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“Someone with a lot of ego,” Scout quietly said. “Someone who wants a lot of control.”
“You heard those guys earlier,” I said. “Someone’s unhappy about Jeremiah, and rumors are floating around about who that is.”
Jason looked at me. “Is it wrong that I feel better knowing Jeremiah feels worse?”
“Amen to that,” Scout said. “Now let’s get out of here and take that little victory while we can.”
We were suddenly blinded by light.
“What are you doing in here?”
My heart nearly stopped. It was the Reapers we’d overheard earlier—now pointing flashlights in our faces and standing between us and the way out.
“We got lost,” Michael said. “School project.”
“Oh, yeah?” asked the older of the two men. “Doing what?”
I was surprised he even bothered to ask. I’d have thought the Reapers had our faces memorized. Scout’s at least. But maybe they weren’t in the loop. Maybe we just looked like obnoxious kids.
“We’re mapping the tunnels,” Scout said. She pulled the notebook from her bag and showed it to them. “For geography class.”
The guys looked at each other, obviously suspicious. The older one began slapping his giant, metal flashlight against his hand.
“Get Jeremiah,” he said, and the younger one pulled out a cell phone and started dialing.
My heart. They may not have magic, but they had a sanctuary full of Reapers and medical instruments and an abnormally strong Scion.
“Oh, God,” Scout said quietly. “We are so screwed.”
“We aren’t screwed,” Jason whispered. “I’m counting down. When I get to three, make a run for it. Go back to the Enclave, and don’t stop, whatever you hear.”
“I’m not leaving without you.” I wasn’t sure what these nonmagical Reapers could do to him, but I wasn’t going to leave him here alone to find out.
“I trusted you,” he said, eyes flashing chartreuse and turquoise. “This time, I need you to trust me. I’ll be fine. One, two, three.”
He said it loudly enough that we could all hear. We parted ways—Scout and me on one side of him, Detroit and Michael on the other. As we split, a different kind of light filled the tunnel. With a bone-chilling growl, a great silver wolf jumped between us into the air. He landed on the men, who hit the ground on their backs. We jumped around them as they cursed and began kicking and scrapping to get Jason off them.
We ran as fast as we could down the tunnel, and made it to the end of the next passageway before a wolfish yelp filled the air.
I froze in the middle of the passage. “I have to go back. He might be hurt.”
But Scout grabbed my hand and yanked me back down the hallway. “He let you do your part earlier. It’s his turn. He told you to run, so you run.”
“Scout—” I pleaded, but she shook her head.
It was hard to admit, but she was right. I had to trust him, even though it was one of the hardest things I’d ever done.
* * *
We made it back to the Enclave without anybody following, at least as far as we knew.
I’d hoped we’d walk into the Enclave to find Jason sitting at the table, but of course he wasn’t there.
We took seats at the table and told Daniel what we’d seen.
And then we waited.
After a while, when I couldn’t bear to sit any longer, I stood up and paced back and forth across the room, waiting for him to show up outside the door, all sorts of horrible scenarios running through my mind. When Scout had been kidnapped, we’d found her strapped down to a table. Was he in the same predicament? Did he make it back, or . . . When an hour passed, I stopped pacing and looked back at Daniel. “I can’t stay here anymore. I have to go find him.”
“He told you to stay here,” Scout said. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor against the wall, Michael beside her, his head on her shoulder, staring off into space. I wondered if he worried like I did. They were best friends, after all.
“Yeah, but they also told me not to go look for you.”
“True,” she said. She gave that a nod, then looked at Daniel. “What do you think?”
He checked his watch. “The tunnels are deep. He could have led them on a chase to get away.”
“Or he could be stuck in there right now,” Detroit said. “I’ll go with you if you want me to.”
I smiled at her. “Thanks,” I said, but unlike the last time I’d gone off on a rescue mission, I was now part of a team. I wasn’t going to go without an okay from the boss.
“He’s good at being a wolf, Lily,” Michael said. “And if we walk into his plan, and you put yourself in danger, he’s not going to like it. Give him five minutes more.”
“I don’t know what five minutes is going to do—” I began, but stopped when someone kicked open the door.
We all looked up. Nicu stood in the doorway, Jason at his side. He was back in human form, but he was pretty well scratched up, and he was leaning on Nicu for support.
Daniel and Michael rushed to the door and helped Jason to the table. I ran to him, pulled off my cardigan, and pressed it to a cut on his cheek. It was long and deep—deep enough to leave a scar.
“What happened?” Daniel asked.
“He was being chased by Jeremiah’s minions,” Nicu said, straightening his dark coat.
“They have a wolf,” Jason said, then let out a string of curses. “A wolf.”
“Not someone you knew?” Nicu asked.
“We don’t all know each other,” Jason grumbled, wincing as I touched the fabric gently to his face.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m trying not to hurt you. Worse, I mean.”
“It’s okay. Thanks for taking care of me.” The slightly goofy smile on his face brought tears to my eyes. He was hurt, and I did not care for that. If I’d had firespell, the Reapers would be in for a very, very bad night. And speaking of bad nights . . . “How did you two find each other?” I asked Nicu. He looked away, and that irritated me even more.
“You were going back to the school?”
“I was walking,” he said, sounding a little like an irritated teenager. “And I brought your wolf back to you. You should be grateful, child.”
“You know each other?” Daniel asked.
“Daniel, Nicu. Nicu, Daniel,” Scout said, sounding like a bad game show host. “One’s the head of a slapdash band of magic-wielding teenagers. The other heads the city’s newest vampire coven.” She must have been tired; her jokes were getting worse.
