Mystics 3-Book Collection (94 page)

Director Hicks raised his arms. “Agents,
please come forward.”

One by one, the graduates stood up and made
their way to the platform. Zoey waited anxiously and stood at the
back of the line, behind Simon. Before she knew it, she was next to
go.

Although her heart was galloping like an UEC
bomb about to detonate, Zoey stood proudly in front of Director
Hicks.

“Congratulations, Zoey.”

He handed her a golden shield the size of
her palm. The words,
THE AGENCY, Department of Defense,
were
etched into the gold.

She was an agent.

She clasped her badge tightly, realizing
that she had finally done it. She looked up at Director Hicks.
“Thank you, director.”

As she stepped off the platform, the crowd
erupted in applause. Zoey’s grin was as wide as her head.

“We did it!” boasted Simon as he jumped
around in a happy dance. “I’m a
real
agent! I’m an agent!”
He fell on the ground, kissing his new gold badge.

As the other graduates made their way to
their families, Aria catered for the guests with everything from
fried chicken to deviled eggs, smoked salmon, fried mozzarella
balls, and sausage rolls.

As Zoey made her way towards the food, she
heard a loud neigh over the hum of people’s voices. She halted and
turned towards the familiar sound.

In the golden meadow behind the Hive, a
proud stallion blazed like wildfire in red and orange flames.
Firefax.

But when she blinked, the horse was
gone.

“Zoey? What is it?” Tristan stared at the
spot where she had been looking. “Did you see something?”

Zoey shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

She rubbed her eyes. “I thought I saw
something, but I was wrong.”

She knew that Firefax didn’t belong to
anyone. Although he had saved her life, she didn’t expect him to
hang around. But she had thought the two of them shared a
connection. Maybe she had imagined him.

Tristan moved closer towards Zoey. “I have
something for you.”

He handed her the mysterious package. “I
hope it’ll cheer you up.”

“What?”

Zoey was way too nervous to meet his eyes as
she unwrapped it. She tore off the paper.

“You got me a
boomerang
!” She said in
more of a statement than a question. She was so excited she wanted
to scream.

“I never thought I’d see one again. I know
how rare they are.”

“Well, I noticed that you were still wearing
the bracelet on its own, so I thought you’d like to have another
one. You like it?”

Zoey looked straight into Tristan’s
eyes.

“I love it. This is the best gift I’ve ever
received, the
only
gift I’ve ever received. Only a
true
friend would have known how much I missed my old one.
Thank you.”

“I—I wanted you to know,” he added softly,
“that I really care about you. A lot.”

He took her hand in his.

“I know,” she said finally. “Me too.”

She raised herself on her toes, leaned
closer, and kissed him softly.

Tristan’s joy spread across his face.

But before she could say anything more to
him, she heard the neighing again. This time it was louder and more
persistent.

Firefax blazed like a bonfire on the other
side of the grounds. While the Agents and directors jumped at the
sight of the wild creature, Zoey knew why he was there.

“I think there’s someone who wants to say
hi,” said Tristan. “Go to him.”

“You sure you don’t mind?”

Zoey secured her new boomerang on her
bracelet. A ride on Firefax would be the perfect ending to a
perfect day.

Tristan smiled warmly. “Have fun. I’ll see
you later, Red.”

Zoey lifted up her robe and ran to the
firesteed.

The horse whinnied loudly at the sight of
her, and she crashed head first into his strong body and wrapped
her hands around his neck. She buried her face in his fiery mane,
and the flames tickled her like warm fur.

“I missed you, boy.” She squeezed
harder.

Firefax lowered himself, and Zoey wrapped
her hands around his long orange mane. She swung her right leg over
the horse’s back as if she had done it a thousand times before.

The horse straightened up and thrashed his
long orange tail excitedly, trembling, anxious to run.

“You ready, Firefax?”

The horse whinnied loudly in reply.

Zoey tapped Firefax lightly with her heels
and grabbed his orange mane.

“Let’s go!”

The redheaded girl and her firesteed
galloped across the grounds with orange and red flames trailing
behind them. They galloped up the hill behind the Hive and then
disappeared into the sunset.

Discover the world of SOUL
GUARDIANS

“
W
ait for me!” Kara
jogged along Saint Paul Street. She pressed her cell phone against
her ear with a sweaty hand. “I’ll be there in two minutes!”

Her black ballet flats tapped the
cobblestones as she avoided oncoming traffic, her portfolio swung
at her side. She jumped onto the sidewalk and ran through the
crowd.

“I can’t believe you’re not here yet,” said
the voice on the other line. “You had to pick today of all days to
be late!”

“Okay, okay! I’m already freaking out about
the presentation. You’re not exactly helping, Mat.”

A laugh came through the speaker. “I’m just
saying …that this is supposed to be the most important day of your
life. And you,
Mademoiselle Nightingale
, are late.”

“Yeah, I heard you the first time…MOTHER.
It’s not my fault. My stupid alarm didn’t go off!” Kara dashed
along the busy street, her long brown hair bouncing against her
back. The smell of grease and beer from the pubs reached her nose
and her heart hammered in her chest like a jackhammer. She knew if
she missed the presentation her hopes of landing a scholarship were
over. She didn’t have any money for college, so this was her only
shot.

Over the heads of the crowd, Kara could just
make out the sign, Une Galerie. Stenciled elegantly in bold black
letters, the name hovered above the art gallery’s majestic glass
doors. She could see shadows of people gathered inside. Her chest
tightened. She was only a block away now.

“You know, the presentation won’t wait for
you—”

“Yes, yes, I know. I swear I’m gonna kick
your butt when I get there!” Kara growled into the phone, trying to
catch her breath.

For a horrible moment she thought she wasn’t
going to make it on time and considered getting off the sidewalk to
run along the edge of the street instead. She looked back to see
how bad the traffic was.

Then her heart skipped a beat.

Less than half a block behind, a man stood
motionless and indifferent to the wave of humanity that flowed
around him. He was staring at her. His white hair stood out against
his dark grey tailored suit. Kara frowned.

His eyes are black
, she realized.

A chill rolled up her spine. The man melted
into the crowd and vanished, as though he were a mere trick of the
light. The hair on the back of Kara’s neck prickled as a sense of
foreboding filled her and the urge to scream. Who was this man?

“I think I’m being followed,” Kara spoke
into her cell phone after a few seconds, her mouth dry.

“You always think you’re being
followed.”

“No! I’m serious! I swear…this guy is
following me—some psycho with white hair. I…I think I’ve seen him
before. Or at least my mother has…”

“We all know your mother is a little
nutty
sometimes. No offense, I love your mom, but she’s been
seeing and talking to invisible people since we were five. I think
it’s rubbing off on you.”

“Listen. I was with my mom yesterday on
Saint Catherine Street, and she said we were being followed by
someone
.
What if this is the same guy? Maybe she’s not as
crazy as everyone thinks.” Kara wondered if there was a little
truth in her mother’s visions. She loved her mother very much, and
she hated herself at times for thinking her mom belonged in a loony
bin.

Mat laughed. “Are you serious? It’s bad
enough that your mom sees spirits and demons. If you start
believing in all that, they’ll lock you up.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence. Remind
me why you’re my best friend again?” Kara decided to drop the
subject. After all, the strange man was gone and her fear of him
was melting away with every step, replaced by nerves and
restlessness for her presentation. She focused on the gallery sign
as she ran. “Okay…I can see you now.”

Mat was leaning against the gallery’s brick
exterior. His head was turned toward the glass doors. He pulled his
cigarette from his lips and blew smoke into his phone’s receiver.
“I think it’s starting. Hurry up!”

Kara felt her cheeks burn. Her heart pounded
in her ears and muffled the sounds around her. She took a deep
breath, hoping it would calm the fluttering in her stomach, and she
sprinted onto Saint Laurence Boulevard. Her cell phone slipped out
of her hand and hit the pavement.

“Crap!” Kara crouched down to grab her
phone. “Stupid phone—”

A flicker of movement appeared in the corner
of her eye.

“WATCH OUT!” Someone shouted. She stood up
and turned around.

A city bus hurtled towards her. She stared,
transfixed. The bus kept coming.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

An arm reached out to her. She saw a split
second image of two monstrous headlights.

And then it hit.

Thirteen tons of cold metal crushed her
body. She didn't feel any pain. She didn't feel anything at
all.

Everything around her went black.

A moment later, Kara was standing in an
elevator.

At first, streaks of white light obscured
her vision. She blinked and rubbed her eyes. The elevator was
elegant…three sides appeared to be made of handcrafted cherry
panels decorated with golden-wing crests. The smell of moth balls
lingered in the air, like her grandma’s dusty old closet. When her
eyesight improved, she realized that she wasn’t alone.

On a wooden chair facing the elevator's
control panel covered in black fur and wearing a pair of green
Bermuda shorts from which protruded two hand-like callused feet,
sat a
monkey
.

It spun on its seat, wrapped its feet around
the backrest of the chair, opened its coconut-shaped mouth and
said, “Hello, Miss.”

Kara's jaw dropped, and she swallowed the
urge to cry out. She stared at the beast, terror rising up inside
her.

His hairless face crinkled into a grin so
that he looked like an oversized walnut. His square head sat
directly on powerful shoulders. He raised his chin and looked down
upon Kara. His yellow eyes mesmerized her; she couldn't look
away.

He looks like Old Man Nelson from the
hardware store,
she thought wildly.

After a minute, Kara was able to force some
words out of her mouth.

“H …hey there, little
talking-monkey-person,” she croaked and then whispered to herself,
“This is definitely the wildest dream I’ve ever had. I have to
remember to tell Mat about this tomorrow when I wake up.” Her
throat was dry like she hadn’t had a sip of water in weeks. She
tried to swallow, but all she could do was contract her throat
muscles.

The monkey frowned. Then he growled. “I'm
not a
monkey
, Miss. I'm a chimpanzee! You mortals are all
the same. Monkey-this, monkey-that. Might as well call me a
dog
!” A splatter of spit hit Kara's face as the words
escaped his lips.

Kara retched as she wiped the spit from her
face. It was yellowish green and smelled like a bad case of
gingivitis.

“Ah …sorry, monk—chimpanzee.” She rubbed her
hand on her blue jeans and made a face. “This is
beyond
weird. I thought you
couldn’t
smell anything in dreams, at
least that’s what I thought. But this…it actually smells real and
totally gross.”

The chimp glared at Kara with a mixture of
disdain and indignation. “
Chimp
Number 5M51, if you
please.”

He then began to scratch his behind, and
only stopped once he noticed Kara’s disgusted expression.

“You'll be arriving at your destination
momentarily.” And with that, he turned his attention back to the
control panel.

Gradually, Kara began to feel more awake, as
though she had woken from a long, deep sleep. Reality slowly
crawled back in along with the fear that perhaps this
wasn’t
a dream. She bit her lower lip as she told herself to
think
.

“Um, what destination? Where are we going?”
she asked, her eyes focused on the talking chimpanzee.

Chimp 5M51 turned his head and smiled,
exposing rows of crooked yellow teeth. His eyes locked onto hers.
“To Orientation, of course. Level One.”