Page 108 of Robb

Technically it was Rhys who said that, but the others were all echoing him with similar statements a moment later.

It was indeed James, held snugly in the dragon’s arms like an enormous golden teddy bear, his mouth wide open in an eternal scream. Nearby were the scattered lighting and security fixtures that Hargreaves had set up, the Hargreaves agents themselves having apparently made a dash for it when the dragon had awoken.

Robb held up a hand.

“It’s a very long story,” he said. “But the short answer is: yes. Yes, that’s James.”

“Far out,” Trent muttered.

They all stared at the screen in amazement.

Rhys in particular stared for a very long time – which Robb couldn’t really blame him for, given that James had done his utmost to ruin his life and then almost kill both Rhys and his mate, Maisie – before, finally, he seemed to come to some sort of conclusion.

“Are we done here?” he asked gruffly, and Robb nodded.

“Yeah. We’re done.”

They all traipsed back down the stairs, Robb adding an addendum to his mental note reminding himself to get the Agency to check whether there were any Hargreaves agents still lurking around the dragon’s lair, and then they were all back in the warmth of the wintry sun once more.

“Well, then,” said Callan. “All’s well that ends well, right?”

“A fairytale ending, you might say,” added Trent.

Brooke made a face. “As long as you’re not expecting anyone to kiss the princess. Even just looking at you might turn me into a toad.”

Robb looked around at his team:

Hector and Rhys bickering with each other about who looked stupider in medieval garb.

Euan diplomatically trying to distract them, and not having a lot of success.

Brooke telling Trent not to enter information about his ‘earthquake experience’ into the government’s earthquake tracker, given that he knew full well it wasn’t an actual earthquake.

Trent telling Brooke that he was adding verisimilitude to their cover story, and that she shouldn’t question his experience.

Zina telling Brooke that ‘verisimilitude’ had been the Word of the Day in Trent’s calendar last Wednesday, and he’d been itching for an excuse to use it.

Callan telling Trent that Robb had been incredibly boring to work with during their time in Melbourne, with a tap of the nose in Robb’s direction.

That’s my team, Robb thought with the beginnings of a smile.

He wasn’t sure right now what exactly the future would hold.

But he knew that no matter what he ended up doing, everyone here – Tahnee, his team, Liam, even Shaz and Michael, who were lurking about and trying to not look like a quasi-criminal hacker and his bodyguard in front of the swarm of Agency staff – was going to be a part of that future.

Turning to Tahnee, he met her gaze – and watched her face break out into a brilliant, beautiful smile.

Unable to help himself, he smiled back.

“It’s over,” he said, finally able to fully relax. “It really is over.”

“No,” she said, her smile widening even further, if that was even possible.

“It’s only just begun.”

Epilogue

“Look out below!”