Хлоя Нейл - Hexbound

“Like a school of fish,” I put in.

“Like barracudas,” Jason put in. “We found this slime in one of the corridors near St. Sophia’s, and next thing you know they were coming at us. It took a dose of firespell, a protection circle, and”—he glanced at Scout—“what did you call it?”

“A flutterby spell,” Scout offered.

“A flutterby spell to take them out.”

Katie rolled her eyes. “It was probably just Reapers.”

“No,” Scout said, her fierce expression not allowing argument. “First, they were naked. Second, they weren’t Reapers or trolls or anything else we’ve seen before.

They were something new. Something outside my Grimoire —I spent study hall today looking it up.”

I held up my right hand. “She did. I totally saw her reading.”

“They looked like something that walked straight off Dr. Moreau’s island,” Jason added.

Paul crossed his arms over his head. “And you’re sure they weren’t sewer rats?

Those things can go nuclear after a while.”

“Only if rats grow to five feet tall and began to walk upright. Well, mostly upright.”

She bumped Michael with an elbow. “Show ’em what you got.”

Michael pulled the cell phone from his pocket, tapped around for a few seconds,

and handed it to Daniel.

Smith peeked over Daniel’s shoulder to look. It was very satisfying to watch that smug expression fall right off his face. “What is that?”

“I don’t have a clue,” Daniel said, frowning down at the phone, then rotating it to get a different perspective. “Where were you exactly?”

“One of the utility tunnels,” Jason said. “Maybe ten or twelve corridors from St.

Sophia’s?” He looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded.

“And the slime?” Daniel asked.

“Mostly floor,” Michael said, “but it wasn’t contained there.”

“There was a lot of it,” Scout confirmed.

Frowning, Daniel ran his hands through his hair. Beside me, Scout actually sighed.

“This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the slime,” Daniel said.

The room went silent.

“Excuse me?” Scout said. “This isn’t the first time? There’ve been others, and no one bothered to tell us?”

Even Katie and Smith looked surprised. All eyes turned to Daniel.

“It was only slime,” he said, “and it was just last week. We had no idea what it was or where it came from. There were no signs of any new creatures—just the stuff. And we’ve seen slime before.”

There were reluctant nods of agreement.

“Ectoplasmic slime,” Michael began to rattle off, “auric slime, that half-fish thingy that slimed the tourist boat at Navy Pier, that time the Reaper used the allergy spell and Adepts were all dripping snot like water all over the city—”

“Point made,” Daniel said, holding up a hand. “And now that we know what it is—

and where it’s coming from—it’s time do something a little different.”

Just like he’d scripted it, a knock sounded at the Enclave door.

Katie hustled over, turning the handle and using her small cheerleadery stature to pull open the door.

Two girls stood in the doorway. One was tall with whiskey brown eyes and cocoa-

kissed skin, a cloud of dark hair exploding from a slick ponytail. There was something ethereal about her, and something slightly vacant in her expression.

The second girl was shorter, a petite blonde with a shaggy crop of pale,

shoulder-length hair. She wore an outfit appropriate for a punk stuck in Victorian England: short poofy black skirt; knee-high black boots; a locket necklace; and a thin, ribbed gray T-shirt beneath a complicated black leather jacket that bore panels of thick black fur. In her black-gloved hands was an old-fashioned leather doctor’s bag.

“Yowsers,” Michael muttered, earning him an elbow in the ribs from Scout.

Daniel waved them in, and the girls stepped inside. Katie closed the door behind them.

“Enclave Three,” Daniel said. “Meet Naya Fletcher—” The taller girl offered a wave.

“—and Bailey Walker.”

“I go by Detroit,” the blonde corrected, offering a crisp salute.

“Oh, I’m going to like this one,” Scout murmured with a grin. “She’s got sass. Kind of like you, Parker.”

“I am quite sassy,” I agreed.

“Detroit,” Daniel corrected, then gestured toward Naya. “Naya is a caller. For the newbies among us, that means she speaks to the recently deceased.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Ghosts?”

Naya lifted a shoulder. “That’s how they’re generally known by the public, but they prefer ‘recently deceased.’ Calling them ‘ghosts’ makes it sound like they’re a different species. Like vamps or werewolves or the fey. They’re still human.

They’re just . . . well . . . less breathy than we are.”

“And Detroit is a machinist.”

There were mumbled sounds of awe around the room. Being a “machinist” didn’t mean anything to me, but it clearly meant something to the rest of the Adepts.

“That means she gadgets,” Scout whispered.

“Detroit and Naya have seen the slime in other tunnels,” Daniel explained. “As you know, Enclave Two is an enclave of information, of technology. They aren’t used to battling it out with Reapers.”

When he paused, I knew exactly where this was heading. My stomach sank.

“Tonight,” he continued, “you’ll be escorting them out to determine if their slime is our slime—”

“And if there are more creatures out there,” Katie added.

The Enclave went silent.

“Detroit has mapped out a passage from here to their slime spot,” Daniel continued, “so she and Naya will play compass on this one. Jill, Jamie, and Paul—

take point and travel in front of them. Once you get to the halfway point, you’ll stop there to give everyone a green zone so they can get back. Michael will do what reading he can. Lily and Jason are on offense if necessary.”

We waited for more, but Daniel didn’t say anything else.

Scout and I exchanged a glance. He hadn’t said her name.

“What about me?” she asked.

Daniel looked at her for a few seconds, then turned back to Detroit and Naya.

“Ladies, if you’ll give us just a minute, I’d like to talk to Enclave Three.”

They nodded, then disappeared out the door. When it shut behind them, all eyes turned to Daniel.

“It’s your decision,” he told Scout, “but I’d like you to consider sitting out for this one.”

The room went silent.

“Sitting out?” she asked.

“You’ve had a pretty rough go of it lately, and last night took a lot out of you—

physically, magically, emotionally. Enclave Three’s job will be to protect Enclave Two if the creatures pop up, not to—”

“Oh, no,” Scout said, holding up a hand. “You are not going to go there. Varsity or not, you are not going to suggest that I can’t go on a mission because my team-

mates, my Adepts, don’t have time to babysit me.”

I grimaced on Daniel’s behalf.

“Scout, let’s be reasonable—”

“I am being reasonable,” she said, picking up her messenger bag and slinging it over her shoulder. “These people rescued me. They risked getting sucked dry by Reapers and they went to the sanctuary and they rescued me. No mother-trucking way are they going out there without me at their back. Not going to happen.”

Michael took a step forward to stand behind Scout. “She doesn’t go, I don’t go.

And you know what I can do at the place.”

There was silence for a moment as Daniel considered their position. Finally, he looked at Scout. “You’re ready?”

“I’m ready,” she confirmed.