16

ONCE WE LEAVE BLACKSTONE PRISON, LORD KENSington brings me to the
Department of Supernatural Investigations to be debriefed, same as the
adult agents whenever they get back from an important mission.
I can’t get there fast enough. I walk so quickly that I almost run over
Director Van Helsing. He isn’t amused.
The debriefing room is the size of a closet. Inside, Agent Magnus and
Agent Fiona sit at a square metal table. As soon as I’m through the door, I
blurt out, “What was Quinton working on? And what did Moreau mean
when he said he was looking into something he shouldn’t? What did my
brother find that got him kidnapped?”
“VanQuish worked directly under me,” says Agent Magnus. “If he or
Maria were looking into anything out of the ordinary, I’d have known about
it.”
“Then why would Moreau say that?” I ask.
“We believe Moreau was merely mocking us,” says Agent Fiona. “Or, at
most, it was an attempt to turn you against the Bureau and recruit you to his
way of thinking. I had worried as much might be true, but we’ve had so
little success until now that I thought it worth the risk.”
“I would never help him,” I say. “Not for anything.”
“We know you wouldn’t,” says Magnus. “Just don’t go taking anything
that man said as fact.”
“Well, how about what he said about regaining what was taken?” I ask.
“Is that the item of immense destructive power that you won’t tell me about
—that’s supposed to be classified? Moreau seemed pretty sure he could get
it even without trading VanQuish.”
Agent Fiona winces.

Agent Magnus looks smug. “This was your brilliant idea, Fiona.”
Agent Fiona lowers her voice to a whisper. “That item is none of your
concern, Peters. Just know that we have taken every possible precaution to
keep it safe.”
So not everything was a lie. But couldn’t that also mean none of it was a
lie? Moreau made such a big deal out of telling each other the truth. “He
said they would destroy this place. Aren’t you worried?”
“Buncha mumbo jumbo,” says Agent Magnus. “This place is a fortress.
Nothing in the known or supernatural world could harm it.”
I lean forward. They didn’t see his face like I did. “But he seemed so sure
. . .”
Agent Fiona answers. “And ye can be sure that we’ve taken every
precaution to be certain the Bureau remains safe. Trust us, Amari.”

I wasn’t supposed to tell anybody what happened with Moreau today, but as
soon as Elsie gets back from Junior Researcher training everything spills
out of my mouth.
“What are you thinking?” she asks.
“I don’t know,” I say, pacing the floor between our beds. “I just keep
wondering, what if Moreau was telling the truth? What if he’s so sure about
his stupid plan that he doesn’t care who knows?”
“You think he just wanted to rub it in?”
“I think he knew the Bureau wouldn’t take his threats seriously because
he’s locked away,” I say. “But maybe you and I should.” I glance at the
Elsie’s whiteboard. “We know what the Bureau knows about VanQuish’s
disappearance. So let’s move on to step three.”
Elsie goes over to grab the whiteboard. “Launch our own investigation.
But where do we start?”
I think for a moment. “I’ll try and figure out what Quinton might’ve
found that got him taken. Maybe it’ll help us track down Moreau’s
apprentice.”
“That’s a good idea,” says Elsie. “I’ll try to research what this item of
immense destructive power might be. I just wish we had more to go on
besides that it was taken from Moreau.” She sighs. “Well, even if there’s
nothing in the main library, there are a few other places I can try.”

“Good,” I say. “The more we know the better. I like our plan.”
Elsie starts to smile but it fades. “Be careful, okay? Now we’re the ones
looking into stuff we aren’t supposed to. If we get caught . . .”
“We won’t,” I say. “We can’t.”

The next morning, I do my best to not think about my trip to Blackstone
Prison. It isn’t easy. Even now, standing in one of the training gyms, when
I’m supposed to be listening to Agent Magnus give us our first lesson on
Sky Sprints, my thoughts keep going back to yesterday.
The size of that hybrid—are they really that scary or was Moreau
exaggerating with his illusion? And what about Moreau’s perfect plan to
take down the Bureau? Or the fact that he wants me on his side—the side of
the magicians.
Concentrate, Amari. If you fail the tryouts it won’t matter what Moreau
said.
I force myself to pay attention to Agent Magnus’s lecture.
“These boots give the wearer the ability to walk horizontally across open
air, run up walls, even hang upside down from the ceiling. When used
correctly, they’ll give you an advantage over a great many groundbased
nasties. And if you encounter a nasty that can fly, well, you’d better be right
strong in your technique because these here Sky Sprints will be your only
chance. Everybody got that?”
We all nod.
I can’t help but stare at the Sky Sprints worn by the other trainees. Unlike
me, they brought their own boots from home, and they all look so cool—
and crazy expensive. The Van Helsings each have shiny chrome boots with
Duboise written in cursive along the sides. Others wear LaBoom brand Sky
Sprints made of polished wood. Only three of us have to go into the
equipment room to pick out a pair of standard issue Sky Sprints. Mine look
like wornout sneakers and smell like feet.
Still, I’m pretty surprised at how easily moving in the Sky Sprints comes
for me. After about an hour, I’m keeping pace with the legacy kids as we
race along the walls and take turns avoiding the obstacles Magnus puts in
our path. After three hours I’m able to walk across open air without losing
my balance. At noon Magnus allows us to take a shot at a practice course the agents
use to keep their skills sharp. “We call it the Invisible Bridge,” he says. He
plops down behind a control panel, presses a few buttons, and poof! Two
diving boards rise to face each other from opposite sides of the room. A few
seconds later, a dozen gigantic punching bags descend from the ceiling.
With the push of another button the bags begin to swing back and forth at
different speeds.
The goal is pretty clear. We’ve got to run across open air from one diving
board to the other without getting knocked down by the punching bags. It
sounds a lot easier than it looks.
Magnus grins. “Who wants to give it a shot?”
Not many hands go up. Even the legacy kids look wary. It’s easy to see
why. Your reflexes have to be lightning fast in order to stop and start fast
enough to avoid the bags. The scariest part, though, is definitely getting by
the final bag. It swings so fast it’s pretty much a blur.
Of course both the Van Helsings raise their hands. They’ve probably got
a course just like this in their mansion back home. I lift my hand too. As
bad as my test score was, this might be my first chance to shine as a trainee.
Or fall flat on my face—a really long fall.
“You sure you’re up to this, kid?” Magnus asks.
“Not really,” I say.
He chuckles. “Gonna try anyway?”
“Yep.”
“Good.” He raises his voice. “A round of applause for our five brave
volunteers.” He leads the applause. “Tell you what, let’s have you five line
up out in the hall. Ain’t exactly fair to the first volunteer to let the others
watch.”
I head into the hallway with the others. The Van Helsings move to the
back of the line, so I’ve got no choice but to take the spot behind them.
For a second, I think maybe Lara will be so focused on completing the
obstacle course that she might leave me alone, but then she turns to face me
with that little grin of hers. “Nice Sky Sprints. Those might be the first pair
ever made.”
With so much on my mind already, I’m really not in the mood. My words
just come pouring out. “What’s your problem with me? I get that you don’t
like magicians. Guess what? No one does. But you’re the only person who’s
made it their life’s mission to annoy me.”
My outburst catches her off guard, but not for long. She crosses her arms.
“Like you don’t know.”
“Know what?” I ask. “I barely know anything about the supernatural
world.” My test score yesterday is proof of that. “Is it all the attention I’m
getting? Because my life would be a lot less complicated if nobody knew
my name.”
Lara goes red. “You think this is about attention? You really are as dumb
as you look. I’ve got over two million followers on Eurg. I’ve got all the
attention I need.”
“Then why?” I ask desperately. “My brother and your sister were
partners. Shouldn’t we try to be friends?”
“Your brother is the reason my sister wasn’t there to watch me get my
badge. The reason she’s never come back—” Emotion cuts her words short.
I stand there, stunned. “What are you saying?”
“If Quinton hadn’t convinced Maria to help him on some secret case,
she’d still be here. She never even liked being a Special Agent. She wanted
to be a trainer, like Agent Fiona, but your brother would always convince
her to come back. And when she finally ignored him and put in her transfer
papers, he guilted her into helping one last time. No one’s seen them since.”
Secret case? Is that what Moreau meant when he said my brother was
looking into something he shouldn’t? But Agent Magnus said that he’d
know if VanQuish was working on anything out of the ordinary. Unless,
maybe they kept it a secret from him too. “I . . . didn’t know,” I say.
A loud oooh comes from inside the training gym. The others crowd the
doorway and Lara lets Dylan pull her over too. Still in a daze, I get to the
doorway last, just in time to see Brian Li lying on the floor rubbing his
shoulder.
“Bobbed when you should’ve weaved,” says Magnus, tossing him an
icepack. He looks over at the rest of us in the doorway. “Who’s next?”
Billy Pogo heads inside and me and Lara don’t speak again. She keeps to
one side of her brother and I stand on the other. The worst part is that I
could imagine Quinton doing what Lara said if he felt like it was the right
thing. He was always so good with words. How many times had he
convinced me to do something I didn’t want to do?
Cheers ring out and we all rush back to the doorway.
Agent Magnus is shaking Billy Pogo’s hand. “Never seen anyone trip and
stumble their way past every bag. Kid, that Unnatural Luck ability of yours is really somethin’!”
Now it’s Lara’s turn. Once she’s gone, it finally feels like I can breathe a
little.
“She’s really not as bad as she seems,” says Dylan. He tries to smile.
“Well, she is, but she isn’t usually this bad.”
“Is it true?” I ask. “What she said about Quinton and Maria splitting up?”
Dylan leans his head back against the wall and nods. “But Maria and
Quinton were partners for years before she decided to try something new. It
only makes sense that Maria would still have Quinton’s back if he needed
her. Partnership is a sacred bond for agents—there’s even a ceremony
where you take an oath.”
“You don’t blame him, then?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “My sister is smart and brave and wouldn’t have let
anybody make her do something she didn’t want to do.” Then he adds, “I
miss her.”
“I miss Quinton too,” I say. “Everything would be different if he were
here. I wouldn’t feel so . . .” I stop myself from saying too much.
“Alone?” Dylan says with a sad smile. “I know the feeling. Lara and I are
twins, so everybody assumes we’re super close. But we’re nothing alike.
Never have been. Lara likes to be the star of the show, but I’m more like
Maria, happy to stay in the background.”
He laughs at my raised eyebrows. “I know she was famous, but you don’t
catch the most dangerous magician of all time and not get famous. Maria
was cool with giving Quinton the spotlight, though, letting him do all the
interviews.” He shrugs. “It’s just who she was.”
Cheers go up in the training gym. Lara must have made it too. Dylan
starts for the door but stops short. “You’re a natural in Sprints. Just take
your time. The last bag moves so fast that you can’t stop to think, though.
You’ve just gotta take a leap of faith. Do that and you’ve got a chance—but
hesitate, and you’re going to get clobbered.”
Dylan goes through the door, leaving me alone with a million thoughts
swimming through my head. No surprise, he makes it through the obstacle
course too. Now, it’s my turn.
I can feel everyone watching me as I make my way across the training
gym. When Magnus gives the signal, I start up the ladder to the first diving
board. Except my hands are so sweaty from nerves I nearly fall. Snickers
ring out. When I finally do get to the top, I make the mistake of looking down.
The diving board is even higher than it seems from the floor. I swallow.
You can do this, I tell myself. I squeeze my toes together to activate the
hover feature and race toward the diving board on the opposite side of the
room.
Getting by the super slow bags is easy. The next few are a little faster,
and I have to slow a down a couple times to avoid them. I pass bag five,
then bag six. So far so good.
My arm is clipped by bag nine and it nearly knocks me off balance, but
I’m just barely able to catch myself. I sprint past bag ten and stumble past
bag eleven by accident. I come to a stop in front of bag twelve. Even up
close this thing moves so fast I can barely keep track of it.
Dylan said to make a leap of faith. That means I just have to believe I’ll
make it, right?
But what if I don’t? What if I’m not cut out for this?
I tense up at the thought but then force myself to stagger forward . . .
I don’t even see the bag coming. I just feel a sudden impact and I’m
falling. At some point my shoes light up and the hover feature activates, so
that I’m hanging upside down in midair. My eyes are level with Magnus.
“Gave it a good shot,” says Magnus. “Almost got there on your first
day.”
Too bad it wasn’t good enough. To say that I’m grumpy after sucking at the Invisible Bridge would be an
understatement. Am I even good enough to pass Friday’s tryout? The reality
that I could fail and be sent home sends a shiver down my back. Director
Van Helsing made it clear I won’t get another chance. And what’s worse,
they’ll take my memories too.
These might be my final days in the supernatural world. I could be
running out of time to get any of the answers I came here for. But I know of
at least one answer I can get right now. I pull out my phone and message
magiciangirl18.
From: Amari_Peters
How do I know YOU aren’t Moreau’s apprentice???

The moment I hit send, I regret it. Accusing someone of being evil isn’t
how you treat someone who wants to help. If she gets upset and never
messages me again, could I really blame her?
So far, no response. Usually she answers right away. That worries me so
much I slide my phone in my pocket and try to think about something else.
Fifteen minutes later, my phones finally buzzes as I’m sitting down for
lunch in the food court. I’m so anxious that I fumble and drop the thing.
It’s not a new message. Instead it’s an Eurg notification suggesting I send
a friend request to Lara Van Helsing. Like she needs any more friends. I
glance over at her joking with a group of Junior Agent trainees on the other
side of the food court and then click on her page.
Scrolling through her pictures only worsens my mood. She really does
have 2 million followers—2.3 million to be exact. I see her hugging her
father in front of Van Helsing Manor—the place looks like the outside of a
mall. In another photo she’s on a street made of gold, blowing a kiss to the
camera. The best photo is one where she’s staring out the window of an
underwater train at a city that glows. The caption reads, Headed to Atlantis
with Mom for a weekend of shopping! Our lives really couldn’t be any more
different. In every way.
Dylan must’ve been telling the truth about him and Lara not being close
because I don’t see him in any of her photos. He doesn’t even have an
Eurgphmthilthmsphlthm page.
My phone buzzes in my hand.

New Message from magiciangirl18:
I’m not, I promise!
Tell you what, since you’ve proven you can keep my secret,
why don’t we meet face-to-face?
I read the message twice. She wants us to meet up? In person?
“Your aura is extremely purple,” says Elsie as she plops down at my
table. She sets a copy of Physics in Magic: The Often Lack Thereof on the
table in front of her.
I frown and shove my phone back into my pocket. “What’s that mean?”
“Purple can be tricky, but it usually means somebody’s feeling
overwhelmed. Still thinking about Moreau? Or is it the plan—your part
does seem a lot harder than mine.”

I hate that I still can’t be honest with her about magiciangirl18’s
messages. At least not yet. I’m not exactly thrilled about the idea of meeting
up with a stranger, especially after Moreau, but if this girl really is willing
to help me, then I also don’t want to do anything to mess it up.
“It’s this tryout,” I tell Elsie. “You know how bad I flunked the first test.
They said you really can’t prepare for the first Junior Agent tryout, but I’m
sure you have to know something about the supernatural world.”
Elsie says, “Maybe you don’t.”
“Maybe . . .” I say, unconvinced. “Do you know what your first tryout
will be?”
Elsie frowns. “A test—but Junior Researcher and Junior Agent are very
different.”
I think back to how confidently she wrote down Junior Researcher at the
departmental presentations. “Do you like it? Junior Researcher training, I
mean?”
Her whole face brightens, and she goes on this long rant about all the
amazing things she’s learned and seen and done. Because of all the great
ideas she’s constantly coming up with, she’s even been asked to sit in on
some brainstorming sessions with the adult researchers at the Department of
Magical Science. Just seeing her excitement lifts my own spirits.
After ten minutes of catching up, a few researcher trainees stop by our
table.
“Hey, Els,” says a smiling Korean girl in a lab coat.
Elsie explains that this is her Junior Researcher trainee lab partner,
Gemma, and I instantly feel jealous. It hasn’t even been a full day of
training and she’s already given Elsie a nickname. I haven’t even given
Elsie a nickname.
Gemma gives me a little wave. “The Junior Researchers have a table near
the taco stand and they’re inviting the trainees to come watch them
demonstrate all seven kinds of explosions. The magical ones are supposed
to be really cool.”
Elsie’s eyes flash with excitement, but she tries to hide it. “No, thanks.
I’m just going to hang with my roomie today.”
“No,” I say. “You should go. We can hang out later.” I glance toward the
Van Helsing table. “I should probably try to get to know the Junior Agent
trainees.”

“If you’re sure . . .” Elsie eyes me like she’s waiting for me to change my
mind. I wonder what my aura looks like right now.
Once Elsie is gone, I reread magiciangirl18’s message. Do I really want
to meet this girl? What if she’s not even who she says she is? There might
be some kind of creature out there that eats magicians for dinner and lures
them to its den through social media. Okay, that sounds dumb, but still, it’s
so obvious to me that meeting up is a bad idea.
But then, the same could be true for my next move.
I pick up my tray and start toward the Junior Agent trainee table. My
heart thumps in my chest. This might be worse than when I had to go
onstage and accept my moonstone badge. This will be fine. Some of those
kids cheered for me earlier.
I can’t go the whole summer without making more friends. And Elsie
shouldn’t have to blow off her new Junior Researcher trainee friends just to
keep me from sitting alone.
I can do this. Lara may hate me but Dylan seems okay when he wants to
be. I manage to get most of the way there before Brian Li notices me and
gives Lara a nudge.
Lara groans. “You can’t be serious.”
“Um, I thought I’d sit with you guys today.” I put on my best smile.
“Sorry,” says Lara. “Only people with legal abilities are allowed.
Besides, we wouldn’t want to catch whatever it was you gave the Crystal
Ball.”
A few of the others laugh. Some even throw their feet atop the empty
chairs at the table to keep me from sitting. I look around for someone to
have my back but even the kids who cheered me on in the training gym
won’t meet my eyes now.
Finally, I look to Dylan, hoping to find some hint of the boy who talked
to me when we were alone in the hallway. But he just pushes his food
around his plate. Guess I’m only worth being nice to when he doesn’t have
family around.
It’s Jefferson Academy all over again.
I turn and walk straight out of the food court. No way I’m gonna let them
see me cry.
New Message from magiciangirl18:

They’re never going to accept you. But I will if you give me a
chance.
How does she know already? You know what—I don’t even care. I type
up a quick reply.
From: Amari_Peters
When and where?
New Message from magiciangirl18:
Tomorrow. I’ll message you in the morning with a time and
place.