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desk drawers and lifted out the false bottom that he had recently installed. He placed the device inside the hidden compartment along with the various tools that they had managed to acquire from around the school.
    ‘You are, of course, assuming she doesn’t already know,’ Wing said with a slight frown.
    ‘Hey, look on the bright side, big guy,’ Shelby said, quickly kissing him on the cheek, ‘if she does know, at least we’d be locked up together.’
    ‘Hmmm,’ Wing replied, still frowning.
    ‘Come on, Shel,’ Laura said, trying hard not to laugh at the expression on Wing’s face. ‘Let’s leave these two to get their beauty sleep. Heaven knows they need it.’
    ‘Funny,’ Otto replied. ‘No really, you’re funny. Look at me laughing.’
    ‘Awww, did she hurt your feelings?’ Shelby said as Laura walked out of the boys’ room. ‘Don’t worry, we love you really. Even with that face.’
    ‘Missing you already,’ Otto said as Shelby hurried after Laura. ‘Or it might just be stomach cramps, it’s hard to tell, to be honest.’
    Otto put the rest of the contents of the desk drawer back in place, making sure that the hidden compartment was properly concealed.
    ‘Are you sure that this is wise?’ Wing asked, gesturing towards the drawer. ‘Especially if Chief Dekker is watching us as closely as you believe she is.’
    ‘Probably not,’ Otto replied, ‘but let’s face it, it’s hardly the first time that we’ve done something that was a bit risky.’
    ‘I suppose,’ Wing replied, ‘but I have actually been quite enjoying the fact that the past few months have had a lower than average amount of mortal peril. Indeed, I am almost at the point where I have forgotten what it is like to be afraid for my life or those of the people I care about.’
    ‘Don’t worry,’ Otto replied with a smile. ‘I’m sure that something spectacularly dangerous will happen soon enough. We wouldn’t want life to get boring, now would we?’
    ‘I like boring,’ Wing said, raising an eyebrow. ‘In fact, I would go so far as to say that I am becoming a genuine fan of boring.’
    ‘I’ll be sure to let Shelby know just how boring you think the past few months have been,’ Otto said, grinning. ‘I’m sure she won’t mind.’ Otto never liked to miss a chance to tease his best friend about his relationship with Shelby and this was too good an opportunity to pass up.
    ‘I’d rather you didn’t,’ Wing said, the tiniest smile appearing on his face. ‘I am still training her in the art of self-defence and our sparring sessions are quite painful enough as it is, thank you.’
    ‘You guys are still getting on OK, I assume?’ Otto asked as he pulled his Blackbox out of his pocket and placed it on his bedside table.
    ‘Yes, though it is occasionally puzzling,’ Wing said with a slight frown. ‘It sometimes appears that what Shelby says she wants and what she actually wants are two entirely different things. It can sometimes lead to . . . confusion.’
    ‘I really hate to tell you this, Wing,’ Otto said with a grin, ‘but I think that’s actually the way it’s supposed to work.’

    Dr Nero looked up from the tablet display he had been studying as Raven walked into his office. He nodded towards the seat on the other side of his desk.
    ‘I’ve received word from other members of the new ruling council,’ Nero said as Raven sat down. ‘There were assassination attempts on several of them at exactly the time that we were attacked in London. Two were successful. Jacobs and Milton are dead.’
    ‘Damn it,’ Raven said softly. ‘Why did we not see this coming?’
    ‘To be honest, I did,’ Nero replied, ‘but there was still a part of me that was hoping it would not come to this. The former council members may not be a part of G.L.O.V.E. any longer but they still have considerable resources at their disposal and they are of course intimately familiar with the way in which our organisation