‘You guys still owe me dinner at The Pirate’s Pizza Ship,’ Riff insisted. ‘Last time we got interrupted, remember?’
‘That’s one word for it,’ I said, recalling our terrifying chase through the State Library.
‘Well, I still reckon I’m owed a dinner there.’ Riff bounced on his toes. ‘Come on, don’t you wanna try their new hot chilli pizza?’
Phoenix sighed. ‘Do we have to?’
‘Yep,’ Riff said. ‘Otherwise, I’ll just keep nagging and nagging, every night, until you agree to come and try it. All the reviews say it’s delicious.’
‘All the reviewers have got defective tastebuds, then.’ Phoenix looked at Riff’s pleading expression, gave a dramatic groan, and finally nodded. ‘All right, fine! If we go tonight, will you stop banging on about it?’
‘Pinky promise,’ Riff said, dutifully extending his finger.
Phoenix rolled her eyes.
Half an hour later, we found ourselves in a booth near the back of The Pirate’s Pizza Ship. It was a noisy joint full of hungry families, and the air buzzed with clinking glasses and the warm scent of the pizza ovens. The walls were decorated with sailing ships, and the waiters wore plastic parrots on their shoulders.
Within twenty seconds, Riff had commandeered a cardboard buccaneer’s hat that a child had left behind on a nearby table. ‘Ahoy, me hearties!’ he said. ‘I am Riff the Pirate, captain of the seven seas. Hear my tale! I have sailed to a remote island, risking life and limb in pursuit of hidden treasure …’
Phoenix snorted. ‘Hate to break it to you, “Riff the Pirate”, but I doubt a twenty-minute boat trip makes you captain of anything.’
‘Hey, there was sea, wasn’t there? And there was a boat, and a secret island, and hidden treasure …’ Riff paused. ‘Well, a hidden vial, anyway. Sounds pretty pirate-y to me.’
The waiters served us hot chilli pizza, and Orbit served us an enthusiastic monologue on the importance of gaskets in hydraulic braking systems. And as the sky outside darkened over the city, I allowed myself to laugh, and to smile, and to raise my lemonade in a toast to another successful mission.
‘You know,’ Phoenix whispered, leaning closer to me, ‘this place is a bit weird, but the pizza’s really not that bad.’
Beside us, Riff was now lecturing Orbit about the superiority of classic rock to electronica, while Orbit listened with eager eyes behind his spectacles. Every so often, he interjected with his opinion on the mechanics of electric guitars.
On the nearest wall, a cartoon ship sailed across a painted ocean. I thought suddenly of another boat, and another ocean, and a night when my lips had tasted poison instead of lemonade.
And I thought of the friends who had saved me. Not just with the cure, but every day – with their smiles and laughter, piggy banks and booby traps, scowls and slippers and treadmills and rock songs …
Smiling, I reached for another slice of pizza.
‘You’re right,’ I said. ‘It’s not that bad at all.’
Thanks to my agent, Rick Raftos, as well as the talented team at Penguin Random House Australia. Although writing a story can be quite solitary, turning those scribbles into a book is always a massive team effort!
I’m especially grateful to Victoria Stone, my amazing editor, whose great advice has saved me from sinking into many a fictional quagmire. I owe a huge thanks to Zoe Walton for all her support, ideas and encouragement, and to Christa Moffitt for designing the book covers. Thanks also to Angela Duke, Dot Tonkin and Zoe Bechara for their awesome work in sales and publicity.
Thanks to my wonderful friends and family, who read my stories first – and who patiently put up with me when I go gallivanting off into my imagination.
Finally, thanks to my readers. I hope you had fun joining Nomad, Riff, Phoenix and Orbit on their second adventure.
Books by Skye Melki-Wegner
Chasing the Valley
Book 1: Chasing the Valley
Book 2: Borderlands
Book 3: Skyfire
The Hush
Agent Nomad
Book 1: The Eleventh Hour
Book 2: Deadly Magic
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Penguin Random House Australia. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Version 1.0
Deadly Magic
9780143780397
First published by Random House Australia in 2017
Copyright © Skye Melki-Wegner, 2017
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
A Random House Australia book
Published by Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd
Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060
www.penguin.com.au
Addresses for the Penguin Random House group of companies can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com/offices.
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Creator: Melki-Wegner, Skye, author
Title: Deadly magic / Skye Melki-Wegner
ISBN: 9780143780397 (ebook)
Series: Melki-Wegner, Skye. Agent Nomad; 2
Target audience: For secondary school age
Subjects: Magic – Juvenile fiction
Traitors –Juvenile fiction Suspense fiction
Spy stories
Cover and internal design by Christabella Designs
Cover images: girl turning Stephen Carroll/Arcangel; cave opening Vaida Abdul/Arcangel; vector glossy sphere Lorelinka/Shutterstock; metal background phiseksit/Shutterstock
Ebook by Firstsource
Deadly Magic Page 26
