Page 130 of Junk Magic

“What happened?” I asked, because Sienna had glossed over a lot of this, maybe because, to a Were, the news about Neuri was a far bigger deal. And I hadn’t questioned her too closely, being focused on getting here.

Because Ulmer’s gut wasn’t wrong; Jenkins hadn’t been the only problem.

I just didn’t know for certain who the other one was.

“Sebastian intervened,” Sophie said. “He got out in front of the townspeople, facing off with Whirlwind, who had started to come around. But he was hurt pretty bad—”

“Defending me,” Jen said fervently. “Sebastian was—I would have died without him. I would have died.”

It looked like the teenage crush she was having was built on more than just Airbuses and sparkly dresses, I thought.

“—but I think he and Whirlwind would have gotten into it anyway,” Sophie continued. “But then that weird mage showed up with a dozen others and the council put a stop to it. I don’t think they wanted trouble with the Corps on top of everything else—”

“A dozen?” I repeated. “He was supposed to come alone.”

“Well, he didn’t,” she said, and then sighed, as the updo she was wearing to complement the dress came cascading down. She pulled the froth of red curls back into a ponytail. “There were at least that, maybe more. And the mage in charge—”

“Jenkins.”

“Yeah, him. He was on the phone with the Corps the whole time, loudly reciting the names of the council members and bigshots that were there. So, I guess the Corps would know who to come after if they didn’t turn you over—”

“So, they did,” Jen said. “Sebastian didn’t object; I think he was grateful for someone to get you out of there. Only, in the confusion, we didn’t realize that they’d forgotten Caleb until they’d already left—”

She and Sophie kept talking, but I was no longer listening. Because it seemed like Jenkins might not be the only true believer among the Corps. That sort of treachery wasn’t supposed to be possible; there were tests, one in particular known as the Trials, designed to weed out potential traitors. But that was just the thing: Jenkins hadn’t thought he was a traitor. He’d thought he was saving the world—what if others agreed?

Damn it! I hadn’t even been here fifteen minutes, and things were already falling apart. “Do you have a phone?” I asked.

“Are you listening to me?” Sophie demanded. “You left, and then it was like you fell off the Earth or something. Cyrus has been going crazy. He called HQ, but they said you weren’t there. You didn’t seem to be anywhere—”

“Phone?” I asked Jen, because I knew she had one.

“—and then the news broke about Neuri. Is that true? You have to be batshit to come here if so—”

Jen handed over her phone and I punched in a number, while holding up a finger to stop the torrent of conversation from the girls.

To my surprise, it worked, and then a familiar voice came on the line.

“Don’t hang up,” I said.

“Oh, God. Not you again.” Caleb sounded almost tragic.

“Are you on the way?”

“Yes! Yes, I am on the way! And I’m fine, incidentally, not that you asked. Just a mild concussion—”

“And they let you out of the infirmary?”

“I didn’t ask for permission!”

He seemed stressed, so I cut the pleasantries. “How many are with you?”

“Two, Jacobs and Singh, why?”

“You’re going to need more. Twelve war mages picked me up last night—”

Caleb started cursing.

“—and I don’t know how many more might be compromised. You can’t go in there with three—”

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