Page 24 of Junk Magic

“You got company.”

I grabbed a regular old jacket, useless magically but good, thick leather, the kind I used when riding to keep the road and my flesh from meeting too energetically, and followed Caleb into the living room.

“Well, shit.”

“Nice to see you, too,” Sophie said dryly.

They were all there, my whole new class, which frankly gave me hives. And not just because they were supposed to be back at HQ and safely locked up. But because of what had happened the last time I had students here.

I looked at Caleb, who shrugged. “Just the delivery guy.”

“They said they needed the cell,” Sophie informed me. “Something about a nest of dark mages they dug up, hiding out in the desert somewhere.”

“Hey, is that your bike in front?” That was the Hispanic guy, his brown hair sticking up everywhere.

“Uh, yeah,” I said. “Look—”

“You got anything to eat?” That was Malibu, with his blond locks equally disheveled and his plain blue T-shirt wrinkled. He also hadn’t shaved, although his beard wasn’t too noticeable as it was blond, too.

“Yeah, I’m starved.” That was the Asian guy. “We didn’t get breakfast.”

“Because somebody gave us all of five minutes to get ready,” Sophie said, looking pointedly at Caleb.

I could have told her to save herself some time. Caleb didn’t have a shame reflex that I’d ever noticed. Which he demonstrated by corralling the brunet and the blond, who’d been heading off in the direction of the kitchen, despite not knowing where it was.

“It’s okay,” I told him. I looked at the guys. “You know how to cook?”

They blinked at me as if I’d asked them if they spoke Navajo.

“None of us do. Brought up in a prison, remember?” That, of course, was Sophie.

“Don’t look at me,” Caleb said, which was fair. He was the king of take out.

I sighed, and wondered if a bunch of hungry Weres had left anything to cook. “Intros first, then I’ll feed you,” I said.

“Blue hair over there is Aki,” Sophie told me. “The male model is Chris.” Malibu waved and pushed the Hispanic guy forward. “Dimas,” Sophie dutifully added. “Didn’t you get papers on us?”

“Left them somewhere.”

She rolled her eyes. I was cementing myself as a slipshod operator. “That’s Jen,” she said, nodding at the shy blonde with the 1920s bob and the love for beer. “And Kimmie,” she added, talking about the chick with the braids, who unlike everybody else, was looking surprisingly good, with a full face of makeup and a fashionable blue jumpsuit. “Kimmie doesn’t sleep,” Sophie added, as if reading my mind, which maybe she was for all I knew.

“At all?” I asked Kimmie, who shrugged.

“Only if I expend too much magic and have to recover. Otherwise, I don’t need it.”

“Must be nice,” I said enviously.

“Not really. You run out of Netflix shows after a while.”

“Food?” Aki said, looking worried that I’d forgotten.

“This way.” I led them down the hall and into the kitchen.

It was a snug fit with eight of us, especially since Caleb counted for at least one and a half. But there was food left, although a big dent had been made in the grocery haul that I’d lugged in just a few days ago. I wondered if Cyrus was planning for his guys to stay here for another night.

And then I wondered something else.

“Uh, Caleb? Where is everybody staying?”

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