31

THIS ISN’T THE CHIEF’S OFFICE. THAT’S MY FIRST THOUGHT when Lord
Kensington opens its doors.
Instead we’ve been brought to the Department of Supernatural
Investigations.
“I’m sorry,” says Lord Kensington. “I’ve been ordered to bring you
here.”
Director Van Helsing stands in the lobby, arms crossed. Behind him is a
whole squadron of agents.
“We ain’t got time for whatever this is,” says Agent Magnus. “Didn’t you
get the alert? Moreau is free! The person who has the Black Book isn’t
simply some apprentice magician. It’s one of the Night Brothers.”
“I received the alert,” says Director Van Helsing. “Peters, come stand
next to me.”
“But—”
“Do as he says,” Agent Magnus interrupts.
I don’t feel good about it, but I do as I’m told. Director Van Helsing’s
face hardens at the sight of my Junior Agent badge. “If I haven’t made this
clear enough, there will be no magicians in my department as long as I am
director.” He puts a finger to my badge and says, “Demoted!”
And just like that my moonstone badge shrinks back into a trainee badge.
I ball my fists at my sides. Dylan was right—his father never meant to give
me a real chance.
Director Van Helsing’s eyes return to Agent Magnus back in the elevator.
“How curious that your first move would be to head to the prison to make
this remarkable discovery. Convenient, wouldn’t you say? Look at Magnus the hero, instead of Magnus the accomplice. Despite our differences, not in
a million years would I have pegged you for a traitor.”
Magnus shakes his head. “Not even you’re dim enough to believe that,
Van Helsing. Just what are you gettin’ at?”
Director Van Helsing makes a motion with his arm and the agents move
forward, surrounding the elevator. Van Helsing waits until they’re in
position before he answers Agent Magnus. “We’ve discovered how the
hybrids were able to teleport into the Bureau. You deactivated our shields.”
“He didn’t!” I say. “It was—”
“Quiet!” says Magnus.
“Yes, Peters. Save your breath,” says Director Van Helsing. “This man
doesn’t deserve your loyalty. No one has access to your codes but you,
Magnus.” Director Van Helsing steps forward, his jaw clenched tight. “How
far back does your treachery reach, I wonder? Maria looked up to you! Did
you convince her to betray both her family and the Bureau?”
“I’m being set up,” Magnus pleads. “Why would I be dumb enough to
use a code that can easily be traced back to me? Why wouldn’t I run off
instead of sticking around here?”
“Both are questions I’m asking myself,” Director Van Helsing replies.
“I’ve simply followed the evidence, just as we’re taught. It leads to you,
Magnus.”
Agent Magnus huffs. “And I suppose you want me to make this easy on
you and just turn myself in.”
“Young Miss Peters is present,” Director Van Helsing replies. “I hope, for
her sake, you’ll keep this a civil affair.”
Agent Magnus’s intense eyes find mine and I can see he’s trying to tell
me something. He raises his hands. “I’m surrendering.”

My mind is spinning as I’m led by two agents back to the youth
dormitories. Neither says a word till we get to my room. That’s when the
taller one says, “The Bureau is on lockdown tonight. The director wants
you available for questioning first thing tomorrow.”
They don’t wait for me to answer. Both turn and head back down the hall.
As soon as I step through the door, Elsie rushes over and pokes her head
into the hallway, looking back and forth before closing the door behind me.

“You’ve got a visitor.”
That’s when Dylan crawls out from under my bed. It’s the first time
we’ve seen each other since we followed Maria into the Great Vault.
“What are you doing in here?” I ask.
Dylan pulls himself up to a knee. “I heard about them tracing the codes
back to Agent Magnus. There’s no way he would betray the Bureau like
that. It had to be Maria.” His voice falters and he shakes his head. “She
must’ve framed him or something. I should’ve listened to you about her.”
Elsie throws a somber glance at the magazine covers framed above her
bed. This goes against everything she’s ever believed about Maria. But she
didn’t see Maria’s smirking face—Dylan’s sister enjoyed every second of
betraying her father and the rest of the Bureau.
“I know you may not trust me since I’m her brother,” says Dylan, “but I
feel like it’s my responsibility to do something about it.”
“It’s worse than Maria stealing the Black Book,” I say. “If you’ve been
here then you probably haven’t heard that Moreau is free. I think one of his
other apprentices was using an illusion to take his place.”
Elsie’s hand goes to her mouth. “He’s free?”
Dylan’s eyes go wide and he stumbles over his words before he’s finally
able to say, “For how long? Was he ever even captured?”
“I don’t know,” I say. “But I don’t think Magnus would want me focused
on clearing his name. I think he’d rather I do what he can’t anymore—what
my brother started before him.”
“You can’t mean what I think you mean,” says Elsie.
“I’m going to go after the Black Key,” I say. That has to be what Agent
Magnus was trying to tell me with that look. And why he stopped me from
telling Director Van Helsing about how tech magic is capable of shutting
down the Bureau’s shields. He doesn’t want me stuck here answering
questions. He wants me out there getting that key.
“Wait,” says Dylan. “You know where it is?”
“Magnus was right about my brother hiding the location in a Farewell
Briefcase,” I say. “We just have to get there before Moreau does and
convince the Key Holder to give us the Black Key.”
“I don’t know about this.” Elsie falls heavily onto her bed. “You’d be
breaking the Bureau’s biggest oath. They could disband the entire Bureau
for this. Amari, they’d throw you into Blackstone.”
I swallow. “My brother went missing trying to prevent this. I have to try.” “If you’re really going to do this,” says Dylan, “then I’ve got your back. I
won’t let Maria hurt anyone else.”
Elsie sighs. “Then . . . I guess I’m coming too.”
“No offense,” says Dylan. “But I don’t think that’s a good idea. Amari
and I at least have Junior Agent training to defend ourselves.”
“I’ve got all the gadgets I’ve been working on.” Elsie reaches under her
bed and grabs a book bag full of contraptions and then looks to me. “Every
time you get into trouble I just sit back or I hide. I’m sick of being that
person. Please let me help.”
“It’s my idea, so it’s my call,” I say. “Elsie comes.”
“Fine,” says Dylan. “But if something happens to her that’s on you.”
“Deal,” I say. “Now we just need a plan.”
“Leave it to me,” says Dylan. “Just be ready to go.”

At eight o’clock an announcement comes over the intercom.
“Attention junior personnel and trainees, this is Chief Director Crowe
speaking. In light of this morning’s attack, and after meeting with the
directors of each department, I have decided to suspend this year’s summer
camp. Until we can verify that none of our other security protections have
been compromised, we cannot in good conscience allow children to remain
inside the facility. We are in the process of notifying your parents. For those
from nonlegacy families, the cover story will be that our organization ran
into a funding mishap that caused us to end summer camp prematurely.”
My phone buzzes at the same time that Bertha stomps into the room. A
quick glance shows it’s Mama. She must’ve gotten the news about camp
being canceled. I slip my phone into my pocket.
Bertha holds up a slip of paper that she reads from. “This is a Level Five
notification. Amari Peters and Elsie Rodriguez are to report to the
Transporter Room in the Department of Supernatural Licenses and Records
right away.” Her face scrunches, but she continues reading. “They are to
bring the necessary equipment, and they will already know what equipment
that is. Signed Director Van Helsing, Department of Supernatural
Investigations.”
Bertha looks up at me. “Get to it, then! Director Van Helsing made his
wishes pretty clear, I’d think!”

“Oh yes, very clear,” I say. How in the world did Dylan pull this off?
I grab my Stun Stick and Sky Sprints and Elsie straps on her backpack.
Bertha hands me the note as we step out of my room. “You’ll need this to
get by the security checkpoints.”
I walk to the elevators in total disbelief.
Mischief is waiting for us. “ID card or hall pass, please.”
Elsie puts a hand on her hip. “Since when did you start acting like a
proper elevator?”
Mischief sighs. “My dirtyrascal chip gets deactivated during lockdowns.
ID card or hall pass, please.”
I hold up the slip Bertha gave us, and Mischief scans it.
“Permission to travel to the Department of Supernatural Licenses and
Records granted.”
The large lobby of the Department of Supernatural Licenses and Records
is completely empty and only one lady is seated at a booth. We walk over,
and she clears her throat loudly. “Please grab a ticket.”
“But we’re the only ones here,” I say.
“Rules are rules,” she says.
The lady makes us walk all the way across the lobby to grab a ticket, then
waits for us to sit down before tapping the button that causes the speaker to
chime, “Now serving A1 at the first window.”
We show her the pass and she lets us into the main hall. An agent is
stationed here, and I show him the pass too. He reads it, scratches his head
in confusion, and then calls another agent farther down the hall to have a
look.
Finally, the agents let us through, but they watch us closely until we turn
the corner into the Transporter Room.
Dylan pops out from behind one of the glass tubes. “You made it. Wasn’t
entirely sure that was going to work.”
“Me neither,” I say. “But you do know we can’t teleport out of here
during a lockdown. The security computer will shut us down.”
“True,” says Dylan. “But only if you’re trying to teleport someplace
outside the Bureau.”
“You want to teleport us someplace inside the Bureau?” asks Elsie.
“Yep,” says Dylan. “Just trust me on this one. I’ve already plugged in the
destination.”
Dylan leads us over to the teleporter he’s got powered on. I step into the glass tube and Dylan follows. Shouts come from behind us.
It’s the agents we handed the note to. They must’ve triplechecked.
“Stop!” one of them shouts, sliding to a stop in front of us. Poor Elsie is
between the agents and the teleporter. “Step aside, girl, and you two exit the
transporter. Now!”
Elsie takes a deep breath and looks back at us over her shoulder. “Go!”
Dylan mashes a giant red button and the transporter begins to hum.
At the sound, the agents rush toward us and I expect Elsie to run. But she
stands her ground.
And then my best friend breathes fire.
Dylan and I reappear inside a wide concrete room. Along the walls are
large stalls with all sorts of crazy vehicles parked inside them, everything
from floating bicycles to flying saucers. Dylan starts forward but turns to
look at me over his shoulder. “Did Elsie just . . . ?”
I grin. “I think she really did.”
It isn’t until we’re halfway across the large space that I see where Dylan
is taking us—the Jolly Roger. The ship that belonged to my brother and his
sister.
“And just where do you think you’re headed?” Agent Fiona steps out
from a stall labeled Winged Chariot.
We stop cold. And three thoughts jump into my head. One, we’re so
caught. Two, Agent Fiona is definitely cool enough to pull off a winged
chariot. And three, we are so, so caught.
Dylan and I each give completely different explanations at the same time.
Agent Fiona just crosses her arms and looks me right in the eye. My whole
body goes stiff.
Agent Fiona blinks in surprise. “Magnus put ye up to this? Or do ye just
think he wants you tracking down that key?”
“He said that we’ve got to get our hands on that key,” I say, remembering
Agent Magnus’s words.
Agent Fiona claps her hand against her forehead. “I don’t understand
what the man could be thinking! You’re just trainees, for heaven’s sake!”
“He wanted to do it himself, but he got framed,” I say. “It’s a long story.”
Agent Fiona grumbles. “Told that bumblin’ idiot director there’s no one
more loyal than Beauregarde in the whole bloody Bureau.” She holds up
her left wrist, where a device has been cuffed. “Van Helsing’s even tracking
my movements in case I’m guilty of helping. Can’t step one foot outside the Bureau without setting off an alarm that’d have fifty agents come after me.
Like I don’t have a kiddie of my own at home to check in on. The audacity
of that man.”
I step forward, realizing Director Van Helsing may have done me a favor
when he decided to demote me. “I’m just a trainee and not officially part of
the Bureau yet, so I can’t get the Bureau in trouble for going after the key.”
I decide to be a little bolder. “I think you should trust Agent Magnus’s
judgment.”
Agent Fiona shakes her head. “Heaven help me, this is what we’ve come
to. Take down my cell phone number. The very first sign of trouble, ye text
me your coordinates and I’ll be right there, tracking device or not.”
I type the number into my phone. Agent Fiona gives us another look like
she can’t believe this is happening and then heads to go open the hangar
doors.
It’s not till we get into the ship that Dylan admits he’s only ever flown the
Jolly Roger on Called to Action: Agents Against the World. That boy then
has the nerve to say, “How much different could real life be from the video
game?”
Turns out a lot. But after backing into the wall twice, he gets things under
control. Thankfully Agent Fiona can’t see our rough start from inside the
hangar control room. Dylan guides us slowly out of the stall and into the
landing area.
The real Jolly Roger is even fancier than the Wakeful Dream version. I
type “Henry Underhill, Boonies Medical Clinic” into the navigation system.
Route found. Autopilot?
I look to Dylan and he nods. Then I press my finger to the GO button and
the two of us dash into the night sky.