“They’re in the city. Three young teenagers—a Caucasian with brown hair, a girl with black hair, and a dark-skinned boy who’s a full foot taller than you and ten times as handsome. They’ll be wandering around, obviously lost, smelling like a bag of three-week-old tuna—the brats haven’t showered in days.”

Frankly, Reginald was annoyed that Atticus still had the other two kids with him. He’d hoped they’d have been killed by now, but they seemed as determined as their powerful friend. No matter. That was the beauty of the test—there were no rules, not really. If Atticus made it to the end, he made it to the end. Even if he had the help of friends and the Realitants.

Realitants. What a waste of human DNA.

“All right,” Phillip said. “I’ll send out my boys to find them, bring them here, offer them rooms, as you said.”

“And feed them. They’ll be here at least a week, probably longer. I want the boy—I mean, I want all of them—well-rested and strong for what lies ahead. I will pay you double your rates, plus a bonus.”

“What kind of bonus?” The hotel owner tried his very best to display an expression of professional hardball on his face, but it looked more like a fat squirrel eyeing an acorn.

Reginald stifled a laugh. “The value of one week’s worth of rent for all your rooms.”

Phillip choked, his eyes wide with the prospect of such a sum for doing almost nothing. “I’ll have to think about—”

“Shut up and take the deal,” Reginald said.

Phillip nodded, his face flushed red. “Okay, it’s a deal. I’ll have them here, safe and sound, by tonight.”

“Good.” Reginald reached into his pocket and pulled out two sealed envelopes, then handed them over. “The thick one is half your money, including the bonus, plus money for the kids to spend. You’ll get the rest of your portion when they . . . disappear.”

“And this other one?” The hotel owner held up the thin envelope.

“I want you to deliver that to them at precisely six o’clock. If you can’t get them to the hotel before then, wait until morning to deliver it. I don’t care if it’s am or pm, just give it to them at six o’clock.”

Phillip’s eyes squinched up in confusion.

“Don’t ask any more questions,” Reginald said. “Just do as I say and enjoy the money.”

After giving Phillip a few more instructions, Reginald turned and walked away, enjoying himself and his clever ways even more than usual.

~