June feigned unconsciousness as Jacob carried her off to wherever he was going. Chains were wrapped tightly around her, and he'd almost suffocated her before she went limp and pretended he'd knocked her out. The world had been fuzzy and blurry, but she'd somehow managed to hang on to her senses.
Footsteps sounded around them as Jacob moved quickly, probably into an alley. He kept hurrying, and June kind of wished she was heavier. As is, she didn't seem to weigh him down at all, even being dead weight.
Tempting as it was to move and correct her position, if she showed any indication she was awake, he'd probably hit her on the head or something. Or worse.
Putting up with the rough jostling was her best course of action right now. As long as he didn't take the mask off her face, he'd hopefully be none the wiser.
Jacob's steps slowed and another set of footsteps approached them.
"Lose yours?" Jacob taunted, laughing. June's body jumped up and down as he did, and she held back the urge to heave a sigh. Did he have no desire to treat her at all decently?
"He had a Miracle. Jumped down a few levels, and I couldn't follow."
"Jumped down a level? Did Jase somehow get that Jumper in his group?" Jacob started walking slower, the other person - a woman based on the voice - following him. Who was she? Her voice didn't sound familiar. Not that June was overly familiar with Angela's people. Jase had always done his best to keep her away from them.
"No, it was that Manifest guy. He made trampolines to land on."
"Surely you could have followed him then?"
"He deleted them as soon as he was on solid ground. And once he had gone down the first one, I had no hope of following unless I wanted to break my legs."
"And she came so highly recommended," Jacob sighed, shaking his head. "Angela's gonna hit you for this."
"At least I know who mine is. What's that one you've got there?"
"Miracleless. Haven't checked the face yet, but seems like a small fry. Manifest must have been the leader of the group, with some disposable kid roped into it hoping for a quick payday."
June kept herself from smiling at that, her facial muscles slack, but it pleased her that her ruse was paying off. Maybe she'd even learn where Angela was hiding these days. Jase might be really happy to have that information.
"Shouldn't you check? In case they're playing you somehow?"
"Look, they had the chance to use the Miracle earlier and didn't. What kind of idiot would let themselves get caught? Especially by us."
Who were they exactly? June knew Jacob well enough, but who was the woman?
"Fine. Do it your way."
They walked in silence the rest of the way, until finally they headed into a building and Jacob tossed June unceremoniously on the floor. She'd trained herself to not respond to pain, and it was a good thing. If she hadn't, the sharp pain in her back would surely have given her away.
"There. I'll let Angela know we've got one at least. This wasn't a complete failure." Jacob closed the door and locked it, then his footsteps faded away.
June opened her eyes just enough to see through her eyelashes, carefully making sure there wasn't a camera in the room. It was bare. Completely bare. Not even a single piece of furniture. Heck, not even a speck of dust. It would make a great prison cell - if she wasn't Mist.
She sat up, slowly moving all of her limbs to make sure they worked. Maybe Ryder would have more information on the woman who had been with Jacob. Or maybe June could find it herself.
With a deep, slow breath, she activated her Miracle. She stepped toward the door, and stuck out her face, just enough that she could see. Nothing in the hallway.
June slipped back into the room, thinking about what would be best. Sneaking around could get her some valuable intel on Angel, but could also be risky. If Knight Errant's Miracle could affect her, others could too. Without knowing exactly what cards Angela had, it might be best to just take the information she'd obtained and sneak away.
If only she could be invisible like Rayne. But then, she probably wouldn't be able to escape the locked room.
A moment more and June had made up her mind. She carefully looked below the room, then above it. Below was a dim bar where nobody bothered to look up, and above was a sort of lounge. Luckily, she'd come up under a couch and hadn't been seen by Jacob and the other three people he was talking with.
This would probably be the best chance she had to gather information, so June hovered just below the floor, her ear just barely in the room.
They discussed useless things, like their last meal and how horrible it had been. Someone complained about Angela working them too hard before someone else shut them up. The whole time, she didn't hear the voice of the woman who'd gone with Jacob.
Finally, after about an hour, the woman stood up and briefly said she was going to check on the prisoner. June frowned, but that was her cue to get out.
She slid down to the floor, then into it. She swam through the various pipes and wires that filled the space between floor and ceiling, slowly moving until she was away from the bar and in an alley.
June landed softly on the ground, then pulled her mask off so she wouldn't look suspicious and started walking home. It annoyed her that she hadn't gotten anything but an location for one of Angela's bases, and one that would probably be abandoned soon, but if she got hurt, Jase would be really mad.
When she got back to Solstice's own base, there was some kind of meeting going on. Ryder and Rayne were standing in the middle of the room with a pale-faced Jase, while Niko worked furiously at his computer and Aubrey and Bryce sat near one wall.
"Juney!" Before she had even closed the door, Jase had run over to her and grabbed her, holding her tight to his chest. She blinked, but let him hold her, so tight she almost felt like she'd suffocate.
"She's okay," Ryder breathed, looking relieved. That was how everyone looked. Relieved. Even Niko had stopped his computer work to look at her.
"I found one of Angela's bases," June said, her voice muffled by Jase's shirt.
"You what?" A few faces turned even paler at what she'd said.
"Tell me everything, Juney," Jase said, stepping back just enough to hold her by the shoulders and look into her eyes. He moved her to a sofa, where she sat down, contemplating where to start.
"Jacob was lying in wait for me, I guess. He met up with another woman."
"Did she have glowing gloves?" Ryder asked, his voice slightly shaky.
"Dunno. Jacob bugged her about losing one of us, and she said you jumped off the street and down a level before she could follow you."
"She's dangerous. I'm glad I somehow managed to get away," Ryder said, exhaling softly and leaning against the wall.
"You might not have gotten away without your Miracle," June replied. "But now they know exactly which two of us were at the robbery. I don't think anyone realized Rayne was there, but we might land on a military hit list of some kind."
"So what happened to you?" Jase asked, looking at her intensely.
"He tried to choke me so I pretended to black out. Then he took me back to their base and threw me in a room. I tried to learn more, but eavesdropping was useless."
"Juney..." Jase leaned back and put a hand over his face, heaving a long sigh.
"I was fine." She snuggled into his shoulder, glancing around the room. Jase hugged her again, the sort of hug that was nearly suffocating. She didn't mind them, though. Jase was the safest person in the world.
"Promise me you'll never do something like this again. I thought my heart was going to stop," he whispered in her ear. Then, loud enough for everyone to hear, he added "Tell us everything. You never know what might be useful later."
June nodded and started from the moment she and Ryder arrived at the counselor's house.
