I opened my mouth to snap something snarky at him, but I couldn't get my breath. Every time I tried to inhale, I came up short.

No, no, not now.

Everything was going dark. The man above me threw his hood off as I passed out and I caught a glimpse of warm chocolate brown eyes as the demons words whispered to me,

"Meet Death."

As I began to regain consciousness, I tried to get my bearings as nondescriptly as possible. Wherever I was, we were still in the city, made obvious by the noise coming from outside. I was covered by what felt like a cotton sheet on a bed. Nothing was bound up or tied down; minus the small bandage I could feel on my cheek. I could hear people moving around close by, but it didn't sound as if anyone were in the same room as me.

"I know you're awake. You're eyes are moving too much for you to not be." I jumped at the sudden voice.

"You know, of all the things I expected you to do, passing out wasn't one of them." A French accented voice quipped.

I opened my eyes, hissing only a little at the sudden light, and glared up at Alma.

"You had me jumped." I accused venomously.

She opened her mouth to retort when the door to the small bedroom, obviously not in the same apartment building as before, opened. A man walked in wearing a grey button down, untucked, and dark jeans. He had dark brown, almost black curls, was in serious need of a shave, and had a face that would look perpetually pissed off.

"She did not have you jumped. That would be me." He spoke in a calm even tone that was obviously well practiced.

"And may I ask why?" I retorted mimicking his tone.

"That's a long story." He chuckled, shaking his head.

"Then let's go one detail at a time, shall we? Starting with, who the hell are you people?" Okay, so maybe I wasn't as good at the even tone as he was.

"My name is Dylan Rhodes and this is my wife, Alma. The four you met…"

"Got jumped by."

"earlier work with me." He continued, not missing a beat.

"Good, now we can move on to why."

"Because, Aslet, you have the potential to be an amazing magician." Alma smiled at me.

I stared at the two of them, my mind whirling. Nothing was making sense. What did any of this have to do with magic?

Dylan must have seen my mind collapsing in on itself, so he threw me a life raft.

"You've heard of the eye, I'm assuming?" he asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Of course I've heard of the eye. Every one whose ever wanted to be a magician has. Does it look like…" but I couldn't finish my sentence.

The image of an eye on the back of a card was flashing across my mind. It kept flipping, over and over. The eye, a woman and the star. The eye.

"You see, Aslet, the eye wanted you. You have the potential to be great, but there was an issue. You can't just join the eye. Not without proving yourself first." Alma explained.

I could almost picture pieces falling together in my mind.

"You watched me that day in the park, doing that trick with Kyla. Then you told someone, Dylan I'm presuming, and it was decided that I would be tested. Having those people jump me, using their tricks was my test." I mumbled, smirking as the picture came into place.

"Now that you've got mostly everything figured out, I have my own question." Dylan stated, staring at me in a way that was deeply concerned and yet still seemed pissed off.

My return look conveyed the question of where in the hell he thought he had the right to question me, but he ignored it.

"When we brought you here, after you passed out, Alma checked to make sure you were physically okay. Everything checked out. She could find nothing wrong with you. Care to explain what caused the sudden black out?"

"Let's put it this way. I'm a magician; therefore I have some baggage from the past. Some pieces darker than others. Sometimes if I get myself into a situation that reminds me too much of something from my past, it catches me off guard and I basically have a panic attack. Though I will add, that was the first time that's happened in nearly five years." I replied easily, but I knew my look was stony.

Dylan nodded, staring at me with a look of understanding and pissed off-ness. Silence ensued as we all let our thoughts consume us. When I looked up from the baby blue sheet, I found Alma's blue eyes watching me with pity.

"Don't do that, please. I don't want pity." I mumbled, smiling tightly.

She nodded, looking down at her lap and plucking at a thread on the small arm chair she was sitting in. Dylan looked over at her and opened his mouth when the door, yet again, burst open.

"I know you said to wait until you told us we could come in, but I couldn't take it anymore." A fiery redhead smiled, flashing extremely white and straight teeth.

Dylan pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, but waved her in. She breezed into the room, going to stand by Alma, with three men following. One was bald, in his mid to late thirties with a watchful eye and an awful Hawaiian print shirt. The next was shorter and leaner with dark curls, midnight blue eyes and a scowl that would kill someone who cared. Guess that counted me out. The last one was taller than the second, shorter than the first with rich brown, bed head locks, and brown eyes that seemed oddly familiar.

"You're the asshole that was throwing cards at me." I accused, earning chuckles all around.

"I'm also the guy who carried you out of the building, but you probably won't remember that." He replied, smirking lightly.

At this opportune time, my mind decided to register two things. First, he was probably the most gorgeous man I'd ever seen. Secondly, he definitely had the body to singlehandedly carry me around.

I shook my head and looked away.

"If you're expecting a thank you, you aren't getting one." Was all I said which of course caused more laughter.

"Well, not that laughing at our newest edition isn't extremely enjoyable, but shouldn't we, oh I don't know, introduce ourselves?" the older guy asked, raising one eyebrow.

The redhead strode forward and hugged me. She flashed me that thousand watt smile, which, instead of bringing up jealousy as I had expected, brought a feeling of companionship.

"I'm Henley Reeves and I'm so glad you're here. It'll be nice to have a girl to hang out with instead of them." She smirked, waving her hand to indicate the three guys.

I smiled and turned to the guy in the Hawaiian shirt.

"Merrit McKinney, and let me guess Aslet, the Libra?" he guessed, smirking.

"Wow, that's so cool!" I gushed animatedly as he smiled widely. "And the next time you take my wallet, I'll make you regret it." I finished.

His smile feel and he tossed my grey wallet onto the bed while I smirked and Henley giggled.

I turned to the last two and hesitated. One I was childishly ignoring, the other looked about ready to strangle me. I went with the one who wanted to strangle me.

"And you are?"

"J. Daniel Atlas." He muttered coldly.

"Ah yes, the great Daniel Atlas." I replied, dejectedly turning to the ass who was still grinning at me.

"Jack, Jack Wilder."

Good God. With a name like that and a grin that could strip the panties off most girls on the street, I didn't know whether to run out screaming or hate him childishly. I chose the latter and sarcastically replied,

"Maybe you should leave introductions like that to someone who carries the mysterious persona a little better than you. Like maybe the Easter Bunny." Wow, nice one Aslet.

Ignoring the looks I was receiving and the urge to jump off a building at my stupidity, I spoke to everyone.

"As you know, my name is Aslet Mari Reynolds and I'm a Libra." I stated, shooting Merrit a mocking look.

We stood for a moment in silence.

"So, Aslet…." Merrit began.

"How did you manage to put me in an exitless room?" Jack asked, watching me with bright, almost childlike brown eyes.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Henely gushed.

"Did you give Daniel a concussion on purpose or was that just a spur of the moment thing?" Merrit grinned.

"Um, I'm not telling you, my ballet teacher, and on accident, but that does explain why he looks like he's about ready to throw me off a building." I replied quickly, feeling my face heat up at the looks I received.

They all sucked breath to reply, but Alma cut across them.

"Aslet, I think you're phone might be broken. It's making an odd noise." She said, bringing my phone to me.

I raised a brow, taking the sleek black object and unlocking it. A small warning banner flashed across the top of the screen and I felt the blood freeze in my veins. My heart hammered unsteadily and I felt like I couldn't breathe. No.

"Aslet, are you alright?" Alma asked, sinking onto the bed beside me with worry in her eyes.

"Whats wrong? Is it broken?" Henley asked, sitting on my other side.

I shook my head and tried to speak but my throat was too dry. Swallowing I began to explain.

"I have an app on my phone that will alert me if it is being tracked."

"Who would be tracking you?" Alma asked, confusion evident on her face.

"My brother." I mumbled. "We have to go. We have to go, now."

Me: Okay just a few things. I do not own Now You See Me. If it's italicized, it's a direct thought. Don't kill me for the cliffhanger. I LOVE Jack Wilder (and Dave Franco for that matter). Tell me what you think! R&R! P.S. it will get better. The first chapters always suck ;)