My Merlin AwakeningBook 2, My Merlin Series

Priya Ardis

Ink Lion Books

My Merlin AwakeningBook 2, My Merlin Series

Rise of the Fisher King

Table Of ContentsPrologueCHAPTER 1 – HOMECHAPTER 2 – THE WORLD BECKONSCHAPTER 3 – CROSSROADSCHAPTER 4 – A HAUNTED HOUSECHAPTER 5 – NYMPH’S LURECHAPTER 6 – CHOICESCHAPTER 7 – THE ATTACKCHAPTER 8 – ATHENSCHAPTER 9 – A DARK DANCECHAPTER 10 – GHOST CITYCHAPTER 11 – HOLDING ONCHAPTER 12 – THE PILLARS OF HERCULESCHAPTER 13 – MERMAIDSCHAPTER 14 – CHAMPIONCHAPTER 15 – THE LONG DARKCHAPTER 16 – THE LIONCHAPTER 17 – THE WHITE BULLCHAPTER 18 – TIGER, TIGERCHAPTER 19 – SACRIFICECHAPTER 20 – AWAKENINGEVER MY MERLINAbout the AuthorAuthor’s Note

My Merlin Awakening. Copyright © 2012 by Priyanka Ardis. Cover art by ClaudiaMcKinney, Phatpuppy Art. Cover photo by Y. Sjøv ik . Cover model is J. Mathisen. Cover

design by Kat Balwin, Ink Lion Books.

A ll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded,reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval

system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical without theauthor's express written permission. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book

v ia the Internet or v ia any other means without permission is prohibited.

This novel is a work of fiction. Any references to real people or real locations are usedfictitiously . Any references to historical events are used fictitiously . Characters, names,organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's

imagination or used fictitiously . Any resemblance to actual incidents or persons iscoincidental.

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various

products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. Thepublication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the

trademark owners.

Published by: Ink Lion Books, LLC

http://inklionbooks.com

Visit the author website:http://www.priyaardis.com

ISBN-13: 978-0-9848339-1-7

ISBN-10: 0984833919

Version 2012.06.16

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A big sloppy thank you to the readers who have encouragedme to write the second installment of this series. When I went outwith the first book, I wasn’t sure what to expect and to find thosewho enjoy the Merlin stories has been a true blessing.

There are also a great many who have worked in thebackground to make this book happen. I would like to thank myeditors—Teri “The Editing Fairy” G. for her wonderful polish andWes M. for his pointed insight in refining the story. I would like tothank my brilliant cover designer, Kat B. at Ink Lion Books, andfabulous cover artist Claudia M. at Phatpuppy Art.

Thank you to my family and friends for their incrediblesupport. It means everything.

Finally, to the Brontes, may they forever haunt the Moors!

Prologue

PROLOGUE Everything I had worked for, planned, schemed and

generally manipulated into being I saw coming together. The futurewas upon me.

My name is Merlin.Arthur stood on top of a small hill, surrounded by a hundred

or so knights in chainmail, a flutter of brightly gowned nobles, and a

mass of commoners in plain brown and gray. He pulled Excaliburfrom the stone.

It was what the crowd had been waiting for, yet they stillgasped when it happened. The sword had been sitting outside thecastle of Camelot under a great, white oak tree for so long it hadpassed into legend. It had been all but forgotten by the kingdom. Aman had occasionally tried his hand to pull out the glimmering metal,if only for its monetary value as much as its mystery, but no one hadever succeeded. Until today.

The prince had, just hours after the death of King Uther,pulled the sword from its resting place—and the fate of the wholekingdom changed in an instant.

The burdensome gloom that had settled in the air gave wayto a burgeoning sense of expectation. The fever of it shone in theeyes of everyone from the kingdom’s most faithful knights down tothe smallest child. Under a banner of crimson red and gloriouswhite, they all watched their new king with awe.

Their savior had arrived.Finally, one commoner shouted out a cheer, the first volley of

an erupting wave. Within moments, the whole square echoed with aferocious sound of victory.

I pulled my hood around me and sank back into the trees.The kingdom would know about me soon enough.

“So it is done.” A shadowy figure came through the clearing.I turned to look behind me. With whisper-soft footfalls,

Vivane, or Vane, as he’d long ago dubbed himself, crushed leaveswith such precise movements of his jerkin boots that they could onlyemit silent screams. Most creatures rarely got a chance to emitmore around Vane. But it was not this that bothered me. It was acertain coldness in my brother’s gaze, which disturbed me my entirelife.

Vane stopped just beside me. “Why do you stand in theshadows? We no longer need to hide our magic. Our time hascome.”

“Will come. Arthur has promised to integrate us back into thekingdom, but nothing happens overnight,” I corrected him.

“Are you sure he is not too old?”“Arthur is but twenty-eight. He has plenty of years left,” I

said to convince myself as much as him.“That’s not what I meant.”“I realize this.” He was referring to whether Arthur was too

old to change.In the square, the commoners who’d been watching at a safe

distance started to approach their new king with eager faces. Itdidn’t take long for the knights of Camelot to also come out of theirstupor, forming a barrier around Arthur. They started to shepherdhim back inside the main castle keep. A young boy broke throughthe barrier of knights. One knight rushed to catch the boy. Arthurheld up a hand to stay the knight. He kneeled down on one knee tospeak to the excited lad.

The kindness of the action rekindled my hope. I looked atVane. “He will bring us out of the shadows. You will see. He is thebridge between us.”

“The bridge? You have no idea what that actually means, doyou?”

I ground my teeth. Nothing with Vane was ever easy. It hadbeen like that since we were children. He always had to have thelast word. “The Lady said we would not know the future until thesword had been lifted. Whoever removes it determines the courseof our future.”

Vane snorted. “And since you’ve had no visions beyondwhat happened today, you’re forced to take her word for it.”

I put a hand on the weathered trunk of a thick tree. Its roughedges scraped my fingers. I could feel the power under its coarseexterior. “She promised us a greater destiny. She wouldn’t lie aboutthat.”

“You put too much faith in her.”I twisted to face him. “Then why did you help me with

Arthur? Without you, he would have never have had the skill to pullout the sword. He would not have passed the trial.”

Vane didn’t answer. His attention fixed on Arthur and movedjust to the right of the new king. A young woman, dressed in a fine

gown, was being escorted away from the crowd. Vane frowned.“Who is she?”

I almost groaned. “Guinevere.”“Really?”“His betrothed.” I added quickly, “She’s very much devoted

to him.”Vane raised a brow. “You sound as if you know her well.”“As a friend,” I said with measure.“I sense a hint of disappointment.”Against my will, my jaw clenched. I felt power surging inside

me. My eyes must have flashed—I was told it was a terrifying sightto see a man’s eyes glow with a blue radiance—but Vane’s onlyreaction was a smug expression.

I sighed and the power subsided instantly. Vane was the onlyone who could make me lose control so easily. I asked again, “Whydid you help me with Arthur?”

Vane’s lips curled up into a slow smile. “That should beobvious, Merlin. I want to change my destiny and as a friend of theking, I can do just that.”

CHAPTER 1 - HOME

CHAPTER 1HOME

I was tired of being real. All I wanted to do was put on a

smile and fake it until my teeth hurt. I wanted to go back to a timewhen everything was simple. I wanted to go back to that personwho didn’t need to question everything, who didn’t have to fight forevery inch of space, who didn’t have to remember to breathe. Iwanted to go back to just being the nice girl. I wanted to go back tobeing me. If only I knew what “me” meant anymore.

A lacrosse ball whacked me on the head. I turned to glare atthe perpetrator.

“Wake up, DuLac!” Vane yelled from the sidelines.I gnashed my teeth and rubbed my head. The score was ten

to two—not in our favor. Possibly the reason our new coach mayhave been so pissed.

Vane, or Dr. Vivane Northe, had joined the staff of Acton-Concord High School during the winter break. He’d taken over theposition left by Ms. Bedevere, my European History teacher,who’d not only gotten married during Christmas vacation, but wasnow expecting a kid. Her new husband was our Physics teacher, ashort energetic man, and apparently, not shooting blanks. Really, itwas possible to know too much about your teachers.

I glared at Vane. He wore navy blue sweatpants, a woolcap, and a matching blue hoodie. I had on thin windbreaker pants,no jacket, and no warm cap. The cap was my fault. It was sitting inmy gym bag inside the heated locker room. Of course, Vanerefused to let me go back inside to retrieve it. All in all, I preferredto be curled up in bed with a book, rather than standing in themiddle of a field on a bone-chilling winter day in Concord,Massachusetts, clutching an icy lacrosse stick.

Vane smirked back at me as if he knew exactly what I wasthinking and had zero sympathy. “Stop daydreaming and pick upthe pace, Ryan.”

I wanted to take the ball and hit him in the face, but I didn’t. Iwasn’t the sort… Unfortunately. My name is Arriane MorganneBrittany DuLac—you can imagine why I chose to go by Ryaninstead. I turned back to face the girls on the other team and forcedmyself to concentrate.

I was a little shocked to realize I didn’t even know howmany girls were playing. Vane had divided the lacrosse team for thescrimmage. My side wore practice jerseys of blue and yellow, theother team wearing red and black. Another girl on my teamgrabbed the ball and started weaving through the opposition towardthe goal. I ran, keeping just behind her, but kept to the outside.

Bitterly harsh wind that chilled New England at this time ofyear slapped against our backs with relentless persistence. Moundsof untouched snow sat at the edges of the lacrosse field. But here, inthe middle of the field, enough snow had been cleared to revealsludgy mud and crunchy grass. This snow looked about asattractive as the black-tarred stuff that lined the edges of the roadsall over town. The romance of Christmas had worn off. We weredeep into February, and we faced several more months of sheercold.

Obviously, Vane was into torture. It was the only explanationfor making the team practice outside in the middle of winter. Howhad I wound up dating such a psycho?

Not that Vane was the only mental case out today. On thefield next to us, the boys’ football coach, not to be outdone by thegirls’ coach, had also thrown his players into the frosty milieu. I saw

my brother Grey’s brown hair bobbing around in the throng of boysin sweatpants and muscle-clinging spandex thermal shirts.

“Get to the front, DuLac!” Vane yelled, jogging parallel to uson the sidelines. “Move your ass!”

Beside me, a girl giggled at Vane’s harassment. My eyesnarrowed. Ramanajan. Newly up from junior-varsity, she’d takenover the vacant spot Alexa left… which would have been okay, hadshe not played it so well. I wanted time to miss Alexa. I wasn’tready to just move on.

My sister deserved to be mourned.Anger proved to be the impetus that forced my tired legs to

battle against an invisible enemy of lady winter. My lungs stretchedin my chest until it hurt, but somehow, I pushed and pulled myselfahead of my team. I still stayed on the outside. The other teamblocked the goal with a solid defense line. Ramanajan, a slender girlwith long, black braids, had the ball in her lacrosse stick and ran inplace as she tried to find a hole.

Without ever glancing my way, she lobbed the ball straight atme. A linebacker of a girl tried to intercept the ball, but I edged herout, using my shoulder to block as I leaped up and raised mylacrosse stick. The ball landed with a solid thwack into the net ofmy stick.

I had a good shot at the goal. Another teammate jumped upand down, waving her stick in the air. She was a little closer to thegoal, but stood at an odd angle. It was a risk, but I hooked the stickand shot the ball forward to her. She caught it and sent it flying tothe goal. We all held our breaths. The ball slammed into the top ofthe post. Luckily, it went down instead of out and sailed into thegoal.

On the sidelines, Vane blew the whistle. Scrimmage wasover.

Ramanajan ran up to me and bumped shoulders.I forced a smile.“Good call, Ryan. Just like I watched you and Alexa play—”

Ramanajan cut off when my smile faltered. She sobered. “Sorry. Ishouldn’t have said… well, good pass, Ryan.” Quickly, she walkedaway from me to high-five a few of the other girls.

I stared out at the quiet field. I blinked hard to restrain thesuffusion of emotion that hovered just behind my eyelids. Thelinebacker girl whom I’d blocked to get to the goal thumped myback. “We all miss her, DuLac.”

“Thanks, Christine,” I said. I glanced at Vane, who was stillon the sideline just behind us. The team surrounded him. I couldn’thear what they were saying to him, but I heard the exclamationpoints. Vane made a reply, which caused the girls to squeal withlaughter. Ramanajan put a hand on his bicep and squeezed. Myeyes narrowed.

“Ugh,” Christine said. “How are we ever going to get throughthe season when all they want to do is drool over Coach 007?”

I grimaced. Between his British accent, lean-muscledphysique, and deadly-but-hot looks, Vane did have a Bond-esquequality to which no one seemed immune.

Christine hit my back with another hard slap. “Come on, let’sget inside before we turn into ice. Oh, I ordered those foam boardslike you wanted.”

“Good,” I said. “Who knew prom would be so much work?”Christine was on the planning committee with me.

She grinned. “I put in my vote for you.”

I groaned. I really didn’t want to be prom queen. I didn’twant to be any sort of queen. A picture of a sword embedded instone flashed in my mind, and the irony of the statement didn’tescape me. I started walking slowly back toward the gym with her.

“Bowler, DuLac, hang on.” Vane came up behind us with therest of the team in tow. “Bowler, take this back to the lockerroom.” He handed Christine a bulky duffel bag.

She grunted at its unexpected weight, but gave Vane abeatific smile that bordered on simpering. “You know my name?”

He gave her a brief nod. Her smile widened.I winced.A gust of frosty wind spurred us to hurry.Vane grabbed me. “DuLac, let’s chat.”Chat. British-speak for “Stand still while I yell at you.”“Yes, Coach,” I said between clenched teeth.The girls who had been heading quickly towards the gym

slowed to a crawl and looked at me curiously.Vane’s lips curved up into a cold smile. “What was that?

You had a clear shot at the goal. Why didn’t you take it?”My feet turned inward. I chewed my lip. “We’re here to

practice, right? How can the rest of the team do that if I’m taking allthe shots?”

Vane leaned his face down to mine. The top of my head onlyreached his shoulders. His breath hot in my face, he growled, “Youaren’t taking all the shots. You’re not taking any of them. That’s theproblem. You are their leader, DuLac. Act like one.”

I didn’t reply. I wasn’t sure what to say. What could I saythat he would understand? I had been trained by Vane to be aleader, a champion, but I didn’t feel like one. I had just gotten

lucky.Vane continued, “Play like you did today, DuLac, and I will

bench you. There are plenty of others ready to take your spot if youcan’t straighten up.”

I huffed. “I did fine in our last game.”“Fine isn’t good enough for co-captain. We lost the game.”“Twelve to eleven,” I said.We must have been talking loudly because the other girls

stopped pretending to be going back to the gym and haltedcompletely. Ramanajan and Christine turned around to look atVane and me first. The rest of the team followed their lead.

I shot him an angry look. “We’re adjusting. We lost ourcaptain. Remember? You haven’t picked a new one. Our old coachwould have it straightened out by now.”

“Ramanajan!” Vane barked.The slender girl jumped slightly.“Congratulations, you’ve made captain.” Vane looked at her.

She beamed a wide smile at him. He looked at the rest of the team.They returned his gaze like a pack of abused dogs—eager to pleasewith a dash of fear.

“I know it’s difficult losing a team member and your coachalmost at the same time, but we can’t dwell on that. You are varsity.Many of you are graduating. To have a chance at scholarships, youneed to keep your eyes on the target. Playing here is not just aboutwinning a few games. This is about your future. Show them you’rethe champions you’ve already proven yourselves be. We were firstplace in our division last term. There is no reason why we can’t doit again… if you can keep focused.” Vane rounded on me. “Whatdo you say, DuLac?”

“I’ll try,” I mumbled.“Coach is right,” Ramanajan said quickly. “We can’t lose if

we can just figure out how to work together again. As your captain,I promise you I won’t rest until that is so.”

Vane gave her a brisk nod. “Good.”I shivered as another blast of arctic air raced across the open

field and leveled us.“Everyone inside,” Vane said.The team didn’t need more prompting. Arms linked, they

huddled together against the cold and ran inside. I followed. Vanedidn’t stop me again as I half expected him to. I turned around toglance at him.

He stood looking out across the empty field with a pensiveexpression, his dark-blonde eyebrows furrowed. I had the feelinghe wasn’t thinking about lacrosse. I had to resist the urge to walkover and put a hand against the hard cheekbones of his face. Ishook my head. When it came to Vane, I was more pathetic thatanyone else on the team.

***It took me a few minutes to shower after practice. The other

girls were still congratulating Ramanajan when I hurried out of thelocker room. I was the first to get to History. The basement roomreminded me of a dungeon. Cheap plywood desk-and-chaircombos took up most of the space. A thin teacher’s desk lookedbarren at the front. Most of the room was bereft of any decoration.High windows surrounded the top of the classroom, letting in a bitof sun, but not enough to lighten the dreary interior.

The classroom filled quickly as students rushed to beat thebell. There were usually one or two who hung around just outside in

the hallway until the bell forced them in, but not this class. Everyonesat and waited for the teacher.

A couple of people peeked in from the hallway. They wereteachers on their off period. The sharp ring of the bell sounded. Wewaited. No one was particularly surprised that our teacher was late.I heard footsteps pound down the corridor, then a titter of voicesfrom the lingering teachers in the hall before Vane entered theclassroom.

“Ah, you’re all here,” Vane said, as if it were a surprise.I glanced around the packed room. When Ms. Bedevere

was teaching Advanced Placement European History, despite itbeing the only Euro-History class, barely half the room had beenfull. Now, every desk had a student and I knew there was a waitinglist of several students if a space opened up. The majority of theclass was, of course, girls. And by the way they stared at Vane withsuch intense concentration, I doubted if a space was going to openup anytime soon.

Vane slammed his bag down on the floor beside theteacher’s desk. With white chalk, he wrote “Ancient Greece” onthe blank chalkboard. He asked without turning, “Who’s done theirreading?”

Almost every single hand in the classroom went up.I forced myself to lower mine. I glanced behind me at Grey

and raised a brow at my brother’s taciturn expression. Grey andthree of his buddies sat in the back. Grey’s hand was not up, but hisbuddies had raised theirs. They were the only boys left. Many of theother boys who had originally been in the class had, over the month,disappeared bit by bit, transferring to other classes as theirgirlfriends persuaded them to give up their space. Since my brother

didn’t have a girlfriend, and didn’t seem inclined to get one anytimesoon, he held on. He also wanted to keep a close eye on Vane.

Vane turned around. His eyes fixed on Grey. “Don’t like theGreeks, Ragnar?”

“Aren’t we supposed to be on World War I or something?The AP tests aren’t that far away. Ms. Bedevere already coveredthis.”

“Indeed, she did. However, when I gave you the pop quizlast week, it seems that none of you were able to answer anyquestions in this area. Hence, we shall be going back to addressthese holes. And I expect you to complete your assignments, notjust question them.” He leveled Grey with a sardonic look. “Youmay do that once you’ve actually built up a basic foundation.” Vaneglanced at the class.

They all watched him with alert eyes.“Who can tell me the date of the great volcanic eruption on

the Greek island of Thera?”A wheezy girl in the front coughed and stuck her hand up in

the air. She beat the twenty other girls whose hands were also heldhigh.

Vane looked at me. “Well, DuLac?”If I could have sunk any lower into my seat I would have, but

showing weakness in front of Vane wasn’t an option. “Theestimated date was said to be somewhere between 1630 BC and1600 BC, about thirty-five hundred years ago.”

Vane blinked. He clearly was not expecting me to actuallyknow the dates. I don’t know why, but it surprised him that I had,in fact, read the assignment. Total flakes didn’t get elected studentpresident. Plus, I happened to be a history nerd. Why else would I

be interested in a guy born in the year 519?I met Vane’s steady gaze. He didn’t seem at all out of place

in our time despite being cryogenically frozen in a cave for morethan fifteen hundred years. The staff of Acton-Concord was startledwhen the new lacrosse coach took over a history class. Thecombination of razor-sharp wit (completely real) and his credentials(completely fake) had won them over in the end.

“What is the date estimate based on?” Vane asked.“Carbon dating of an olive tree found under the lava flow.”“What city was on Thera?”“Akrotiri, a Minoan settlement,” I said.“What did the eruption also cause?”I opened my mouth to answer.Vane raised a brow. “Clearly you’ve read your assignment,

DuLac. Shall we allow someone else to answer?”My cheeks heating, I glared at Vane. Of course, I couldn’t

come up with anything cuttingly clever on the spot. Some peoplehad that ability, not I.

Ramanajan, who sat behind me, cleared her throat. “Theeruption was so large, a tsunami hundreds of feet high devastatedthe northern coast of the island of Crete, the center of the Minoancivilization about sixty-eight miles away. The Minoans neverrecovered from the eruption. In less than fifty or so years, theirstrongholds fell and the Greek city-states such as Athens, Sparta,and Argos came into power.”

Vane nodded. Coming around his desk, he sat on the edgeand stared at the class for a minute. He didn’t say anything, but Ifound myself holding my breath in anticipation. “One event thatchanged the world as we know it. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

How everything we know, even the way we live, can change in theblink of an eye?”

He didn’t look at me, but I knew his words were directedstraight at me.

The class stared back at him. The whole world had literallytrembled when a giant stone holding King Arthur’s sword suddenlypoofed into existence, crashing into the middle of London. Thenews had labeled it the “Total Tremor.” Several months later, noone could explain the appearance of the sword. Nor could anyonescientifically figure out how a rock, only the size of pickup truck,created an impact wave that caused the whole world to experiencethe tremor.

It did change the world. Just the appearance of KingArthur’s sword had caused a storm of excitement, speculation, andfear. No one wanted to say the “M” word.

“M” was for magic.Two girls in front of me turned their heads and gave me a

pitying look. I looked down at my desk.“M” was for Merlin. “M” was for Matt.Matt Emrys, my sort-of-ex-boyfriend who was formerly

considered the hottest guy at Acton-Concord High, had gone offthe deep end and declared on international news that he wasMerlin. After his announcement, Matt had apparently been cartedaway in a straightjacket. People also thought it hilarious that Greyand I had supposedly both stood in line to try to pull the swordfrom the stone, along with all the other crazies. What we’d actuallydone had been a lot crazier than they could have imagined.

Vane grabbed some papers on his desk and shuffled throughthem. “However while we wait for the world to change, I have your

quizzes from last time. From the marks, I can tell that many of youhave already left for mid-winter break.” Uncrossing long, lean legs,he started passing out the quizzes. A few of the girls actually giggledin excitement when he handed them their papers.

Vane came up to my desk. Without looking up, I lifted myhand, palm up, for him to drop the quiz onto. His fingers grazed mypalm. He laid the paper down on the desk instead. I stared at thepaper. I refused to give in to the urge to look at him.

Vane chuckled softly. “Decent showing, DuLac. You’re theonly one who managed to answer the date of King Arthur’s deathcorrectly.”

I couldn’t help it. I raised my eyes to meet his dark brownones. “It hasn’t been proven that he actually existed.”

Hazel-brown irises deepened. “Hasn’t it?”“The sword and the stone falling out of nowhere proved that

part of the legend existed. So why not King Arthur?” the wheezygirl from the front said. “And someone even pulled the sword.”

“Pulling the sword didn’t make him king…” I started.“No,” she said. “But if one piece of the legend is true, it

makes you question the rest.”“You think Emrys is really Merlin?” Grey asked from the

back of the room.“Grey,” one of the girls sitting beside him hissed as she

slapped a bicep. “Don’t talk about him. It’ll upset Mr. Northe—”Vane interjected smoothly. “My brother has allowed this

mystery to overwhelm him, but I assure you he’s receiving all thehelp he needs. He’s always been a little… delicate.”

Delicate. I debated kicking Vane in the shin.Taking a cue from Vane’s playbook, for once, careful and

plotting Matt had done the unthinkable. He exposed magic to acrowd of reporters in the middle of a press announcement. Thewhole thing had been covered up—sort of. All digital and analogrecordings of the news feed had been altered to show Mattsupposedly doing magic. The reporters in the media room who hadactually seen Matt do magic also had their memories “fixed.” Thatleft one last group of people who saw the news broadcast. Thenumber was surprisingly small, but considering that I didn’t knowanyone who actually watched a TV show when it came on, Isuppose it wasn’t too much of a stretch.

For once, Matt had done something reckless. Somethingonly Vane would have dared. So, naturally, Vane wanted to dismissit like it meant nothing. I crumpled the quiz I held in my hand.

Vane raised a sardonic brow. “Careful, DuLac, you’ll needto know those questions for the test.” He looked at the rest of thestudents. “I know it’s second semester, but you have decided totake an Advanced Placement class and the test will cover all thisand more.” He patted my head. “I want to make sure you realizeyour full potential.”

Clenching my teeth, I resisted growling at him.With a Cheshire cat smile, Vane walked off toward another

student. The rest of the class was filled with more discussion onGreek facts and mythology. For a direct descendant of the ancientRomans, it seemed odd that Vane was spending so much time onGreece. For the first time since I’d gotten there, a shiver went upmy spine. Vane was up to something.

And that usually meant someone was about to die.***

Fifteen minutes after the first lunch, the hallways stood

abandoned. Anyone who didn’t have first lunch sat in homeroom,still in class. I was in Independent Projects. Only open to a selectset of students, the class let you explore a profession under thementorship of an expert in the field from the community. A fewstudents sat in an empty classroom. Large windows took up onewall. The Independent Projects classroom was one of the nicestrooms in the whole school, meaning, it actually opened up to therare bit of sunlight when it graced the city. Eight circular tables tookup the classroom. Each table had five or six plastic, bucket-styleseats. After the first five minutes, the other students started filing outuntil Grey and I were the only ones left. Independent Projectsallowed you to leave campus for a whole two hours to do research.It had to be the number one reason why everyone took the class.Also, the teacher only showed up on Mondays to check up on us.

I had my laptop open and typed away on a brochure I wascreating. My project was to open a small exhibit at a local museum.We all had to come up with a project that related to what we werestudying. Okay, my project was a little over-the-top, since I’dactually convinced a museum to showcase my exhibit, but youdidn’t get to be student president by being an under-achiever.Anyway, one of the guys was shooting an actual commercial for asmall clothing store. I had to top that.

Grey was coming up with a portfolio analysis of aninvestment company. Grey’s mentor was a VP at Ragnar Bank, abank owned by Grey’s mom—my adopted mom—who could writea portfolio analysis in her sleep. My mentor happened to be Dr.Vivane Northe. Vane. A.k.a., everything in vain. Nothing withoutpain… I could go on.

Grey shut his laptop and put it into his backpack.

“You’re done?” I asked in surprise. We sat on the sametable across from each other. “Didn’t you just start?”

“I’m meeting Joey and a couple of other guys at thesandwich shop.”

I gave him a skeptical look. “We have to make apresentation on everything we’ve done next class.”

Grey snorted. “Mrs. Morris slotted ten minutes for each ofus. I can spew bull for at least fifteen.” He slung his backpack on hisshoulder and got up. “Don’t worry, sis, I’ll come out just fine. Ialways do.” He smiled a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Sincewe’d gotten back from London—where he’d almost died—Greyhadn’t been the same.

I said, “Have you talked to Gia? She’s left like a zillionmessages.”

Grey gripped the back of the chair he’d been sitting on.“She’s at Avalon Prep. I’m in Massachusetts. It’s just not a goodtime for us… to talk.”

“Well, can you tell her that?” Geez, boys could be suchjerks.

He looked down at his feet. “I will. I will.”Guy-speak for, “I plan to keep avoiding her until she gives

up.”“Later.” Grey rushed out before I could harass him any

further.I pulled up a picture on my laptop of Grey, Alexa, and me

from six months ago. Alexa sat in the middle with her arms aroundboth Grey and me. Grey’s air of casual arrogance matched his easyfootball captain-looks. Alexa’s classical face beamed with a smilethat could have launched a thousand ships. I stood slightly off to the

side with a forced smile and a full set of white teeth. I wrinkled mynose at the stiff image of myself. I hated taking pictures.

“Smell something unpleasant?”I jumped, startled, as Vane’s voice broke through my

reverie.

CHAPTER 2 - THE WORLD BECKONS

CHAPTER 2THE WORLD BECKONS

“What?” I said.He pulled out a bucket-seat that looked like it was meant for

a five-year-old and dropped into it. The chair strained a bit, butheld him. He flicked my nose with a finger. “You’re adorable whenyou’re upset.”

I scowled and shut the laptop. “I see something upsettingright now.”

Vane’s lips tightened to suppress a smile. “Why so hostile,love?”

“You whacked me on the head with a ball!”“You deserved it.”“I didn’t like it,” I said.“That’s the first real reaction I’ve gotten from you in a month,

except when I have my tongue down your throat.”I gave him an irritated look. “You’re the worst mentor in the

world. You haven’t helped me with anything.”“I called the witch museum for you,” he said.With his usual perverse sense of humor, he had me

researching the witch trials. I was one of the select few in the worldwho knew that wizards were real. After all, one sat in front of meright now, and I found the whole history of the trials disturbing.Exactly what Vane had been hoping, I was sure. He loved anyhistory that portrayed the downtrodden and persecuted life ofwizards, conveniently overlooking how disgustingly wealthy many oftoday’s wizards had become.

He continued, “I set up the venue for your exhibit. The rest isin your hands. Besides if I try to help, you’ll tell me all my ideaswere complete shite. You hate it when things aren’t exactly how

you want.”“When things aren’t right,” I corrected him.“Exactly,” he said smugly.I narrowed my eyes. “Sounds convenient… for you.”“Sounds as if this is going to be a long conversation.” Vane

made a circle with his hand. A faint red light surrounded us, forminga nearly invisible bubble.

“What are you doing?” I hissed. “What if someone seesyou?”

“You can talk as loudly as you want now.” He rocked backin the tiny plastic chair, lifting the front two legs off the ground. “Thebubble doesn’t allow anyone outside to hear anything inside.They’re only going to hear some mumbling.”

I glanced at the open door and the faint red light betweenthat veiled us. “I don’t know.”

Vane waved his hand. The door closed shut. “Happy?” Thelegs of Vane’s chair slammed down. He yanked me out of my chairand onto his lap.

I let out a surprised squeal. “Have you lost your mind?”Vane nuzzled my neck. “Definitely. You are gorgeous.”“The door has a window.” I pushed away from him, even as

my fingers dug into muscled shoulders, wanting to pull him closer.“You’ll get fired if anyone finds out about us!”

“So many rules in this century,” he muttered. “Tell me whywe’re here again? The Council asked you to return to AvalonPrep.”

The Wizard Council’s base operated out of AvalonPreparatory School. I muttered, “I’m not a wizard. I don’t belongthere.”

“You’ve proven yourself more than is necessary.” He pulledme closer to him and said softly into my ear, “You belonganywhere.”

I jerked my head up to look at him. His eyes were filled withsuch naked sincerity that I had to lower mine. My heart melted justa little. I stared off into space. Finally, I said, “I needed to comehome.”

He tucked a stray, dark-blonde strand of hair behind myear. “Hence, we came. But we’ve been here for over a month andyou don’t seem satisfied. You’re distracted. Not just out on thefield, but all the time. What is going on?”

“I’m fine.” Unconsciously, I touched the red gemstone amuletI wore around my neck. The one Matt had given me.

Vane’s eyes narrowed. “Is that what is distracting you? Mybrother?”

“What? No—” I bit my lip. “Maybe. I was just wondering ifhe was all right.”

“He’s fine,” Vane said. “My brother can take care ofhimself.”

Vane’s fingers tangled in my hair as he yanked me close.“Forget about him,” he said harshly.

Steely arms wrapped around me. I leaned into him,burrowing into his chest. His warmth seeped into my skin. Thetension in my shoulders eased bit-by-bit the more heat I drew. Ilifted my head. Our lips were barely inches apart. I swallowed.What was I doing with Vane? Could I really handle him? He wasolder… in more ways than just age. Being with him was thrilling andterrifying at the same time. I tried not to be overwhelmed. I turnedaway.

“How about if we go see a movie tonight?”After a pause, he said, “You know we can’t. It’s not safe for

you.”“It’s just a movie. Nothing is going to happen if we take one

night off.”“I can’t be seen out with you.”“You’re a wizard. You can figure out a way. Disguise

yourself somehow.” The window showed a sky painted with moodyshades of grey. My words came from deep down in my throat. “Iwant to go on a real date.”

“We’ve been on a date.”I scowled. “Making out on the couch doesn’t count.”Vane’s lips curved up. “It’s safer than going out.”I didn’t think so. I pushed away from him and sat back in

my chair. “No one is coming after me.”Vane looked at me like I was idiot. “Of course, they are.”“No one even knows I am here.”He snorted. “The gargoyles almost burned down your house.

Believe me, they know where you are.”If I thought a tantrum would have worked with Vane, I

would have thrown one. Instead, I crossed my arms and stuck myjaw out. “I’m going out tonight, Coach—whether you like it or not.The Council charged you to protect me, not to jail me.”

“I’m not here because they asked,” he said.I sniffed. “You won’t even let me go to a coffee shop. All I

do is school, house, school, house… repeat. It’s ridiculous. I. Am.Done.”

“You’re exaggerating. You’ve been to several games,” hereminded me.

“You rushed me into a van after each one! I didn’t even getto hang out with the team afterwards. I may as well be locked in adungeon with the amount of freedom I have.”

“If I were to lock you up in a dungeon, I guarantee youwould not be bored,” Vane said softly.

Bedroom eyes beckoned me. Trying not to blush, I stood up.“Besides, you’re more of the tower type,” Vane commented.

“I don’t see why you’re complaining. I did get you a pint of icecream.”

I jumped up and stomped my foot. “It’s not funny! Can’t wejust pretend to be normal for one night?”

He looked at me for a long minute. “As you wish. But we goonly where I say.”

I blinked. Had he actually given in… for once? “Therebetter be popcorn.”

I broke off with a gasp as the amulet around my necksuddenly started burning. It seemed to tighten like a noose on me.Making choking sounds, I tried to pry it away, but it wouldn’tmove.

“Ryan!” Vane stood.The world trembled around me. The room shook just as it

had done during the Total Tremor. Vane grabbed me by the waistand steadied me. He yelled past the noise of the shaking room.“Matt is having a strong vision. Allow yourself to see it. Shut youreyes.”

I stared into Vane’s hazel eyes. I held onto them for as longas I could. Then, drawing a deep breath with effort, I did as he said.

In the dark, the first thing I sensed was the smell of woodand earth—Matt. I was seeing what he saw through the amulet.

Matt had presented a number of enchanted amulets and rings to meand others in a select group of students at Avalon Prep. Almostimmediately, I’d been drawn to this one. Called The Dragon’sEye, a large ruby gemstone sat embedded in a dull gold pendant. The matching golden chain was thick and more like a rope than thelight chains I was used to. I wouldn’t have normally gone forsomething so medieval looking, but this one had struck me. Theconnection had been so strong that I’d wanted to gouge out theeyes of my friend, Gia, when she had grabbed it first.

Later, I found out that the amulet had been made by Mattand formed a special connection between us—a connection thatlinked our thoughts.

Images flooded my mind.An ocean. Just off the coast of a tropical island. The

water boiled, creating burping bubbles of steam. A hugeexplosion of smoke burst like a geyser out of the water. Redfire and lava spewed out the sides of a tornado of smoke.

The scene shifted. Another ocean. No land anywhere insight. A curvy billow of smoke spewed up for miles in the sky.

Again, the scene changed to a barren chain of islands.The whole land mass rumbled as three smoke stacks blew outof the ocean and from various places on the islands. Franticwaves in the ocean pulled and pushed in a violent tug-of-war.In one slingshot movement, the water pulled back and thenreleased, unleashing a wall of water that rose and rose until Icould swear it touched the sky.

I opened my eyes with a snap. “Tsunami.”Everything in the room had moved just a bit. My laptop

hovered close to the edge of the desk. I turned to Vane with wide

eyes. “What happened? Another tremor?”“I don’t know.” Vane sat me down. The plastic chair

groaned as I dropped onto it. Vane flipped my laptop open. With afew clicks, he pulled up a news site.

BREAKING NEWS, it declared in bright red letters.Vane clicked on a video.A news report played. A clean-shaven reporter in a tidy suit

clutched an iPad and spoke from a news desk. “It happened herejust moments ago and reports confirm that it seems to havehappened everywhere—another tremor spanning the entire globe.Many are asking if it is the Total Tremor again. However, this oneseems to have been on a much smaller scale. Not much damagefrom what we have heard, so far. Just a rattling. The bigger questionis what caused it…”

Vane paused the video stream. “This is what you saw?”“No.” I rubbed my forehead. “I saw erupting volcanoes on

the ocean. Five of them. They seemed to be in different places allover the world. Then, I saw a tsunami building on the ocean.”

Vane’s gaze sharpened. “Merlin had a vision about theocean?”

“Where else would you have a tsunami?” I grabbed thelaptop from Vane. I punched up the term “underwater volcano” in asearch engine. I clicked on a news clip about one that caused atsunami. South Asia. 2004. Images of the hundred-foot high tsunamiI’d seen in my head played out on the news clip. The news clipchanged to show the aftermath—scene after scene of destroyedvillages and homeless people followed.

“This is what’s coming, but what I saw is going to be muchworse.” My eyes swam with tears.

Vane cursed. Reaching out, he caught my shoulders andsteadied me. “Why can’t he shut this out from you like he’s shut meout?”

Vane and Matt’s powers were connected. At one point,Vane had been able to talk to me through the amulet. Once Mattfound out, he’d blocked Vane, but for some reason, he hadn’tblocked me. Well, I suspected the reason. I refused to verbalizeit… even in my head. I could never tell Vane. Truthfully, I was gladMatt had shut him out. He was intense enough to have as aboyfriend. I didn’t need him in my head too.

“I’ll be fine.” I straightened away from him and reached formy cellphone. “We should call the emergency services. Warnthem.”

Vane yanked the phone away. “And tell them what? Thatyou had a vision? Actually you didn’t have a vision. You sawMerlin’s vision. They will hang up on you without a second thought.With all the alert systems they have in place telling them thateverything is fine, the regulars won’t pay attention to you.”

“I’ve got to do something!” I said.“No, you have to calm down and think. We need help

figuring this out.”Vane tapped on the touchscreen of my cellphone and dialed

a number. I saw the number on the screen, but I didn’t recognize it.It didn’t pick up as any of my contacts. The number connected.

“Marilynn?” He put the phone to his ear. “What does theCouncil know about tsunamis?”

***The rest of the school day went by in a blur. Everyone

seemed to be on autopilot, even the teachers. Most of them

checked news updates, blatantly ignoring the no cellphone rule. Yet,everything seemed to have quieted after the small tremor.

Grey and I drove home together. The main street of Concordseemed unusually abandoned as I drove the car we shared aroundthe turnabout and onto the small street that led to the woodedsuburbs just past Walden Pond. The cold February sky of grey andblue highlighted the blackened snow that sat in the gutters of theroad. At least, the air flowing in from outside smelled of wet pineand dewy wood.

I turned at a small gravel opening off the road, marked by astumpy mailbox. The Land Rover thundered downhill. Aboutmidway, another Land Rover pulled out from behind a hidden lane,blocking our path. I rolled down my window and waved. Withoutacknowledgement, the other Land Rover reversed and disappearedback into the hidden lane, giving the okay to proceed.

Bodyguards or sentries? I didn’t know exactly what to callthem. Wizard-goons seemed too impolite for someone risking theirlife for you. Besides the physical checks of who was entering thewoods, Vane and Sylvia had also set up an invisible perimeter todetect any magic.

I cast a speculative look at Grey, who sat hunkered down inthe passenger seat. It wasn’t like him to give me a chance to drive,but today he hadn’t even put up a token protest. The tremor hadbrought back too many memories. We emerged from the lane into acircular courtyard in front of Ragnar Manor, my home.

The hundred-year-old manor boasted gorgeous archedwindows, several balconies, and even a pointy turret. Stonegargoyle rainspouts stuck out at the edges of the house. Ironic,since actual gargoyles nearly burned down the house a few months

ago.I pulled to a stop near a broken fountain in the middle of the

courtyard. It used to have a gargoyle statue that expelled waterfrom its mouth. The gargoyle statue had been crushed when Grey’sCorvette slammed into it… the day the sword and the stone fell outof nowhere. The day Alexa died. The day everything changed forus.

I stared at the fountain. It didn’t surprise me that Sylviahadn’t fixed it. I doubted she ever would.

“It’s starting again, isn’t it?” Grey said.I pushed a button and the Land Rover’s engine switched off.

“It never stopped, Grey.”Grey continued as if he hadn’t heard me. “The tremor today

wasn’t a coincidence. It all goes back to Arthur’s sword.”“Did you think pulling the sword from the stone was the end?

There’s a reason it showed up in the first place.”“Yes, and I know the reason,” Grey muttered as he flung

open the door. He jumped down and turned to look at me. “It’s ajoke, Ry. And the joke is on us. Someone with a nasty sense ofhumor dropped it in the middle of the world so they could watch usas we all tried to kill ourselves to get to it. The sad thing is—that’sexactly what we did.”

Grey slammed the car door and headed into the manor. Iwatched him climb up the short steps to double front doors. Thedoors were a masterpiece. Wrought iron with an intricate leafdesign on frosted glass. They were new. The old doors had burneddown in a volley of fireballs. That day, I left the manor not knowingif I’d ever come back.

On that day the sword and the stone first appeared in

London and I learned about magic. I learned that Matt—the newboy at school I’d been crushing on—was a wizard. I also learnedabout gargoyles. They wanted to kill Grey and me because wewere Candidates. Apparently, out of everyone in the world, only afew of us had the potential to actually pull the sword. Candidatesalso had the greatest potential, therefore, to die.

The Wizard Council sent Matt and Vane out to recruit andtrain Candidates in hopes of improving their chances of survival; butmore in the hopes that the victorious sword-bearer would alignthemselves with the wizards. The gargoyles had taken a differentapproach. To ensure their success, they decided to kill everyCandidate who was not a gargoyle.

Only it hadn’t been Grey or me whom they killed in their firstattack. The image of a girl with impossibly bright eyes, a broadsmile, and snarky wit hung in the thin veil that separates day fromfalling night. Alexa.

The roar of another engine sounded as another black SUVpulled into the driveway. Its bright headlights pierced through thelingering bit of memory. I opened the driver’s side and jumpeddown from the Land Rover.

I put my hand up to block the glare of headlights that shoneinto my eyes. The passenger side opened and a shadowy figurestepped down.

My heart gave an uncomfortable leap. The amulet on myneck warmed against my will.

Soft rays of fading daylight shone down on the wavy mane ofbrown hair making a russet halo around the head of a boy. He hada lean face, inky lashes, and eyes too old for someone I knew to beonly eighteen.

He still wore a black biker jacket. I remembered thesensation of my cheek against the back of that slick syntheticleather, and the sensation of flying as his Ducati took the opencurves of the road.

Matt. The amulet gave a silent sigh. My pulse raced so out ofcontrol I was afraid it would explode.

Matt’s perfect mouth curved up in an uncertain smile. Hisburden-filled shoulders straightened. He took a step toward me andthen another… until he stood just a few feet in front. The lastdeclaration he’d made to me hung between us. The L. word. Theone that had nothing to do with like.

All I had to do was take a step back toward him.

CHAPTER 3 - CROSSROADS

CHAPTER 3CROSSROADS

“Ryan?” Matt started, paused, then, started again. “Is Sylvia

inside? I need to speak with her.”I blinked. After all he’d put me through. After not seeing

each other for two months that’s all he had to say to me?“Not all, but it is a start,” his voice whispered inside my

head.I almost jumped. I touched the amulet that connected us. The

only time I’d heard Matt in my head was the last time I’d seen him.After months of reflecting on that last time, I’d concluded that it justmade me… angry.

“Get out of my head, Matt!”“As you wish,” he demurred.My fingers curled into a fist. To shut out what wasn’t meant

to be. It was his choice for us not to be together and I had movedon.

The lights of the SUV shut off. Vane stepped down from thedriver’s seat. He walked forward, past the front of the car andreached me in a few steps. For a second, he stood right beside hisbrother. Only a bit of daylight remained.

The resemblance of their faces and matching length of theirframes made the brothers seem eerily similar, but that’s where thesimilarity ended. Vane’s hazel brown eyes glittered despite thedark. Matt’s amber ones sank into the night like a dying ember.Vane’s broad shoulders moved with loose grace. Matt’s lean onesheld tight and still. Despite the shadows, they both flickered sharpand true, even if Vane’s torch burned a bit too bright to hold. Thetiger next to the lion, Vane pounced forward and placed himselfdirectly in line between Matt and me.

Vane said, “Aren’t you going to invite us in?”“Since when do you wait for an invitation?” I arched a brow.

“Why did you call Matt?”“Don’t sound so disappointed,” Matt said dryly.Vane smirked. “I didn’t call. The Council did.”Five other SUVs burst out of the wooded lane and sped

onto the driveway. I tensed. Vane put himself between the SUVsand me.

“It’s alright. I think you’ll like these visitors.” Matt touchedmy shoulder. “I’m sorry you had to see such a vision. It can be…disturbing.”

The destruction I’d seen had been more than disturbing. Itwas terrifying. My gaze lowered. “I don’t know how you live withthem.”

“It helps to have someone share it, for once,” he said softly.“But I would rather not have burdened you. I’m just glad I wasclose enough to come quickly.”

I frowned. “You were coming here?”Matt said evasively, “I happened to be in the area.”The SUVs squealed to a stop beside Vane’s. Several men

dressed in uniforms of slacks, black t-shirts, and long wool coatsgot out. I recognized many of them as guardian wizards who’dprotected the Candidates until we got to the Council. Two teenagewizards jumped out of the last SUV next to the broken fountain—ared-haired girl in punk goth clothes and a skinny, black-haired boywith glasses.

I let out a squeal of delight and ran to greet them. “Gia!Blake!”

Gia laughed and met me halfway. She caught me up in a tight

hug. “I’ve missed you!”I touched her long red hair. “You grew it out.” I’d only ever

seen her with short, spiky hair. Now long curls softened the angularbones of her face. “It looks good.”

She gave a small, self-conscious smile. “I needed a change.”I understood that. After a night of battling a thousand or so

gargoyles, the dawn looked different. I turned to Blake andattacked him next. He returned my enthusiastic hug with anawkwardly stiff one.

“Er, happy to see you too, Ryan,” he said with a heavyBritish accent.

Gia rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you left me with just stiff-upper-lip here for company. It is so boring at Avalon Prep withoutyou.”

Vane had found Gia in Hong Kong and brought her toAvalon Prep in much the same manner as Matt had brought me.We had both been accepted as Candidates that day. I had no ideawhere she was actually from. She never talked about her past, andfrom what little I knew about it, I wasn’t sure how to ask.

Gia looked up at the curved gables of Ragnar Manor andwhistled. “Nice place, DuLac. A little creepy but… nice.”

I searched her face. “Actually it’s Grey’s family’s house.”Her expression dimmed. “Yes, Grey.” She glanced inside a

huge bay window that took up half of one side of the house. “Is heinside?”

I nodded. “What are you doing here? What about school?”“School is on break for a week and the Council wanted us

—”Blake cleared his throat. He glanced at Matt, who remained

at the edge of the driveway. “Maybe we should allow MasterEmrys to explain.”

“Should we go inside?” Matt said. “I need to discuss a fewthings with Sylvia first.”

An elder guardian, Clarence, with a craggy face and a stern,militant expression marched up. The other guardians fanned outbehind him.

I was surprised when Clarence faced me first and bent hishead in acknowledgement. “Ms. DuLac,” he said before his eyesslid over Vane to Matt. “Master Emrys, shall we start preparing? Ihave twenty more guardians arriving here within the next hour.”

“Twenty more?” I glanced at the two brothers as theywalked closer. “What is going on?”

Vane shrugged. “Ask him. He’s the wise one.”I turned on Matt. “What have you done now?”Beside me, I heard Blake exhale a shocked breath. It

amazed me that he still placed Matt up on a pedestal.Matt colored. “Let’s go inside. Sylvia and Grey need to hear

this also. It will be easier to deal with all the questions at once.”“Or you could tell me now.” I shouted the words in my

head, locking eyes with Matt.He returned a bland look. “Didn’t you want me out of your

head?”“Uh,” Gia said. “Do you want to warn your family we’re

here?”Warn Grey? My heart twisted at the plea in her eyes. I

nodded and crossed to a short stack of steps that led up to the frontdoor. Behind me, I heard Matt order Clarence to “Proceed with thepreparations.”

What preparations? I seethed as I entered the manor’smarble foyer. I went into a beautiful living room with mammothwindows on two sidewalls, overlooking the courtyard in the frontand advertising a panoramic of the woods in the back. A gianthearth dominated the middle wall.

The walls gleamed with fresh paint. Couches, armchairs, andend tables all sparkled with newness. While the manor had survivedthe fire, its interiors had not been so lucky. Before the fire, themanor had been stuffed with antique wooden furniture that scores ofRagnars had collected over time. I called it “Cabin-in-the-woods”chic. Alexa had called it “Pastoral-passé.” After the fire, Sylvia hadupdated everything to suit her. At least one good thing had comeout of the disaster.

Sitting on the couch, feet up on a marble coffee table, Greyate popcorn and held a controller. A shooter game played on asixty-five inch, flat screen TV.

I pushed his feet off the coffee table. “Do you have any ideawhat’s going on outside?”

“Huh?” Grey mumbled, as he fired loudly at a few charactersonscreen.

“Is Sylvia home yet?”“Mom was worried after the tremor,” he said between plays.

“Wanted to make sure we were okay. Think she’s in the kitchen.”I grabbed the controller from him and pointed out the front

window. A crowd of guardians climbed the manor walls and trees,scouting for hiding places.

Grey sat up straighter. “What the…?”Vane strode into the living room. “Hollow Hill Three. I’ve

been waiting for this one. Thought it wasn’t supposed to come out

for another month though.”“Mom got it early from a friend,” Grey said.“How many spells did she have to sell to pull that off?” Vane

plopped down on the couch beside Grey and took his controller.Grey protested, “Hey!”Matt walked into the room.“Emrys,” Grey looked at him in dismay. “The Council let you

go free?”I kicked Grey in the shin.“What?” he muttered. “Thought they would’ve caged golden

boy after the stunt he pulled.”“They wouldn’t have been able to hold me,” Matt said

arrogantly.“Grey, there’s something I need to tell you—” I faltered.

He’d been so aloof, so removed since we’d gotten back. I wasn’ttoo sure how he was going to react to her actually being here.

“My brother brought a few friends,” Vane said. “Includingyour girlfriend, Ragnar.”

“Vane!” I scowled at him.“Better to cauterize the wound than to let it fester, love.”“Gia’s here?” Grey jumped up. He shot me a furious look.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Where is she?”“Waiting for you outside,” Matt said.Grey hurriedly exited the room.“That’s the most movement I’ve seen out of him in months,”

Vane commented before restarting the video game. Sitting down, helounged back into the couch.

I stared at him. Ugh. He would drive me to murder. How didguys do that? Lethal one minute and the next completely lethargic. I

turned my annoyance on Matt instead. “Why are you really here?”Matt drew what looked like an old knife out of his biker

jacket. He held it out and commanded, “Aayat.”The knife expanded and elongated into a broadsword. The

last rays of the fading sun fell onto the sword, allowing dull gold onthe hilt to sparkle. The gray steel blade shone with a hint of blue inthe light. The gemstone of my amulet warmed against the bare skinof my neck. The Dragon’s Eye awoke in the presence of KingArthur’s sword.

“Excalibur.” I stared at the sword. It hung in the air, silentand waiting. Then, a whisper fluttered along the lobes of my ears.The sword beckoned me to it. I felt its pull.

I swayed towards it.An image of a rooftop full of an assortment of people—

wizards, gargoyles, and regulars—popped into my mind. They kneltdown to the sword. They knelt down to me.

I drew back.Vane looked up from the video game. “You brought it.

Why? It’s too dangerous to let it out of the protection of theCouncil.”

“To remind her what she’s left behind.” Matt’s eyes fixed onme. He’d been watching my every reaction. “It’s time to comehome, Ryan. You need to return to Avalon Prep.”

I forced myself to look away from the sword. I walked awayfrom it once and I could do it again. No one knew how hard thathad been, no one except maybe Matt. He knew about power, thecrushing mantle of responsibility. My eyes locked onto his darkones. An understanding shone there, but also a hint of severity.

My resentment flared. He would always put the needs of the

sword first, not me. Why did I have to keep reminding myself ofthat?

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I am home, MasterMerlin. Remember, you already claimed the sword as yours.”

“I remember what I said.” Matt’s eyes deepened withunexpressed emotion. “I said it to the world. Not to you. It is notmine and we both know that. The Council wants you to return.They feel it’s important that you train properly with Excalibur andthey want the other students to be trained along with you.”

“They want all the Candidates trained?” Vane remarked.“Interesting.”

Matt gave him a pained look. “They want you to return also.To train them.”

“Makes sense. I am the best,” Vane said.I resisted an urge to roll my eyes.Vane glanced at me. “However, I have already been spoken

for. I go where she goes.”My lips started to curve up.“Of course, I think she should go back,” Vane concluded.

“She’s just hiding here.”My jaw dropped down. Matt gave me a smug look.I walked to the front window. Outside, Grey and Gia stood a

good two feet apart. Grey held himself stiffly while Gia looked likeshe was trying not to cry. Blake looked like he wished he wereanywhere else. He turned his head and saw me. He said somethingto the other two before he practically ran into the manor.

I turned back to Matt. “I’m not going back so that Vane cantrain a replacement for me.”

“Backups,” Vane corrected.

Blake stumbled into the living room and halted near theopening.

Matt sighed. “The sword does not change allegiances easily.Whatever the Council thinks it can accomplish, I don’t see how itcould hurt to have your friends trained.”

“Are you going to teach us again too?” I asked. Inpreparation for our attempt to pull the sword, we’d done physicaltraining with Vane and magical defense with Matt. Since the wizardsmade their money by selling magic, anyone out there (magic,regular, or gargoyle) could be armed. The amulet and charms Matthad given us allowed a non-magic person, a regular, to ward off amagical attack.

Matt shook his head. “I’ve a few things to do.”“Second Member duties?” I asked.Second Member was the title of the operations head of the

Council. They oversaw implementation of all the policies theCouncil set, and essentially, ran the wizard world. Only the FirstMember ranked higher. The First Member concentrated on creatingpolicy and usually didn’t get involved with day-to-day affairs.

The loud staccato of machine gun fire sounded from thespeakers as Vane shot ten people in graphic color on the screen.He informed me cheerfully, “The Council removed him as SecondMember.”

Matt waved a hand and the TV turned off.Vane made a sound of dissension. “Dullard.”Matt’s expression remained blank, but he didn’t fool me. He

couldn’t have liked being replaced. He had so many plans. He’dbeen working on a system to regulate the sale of magic, to make theworld safer from its current state of indiscriminate distribution that

turned a blind eye to its abuses.I asked, “Who was appointed Second Member then?”“Councilmember Thorton,” Blake answered.“Not that prig,” Vane groaned.I agreed. Thorton had no love for regulars—anyone who

wasn’t supernaturnal. But then neither had Vane. Vane had alwaystried his best to keep Candidates who were not wizards out ofAvalon Prep. He’d come around though, after we proved we couldhold our own. I had forced him to.

Sylvia walked into the living room, still in her work suit withher dark hair tied back tightly. She saw Vane first and smiledbrightly. “I’m so glad to see you. I found this delicious recipe Iknow you’ll just adore—”

Then, she spotted Matt. High heels wobbled to a suddenhalt. Her face paled. She came to stand beside me, as if she wereready to jump in to defend me against Matt. I suppressed a smile.My adoption by the Ragnars may have been official for only fivedays but we’d already become a family.

Vane noticed her protective stance and smirked at me. Irolled my eyes. Like the rest of the wizard world, Sylvia, whileawed by Matt, simply adored Vane. She’d been wary when he firstshowed up at the manor, but after one conversation, he and shewere chattering away like two best friends. Matt told me once thatVane’s wizard super-power was talking. It didn’t sound like muchof a super-power until you saw it in action. Vane could get prettymuch whatever he wanted just by being charming. It was a goodthing he rarely bothered to be charming.

“Master Emrys,” Sylvia said deferentially, because protocoldemanded it. The last time she’d seen Matt, a sledgehammer had

slammed her life and she still blamed Matt for it. Sylvia glanced outthe front window. Clarence and another guardian were scatteredaround the manor. “Is everything alright?”

“Of course,” Matt said easily. “However, I need to speakwith you. The Council would have me discuss a few matters. I’vecome up with a system to regulate the selling of magic, but I coulduse your input.”

“Oh,” Sylvia said with pleased surprise. “Of course, I’d behappy to contribute whatever I can.”

Ragnar Bank’s largest commodity was magic. The Ragnarshad been brokering magic ever since they settled in Boston, in the1800s. Sylvia showed Matt out of the living room. They went downthe short hallway to her office and I heard the door shut.

I shot Vane a look. “If he’s not Second Member any longer,why is he still heading up the regulation?”

Vane rose up from the sofa. He crossed to where I stoodnear the door that led to the hallway. He whispered, “Zrnoti.”

A faint wind slithered around us, sped down the hallway, andcrashed into the office doorway. There it died with a loud bang.

“Any idea why my brother would put a privacy spell on theoffice?” Vane looked at Blake.

Blake shrugged. “I only volunteered to come here and seeRyan and convince her to come back.”

“Nothing else has been going on?” I said.Grey and Gia walked into the living room. Both seemed

composed, although they stood a safe distance apart from eachother.

“What’s going on?” Gia asked.“I was asking Blake what Matt has been up to while I’ve

been gone,” I explained.“You mean other than moping around campus because Ryan

isn’t there?” she said.I felt my cheeks heat. Vane made a sound of disgust. “Focus,

Cornwall.”“Master Emrys and the Council had been having a non-stop

session for awhile,” Blake said. “Then he left to travel—”“Where and when, Emerson?” Vane prompted impatiently.I elbowed him. “Be nice.”“It doesn’t work well for me,” he said.I rolled my eyes. The statement was unfortunately true. He

would never be nice, but he’d never let me down either. “Wheredid Matt go, Blake?”

“I don’t know. I only know it was out of the country.”Gia spoke up. “I wanted to switch into more advanced

classes so I went to speak to Marilynn…” Gia made a face. I couldunderstand why. Marilynn was a school administrator, actually theschool administrator. While the Council ran the school, Marilynnhandled all of its myriad details. She hated me because I’d datedMatt, and hated Gia by association.

Gia continued, “Merlin had her arrange the travel and shesaid the flight from Heathrow was only twenty minutes. But nowthat I think about it, I don’t think she wanted to say much in front ofme. She was pretty dodgy about the whole thing.”

“Dodgy is apt.” Vane took hold of my shoulders andpositioned me so I faced the doorway to the office. “We need tohear what is going on inside that office. I can’t break through thebubble. Merlin’s magic is too powerful, but you have ears I don’t.”

“She does?” asked Blake.

“The—” I started to explain.“They have a special connection,” Vane said.Blake said, “I thought they only went on a couple of dates

—”Gia giggled. “Yes, dates.”Blake colored. “Oh.”Grey made an annoyed sound. “Watch what you’re saying

about my sister, Vane.”Everyone already suspected the term “we went on a couple

of dates” translated to “we spent the night not sleeping a couple oftimes.” I sputtered, “Matt and I did n-not—”

“Right.” Gia winked and sent Vane a gleeful glance.I glared at Gia. She was not a Vane fan. I got that. Did she

have to go out of her way to antagonize him?Vane’s hands tightened on my shoulders painfully. He didn’t

like the idea of putting Matt and me in the same sentence, much lessa bed. He pulled me into the hallway away from the others, sayingloudly, “We can use your connection to do a spell.”

I frowned at him in confusion. He shook his head in silentmessage and I finally got it. I hadn’t told my friends or Grey aboutMatt and the mind-reading abilities of the amulet. Not because Iwas trying to hide it; it had yet to come up. I didn’t know why Vaneseemed to want to keep it secret. Before I could ask why, Vanemouthed, “Trust me.”

His voice dropped to a whisper, “Just try listening with theamulet, DuLac.”

“He’s going to know.”“Don’t be loud.” Vane gave me a little push closer to the

office door.

I gave him an irritated look. How was I supposed to be “notloud” while trying to read someone’s mind? Pushing the irritationaway, I closed my eyes.

It was like turning a key. In my mind, the office came throughwith crystal clarity. Sylvia sat behind the mammoth writing desk,separating her from Matt. As if she needed to place a barrierbetween them. Matt stood next to one of the large armchairs facingthe desk.

“He can’t come here!” Sylvia said, her face pale.“The Council received the message just yesterday. I rushed

back to them and then straight here. He will only agree to come toRagnar manor,” said Matt. “The gargoyle king has asked to see youspecifically, Sylvia, and I want you to agree.”

The walls of the spacious office seemed to shrink aroundSylvia. Trees knocked against a thick-paned window and eventhough it couldn’t have possibly allowed any of the winter chillinside, Sylvia shivered. She glanced at the picture of Alexa on herdesk, as well as the walls upon walls of leather-bound books thatappeared to have not been read in years. She avoided looking atMatt.

“I c-can’t,” she said. “You don’t understand.”“You must,” he said. “Rourke has promised to give us

something we desperately need in exchange for this meeting.Something I have been seeking ever since Excalibur was pulledfrom the stone. If you care at all about Grey and Ryan, you need toallow this. Their future—no, all our futures will be changed if you dothis.”

“That is what I’m afraid of,” Sylvia muttered.“I have a small army outside for your protection, but I doubt

we’ll need it.”“He won’t hurt me,” Sylvia said. “But I won’t risk Grey and

Ryan—”“No need to worry. I will have them taken out of here

tonight.”“Ryan doesn’t want to leave,” Sylvia said. “A lot has

happened. She needs time to recover and lick her wounds for abit.”

Matt rubbed his forehead. “There is no time left. It ran out assoon as the second tremor occurred.”

“If they find out about Rourke, they won’t go,” Sylvia said. “Once I tell Vane who is coming tomorrow, he won’t give

her a choice.”I’d heard enough. Seething with anger, I let go of Matt’s

mind. The link untethered with a loud snap. My eyes flew open.Footfalls sounded inside the office. “Whoops.”

Vane hissed at me, “I told you to be quiet.”The office doors flung open. Matt halted at the sight of me

standing in the hallway. His lips thinned in a strict line ofdisapproval. He looked over my shoulder at his brother. “Do youhave any idea what you’ve done?”

CHAPTER 4 – A HAUNTED HOUSE

CHAPTER 4A HAUNTED HOUSE

“What’s going on?” Grey asked.“The gargoyle king wants to see Sylvia and she’s going to let

him.”“What? I’m not letting that monster near her.” Grey rushed

toward the office to see his mother.Matt moved to let him by. He took a few steps into the hall.“How can you ask this?” I asked.“Rourke didn’t attack Alexa, you know that.”I was about to grumble, “They’re all the same,” when he beat

me to it.“They are not all the same. We need to find out why

Excalibur is here. He can tell us.” Matt took another step towardus. “I am not here on a whim. I was not removed as SecondMember. I asked to be released—for this reason. We need toknow why the sword has been sent to us. You saw my visiontoday. I’m trying to stop it.”

“You had a vision?” Blake asked. “Was it bad?”“Very bad,” I said. “What does it have to do with Rourke?”“I am hoping Rourke knows how we can stop it.”Vane moved to stand beside me. “You haven’t answered the

question. Why does Rourke want to come here?”“I don’t know,” Matt repeated impatiently. “I’ve agreed to

the meeting to find out.”I took a breath. “Is it because of me? Does he think he can

turn me into one of them?” A gargoyle. Just the thought left mehorrified. An old memory of a cold monster with protruding fangsand long claws jumped to the surface of my mind. Red blood onwhite stone tile. One of them had torn my mother apart and tried to

do the same to me.Vane squeezed my shoulder. “Just because you have some

remnant gargoyle genes, it doesn’t make you a gargoyle.”“You’re not one of those beasts,” Gia said fiercely.“Admittedly, while we do not know everything about them,

you have not shown any ability to turn,” Matt soothed. “I doubt youever will.”

Gargoyles looked like regular humans. It was only when theyturned that the true beast underneath became visible. My firstboyfriend, Morgan, had been a gargoyle. He’d been sent to find outif I was a Candidate and kill me if I was. He’d almost succeeded.

Sylvia walked out of the office. Grey followed at her heels.“Mom, you are being ridiculous. The gargoyles are monsters

—”Sylvia held up a hand. “Enough. If Master Emrys says we

must, then we must. I deal with gargoyles on a regular basis, Grey.”“What!” Grey exploded.Sylvia tapped her foot. “At the bank, Grey.” She gave me an

anxious look. “But I would like you two to be safe. Leave tonight.”Grey crossed his arms. “I am not leaving you alone.”I glanced at Sylvia. Her hands were fisted. She was digging

her nails into her palms so deeply that she’d have marks. But whatstruck me was that she didn’t look scared, she looked stressed.Out of the front windows, I watched the guardians scramble. Somehad taken positions in the trees. One stood half-visible on a trellisbeside the garage. I’d seen one climb up to the balcony above usand I had no doubt more hid in other crevices of the manor.

“Why does he want to meet now?” Vane continued to pressMatt.

Matt shrugged. “I received the message while traveling. Theywent to a bit of trouble to find me and the messenger who deliveredhis request hinted that there’s a compelling reason that the meethappen immediately. There has been no word from the gargoylessince Rourke was forced to concede Excalibur to us.” Matt’s eyesfixed on Sylvia. “My feeling is that he is in some sort of trouble.”

“Since when do we care if a gargoyle is in trouble?” Vanesneered. “It’s simple. If Ryan is here, then no gargoyle will be.”

Sylvia bit her lip in an oddly girly way. She was… nervous.For a second, I had a sense of her as a woman, not just a mother,and it startled me. She wanted to meet the king, I realized.

I made a decision. “Let me see the gargoyles and I’ll agree togo to England.”

***Both Matt and Vane gaped at me.“You would go back?” Matt said first.“After I meet with Rourke,” I clarified.Vane shook his head. “Unacceptable—”“It will have to be acceptable,” I snapped. “If Rourke knows

something about why Excalibur is here, then I deserve to know.” Isurveyed Grey, Gia, and Blake. “All the Candidates deserve toknow. If we don’t know why Excalibur matters, what is the point offurther training?” I walked up to Matt. His eyes flared with surprisewhen I reached into his jacket. Matt held himself stiffly as the backof my fingers skimmed his ribs while I groped through the garment. Idrew out the knife from an inside pocket.

I touched my amulet. The Dragon’s Eye glowed. The knifeelongated. The golden hilt of Excalibur winked at us. My handstrembled and I held it out to Blake, Grey, and Gia.

“The sword is ours. It’s our right.”***

Gia sat on my bed later that night in my room. “Do you reallythink whatever happens with Excalibur, it’s our right to know?”

I gave her a funny look.She colored. “I mean—Merlin must have a reason for not

telling us.”“You sound like Blake. Matt isn’t always right.” I flopped

down on the queen-sized bed next to her and lay back. Softwrinkles covered the white ceiling. “We’re just puppets to him andhe wants to stay the puppetmaster.”

“I’m sure he’d like to puppetmaster you,” she said tongue-in-cheek.

I grabbed a pillow and threw it at her. “Funny.”“Of course, there’s Vane. Is it me or is he more cut than

when we were training every day?” She said the last part glumly,reluctant to give him any sort of compliment.

“He still trains everyday,” I said.“Does he?” Gia said, her voice heavy with implication. “Do

you train… together?”I threw another pillow at her. “Stop, please.” I got up on one

elbow and fixed her with a look. “What about Grey?”Gia pulled her knees up and rested her chin on them. “What

about Grey? He’s been different since the rooftop. He’s shut meout so completely. It’s like he doesn’t want to feel anything.”

“I think we’re all different since the trial.” I flopped aroundon my stomach. French doors led out onto the balcony on the rightside of my room. Light had faded into darkness, but it was a clearnight. A cold moon anchored the abyss of the sky.

A brief knock sounded at the door behind us. Vane strodeinside.

“Leave,” he said to Gia.Gia sprang out of bed with an indignant expression. “You’re

not our trainer anymore, Vane. We don’t worship the ground youwalk on.”

“Virahyat,” Vane commanded.Gia blinked. Without another word, she walked out of the

room.I sat up on the bed. “What are you doing? You could have

just asked her to go.”“I don’t have time for niceties.”I sighed. “She already hates you enough. Where did you

send her?”“The spell will wear off before she leaves the house.” Vane

stalked forward until he reached the edge of the bed. “Give me onereason why I shouldn’t take you out of here tonight.”

“You agreed downstairs—”“No, Merlin agreed.”I made a face. Vane would probably force me to leave just

to spite Matt.“You want to know as much as I do what Rourke says about

Excalibur.” When Vane didn’t say anything, I knew I had the rightargument. I continued, “Did you notice that Matt never answeredwhy he was headed here?”

Vane’s eyes flared just a bit in surprise. Not because hehadn’t caught that, I was sure, but because I had. I moved to theedge of the bed and rose up on my knees to face Vane. “Whathave you figured out?”

“What will you do to find out?” Vane said flippantly.“Maybe I’ll ask Matt—”Vane caught me by the waist. “I think I’ve heard you say his

name enough times for today.”I raised my chin, brushing his nose with mine. “Vane.”“That’s better.” His hands pulled up the bottom of my shirt to

touch bare skin underneath. My pulse accelerated. There had beena lot of lip-locking during the past few months, but nothing pastsecond base. My hands ran over Vane’s shoulders, hard, yetsmooth. Shoulders I could anchor myself to and never let go. Iinhaled his cologne—one of those with a name I couldn’tpronounce. The magnetizing scent of dark wood mingled with thecoarse flavor of tobacco beckoned me closer. It surprised me a bitthat he was wearing any fragrance. I was so used to seeing him innothing but athletic track-pants that it didn’t seem as if he shouldsmell of anything other than sweat.

My breathing hitched when his palms slid up my side, tuggingup my shirt. His fingers traced over the sensitive hollow of each rib.Cold wind hit my bare midriff, caressing it. Vane put a knee on thebed and pulled my hands tightly around his neck. He started tobend me back onto the bed.

The dull roar of an engine being turned on sounded fromoutside.

Vane let out a groan. He waved a hand and the Frenchdoors opened behind us.

I blinked. “What?”Cupping my face, he gave me a quick hard kiss. “Later.”He rushed outside. I followed him. Cold stone bricks made

up the floor of the wide balcony. My toes had curled into my feet

by the time I caught up to Vane at the balcony’s ledge. A blackSUV sped out of the driveway into the woods. Vane cursed. “He’soff.”

“Where?”“I’ve got to go.” Vane leapt on top of the balcony ledge.I caught his elbow and pulled him back, using one of the

grappling techniques he’d taught me. “I’m going too.”His eyes narrowed. “Not a good time to test me.”“If it’s about the sword, it’s about me,” I retorted. “Is it?”Vane opened his mouth. I slapped my hand over it.My amulet glowed. I gave him a look. “Do you really want to

try magic on me?”Vane pushed my hand away.“You know where he’s going,” I declared.“What part of ‘there are gargoyles running around and it’s

not safe anywhere but here’ are you unable to grasp?”I scowled. “What part of ‘you can’t bully me’ are you not

getting? I’m going.”The moonlight left his lean face shadowed and sinister. His

eyes glittered with a dangerous light. Little butterflies in my stomachfluttered. I shoved them down.

“You have no idea where to go,” he said.I touched my amulet. “I can find out.”Vane ran a hand through his hair and I knew he’d bought my

bluff. Without a cataclysmic trigger like the last vision, I was prettysure there was no way I could read Matt when he wasn’t around.But Vane didn’t know that.

He muttered, “You’re going to drive me mad.”I played my last card. “Matt isn’t going to tell us anything.”

“Yes.” An arrogant smile broke over his face. “I suppose Idid promise you a date. Never say I can’t deliver.”

***A wide field stretched out in a large square surrounded by a

fortress of classically architected business buildings. Tucked in onecorner of the square, amorphous shadows floated here and thereabove the towers of the Salem Witch Museum. The melancholymuseum building hid behind the protection of large oak trees. Abright moon highlighted the museum’s arched windows. Matchingarched wooden doors barred any visitors from going in at this latehour.

Vane slipped the Land Rover into a dark spot away fromany streetlight, about a hundred yards from the museum’s driveway.Not a soul other than us could be seen.

Two empty SUVs sat in the driveway. “Not very subtle,” Vane remarked.“Why are we here?” I sat in the passenger seat of the Land

Rover. Tense waves of acid rose in my stomach. “Is this why youdirected me to do a project there? Were you using me to look forwhatever Matt is looking for?” My voice rose with every word.

Vane straightened away from the steering wheel. “Weren’tyou complaining that I hadn’t read any of your work? Now youknow I did… that it also gave me an excuse to pop into themuseum worked for both of us.”

My voice dripping with syrupy sweetness, I asked, “Did youfind out anything?”

“Do you want me to tell you?” he needled.Blake leaned forward from the middle seat in the back. “Is

that Master Emrys’s four by four?”

“Let’s go after them.” Grey snapped the release on hisseatbelt and opened the door just behind me.

Vane waved a hand and the door shut itself. He gave me alook. “Did we have to bring the Scooby gang?”

If I hadn’t been so mad at him, I would have laughed. Forsomeone so out of his time, Vane had assimilated well. But, really,how much TV did he watch? I told him, “They’re part of this too.You need the help.”

Gia snickered from Blake’s other side. “Does he alwaysneed help?”

Blake groaned. “Please, Gia, now I will never be able toremove that image from my mind.”

“Emerson, be quiet. Cornwall, I can always take you back tothe hole I found you in,” Vane snarled.

“Vane!” I protested.“Someone’s grumpy,” Gia muttered.I sighed. Gia was still mad at him about the spell. She had

gone from being a Vane supporter to a Vane hater fairly quicklyafter we’d started training. Or rather she, like Blake, couldn’tunderstand how I could walk away from Matt. On the other hand,Grey didn’t like Matt. He still blamed him for what happened toAlexa. It was cute how he and Vane had bonded over the past fewmonths over video games; and as a jock, Grey was used to acoach’s abrasive personality, not to mention ginormous ego.

“Why are we waiting?” I asked, before things coulddeteriorate any more in the car.

Matt and six other wizards came out of the museum. Mattshut the huge door behind them. They started talking to each other.

“What happened?” Blake said.

“They’ve just figured out they’re in the wrong place.” Vaneput his hand on the door handle. “Time for me to step in.”

The headlights of another SUV blinded us as it roared downthe road on a collision pat