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But as I scanned the faces around me, which suddenly looked a little peaked, I guessed they weren’t as comforted. “Except everybody looks weird. Why does everybody look weird?”
“There aren’t any firespell Adepts,” Jason said, “at least not that we’re aware of. They have an uncanny willingness to stay with the herd.”
“To stay evil,” I clarified dryly, and he nodded.
“And there is the other catch,” Scout said.
“Wait,” I said, holding up a hand. “Let me guess. Using this newfound power will slowly make me more and more evil, until there’s nothing left of me but a cold, crusty shell of emptiness and despair. Lovely!”
“But we’ve all got to deal with that,” Paul said with a grin.
“I mean, there is a benefit,” Scout said. “You have a pretty kick-ass power, and you’re obvs the only Adept with firespell, so that’s awesome for us. You’re a solid addition to the team.”
I lifted my brows. “A solid weapon, you mean?”
“A solid shield,” Michael said, his voice quiet and serious. “And we can use you.”
“Whoa,” Smith said, slicking the hair down over his forehead. “Let’s not get too excited. So-called contingency magic or not, she’s still not one of us. She’s not an enclave member until we run things past the supervisors.”
I leaned in toward Scout. “Supervisors?”
“The folks with authority,” Scout said. “They keep to themselves, and we get their dictates through charming members of the Varsity squad. Lucky us.”
“And because of that,” Smith said, “there’s nothing more we can do tonight. I’m going to make a call to see if another enclave is willing to babysit our targets tonight. Head back home. We’ll be in touch.”
Not taking no for an answer, he went for the door, six Adepts and one not-quite Adept behind him, heading off to bed before another routine day of classes, and another routine night of battling evil across the city.
Scout yawned hugely, her eyes blinking sleepily when the spasm passed. “I’m about done,” she said, then slid an arm through mine after I’d returned her messenger bag and she’d situated it. “Let’s go home.”
“We should get back, too,” Jason said, then glanced warmly at me. “You take care, Parker.”
“I always do, Shepherd.”
He winked; then he and Michael set off down the tunnels. Jamie and Jill and Paul said their goodbyes, but Scout and I stood in front of the door for a moment. She looked over at me, then enveloped me in a gigantic hug.
“You came after me.”
“You’re my new best friend,” I said, hugging her back.
“Yeah, I know, but still. Weren’t you scared witless?”
“Completely. But you’re Scout. I told you I’d be there for you, and I was.”
Scout released me, then wiped tears from beneath her eyes. Catharsis, I guessed. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—you seriously rock, Parker.”
“Tell me again, Green,” I said as we switched on flashlights and headed through the tunnel.
“Seriously, you rock.”
“One more time.”
“Don’t press your luck.”
It was late when Scout and I returned to St. Sophia’s, but while she showered and headed to her room for some much-needed sleep (under Lesley’s watchful eye), I plucked my cell phone from her bag and headed out on one last journey I wasn’t entirely excited about taking.
Have you ever been in a car or on a walk, and all of a sudden you look up, and trees and blocks have passed you by? When you end up in a spot, but you don’t remember much of how you got there? I found myself, a few minutes later, staring at the tidy gold letters on Foley’s door. Light seeped beneath it despite the late hour.
I lifted a hand, knocked, and when Foley called my name, walked inside. She stood at the window, still in her suit, a porcelain teacup cradled in her hands. She glanced back at me, one eyebrow arched. “Ms. Green?”
“She’s fine. She’s back in her room.”
Foley closed her eyes and let out a breath of obvious relief. “Thank God for small favors.” After a moment, she opened her eyes, then moved to her desk and placed the teacup on the desktop. “I assume you’re now interested in discussing your parents?”
I rubbed my arms and nodded.
“I see,” she said, then pulled out her chair and lowered herself into it. She motioned toward the chairs in front of her desk. I shook my head and stayed where I was. It wasn’t stubbornness; my knees were shaking, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it over there without tripping.
“As you know,” she said, “your parents are very intelligent people. They are currently working to resolve a somewhat, shall we say, awkward problem. That work has taken them to Europe. I have a personal interest in that work, which is why we’re acquainted.”
When she suddenly stopped talking, I stared at her for a few seconds, waiting for elaboration. But I got nothing more. “That’s all? That’s all you’re going to tell me?”
“That’s more than your parents told you,” she pointed out. “Are you asking me to trump a decision made by your parents? Or, more important, have you decided that your need to know trumps their decision not to tell you?”
That made me snap my lips closed again. “I don’t know.”
This time, I really did take a seat, slinking down into a chair and staring at the desktop. I finally raised my eyes to Foley’s. “They’re okay, right? Because they’re really hard to get in touch with, and their phone keeps cutting out.”
“Your parents are safe and sound,” she said, her voice softer now. “For now. You might consider, Ms. Parker, the possibility that they are safe, in part, because of the current status quo. Because you are safe and sound in this institution, and suspicions are not being raised. Because uncomfortable questions aren’t being asked. Because,” she added after a moment, lifting her eyes to mine, “the members of a certain dark elite are not aware of where they are, what they’re doing, or where you’ve been placed in their absence.”
My heart filled my throat. “They know about the dark elite? About the magic?”
Foley shook her head. “Unfortunately, that is a question I can’t directly answer.”
