“Fat chance,” I muttered. It was a long drive from liking Reapers because they helped you pay the bills to thinking it was cool that your son was stealing a teenager’s life force.

“He’s too young to need the magic,” I said. “Did Foley talk to him? Why was he using a girl? Does he know anything about the blackout?”

“She wasn’t able to interrogate him,” Daniel said. “She only heard about the mom. She didn’t actually see him do anything—she only saw Lily assault him with a suitcase.”

All eyes turned to me, and my cheeks flushed red. “No firespell,” I explained. “That was the only weapon I had.”

“Awesome,” Scout said. “So he’s off the hook, and we’re back to square one, except that we don’t have any magic and there might be an army of Reapers not just recruiting teenagers for food, but actually stealing their souls.”

“It’s gonna be a great week,” Michael said.

Daniel tucked the paper away and took a seat at the table. “Everybody, calm down. The council”—those were the really higher-ups who made decisions about Adept strategies—“are looking into the blackout. They have our best minds on it.”

“We are their best minds,” Scout grumbled.

“Be that as it may, for now we leave the heavy lifting to them. This situation is temporary—if there’s a cause, there will be a solution. And we will find that solution,” he said, giving Scout a look. “That said, for now we have no power. So I want everyone on full alert. You go anywhere, you go in pairs. Be careful underground, and just as careful above. Until we know what they’re planning, we take care.”

“We always take care,” Scout whispered. “It’s the Reapers we have to worry about.”

“If we’re all on the same page,” Daniel said. “I think we’re done for now. You’re dismissed.”

“Excellent,” Michael said, and fist bumped Jason again. “Back to the crib and a little midnight gaming.”

“What is it with you two and the fist bumping?” Scout asked.

“We can’t help it if we’re smooth,” Michael said, giving Scout a big wink. She looked away in exasperation, but not before her cheeks went pink.

“Smooth?” I asked, leaning toward Jason. “He saw that in a movie, right?”

“Three days ago. Action flick filmed in Chicago, and he won’t stop quoting the scenes.”

As if we needed any more action in the Windy City.

4

Daniel’s motivational speech and our business done, we left the Enclave again, but stopped in the tunnel outside. We said our good-byes to Jill, Jamie, Daniel, and Paul, and Scout, Jason, Michael, and I hung back.

“Did you ever think your junior year would be this exciting?” I asked Scout.

“I was hoping it would involve a discovery that I was secretly a princess with the power to rule the world and make pop stars my minions,” she said. “I have not yet become aware of any such discovery.”

I patted her arm. “Keep the faith, sister.”

“On to more important topics,” Jason said. “What are we going to do about this blackout?”

“What do you mean ‘do about’ it?” I asked.

“We can’t just sit around and wait for the council to do something,” Michael said. “They put Katie and Smith in charge of the Enclave, after all. That doesn’t show good decision making to me.”

“Michael’s right,” Jason said. “We can’t just wait around and hope they’ll find a fix, and that Reapers will leave us alone in the meantime.”

Scout shook her head. “We also can’t just march into the sanctuary, tell Reapers we’re magic-free, and ask if they’re the reason. We’d be sitting ducks.”

“That’s not a good survival strategy,” I agreed. “But how are we going to find anything else out? We don’t have any leads, and no clues.”

“Enclave Two,” Jason said. “Their specialty is information and technology. Maybe they know more than we do.”

Enclave Two was one of the other groups of Adepts in Chicago. Our focus was on identifying Reaper targets and dealing with Reapers. Enclave Two was all about information—spying on Reapers, bugging sanctuaries, figuring out what they were up to.

“And that Detroit has some crazy mechanics,” Michael said. “I wouldn’t mind seeing what she’s been working on lately.” He winged up his eyebrows dramatically. Scout punched him in the arm.

“I’m right here,” she said.

“According to you, we aren’t dating, so there’s no harm in me looking.”

“Or checking out Detroit’s machinery,” I added (helpfully). But Scout didn’t look like she thought I was being helpful.

Detroit’s magic was the ability to make things—gadgets, machines, electronics. In the short time I’d been an Adept, she’d shown off a machine that helped ghosts communicate with Adepts and a locket that was actually a projector. I wasn’t sure if the blackout was affecting her in the same way, but it would be a shame if she lost those skills.

Scout might not have been dating Michael, but she wasn’t above bullying him. “Keep your mind and your mitts off Detroit.”

“Whatever you say, mi reina.”

Scout made a humphing noise, but she showed a little secret smile that said she didn’t mind when Michael gave her nicknames in Spanish. It did sound pretty hot.