Haunt (Regenerate #5)

Chapter 7

Mantis builds a pair of force field handcuffs in fifteen minutes. And even though I'm still mad at him, I have to admit it's kind of hot.

We're at one of his random safehouses, waiting for Jess to wake up now that we can keep him restrained.

"I don't like this," I say. "He's just a kid."

"He's only a few years younger than you are, probably," Mantis says. "And it's just going to be a little questioning."

"Like a good cop, bad cop sort of thing?"

"Sure," Mantis says.

"Dibs on being bad cop," I say.

"No," he says. "I'm bad cop."

"But I called dibs."

"You can't just call dibs on everything," he says. "Besides, I'm more intimidating than you are."

"I could shift into something that is way scarier than your little shadow outfit."

"What happened to taking it easy on him because he's just a kid?" Mantis asks.

I glance over at Jess. He's wide awake, and watching us with a very intrigued (not intimidated) expression. Perhaps not our most professional moment.

"You don't need to do any sort of good cop, bad cop routine," he says. "I'll tell you whatever you want as long as you promise not to turn me into the real cops."

I bristle a little at that. We're supposed to be scarier than the cops.

"If your information is accurate, we'll consider a negotiation."

Jess rolls his eyes. "Look, nobody would be more thrilled than me to see the House of Night go down. Not that I think your little geek squad can do it. But if you want to try, be my guest."

"Did you just call us the geek squad?" I ask.

"You'll just give us all the information?" Mantis says. "Sounds a little too good to be true."

"I'm pretty sure he just called us the geek squad," I say.

Mantis turns to me. "I heard. I didn't think it was the most important piece of information to dwell on."

"Easy for you to say," I mutter. "You probably get called a geek all the time."

Mantis ignores that comment. "We want all the information you have on the House of Night."

"That'll take awhile," Jess says.

"I wasn't under the impression that they appreciated being squealed on," Mantis says. "Talking seems kind of dangerous."

"Let's just say I have some immunity with the House of Night," Jess says. "If you're going to take them on, you should be worrying about yourselves, and not me."

"What makes them so dangerous?" I ask. "I mean, I've kind of gathered that they've been running an underground crime ring for years, but that was before there was a team of superheroes to stop them."

"The House of Night has plenty of superpowers of their own," Jess says. "And they're smart."

"Why don't you tell us what we're up against and let us worry about whether we're a match for them?"

"Your funeral," Jess says. "They have eight powered people, besides me."

"What sort of powers?" I ask.

"Strong guy, a girl who can control water, two fliers, a telekinetic, a stretchy guy. He's the worst."

Mantis glances at me. "Nothing we can't take, right?"

"The guy you really want to watch out for is the boss, Jonas," Jess says. "He's some sort of illusionist. He can create these nightmarish illusions. Trap people inside their own minds. He can kill people with their own worst fears if he has a mind to."

"You're what, seventeen?" Mantis says. "Which means you can't have been part of the House of Night for very long. How do you know so much about this guy?"

"Because the rumors are everywhere," Jess says. "Fear keeps everyone in line."

"He sounds charming," I say.

"Yeah," Jess says. "I should know. He's my old man."