I started the car, found first gear, and pulled away carefully. I was definitely coming down from my high now. Muscles and bones ached, and I worried now that we would be pulled over by the police or something. I would hate to have to try to explain the arsenal in the boot. I drove cautiously at first, then a bit faster. Angus closed his eyes and lay back against the headrest. I found my gaze drifting constantly to look at his perfect face.
"Watch the road." His eyes remained closed, but his voice was amused, and a faint smile curled his lips.
We drove the rest of the way in silence, and arrived back at where the satnav had started out in just over an hour. As we drew up outside the house, the front door opened and light spilled out onto the pebbled drive. Mark stood silhouetted in the doorway, his face tired and drawn. I turned off the engine, and got out.
"Rebecca!" He sounded disbelieving, and then ecstatic.
I burst into tears of relief. He ran down the steps towards me. "Are you alright? Where's Angus?" He looked suddenly worried.
"I'm fine, Mark, but Angus has been shot. We need to get him inside."
Together we helped Angus hobble through the front door, and into one of the armchairs. His leg had already lost that rubbery look, but it obviously hurt him to put any weight on it. He subsided gratefully into one of the cracked leather armchairs by the fire.
"Are you sure you're not hurt?" Mark was looking at me, horrified.
I glanced down at myself, seeing the blood caked all over my school uniform for the first time. "It's not my blood," I said. I didn't think he needed to know exactly how it got there, so I didn't elaborate. Angus was leaning back in the chair again, eyes closed, smirking slightly.
All at once I felt drained, exhausted, and I stumbled to the other chair and almost fell into it. Angus opened his eyes, and looked over at me. The fire blazing in the grate lit his eyes eerily. "Go sleep," he told me. "This tiredness is normal for what you've been through tonight. There are showers and beds upstairs." That sounded like a hint to me.
He looked at Mark. "You too, my friend."
"What about you, Angus?" Mark wanted to know. I yawned.
"My brothers will be here shortly. I need to speak to them. They can carry me up to bed afterwards. Go!" It was an order. We went.