday. He’s happy because the staff have given him a new toy, an electric snowboard, which was delivered to his room before breakfast this morning.

  ‘Like we have any snow around here.’ Harper flops onto his bed.

  ‘It’s for my trip to Japan, duh.’ Callum is fiddling with the settings on the snowboard. ‘Which, may I remind you, starts tomorrow. I can practise on the VirtReal sim today.’ He holds up his PA. ‘Downloaded the app.’

  ‘No one gave me a snowboard,’ Audrey says, looking nervous at the prospect of her first mission.

  ‘Probably because you said you can’t snowboard.’ Callum stands up. I swear he’s grown at least two inches since we met six months ago. He’s full of confidence after a successful mission in London with no bloodshed, as if unmasking two students with what turned out to be no more than a pipe bomb was hard.

  ‘Well, maybe next time I’ll get to use my gun,’ he says, after I make no attempt to hide that thought.

  ‘I’d be happy never to have to use one again.’ I exit the room, my blood simmering. Callum isn’t just green, he’s cocky and dangerous with it.