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She felt the heat from its body on her face. She
had never seen anything so beautiful, but she resisted the
temptation to reach out and touch it lest she burn her fingers. She
wasn’t sure if the fire was real.
    “Get back here you insubordinate
animal!”
    A skinny bald man in overalls and a plaid
shirt whose knees cracked as he struggled to run after the horse
called out, “You’re not allowed on the main floor. Come back here!
I’ll hose you down, horse!”
    The horse neighed loudly and left only a
fiery-red trail behind as it disappeared through the main
doors.
    The strangest beasts Zoey had ever seen
passed her by without even a glance in her direction. With her
heart hammering in her ears, she strained to calm down—if Agent
Barnes could be so cool, then so could she. But she turned her head
in every direction as they walked through the hall as she tried to
absorb everything at once.
    A tall thin woman flailed her hands in the
air as she spoke to another group of agents. “Rank six mystics took
the Paris subway system hostage. It took us five hours to
neutralize the situation. I don’t get paid enough for this kind of
work…”
    Agent Barnes grinned at Zoey’s amazement.
“Told you it was awesome.”
    Zoey wasn’t sure if she would call this
awesome just yet—every single monster she’d ever faced before had
wanted to harm her.
    But it was different here—the monsters
almost seemed nice . It was like a whole new world had opened
up to her. Monsters and humans walked and talked together like it
was the most ordinary thing in the world, as though they were one
big happy family.
    She followed Agent Barnes to where a woman
scribbling in a large ledger sat behind a long polished
counter.
    “I see they’re working you to the bone, Mrs.
Andrews,” he said with a smile. “Do you ever get time off? I hope
you’re getting paid time and a half for your trouble.”
    Mrs. Andrews appeared to be in her late
fifties. She wore thick glasses and pinched expression as though
she had never smiled in her entire life. Her hair was done into a
long blond braid, which fell over her light blue suit. Her thin
lips were pressed in a hard line.
    “It’s late. I was on my way out,” she said
without looking up. Her voice dripped with contempt.
    “You’re lucky you caught me, Agent Barnes.
May I remind you that office hours are from nine to seven . It’s half-past eight, and the night watch doesn’t
begin until nine o’clock.”
    “So why are you still here then?” said Agent
Barnes playfully. “Were you waiting for me?”
    “Don’t flatter yourself, Agent Barnes. I was
just tidying up for tomorrow morning. Now, what is it that you
want? I don’t have all night.”
    “I’m here to see Management, my dear woman.
They’re expecting us,” he said importantly and threw out his
chest.
    At the mention of us , Mrs. Andrews
raised her head and gazed at Zoey. Her gray eyes were magnified by
her glasses and looked like giant crystal balls.
    “And who might this be? I’ve never seen the
likes of her before? Her looks are certainly nothing to be
considered, and those awful clothes—dear God, her hair’s as red as
carrots!”
    Zoey glowered.
    Mrs. Andrews didn’t seem to notice. “Well,
she’s too young to be an operative. You can’t just bring in any stray Mute, Agent Barnes, we have strict rules about
that you know—even if she looks half-starved and in desperate need
of a bath. The agency won’t approve.”
    Agent Barnes leaned over the counter and
whispered, “She’s not a Mute—she’s a Drifter .”
    Mrs. Andrews’s eyes quadrupled in size.
    “A Drifter! You don’t say? Well, I must
say—this is a surprise. I haven’t seen a Drifter in over thirty
years. Well, well, well. This will be the talk of the hive! Wait
till Mrs. Crawley hears—I can’t wait to see the look on her face.
Ha! The Wilson’s divorce is nothing compared to this bit of
news, and I’m the one who saw her first.”
    Mrs. Andrews