Mystics 3-Book Collection (49 page)

Swish
.

Zoey blinked, and the tip of the horseman’s
sword slashed her leg. More of the fire shot into her leg where the
sword had cut through her jeans. She screamed and doubled over,
gasping at the white-hot pain. She spun around and fell into the
snow.

Aria’s voice rang in her ears. She crawled
away from him, but slipped on a patch of ice and went down. He
moved toward her and kicked her in the stomach. She went sprawling
into the snow.

The horseman stood there, watching her with
no face. His shoulders rose up and down as he laughed at her.

It was over. She was going to die.

T
he headless
horseman stood over her with the tip of his blade at her throat. As
he stepped forward, something gold glinted above him.

He raised his sword, taking aim.

Zoey raised her arm above her head and
caught her boomerang.

He slashed downward with his mighty sword as
she shot her boomerang directly into the horseman’s bloody
stump.

The sword fell into the snow an inch beside
her head. The horseman backed away, throwing up his arms violently,
trying desperately to get the boomerang out of his stump. But he
couldn’t. His horse neighed with its eyes wide in fear. Suddenly,
the horseman went rigid. His body cracked and then crumbled into
dust and flew away in a gust of wind. Her boomerang fell into the
snow. She heard a cry. And when she turned, all that was left of
the horse was a pile of black ashes.

“ZOEY!”

Aria limped towards her. Her face was
sweaty, and her gray skin was almost white. She looked sick. She
fell to her knees beside Zoey.

“What were you thinking? You could have
gotten yourself killed.”

“I was thinking,” panted Zoey, “that I
wanted to
save
you.”

Aria winced and pressed on the gash in her
side. “Well, I can’t say that I’m not grateful for what you did,
but taking on a headless horseman on your own is completely
crazy
. But thank you all the same.”

Aria searched Zoey for injuries, and her
yellow eyes widened. “You’re bleeding on your arm and leg. You’re
hurt.”

“Just a scratch,” said Zoey, staring at the
large amount of blood that was seeping through Aria’s fingers as
she tried to stem the flow from her own wound. “You’re the one
who’s hurt, Aria. You’re losing a lot of blood. I need to get you
to the medical bay.”

Aria winced. “I guess you’re right.”

Zoey struggled to her feet and fetched her
boomerang. Once it was safely secured to her bracelet, she pulled
Aria gently to her feet. Her stomach tightened at the look of pain
in Aria’s eyes, and she forced herself to look away, fighting the
tears. And when she looked towards the Hive, her heart sank even
more.

Only a few agents were still alive. They
were defending the Hive as best they could. Holding their own
amongst the agents were Tristan and Simon. But the battle was still
far from over.

“Doesn’t look like we can go anywhere,” said
Aria, her voice almost a whisper now.

Zoey knew that Aria would most certainly die
if she didn’t get inside soon. She wanted to join her friends and
fight, even if it meant dying with them. Maybe she could sneak Aria
in somehow. She didn’t know what to do.

“I’m getting you inside,” she said, making
up her mind.

She wrapped Aria’s two left arms around her
own shoulder to support her, and started forward.

Suddenly, the Hive’s front doors burst open,
and Agent Barnes and Agent Lee rushed out with wild expressions on
their faces.

“Giddy up, horsey!” Agent Barnes fired his
gun repeatedly into the thick of the horsemen like a madman. Agent
Lee whistled while he fired alongside his partner.

“Now, Agent Franken!” bellowed Agent Barnes,
as he kept firing.

The doors opened again, and Agent Franken
waddled out. He held a small green globe in his hands, and he
kicked it like a football. It soared into the air and landed with a
thud in the middle of the army of headless horsemen. For a moment
nothing happened. Then the globe exploded in a shower of green
dust. The dust fell on the horsemen like rain. The horsemen and
their horses withered, cracked, and then exploded in clouds of
black dust.

The horsemen who had not been covered with
the green dust steered their horses away from the Hive, galloped
down across the grounds, and disappeared into the forest.

“There’s more where that came from!” shouted
Agent Franken. He tried to raise his old fist in the air but only
managed to get it halfway. “You cowards!”

Tristan, Simon, and Agent Ward came rushing
to Zoey’s aid.

“Aria’s hurt really bad,” said Zoey, “We
need to get her to the medical bay.”

“I’ll do that,” said Agent Ward. She was
bleeding from a cut on her forehead and looked pretty disheveled,
but her voice was strong. She looked at Zoey, and her eyes were
full of compassion. “You did good, Zoey,” she said. “Thank you for
keeping our Aria safe.”

Zoey smiled and watched Agent Ward and Aria
disappear through the front doors.

“You’re bleeding, too, Zoey,” said Tristan.
He frowned when he examined her leg. “Maybe you should go to the
medical bay.”

Zoey shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

She looked around nervously. Now that the
enemy had left for the time being, she was worried that the agents
would come and lock her up again. She couldn’t let that happen.

“I don’t get it,” said Simon, still wearing
his mustache. “Why did the horsemen take off like that?”

“To regroup, most probably,” answered Agent
Barnes, as he slung his gun on his shoulder. “They’ll be back with
reinforcements. I’m not sure we can survive another big
attack.”

The front doors opened again, and Agents
Vargas and Ward came out with towels and medical supplies to help
the wounded. Agent Franken hung back by the doors. His face was
wrinkled in sadness, and he looked like he was about to cry.

“We lost a lot of good agents,” said Agent
Lee, looking around. “Without help, we won’t last another day like
this. We’re going to get slaughtered.”

“By the horsemen?” asked Zoey.

“It’s not just the horsemen,” said Agent
Barnes, watching the spot where the horsemen had disappeared. “With
the borders down, more hostiles will come. A lot more horsemen
and
more of the other kinds, too.”

Agent Lee took off his sunglasses and rubbed
them with his shirt. “It’s obvious they plan on going after us
first, so that nothing will stand in their way when they go for the
rest of the human population.”

“If we don’t find a way to get the borders
back up soon,” said Agent Barnes, “there won’t be an Agency
anymore. Here, or anywhere else in the world.”

“I know how to get the borders back up,”
blurted Zoey, before she could control herself.

Both Agent Barnes and Agent Lee stared at
her open-mouthed. Heat rose to her cheeks. “Well, I
think
I
know how…with Agent Franken’s help.”

Agent Barnes eyed her. “If you know
something, Zoey, tell us.”

Zoey swallowed. “Agent Franken says he could
make an antidote if he had a sample of the original source.”

“Go on,” urged Agent Barnes.

“Mrs. Dupont has it. I mean, she’s the one
that did this. I’d bet my life that she poisoned the mirrors. So,
it makes sense that she would have the original source. We find
her, and we find the cure.”

Agent Barnes and Agent Lee shared a look.
“What proof do you have? Don’t look at me like that, I’m not saying
I
don’t
believe you, but how do you know for sure
she’s
the one that did it?”

“I just do,” said Zoey stubbornly. “I know
it. I feel it in my gut. She did this.”

“But you might be wrong.”

“I might,” said Zoey, “but it’s worth a
shot, don’t you think? I mean, we should be trying anything to
help, right?”

Agent Lee nodded. “The girl deserves a shot.
If she can do it, I say let her go. We need a miracle right
now.”

Agent Barnes glanced over his shoulder at
the other agents still helping the wounded.

“Well, if you need to go, you’d better go
now while everyone’s forgotten about you. Director Hicks still
wants answers from you, Zoey, but we’ll cover for you. Be careful,
Zoey. If what you say is true, then this Mrs. Dupont is very, very
dangerous.”

Zoey’s stomach twisted. “I’ll sneak in and
out. She won’t even know I was there, I promise. I’ll be back
before you know it.”

She smiled at him, hoping he couldn’t
recognize the mix of fear and anxiety on her face. She wasn’t even
sure her master plan was going to work. But she
had
to
try.

“And there’s something else,” Zoey said.

“Go on,” insisted Agent Barnes.

“My mother’s been taken somewhere against
her will. I think Mrs. Dupont has her. If I’m right, then I’m going
in for the source and for my mother at the same time. She needs my
help. I have to find her.”

Agent Barnes looked at Zoey gently. “Of
course you do. And, Zoey - if you do
find
something, get it
back here as soon as you can.”

“I will.”

“Then you’d better get moving.”

Agent Barnes nudged Agent Lee, and the two
agents walked back towards the Hive. Zoey looked at her
friends.

“So…what’s the master plan?” asked Simon
once Agents Barnes and Lee had reached the others.

“I’ll tell you once you remove that
ridiculous mustache.”

Simon beamed and twirled the ends of his
mustache with his fingers. “I look awesome. You’re just jealous
because you can’t grow one of your own.”

“You can’t grow one of your own either,
Bond,” laughed Tristan.

Simon made a face, pulled off his fake
mustache, and pocketed it. “Saving it for later.”

“Since we can’t use the mirror-ports,” said
Tristan, turning to Zoey, “how are we going to find Mrs.
Dupont?”

“Hey, I know! We could call Captain Kirk,”
said Simon. He pulled out the Aleean’s business card and waved it
around proudly like a winning lottery ticket.

“Yeah, but we still don’t know
where
she is,” said Tristan, “So that’s not going to help us, is it? She
could be anywhere around the world, and it might take us
forever
to find her. Zoey?”

Zoey bit her lip. “I think I know of a way
to find her location
and
make the trip.”

Simon looked behind him. “Well, you’d better
hurry up before the headless cavalry comes back. Or worse, Agent
Ward. I think she wants my mustache.” He placed his hand over his
pocket protectively.

Tristan leaned forward. “How? Tell us!”

Zoey’s stomach was in knots. “I’ve never
tried it before, but I think it might work.”

She pulled out the mirror shard she had
taken from Agent Franken’s chamber and held it out. “With
this.”

“I hate to burst your bubble,
Zee
,”
said Simon. “But remember what Agent Frankenstein said, the mirrors
don’t
work
anymore.”

Zoey ignored him. She felt a pressure inside
her chest, like it was about to blow. She held the mirror with
trembling fingers.

“I’ve been thinking. Agent Franken said that
I was able to create mirror-ports. Then maybe all I need is a
regular mirror! All I need to do is concentrate. If I think of Mrs.
Dupont, then I can create an anchor wherever she is. Hopefully,
I’ll materialize at her location in one piece.”

Tristan took the mirror and examined it.
“Have you ever tried this new theory of yours? I mean, it might not
even work. Or worse, it could kill you!”

Zoey took the mirror back, a little
irritated. “Well, it’s worth a try. I need to do something.”
Tristan watched her but didn’t say anything.

“Then let’s do this,” said Simon, and he
rubbed his hands together excitedly. “I mean, what’s the worst
thing that can happen? We all stand here looking like idiots
staring into a mirror—I look like an idiot most of the time, so
there’s no surprise for me there.”

Zoey let out a shaky breath and looked at
Tristan. “Do you still want to do this?”

For a moment, Tristan looked shocked. “Of
course I do, I’m not letting you out of my sight. If you’re going,
then I’m coming with.”

Zoey felt a blush on her face and looked
away from his dark, piercing eyes.

With a last look towards the Hive to make
sure the agents were still occupied with the wounded, Zoey held the
mirror in front of her. She angled it so she could clearly see her
reflection. She could see that Tristan and Simon were both looking
at her through the mirror. The looked like they were waiting for
her to tell some great joke. She pulled her eyes away and looked
back at herself. She hoped she didn’t look like a fool.

“I think you both should stand a bit closer
to me,” she said. “Okay, good. Now hang on to my arms, good. Wait
until I get
all
our reflections in the mirror - I think
that’s how it’ll work. I see us now. Ready.”

“Do me a favor and try not to imagine Mrs.
Dupont in her bathrobe,” said Simon. His face twisted in disgust.
“I’ll be traumatized for life—”

“Shut up, Simon,” breathed Tristan, and shot
him an angry look.

Simon shrugged, and then whispered, “I’m
just saying. Ouch! He kicked me!”

“No I didn’t.”

“Can the two of you shut up and let me
concentrate, please?” growled Zoey. “I need total concentration.
Thank you.”

Once Zoey knew that Simon had exhausted his
outbursts and that Tristan was calm, she began. She focused all her
thoughts on Mrs. Dupont. Images of the cat-faced woman rose in her
mind and her anger rose. She could never forget Mrs. Dupont’s
horrible face, her small black eyes, her flat feline-like nose, and
her thin pale skin. She remembered the way she had smiled at Zoey,
with those large swollen red lips. And she remembered that silky,
patronizing voice. It was the face of a monster.