The Thief

face will be splattered across the dumpster -

But it doesn’t happen.

A weird feeling goes through me, like my entire nervous system is rotating a quarter of an inch.

And then I land in a big pile of mud, in near darkness. I cough, tasting the clay in my mouth. The catbat has wriggled out of my hands and leaps for a dark spot on the floor. It’s about to vanish through it. I grab its tail.

“Oh no you - ”

My nerves twist again, and I fall forward, landing on tile floor.

“ - don’t,” I grunt. Free of me at last, the creature sprints down the hall.

The hall?

I’m back at school - inside, no less. I’m covered in red clay mud, and my shoulders hurt from the impact with the floor. I push up on my hands, looking behind me. The lockers? Had I just hitchhiked with a...a...I barely believe my own conclusion.

A...teleporter?

The creature had pulled me through the dumpster, then whatever was in that cave, and then finally dumped me back out through the lockers.

“That was AWESOME!” I yell, not caring who heard.

I hear a door slam and the pounding of someone coming down the stairs very fast. I struggle to my feet, wondering how I’d explain myself.

Tailor comes around the corner and freezes, a nanosecond of relief in his expression before he explodes in fury. “What in the hell were you thinking?” he seethes. “My god, Mac, if you hadn’t - if someone else saw you - ” he looks around swiftly. “Go to my classroom right now, I’ve had enough of all of you!”

“All of us?” I try to sound as innocent as I can, covered in mud.

“All of you,” he snarls.

Jul

Camille and I slumped guiltily in desks at the front of the English classroom. On her other side, Destin hunched over as if attempting to make himself not massively taller than the rest of us. Mac stood to one side, arms folded, blonde curls matted from the mud that spattered him head to toe. Apparently he was unwilling to sit and get mud all over a chair since he’d be the one cleaning it up. He caught me staring wide-eyed at all the mud and flushed. “The catbat’s a teleporter,” he said, presumably to distract from his state.

“Explains a lot,” Destin said miserably.

Tailor slammed the door and turned on us, furious.

“You four are idiots,” Tailor snapped. “This isn’t Scooby-Doo. There are no rubber masks, no disgruntled janitors hiding Aztec gold, no consequence-free ending. You think that detention is the worst the principal can do? A note to your parents? Expulsion? You should pray for expulsion. The more you dig up, the more likely it is that Rin will never let you leave. These are forces you aren’t old enough to handle - forces that could easily destroy you even if you were. If you would just keep your heads down, you might be able to graduate before she pieces things together, and go live normal lives. You are helping her,” he pointed an accusatory finger at me and Camille, “and you have to stop. And you,” he turned on Mac, “are even worse. Bea told me everything. You have no idea what you almost did at the library.”

“Hey, how were we supposed to know tattoo lady was going to - um - what exactly did she do?” Mac asked.

“And then,” Tailor went on, ignoring him, “you go baiting imps and chasing them through the halls. You’ve always been impulsive, Dupree, but you’re bordering on suicidal. That thing could have left you anywhere!”

“Imp?” he brightened. “The catbat is an imp?”

Tailor groaned. “Mac, what do I have to say to make you understand?” he said, running a hand over his face. “You’re the only one in this room who’s definitely normal. In two years, you’ll be free. The only thing you should be worrying about is how to hide Heron’s infernal feathers so he can escape them too.”

Destin’s cinnamon skin flushed. “What? I don’t...I mean, what feathers?”

“Learn to keep them under control before someone else notices,” Tailor snapped. “And pray you don’t develop anything useful.”

“What happens,” Camille said, speaking up for the first time, “if we’re useful?”

He gave her a hard look, but I thought I saw pity under it. Of all of us, she was clearly the most supernatural one. As far as he knows, I thought, my fingers flexing. Was he worried about her? “Fine,” he said, and pulled a nearby chair. He propped his right foot on it, like he was going to tie his shoelaces, but instead he rolled up his pants leg and pushed down his sock. Wrapped around his ankle was a blocky tattoo in the design of a chain.

“Never pegged you for a tattoo kind of guy,” Mac said.

“It’s a spell,” Tailor said icily, rolling his pants leg back down. “When the Uminos find a toy they want to keep, they make sure it can’t run away. I’m bound to the school. I can’t go more than twenty miles away. It’s like running into a brick wall.” He grimaced. “Magic hasn’t worked in our world for almost a thousand years. But over the past hundred years or so, it’s been slowly trickling back - and it’s been getting worse the last few years. Most of the fae and ferals here still don’t even know what they are. There’s not even a guarantee you’ll develop any powers,” his eyes flicked to me for a moment, and I suddenly recalled his horror when he’d met me. “It’s all still so random and unpredictable. But the Uminos are a family with a long memory, and they want to control all they can. They’ll find a way to make you a deal you can’t refuse, and you’ll be theirs. Unless you can stay off their radar,” he said, glaring at each of us in turn. “And you certainly shouldn’t be piecing together any of their research for them,” he said, giving me another hard look. “You’re all preposterously lucky that I was the only person here today.” I swallowed, remembering Kei’s brief appearance. “And even then,” he went on, “if Rin were to ask the right questions, I’d have to tell her. There’s only so much help I can give you. So please, if you have any sense of self-preservation, stay out of Umino business, stay away from the imp, and for the love of god, stay away from the Ender.”

Camille’s eyes widened.

“The Ender?” Mac asked.

Tailor sighed. “The woman you nearly helped burn down the library. Meredith the Ender. All you need to know is that she is immortal, certifiable, and made out of fire. I don’t know why she’s come back here,” he said grimly, “and the sooner she moves on the better. You see a woman in leather, you stay away from her. Got it?” He looked curiously at Camille, who had gone fairly pale. “Alright, Teague?”

Camille shook her head, as if to clear it. “Yeah,” she said. “Yeah, alright.”

“Then please, all of you get out of this building before you cause any more damage. Good luck explaining your state to your mother,” he shot a look at Mac, who seemed chilled by the prospect.

The others filed out the door ahead of me.

“Jul, wait,” Tailor said. “A word.”

I paused, looking back at him fearfully. It occurred to me just then that he was the only adult who hadn’t persisted in calling me Juliet.

“Shut the door,” he said.

I swallowed and did as he asked, returning meekly to stand by his desk.

“Your grandmother told me you’ve met Gabriel Katsura,” Tailor said, folding his arms and leaning back against the desk. His gaze was cool and cautious behind his glasses. I wondered briefly if he would look less intimidating without them.

“Are you going to tell me to stay away from him too?” I asked.

“Absolutely yes,” he said. “Him, but not Camille. I think she can be freed from his influence, and I think you could use her attachment to you - ”

“Use her?” I interrupted, surprising myself. “Gabriel’s been nothing but kind - he just wants to help. What has he done that’s got everyone so mad at him for? All I hear is what bad news he is, but you’re the one talking about using people - ”

“Don’t,” Tailor snapped, with real venom, and I startled into silence. “Don’t you ever talk to me about using people - ”