Page 70 of Jinxed

Tobias turns to me. ‘We’re all going to help you,’ he says.

‘Oh, thank you—’ I stammer. I can’t believe my luck.

‘No,’ Tobias interrupts me. ‘Don’t thank us yet. We’renot helping you because we like you. Well... at least, that’s not why I am doing it. The way you played us was harsh. We’re doing it because we think it’s not right that someone stole your baku. And whether we like it or not, you were once part of our team. If that means helping you get that stinking cat back, then so be it.’

He might be telling me not to thank him, not to be grateful, notto grin widely, but I can’t help it.

‘I do know something about where he is,’ I say, finally. I hesitate for an instant more – especially as this means giving away my biggest secret. But if I can’t trust my teammates now, I might never save Jinx.

And that’s just not a risk that I am willing to take.

‘I was sent this video.’ I play the stream back for them. ‘Do you recognize it, Tobias?’

Hisface is stern, his normally full lips pressed together into a thin line. ‘Yeah, I do. Why on earth is your baku in the Team Happiness wing at Moncha HQ?’

‘CARTER IS THE ONE CARRYING HIM IN the video,’ I say.

Kai lets out a low whistle. ‘And it looks as if he’s upgraded his boar already. Look at the point on that tusk.’

‘But wait – what is that?’asks River. I look up and see he’s not watching the video – he’s staring at me, pointing at Slick on my shoulder. My new baku.

I cringe. ‘I had to leash a baku in order to send and receive messages... and this was the one I originally bought.’

‘But that’s a level 1 scarab beetle.’

‘I know,’ I say, my voice small.

‘You’re not even allowed on to thegroundsof Profectus with something likethat,’ says Kai.

‘Don’t you think I know that?’ I say. Then I sigh. ‘Look, I was rejected by Profectus at first. But then they changed their mind...’

Kai turns to Tobias. ‘Okay, man, are we really going to waste our evening? I mean she has a scarab baku. She doesn’t stand a chance in the final tomorrow. We don’t need this.’

‘We don’t need this?’ Tobias laughs. ‘Kai, Oka was mincemeat becauseof this girl’s baku. I want to compete against the best – that’s the only way you know if you’re the best.’

‘Whatever,’ he says, crossing his arms over his chest. But I can tell that he’s in by the way that his brand new baku, Oka version 2, steps forward into the circle.

‘Right, so let me get this straight – if you bought a beetle baku, how did you end up with Jinx?’ says Tobias.

I shrug.‘I kind of... found him by some railway tracks. Then I brought him back here and fixed him up like new.’

‘And no one came to claim him? He didn’t have any record of previous owners when you leashed him?’

I shake my head.

‘And now Carter has taken him.’

‘Yes. And he wants to give Jinx to his dad.’

Tobias frowns. ‘But why? What’s so special about your damn baku anyway?’

‘Apparently, atthe beginning of the summer someone at Moncha developed a one-of-a-kind prototype. It wasn’t quite ready for release yet and then it went missing,’ I say. ‘Moncha have been searching non-stop to try and get it back. And Carter thinks that Jinx might be it.’

‘What do you think?’ Tobias asks, one of his eyebrows arching into his forehead.

I open and close my mouth. ‘I... I don’t know,’ I say,finally.

‘Does it matter?’ asks Ashley. ‘The point is, he was Lacey’s baku. Carter stole him and we can’t stand by and let that happen.’

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