Everland(26)

“Justice’s gotta point,” Scout says, and spits on the ground.

Justice twists a knob on the side of his goggles. The lenses move forward, protruding from his face like two telescopes. He pulls a spiral notebook from his shirt pocket, flips a few pages, and clears his throat.

“According to the Statutes of the City of Lost Kids, section fifteen, article five, subarticle A-3, ‘No Lost Boy shall bring outsiders within the city limits without prior consent and two-thirds vote of the Lost citizens,’ ” the boy says, holding up the notebook. “Rules are rules.”

Bella marches up to Justice and swats the paper pad out of his hand. A few loose pages slip from the metal spiral spine as the notebook flutters to the floor. The boy frowns at Bella as his lips press into a thin line.

“Do that again, princess, and I’ll dip your wings in candle wax. You’ll be grounded for at least a day or more,” Justice says, glaring at Bella.

Bella is unfazed and only smirks. “You and your book of stupid rules! I’m tired of them.”

Justice grimaces. “You do know what the statutes say about retaliating against another Lost Boy, don’t you, Bella?”

“I’m not a Lost Boy—the rules don’t apply to me.” She crosses her arms, almost as if she is expecting the boy to challenge her.

“We’re going to have to call an emergency council meeting and make an amendment to include Lost Girls,” he growls.

Justice bends to pick up his notebook, but Bella steps on it. She leans in close so that she is only centimeters from his face. “Are you sure you really want to do that?” she says. “Remember what happened the last time you called an emergency council meeting? How did that work out for you?”

Justice releases the notebook, leaving it under Bella’s boot. He stands, rolls his shoulders back, and straightens his waistcoat. “I was cleaning glue from the gears of my spectacles for weeks,” Justice mutters.

Bella stands on her tiptoes so she’s close to Justice’s ear. “Pete and I found firecrackers on our last scavenge. It’d be a shame if they found their way into your sleeping quarters.”

“Bella, that’s enough,” Pete says, the tone of his voice indicating a stern warning.

“Fine!” Bella says. But she leans close one more time and whispers, “I still wouldn’t advise any emergency council meetings if I were you.” She winks, spins on the heels of her boots, stomps to the center of the city, and stands in front of the statue.

Pete rolls his eyes. “Did you have to do that?” he says.

Bella cocks her weight to one hip and grins.

“But the rules state we must vote first. You have no idea if these two are associated with the Marauders,” Justice says, picking up his notebook and flipping through the pages.

“Gwen and Mikey are my guests. They’re staying,” Pete says, dismissing the altercation between Bella and Justice. He strides toward Mikey and me. “I declare you, Gwen … What did you say your last name was?” he asks.

“I didn’t say what it was. It’s Darling, Gwen Darling,” I mumble.

“Hmm, not as bad as Gwen the Immune, but you might consider taking a new name now that you’re a Lost Kid,” Pete says. “All the smart kids do. You could go with Stubbornly. Feisty. How about Cheeky?”

The boys erupt in laughter.

I scowl. “Thanks for the advice, Prince Charming.”

“So is that a no?”

I give him a light smack on his chest and narrow my eyes.

Pete winks. “I’m only kidding.” He throws his arms in the air in a dramatic display. “Gwen Darling, do you promise to protect all of those smaller than you, even the Lost Bugs, except when Sous the Chef serves them for dinner because there is nothing else to eat?” Pete asks a little too loudly.

The littlest of the Lost Boys giggle, some of them scrunching up their noses at the suggestion of eating bugs.

“I guess so,” I say.

Pete turns to Justice. “Are you satisfied now?”

Justice’s telescope eyes scrutinize me before he gives a quick nod.

“Excellent! Gwen Darling, I declare you a Lost Kid. You will all regard her with the same dignity as you would any other Lost Kid. Anyone who treats her otherwise will have to report to me, and I assure you the Plungers have an endless amount of drains to snake. I’m sure they’d be thrilled with an extra hand or two,” Pete says.

A hush blankets the gathering of boys, but no one challenges Pete.

He points at Mikey. “And he’s a Lost Boy, too. No questions asked.”

A melodious cheer erupts from the crowd. Bella claps with an expression of boredom on her face. “Huzzah,” she says with sarcasm.

Mikey smiles a muddy grin, still dirty from his earthy disguise. Justice studies my brother with a pinched expression but says nothing. An East Asian boy Mikey’s age raises his hand and bounces on the balls of his feet. “Pete! Hey, Pete! Right here!” the boy shouts.

The crowd parts as the young boy steps forward.

Pete rolls his eyes. “Yes, Gabs?”

“Does she like to tell stories? I mean like real stories. Not the stories you tell because they’re way too short, and I don’t think you really like telling stories anyway. Stories like my mum used to tell about warriors and battles and even fire-breathing dragons that roar so loud it shakes the ground like an earthquake. That’s really where earthquakes come from, you know. It’s dragons who are really, really, really mad. The kind of mad your mum gets because you drew on the walls when you know you shouldn’t. And the dragon mums, they’re mad because someone stole their dragon eggs and the mum dragons are trying to find their babies. Sometimes they dive into mountains and make volcanoes. That’s not really lava, you know. It’s dragon spit that will burn you up and then you’ll know better not to touch the dragon spit because … well, I guess you won’t because then you’d be all burned up. Anyway … does she tell stories?”