Free Flying High by Annie Dalton

a monkey’s about your morals or motives. It’s a straightforward trade. I do them favours. They let me keep an eye on Dom.”
    “Now tell us the bad thing about the PODS,” Reuben suggested softly.
    The question took Brice by surprise. I saw a tiny muscle move in his cheek. “I told you, they’re cool. Anyway, I’m a big boy. I can handle it.”
    We waited. He swallowed. “The worst thing is when they won’t let me see Dom. Last time they didn’t let me near him for months. You saw what he got up to then.”
    “That’s when he re-invented the time device, right?” I said.
    “Do you blame him?” said Brice angrily. “Trapped in our mother’s house for a whole summer. He was lonely as hell.”
    “How do we know this isn’t one of your sick little games?” Lola said suddenly. “Like, ‘Oh I’ll make the angels believe my sad story, then catch them off-guard and totally trash them’.”
    “I don’t actually care what you think, darling,” drawled Brice. “I know why I’m here, that’s all that matters.”
    Reuben’s voice was quiet. “I believe him.”
    Lola was horrified. “After what he did to you in London!”
    “Like I said,” Reuben repeated firmly, “I believe him.”
    Sometimes pure angels take your breath away. After all Brice had done to him, our buddy was willing to give him another chance.
    The weird thing is, I thought Reuben was right.
    For the first time Brice made a warped kind of sense. He wasn’t just some evil cosmic joker delighting in chaos. He loved someone. He loved his brother like I loved my sister Jade. But unlike me, he didn’t trust anyone else to keep his brother safe. Brice only trusted one person. Brice.
    The atmosphere in the room had totally morphed. I think even Lola was on the verge of giving our old enemy the benefit of the doubt. And maybe our expressions had changed or something, because Brice’s face suddenly shut like a trap. “OK, the freak show’s over. Now flutter off back to Heaven where everything is pretty and nothing hurts.”
    “But I thought you—” My voice trailed off.
    “You thought I wanted your help!” Brice’s face twisted. “Don’t make me laugh! I’ve taken care of Dom all his life and I don’t need a bunch of little angels getting in my hair. You’ve got him into enough trouble as it is. So just shove off.”
    A door slammed and a desperate voice yelled, “Dave? Dave, are you there?”
    Dave ? I thought dimly. Then I remembered that bad-boy Brice was currently posing as good-guy Dave.
    Lily came charging upstairs. She’d gone so white that her freckles were standing out like braille. She could hardly get the words out for crying. “I’m so scared,” she gasped at last. “They’ve got Dom.”
    Brice looked as if he might be sick. “What do you mean?”
    “They know what he’s been up to…” Lily babbled.
    I knew she meant the de Winters.
    “… about the device and everything. They said he had to hand it over. Dom said he had no idea what they were on about. I lost it, Dave. I said I saw him give it to you, so they sent me to find you. I’ve been looking everywhere!”
    In other circumstances I’d have been sorry for her, but I’d gone completely cold inside.
    I backed away from Brice in horror. We’d been such idiots . Brice didn’t love Dom. He didn’t give a stuff about anyone. He never had. He’d been working for the PODS all along.
    “You evil jerk!” I was in tears of fury. “I can’t believe even you would stoop so low. You actually betrayed your own brother!”
     

Chapter Ten
    B rice just stood there, taking all my contempt and hatred like he totally deserved it. It was unexpectedly dignified and it slightly took the wind out of my sails. He waited until I’d finally run out of abuse, then said, “Go back to the house, Lily. Tell them I’ll bring the device.”
    “You hate me, don’t you?” she said miserably. “I don’t blame you. I hate myself. But they said they’d hurt him and