Mystics 3-Book Collection (34 page)

“Zoey.”

Zoey turned and followed the voice.

A woman with long fire-red hair stood in the
middle of the street. Her hair and her emerald eyes were just like
Zoey’s. She waved at Zoey, and Zoey waved back. She recognized the
woman immediately, and as she moved towards her, her mother
smiled.

And then someone appeared behind her
mother—the woman in a hat with a face like a cat—she sneered at
Zoey with a look that chilled her to the bone.

But before she could reach her mother, a
black line formed in the air right above them and grew steadily
larger until it was the size of a door. The cat-woman took her
mother by the hand, and before Zoey could react, they both flew
into the air and disappeared through the black doorway.

“NO!” Zoey ran to the spot, but they were
gone.

Zoey woke with a start.

As she focused, she realized she was in a
single bed with white linens. She blinked the fuzziness from her
eyes and looked around. She was in a large room with three other
single beds. It looked like hospital with white walls and the smell
of disinfectant. Her lids were heavy like she had slept for months.
Her right arm was in a baby-blue sling, and she had a jumbo
headache.

She felt a presence with her in the room and
turned to see who was there. Aria smiled at her. With effort, Zoey
pulled herself to a sitting position.

“Aria,” her voice cracked, like she hadn’t
used it in weeks. “What happened? How did I get here?”

Aria placed a left hand gently on hers,
while her three other hands rested on her hips. “Take it easy,
Zoey. You were hurt really badly. I don’t want you to overexert
yourself. You’re safe and in the medical bay back at the hive.”

And then the events with the interlopers
came back to her like a slap in the face. She tried to breathe
normally.

“Are Tristan and Simon okay? They were on
the roof with me. I don’t remember what happened to them after I
blacked out. Are they safe?”

“Yes,” said Aria, calmly. “They’re both
fine.”

Zoey let out the breath she didn’t realize
she was holding. “Thank God. How long have I been here? I feel like
I’ve been run over by a truck.”

“About a week. You injured your back badly,
and you suffered a concussion. You’ll have to stay here for a
while, I’m afraid.”

“That explains the massive headache—it’s
like someone hit me over the head with a baseball bat.”

Zoey struggled to remember what had
happened. Where were Mrs. Dupont and Nazar?

“I remember being choked before the
explosion, and then I hit a wall. But the rest is such a blur—do
you know what happened? Are the interlopers destroyed?”

“Yes, thanks to you.” Agent Barnes entered
the room on crutches. He gave her the biggest smile.

Zoey’s grin matched his. “You’re okay! I
can’t believe it!”

Agent Barnes hopped over to the side of her
bed. “I’m a little broken here and there, but I’ll live.”

“I was so worried,” said Zoey trying to keep
the emotion out of her voice. “I didn’t want to leave you there—I
felt terrible.”

“You did what I told you to do,” said Agent
Barnes. “You did what was necessary—you destroyed the
interlopers—which was far more important than saving my life. You
saved us all, Zoey. You did it.”

Zoey’s face was suddenly hot and her ears
burned. She smiled awkwardly. “So what happened? What happened
after I blacked out?”

“Well,” began Agent Barnes, “more backup
teams were sent in, when I and the other agents didn’t report back.
Communications were down at headquarters because all the
mirror-ports had been destroyed, so they used the
backdoors
to get in.”

Zoey nodded. “Like the fake window on the
top floor of Parrods.”

Agent Barnes smiled. “Yes, among others.
They had been installed years ago for emergencies like this.
Unfortunately the help came too late, and most of the damage had
already been done. They arrived at Headquarters, only to find the
bodies of the dead agents. There were no signs of the Alphas
anywhere.”

Zoey’s eyes widened. “But they were there—we
saw them! They shot at us! And there was a woman with a red
globe—she killed people by scaring them to death with it. I saw her
use it on a man, and he died of fright, I swear.”

“I believe you,” said Agent Barnes.

“When they found me I told them about
you—and about Agent Stokes. They helped me to the roof where I
found Tristan and Simon watching over you.”

He beamed at her. “They told me what you
did, and I saw the pieces of the interlopers. I’d never thought of
an electrical charge. That was very clever of you, Zoey.”

Zoey felt heat rise to her face. “It was
nothing.”

“It was far from nothing. You stopped the
most dangerous mystics from crossing over.”

Zoey bit her lip and shook her head.

“Not all of them. I remember seeing a lot of
really big and nasty looking ones get through the portal. They were
angry and vengeful, like they couldn’t wait to start killing
people. I couldn’t tell you how many exactly, but there were
lots.”

“The agency is preparing to deal with them,”
said Agent Barnes. “
Lots
is a lot better than hundreds of
thousands. You closed the portal just in time. We’re not sure what
kind of mystics got through, and I’m sure management will be very
interested in what you have to tell them, once you’re feeling
better.”

A shiver ran along Zoey’s shoulders. “So,
are Mrs. Dupont and Nazar in custody?”

For a moment Agent Barnes said nothing, then
with a serious look on his face he said, “There was only the body
of Agent Stokes. Mrs. Dupont and her ally were long gone when we
got there. They must have fled after you destroyed the
interlopers.”

“She’s going to try again, you know,” said
Zoey angrily. “The woman’s insane. She wants to destroy all the
agencies and to rule this world like the Originals did—whatever
that means. The woman’s a freak.”

Zoey thought about asking Agent Barnes why
Mrs. Dupont had been searching for her for fourteen years—and how
she had known that Zoey had the ability to influence her
destination when she transported through the mirror ports. But at
the last second she decided not to. She wanted to learn more about
her skills before she said anything to anyone. Maybe if she found
her mother, she would learn more.

“Well, at least for now, we can take comfort
in knowing she won’t be trying anything for a while,” said Agent
Barnes.

“What about the
other
interlopers?”
said Zoey suddenly. “I know there are others—she might go after
them to finish what she started.”

Agent Barnes smiled. “Don’t worry, they’re
safe.”

“Safer than before?” she said and raised an
eyebrow.

“Let us hope so,” answered Agent Barnes.

Tristan and Simon came to visit her every
day at lunchtime. And even though her heart still skipped a beat
when she saw Tristan, she was very glad he visited. Soon it was
just like old times. Unfortunately her ribs felt like they were
ripping apart from the inside when Simon made her laugh, so the
nurse told them to leave her alone to heal. Although her ribs still
felt like they were on fire, she finally felt well enough to be out
and about, and she left the medical bay to meet with
management.

But there was something she needed to do
first. And it would only require a few minutes.

Simon and Tristan were waiting for her
outside. Although the fluffs of snow that had fallen the night
before melted in the sun, she could feel that winter was finally on
its way. Her sneakers crunched under the wet leaves, and she
wrapped her new wool toggle coat around herself more tightly to
keep the cold from coming in.

“Is everything set?” she asked, as she
neared Simon and Tristan.

“Yup,” said Simon beaming mischievously.
“This is going to be the best day of my life.”

“Is he here?” Zoey searched the grounds.
Most of the operatives were out enjoying the afternoon sun.

“He’s right over there,” answered
Tristan.

Zoey followed his gaze and smiled.

Stuart King stood inside a circle of his
cronies, proudly putting on a show. Claudia was there, too,
flipping her long brown hair over her shoulders and laughing at
everything Stuart said. It was perfect.

“Let’s do this.” Zoey felt the blood pump in
her veins as she and her friends advanced towards Stuart. They
stopped and stood just close enough to be in earshot. She smiled at
Tristan and gave Simon a nod.

“Hey, Stewie,” Simon called loudly. He
waited for Stuart and his friends to turn around.

“What do you get when you mix a
king
with a
moron
? Give up? A king
dumb!”

Stuart glowered at him.

Zoey and Tristan threw back their heads and
laughed hysterically, making sure they had the entire academy’s
attention. Even some of Stuart’s friends laughed, but his face
darkened.

“What’s the matter, Stewie,” said Simon
innocently. “Can’t take a joke? Did we hurt your
royal
feelings? Are you too
sensitive
to take a joke? Well, at
least now you’ve got some color on your face. Between you and
me—that white vampire look you had going, wasn’t really
working.”

Stuart scowled again.

Zoey pulled a large golden bracelet set with
precious stones from the folds of her jacket. She admired it on her
wrist, and the sun’s rays reflected myriads of colors onto her
face. She lifted it up for all to see.

Stuart reached out and grabbed the
bracelet.

“Give it back.” Zoey stepped up to Stuart,
scowling.

Stuart smiled and twirled the bracelet in
his hand.

“There’s no way a
Drifter
could
afford this.”

He inspected the bracelet more closely.
“It’s real. You stole it, didn’t you? Wait till the agents hear
about this—their precious little orphan is a thief. They’ll send
you away for good this time.”

“I didn’t steal it. It’s been in my family
for years. Give it back.”

Zoey reached out to grab the bracelet, but
Stuart laughed and twisted away from her.

“No. I think I’ll keep it for now,” he said.
“Your days are numbered, Drifter. Go back to the streets where you
belong.”

With a flick of her long hair, Claudia took
the bracelet from Stuart and inspected it. She smiled and handed it
back to him. She moved towards Tristan.

“Still think she’s all that great, Tristan?
We all know she’s a liar, and now we have proof that’s she’s also a
thief. How can you even
like
her?”

When Tristan didn’t answer she turned away
from him angrily.

“Come on,” said Stuart turning away, “let’s
go show this to Agent Ward. I’m sure she’ll love to hear where we
got it.”

“Wait!” Zoey stepped forward. “I’ll fight
you for it. If you win, you can do whatever you want with it. You
can go tell the entire agency that I’m a thief. But if
I
win, I get the bracelet back.”

Stuart’s face twisted in disgust.

“I’m not going to fight you,
Drifter
.
I don’t want you near me. I might catch some disease from that
orphanage you crawled out of. Originals don’t mix with the
help.”

“What’s the matter?” taunted Zoey. “Too
proud to fight a girl? Or are you afraid I might actually win? I’ve
fought guys much bigger than you and won. Admit it—you’re afraid of
me— you know I’m going to win.”

She glanced over to Tristan who stood with
his arms wrapped around his chest, grinning. She gave him a smile
and caught Claudia glaring at her.

Stuart’s laugh was ice cold. “You
won’t
win. Okay, you’re on, Drifter.”

Zoey flashed him a small smile.

“Good. There’s a perfect spot at the back of
the Wander Inn. The agents won’t see us there.”

She led the way around the back of the
Wander Inn.

Stuart laughed and boasted how he was going
to crush the drifter. He made sure that Zoey could hear him.
Claudia bounced beside him, clearly looking forward to seeing
Stuart do a number on her.

Zoey stood with legs apart in a fighting
stance, and raised her hands, curling them into fists. Simon and
Tristan stood behind her.

“You’re going to regret this, Drifter.” said
Stuart. He made his way forward and stood in front of her. “I’m
going to send you back to the medical bay.”

“We’ll see.”

Stuart took off his jacket and handed it to
Claudia, but he kept the bracelet. He twirled it in his fingers.
“This is way too easy,” he said.

Simon snickered.

Stuart looked at him. “Why are you smiling,
Brown? Are you happy that I’m going to
ruin
your only
friend?”

He laughed and turned to his friends who
joined him in a chorus of overdramatic laughter.

Simon sighed lazily. “It’s just—this is
going to be the best day of my life.”

Stuart lowered his eyes. “What do you
mean?”

With a sudden roar, a thunderstorm erupted
all around them. Twelve low-riding motorcycles crashed through the
woods. Their emerald-green frames glistened in the sun as they
circled the operatives. Despite the cold, the small men riding the
motorcycles were dressed only in leather vests and pants, and
tattoos covered most of their exposed skin. They circled around the
operatives, making them cough on the gasoline fumes. After a few
more turns, they stopped and killed their engines.

Most of Stuart’s gang stepped away slowly,
trying not to make any sudden moves. They were frightened, and Zoey
was pleased to see that Claudia’s beautiful face had become an
unattractive mask of fear. It suited her.

A four-foot-tall man with a green top hat
and orange, braided hair slowly dismounted his motorcycle. His
long, green leather coat billowed around him like a cape as he
stepped between Zoey and Stuart. His yellow teeth flashed as he
smiled at Zoey.