Mystics 3-Book Collection (16 page)

Tristan laughed. “Don’t be a baby. It’s all
part of the training.”

He offered his hands to both Zoey and Simon
and lifted them to their feet. He let go of Simon right away, but
clung to Zoey’s hand a little longer. Their eyes met, and there was
an uncomfortable silence between them. She looked into his eyes,
and she felt something deep within her that caused her entire body
to stiffen.

“Guys, I think I’m allergic to air,” said
Simon, as he held the cramp at his side. “Seriously, I think I
am—look—” He wheezed overdramatically, and pointed to his mouth.
“That’s not normal! I think I’m dying!”

Zoey’s throat still felt like she had
swallowed razor blades after the run, but she wasn’t making a big
thing of it.

Tristan rolled his eyes and let go of Zoey’s
hand.

He nudged Simon playfully. “Come on freak,”
he said and made for the front entrance.

Simon still pretended to be suffocating.

Zoey hesitated. Why did Tristan make her so
nervous? No one ever made her nervous—she hated the feeling. He was
just another boy—her friend—that was
all
. It was her own
fault he was looking at her in
that
way, her and her big
mouth.

She followed Tristan and Simon back to
class. As they entered room 1D, most of the operatives were already
there, breathing hard and sweaty. They were all hunched over the
back table, talking excitedly. She wasn’t the only one looking
forward to the weapons training session they were going to have
today.

The table was covered with a collection of
sparkling black slingshots, crossbows, dart-like weapons,
ninja-like stars, silver daggers, and boxes that overflowed with
metal balls the size of marbles.

A single golden boomerang caught her
attention. In the shape of a slightly curved V, it winked at her
from under a pile of daggers. She couldn’t explain it, but somehow
she was drawn to it. Excitement fluttered inside her and she had to
restrain herself from reaching out and grabbing it. The other
operatives drooled over the slingshots—they looked really cool—but
her eyes kept going back to the boomerang.

Tristan only looked mildly excited. She knew
he had used a slingshot before. She had seen it on him on the very
first day she had met him, but she had never asked him about
it.

The classroom’s door closed with a bang.

“Good, you’re all here,” Agent Vargas
strolled across the room.

“This, my little operatives,” he said
proudly, “is the new S9 series Pro slingshot, the latest model.
It’s not unlike the S8 you were using before, but it’s lighter and
more precise. It’s built with mystic technology—you’re not supposed
to
miss
with this one.”

The operatives laughed, but Zoey’s insides
stirred.

“In today’s class we’re going to freshen up
your aim,” continued Agent Vargas, “and then we’ll move on to
shooting at moving targets. It’s important to note that the
slingshots, and all the other weapons that you see on that table
are only used to
immobilize
hostiles—not to
kill
them.”

Stuart and Claudia laughed at some inside
joke, and then they both stared at Zoey with evil grins on their
faces. She hoped they’d try something—it would give her an excuse
to fight Stuart.

Agent Vargas surveyed the operatives
intensely. “Weapons training is a major component of our operative
physical training programs. You must pass marksmanship tests, and
you need at least
ninety
percent accuracy with slingshots,
handguns, crossbows, and all the other projectile arms.

“Don’t forget, you’ll be paired with an
agent for a field assignment at the end of the term.”

His eyes wandered over to Zoey. “They will
be assessing you, and their grades will determine fifty percent of
your final grade—so no messing around if you want to continue in
the program.”

“Everyone—pick up an S9 slingshot, or any
other weapon of your choosing, and line up in front of the target
zone.”

Agent Vargas moved towards the front of the
room where a round board fixed with a tripod was mounted. It looked
like the typical archery target with the colored circles around a
middle red dot.

Zoey turned back to the table. Stuart and
Claudia each grabbed an S9 slingshot, as did most of the other
operatives. The boy named James grabbed a crossbow, and a girl with
short black hair, whom she knew as Stephanie, took three silver
daggers.

Zoey reached out and grabbed the golden
boomerang it. It was cool and smooth in her hand. It weighed no
more than a large kitchen knife and was about twelve inches long.
Its golden surface glimmered, and she caught her reflection in it.
Both sides of the wings were curved slightly upwards, and there
were finger grooves for a firm grip. Swirl-like designs were etched
into the metal. She had never held a boomerang before, and this was
by far the coolest one she’d ever seen.

As she turned to join the others, Tristan
held a gold bracelet in front of her.

“This goes with it,” he said as he gave it
to her.

“It does?” Zoey took the bracelet and
examined it. It was a cuff bracelet, flat and wide, and made of the
same gold metal and with the same swirl designs on the surface.
“How do they go together?”

“You put it on your throwing and catching
arm—the boomerang knows to come back to it—always. You’ll never
lose it.”

Zoey put the bracelet on. “But I thought the
whole purpose of a boomerang was to come back to the person who
threw it?”

“Yes, but there’s this also.” Tristan took
the boomerang from her. He pressed on it, and it folded in on
itself like a pocketknife. Then he placed the folded boomerang on
top of the bracelet where it stuck, as though it was
magnetized.

Zoey moved her arm around. “This is totally
awesome. So, how do I take it off?”

“Like this.” Tristan pressed on the tip of
one of the wings, and the boomerang popped off.

Zoey couldn’t help but be totally impressed.
“Wow. Why aren’t there any others? This is the coolest weapon.”

Tristan gave her back the boomerang.
“Because it’s probably the hardest weapon to use. It’s a lot easier
to use a crossbow or a slingshot. I don’t know anyone who has
really mastered it.”

“Well, the thing speaks to me. I don’t
know—I love it actually. Call me crazy, but I feel better with this
than with a slingshot.”

Tristan smiled. “It doesn’t matter what you
use, as long as you can handle it.” He walked away leaving Zoey in
admiration of her new toy.

“Let’s go, operatives,” said Agent
Vargas.

“Pick up your weapons and line up please.
You’ll each have a go. Let’s see how many of you can hit the
bulls-eye on the first try.

Tristan laughed at Simon who was aiming at
invisible foes, and making a spectacle of himself.

All the operatives lined up in front of the
target. Zoey stood at the end of the line, behind Simon.

As Zoey twisted the boomerang with her
wrist, she caught Stuart eyeing her.

“What a joke—she’ll never be able to throw
it properly,” she heard him say to Claudia. “No one uses those
anymore. They’re like practically extinct. They don’t work well—the
agency stopped producing them
years
ago.”

“Who cares? She’s going to fail anyway,”
said Claudia with a bored expression. Her eyes kept moving to
Tristan.

Zoey pretended not to hear them. Besides,
the boomerang was having a strange effect on her, like she was
meant to have it. Somehow she felt empowered by it.

Agent Vargas stood on the left side of the
targets. “Pay attention, I don’t want anyone losing an eye
today—and please—try not to
shoot
me.”

He brushed his braid behind his shoulder,
and Zoey noticed how he took a second step to the side. “Now, who’s
up first?”

A boy named Billy Beaumont was the first one
up. He placed a single metal ball firmly in the pouch of his
slingshot. Even from the back of the line, Zoey could see sweat
trickling down the sides of Billy’s face. He stuck his tongue out
the side of his mouth as he raised his slingshot and aimed. He
pulled the pouch back steadily and released it.

It missed Agent Vargas’s head by a
millimeter and hit the wall far to the left of the target and
rolled on the floor.

“I see that your aim hasn’t improved,
Billy,” said Agent Vargas. He raised his eyebrows, and the entire
class laughed.

“Sorry, Agent Vargas,” said Billy looking
utterly horrified at nearly blinding the agent.

“Back at the end of the line, please,
Billy,” said Agent Vargas. “And that goes for everyone. You can’t
leave today until you’ve
hit
somewhere
on
the target.
As third term operatives, you should be hitting the target
easily—no one should be missing.”

Zoey started to get nervous. She had never
thrown a real boomerang before. She had pretended that a stick was
a real boomerang during the orphan war against the rich kids. The
stick had worked miracles then, and she had hit one of the rich
kids on the nose. But would she have the same luck today? Had she
been a fool to select it? She could have taken a foolproof
slingshot. What if she was worse than Billy? What if she
never
hit the target?

Stuart gave her an icy smile. He was hoping
for her to miss, and he seemed very confident that she would.

It was Nela Singh’s turn next. She cleared
her long black hair away from her face, lifted her slingshot, her
body straight, and shot. Boom. It hit the target on the edge of the
largest circle. The class erupted in cheers.

“Well done, Nela. And keep your elbows in,
you’ll get a better shot next time,” said Agent Vargas. He pointed
towards a row of paper targets at the other end of the room

“You can keep practicing over there until
the end of the class. Next!”

One by one the operatives either hit or
missed the target. Those who missed had to get back in the line
behind her. Zoey didn’t want to miss. When it came to Stuart’s
turn, he pulled his slingshot lazily and hit his mark. As he
sauntered away he sneered at Zoey.

Soon it was Tristan’s turn. Lifting his
slingshot, he turned his upper body slightly to the left, aimed,
and fired.
WHACK
. The ball hit the bull’s-eye red dot.

“Perfect hit, as always. Well done,
Tristan.” Agent Vargas patted him on the back.

“How can anyone beat that? Not all of us are
born disgustingly hot and perfect,” said Simon who looked a little
green as he prepared to shoot. But he too hit the target and looked
as surprised as everyone else around him. “See? See? Told you all I
could do this. I’m a natural.”

It was Zoey’s turn.

At first the boomerang slipped in her sweaty
palm, but she gripped it firmly and positioned herself, careful not
to step over the tape shooting line on the ground.

Agent Vargas frowned slightly when he saw
what she held in her hand. Her stomach twisted. She could hear the
others laughing at her over the thundering of her heart. Stuart’s
laugh was louder than all the others. Her nerves were replaced by
anger when she heard him. Using that anger, she was able to
concentrate even harder. The world around her disappeared. She and
the target were alone in the room. She focused all her attention on
the little red dot.

Somehow, it came naturally to her—she knew
exactly what to do. Raising her right arm, she bent her elbow and
angled the boomerang slightly to the right. She pinched the edge
with her fingers and thumb and pitched the boomerang like a
baseball, snapping her wrist at the end.

The boomerang shot out of her hand with a
counterclockwise spin. It flew like a bullet in an arch, smacked
the target head on, and then spun back straight at Zoey. She jumped
slightly to the left and caught the boomerang easily with her right
hand. The force of the spin stung her palm, but she didn’t let
go.

“Wow, that was amazing,” said Tristan. “I’ve
never seen anyone throw a boomerang like that. You’ve done this
before, right?”

Zoey stared at the gold boomerang in her
hands and smiled. “No, I haven’t. I can’t believe I
hit
it.
I actually hit it
and
caught it.”

For a moment, Zoey felt empowered holding
her boomerang. She felt she could accomplish anything. She looked
into Tristan’s dark eyes and felt goose bumps. He made her feel
nervous and giddy all at the same time. She turned away quickly,
afraid that he would see the flush on her face.

The look of surprise on Stuart’s face was
the icing on the cake. Zoey couldn’t keep from smiling.

Agent Vargas raised his brows. “Well, I
guess Tristan’s not the only one who’s gifted.”

He smiled at Zoey. “I’ve never seen anyone
handle a boomerang quite like you just did, Zoey—it was magical—and
very surprising. No one has ever wanted to use that boomerang after
what happened to Jimmy.”

“I’m afraid to ask, but who’s Jimmy? And
what happened to him?” said Zoey.

“Jimmy,” said Agent Vargas, “was an
operative before my time. The story is that poor Jimmy thought he
could throw that
same
boomerang—but when he did, the
boomerang came back, and he lost an eye.”

Zoey made a face. Agent Vargas continued,
“Apparently, his eye popped out and made a horrible mess. The girls
screamed and someone stepped on it—can you imagine?”

“Trying hard not to,” said Zoey,
disgusted.

“Since then, no one ever dared to use it
again, and the agency stopped producing the boomerangs all
together. I’m surprised it was still here. It should have been
thrown away years ago.”

Zoey admired her boomerang. “But it wasn’t.
It was waiting for me.”

Agent Vargas raised his eyebrows. “I guess
it was.”

Zoey folded her boomerang and fastened it
back against her bracelet where it fit perfectly. She looked back
at Tristan who was positively beaming. “Did Jimmy ever make
agent?”