I felt my cheeks warm, and I appreciated the admission. “Thanks, Michael. I know he’s glad you’re friends.”
“He should be. I kick butt.” He did a fake karate chop that most definitely did not kick butt.
“And speaking of kicking butt,” Scout said, loud enough for the rest of the Enclave to hear, “we can’t just sit around and wait for something to happen. I have to stay busy.”
“You will,” Daniel said. “There’s one more thing on the agenda tonight.”
We all looked at him.
“The Reapers kept their magic longer than we did,” he said. “That suggests the blackout is part of an organized plan. Probably not by Reapers, unless something backfired and rebounded on them. But they’re even keener to keep their magic than we are. So there’s no doubt they’re looking into it. And if they’re looking into it, they’re probably talking about it.”
“That’s just because half the Reapers are teenage girls,” Paul said with a grin. Jamie punched him in the arm, which Scout and I applauded.
“Whatever the reason,” Daniel said, “that means it’s time to visit the sanctuary and see what we can see. That’s why Detroit is here—she’ll plant a camera so we have good eyes on the place. The Council was very pleased about the last time the Enclaves worked together. Well, except for the part about imploding the other sanctuary. That wasn’t exactly a Council-approved action.”
Scout blushed a little, but still looked pretty pleased with herself. We had helped Detroit and Naya, another Adept from Enclave Two who could call and communicate with ghosts, investigate a sanctuary where Reapers had been looking for the solution to magical immortality. Scout destroyed it by sucking everything out of it like a magical vacuum cleaner. It had been pretty sweet, but I could understand why the Council was concerned. A magic spell beneath Chicago sucking out the building’s insides? Yeah, I could see how that would worry people.
“Jill, Jamie, Paul, make a patrol of the tunnels. Make sure the Reapers aren’t reacting badly to losing their magic by wreaking even more havoc. Detroit, Michael, Jason, Lily, and Scout, visit the sanctuary,” Daniel said. “Get eyes on the interior and find out what you can. And if you could, come back with an answer about why we have no magic . . . and a solution for getting it back.”
Oh, so a simple trip, then.
8
A few weeks ago, an order like that would have freaked us out. But now it really didn’t sound so bad. Sure, we didn’t have magic. But if Sebastian was telling the truth, Reapers didn’t, either.
And we were getting better at sneaking around the tunnels. Visiting a sanctuary was mostly about sneaking around tunnels.
I’d been to this particular sanctuary only once—and that had been to rescue Scout. I’d used my firespell for the first time, and Jamie, Jill, Paul, Jason, and Michael and I had managed to get her out again.
But that didn’t mean I was thrilled about going back. Sanctuaries were the Reaper versions of Enclaves—where they met, where they made decisions, and where people without magic were introduced to it in the worst possible way—by having bits of their souls sucked away. I was not looking forward to facing down a nest of Reapers if we managed to get caught.
This sanctuary was in a former power substation, with two access doors—one in front, and one in back. Like Enclave Three, it was also underground, but was separated from our HQ by a lot of dark and twisty tunnels.
You know, if we knew the way to get to the sanctuary, the Reapers probably could figure out how to get to the Enclave and St. Sophia’s. That explained how they kept popping up at our door. Maybe it was time to think about making some new arrangements.
“You ever think it would just be easier if the sanctuary and the Enclave were right next door to each other?” Scout whispered.
The light from our flashlights bobbed up and down as we walked side by side through the tunnels, Detroit in front of us. The boys decided the “strongest Adepts” needed to be at the front and back of the team, so Jason was in the lead and Michael was last.
“I was actually just thinking about that,” I said. “It’s too easy to get from one place to the other. I mean, if we’re supposed to be a splinter group trying to bring down the Reapers, setting up camp a few tunnels over isn’t exactly a smart move for security purposes.”
“It was at the time,” Detroit said, glancing back at us. “The Enclaves were started by Dark Elite members who wanted to change things, but they were still considered part of the Dark Elite. Other Reapers would have been suspicious if they just stopped showing up to meetings and whatnot, so they established little hideaways not far from the sanctuaries. That way, they could sneak over after meetings or whatever.”
“Which is why, if you look at the map in the City Room, the sanctuaries and Enclaves are always pretty close together,” I said.
“Yes,” Detroit primly said, and I had the sense the Enclave Two Adepts knew a lot of stuff that we didn’t. “Except for our Enclave. We’re aboveground.”
Of course they were. We had a stone room in an underground tunnel. They had labs and workout rooms and so on and so on.
Enclave Three had a werewolf.
Enclave Two had a benefactor.
* * *
We slowed as we got closer to the sanctuary. We also got quieter and huddled a little closer together. There was no telling whether the Reapers had patrols out and about, and it wasn’t like we could do much to defend ourselves.
“He should be. I kick butt.” He did a fake karate chop that most definitely did not kick butt.
“And speaking of kicking butt,” Scout said, loud enough for the rest of the Enclave to hear, “we can’t just sit around and wait for something to happen. I have to stay busy.”
“You will,” Daniel said. “There’s one more thing on the agenda tonight.”
We all looked at him.
“The Reapers kept their magic longer than we did,” he said. “That suggests the blackout is part of an organized plan. Probably not by Reapers, unless something backfired and rebounded on them. But they’re even keener to keep their magic than we are. So there’s no doubt they’re looking into it. And if they’re looking into it, they’re probably talking about it.”
“That’s just because half the Reapers are teenage girls,” Paul said with a grin. Jamie punched him in the arm, which Scout and I applauded.
“Whatever the reason,” Daniel said, “that means it’s time to visit the sanctuary and see what we can see. That’s why Detroit is here—she’ll plant a camera so we have good eyes on the place. The Council was very pleased about the last time the Enclaves worked together. Well, except for the part about imploding the other sanctuary. That wasn’t exactly a Council-approved action.”
Scout blushed a little, but still looked pretty pleased with herself. We had helped Detroit and Naya, another Adept from Enclave Two who could call and communicate with ghosts, investigate a sanctuary where Reapers had been looking for the solution to magical immortality. Scout destroyed it by sucking everything out of it like a magical vacuum cleaner. It had been pretty sweet, but I could understand why the Council was concerned. A magic spell beneath Chicago sucking out the building’s insides? Yeah, I could see how that would worry people.
“Jill, Jamie, Paul, make a patrol of the tunnels. Make sure the Reapers aren’t reacting badly to losing their magic by wreaking even more havoc. Detroit, Michael, Jason, Lily, and Scout, visit the sanctuary,” Daniel said. “Get eyes on the interior and find out what you can. And if you could, come back with an answer about why we have no magic . . . and a solution for getting it back.”
Oh, so a simple trip, then.
8
A few weeks ago, an order like that would have freaked us out. But now it really didn’t sound so bad. Sure, we didn’t have magic. But if Sebastian was telling the truth, Reapers didn’t, either.
And we were getting better at sneaking around the tunnels. Visiting a sanctuary was mostly about sneaking around tunnels.
I’d been to this particular sanctuary only once—and that had been to rescue Scout. I’d used my firespell for the first time, and Jamie, Jill, Paul, Jason, and Michael and I had managed to get her out again.
But that didn’t mean I was thrilled about going back. Sanctuaries were the Reaper versions of Enclaves—where they met, where they made decisions, and where people without magic were introduced to it in the worst possible way—by having bits of their souls sucked away. I was not looking forward to facing down a nest of Reapers if we managed to get caught.
This sanctuary was in a former power substation, with two access doors—one in front, and one in back. Like Enclave Three, it was also underground, but was separated from our HQ by a lot of dark and twisty tunnels.
You know, if we knew the way to get to the sanctuary, the Reapers probably could figure out how to get to the Enclave and St. Sophia’s. That explained how they kept popping up at our door. Maybe it was time to think about making some new arrangements.
“You ever think it would just be easier if the sanctuary and the Enclave were right next door to each other?” Scout whispered.
The light from our flashlights bobbed up and down as we walked side by side through the tunnels, Detroit in front of us. The boys decided the “strongest Adepts” needed to be at the front and back of the team, so Jason was in the lead and Michael was last.
“I was actually just thinking about that,” I said. “It’s too easy to get from one place to the other. I mean, if we’re supposed to be a splinter group trying to bring down the Reapers, setting up camp a few tunnels over isn’t exactly a smart move for security purposes.”
“It was at the time,” Detroit said, glancing back at us. “The Enclaves were started by Dark Elite members who wanted to change things, but they were still considered part of the Dark Elite. Other Reapers would have been suspicious if they just stopped showing up to meetings and whatnot, so they established little hideaways not far from the sanctuaries. That way, they could sneak over after meetings or whatever.”
“Which is why, if you look at the map in the City Room, the sanctuaries and Enclaves are always pretty close together,” I said.
“Yes,” Detroit primly said, and I had the sense the Enclave Two Adepts knew a lot of stuff that we didn’t. “Except for our Enclave. We’re aboveground.”
Of course they were. We had a stone room in an underground tunnel. They had labs and workout rooms and so on and so on.
Enclave Three had a werewolf.
Enclave Two had a benefactor.
* * *
We slowed as we got closer to the sanctuary. We also got quieter and huddled a little closer together. There was no telling whether the Reapers had patrols out and about, and it wasn’t like we could do much to defend ourselves.
