"Huh?" Theo felt like he'd been clubbed between the eyes. Judging by the looks on Darian's and Zenith's faces, even they hadn't known.
"So how'd you end up here?" Ryan leaned forward, looking a little too eager.
"My lady has no need to inform you," Lodo said, colder than Theo had ever heard him.
"Can't be helped. Might as well." Meg glared back at Ryan. "I couldn't stand it, that's why. The family's attitude problem, acting like they were the best and everyone else should bow down to them. I wanted to prove I could stand on my own, without relying on some fancy name. So Lodo and I cut off ties."
"What's wrong with that? Of course we're better than everyone else," Ryan declared smugly, filling Theo with the familiar urge to punch him. "That's what it means to belong to an old family. Wetherill's up there with us Crowleys. Who'd wanna run from that?"
"I almost feel like I'm listening to Dale Crowley himself," Meg sneered. "Aren't you a little too old to be a daddy's boy?"
"Oh yeah?" Ryan folded his arms. "Well, look at you, running off to start a bookstore. If that's not a midlife crisis, I don't know what is."
Theo could have sworn the temperature lowered several degrees as Meg bent threateningly toward Ryan. He almost saw sparks shooting out of her eyes.
"Would you care to repeat that, little brat?"
"I sure will, old hag!" Ryan puffed out his chest.
The sparks flashed. Meg leaned closer, her expression darker than a storm cloud.
"Uh, wait, wait." Theo jumped to his feet, holding his hands out. As cathartic as it might be to watch Meg maul Ryan within an inch of his life, Theo kind of needed him whole. If only to find out what the hell he was doing here in the first place. "Look, I don't think you came here just to be rude to Meg. You said you needed my help. So spit it out."
Meg and Ryan both turned toward Theo, blinking as if they'd only just noticed his existence. Coughing, Meg straightened and clapped her hands together. "Yes. That's right. I don't want you intruding on my hospitality and drinking Lodo's tea any longer than necessary, so the sooner you say it the better."
Ryan mumbled something that sounded a lot like, "Sure thing, hag." A vein twitched in Meg's temple.
Then Ryan faced Theo, his green eyes shimmering with something that gave Theo pause – an urgent plea. Something he'd never thought he would see from Ryan.
"Okay, so it's like this." A deep breath. "I...I've lost Avia."
"You what?" Theo blurted.
"You heard me." Ryan sounded annoyed.
"Yeah, I did, but what the hell does that mean? How do you just lose your familiar? And what's it got to do with me?"
"I – I don't really know what happened, okay." Once again, Ryan rubbed his hands through his hair. "It's just – I was off on my own, in an arena. With Avia. Just us two. The next thing I know someone breaks in. A demon."
"The Infernal Legion?" Darian said sharply, leaning toward him.
Ryan scrunched his brows. "The Infernal what now?"
"I guess not." Sighing, Darian leaned back.
Ryan blinked a few times, still looking confused, before plunging onward. "I dunno what the hell you're talking about, but this demon chick, her wizard was Oliver Enson."
The name meant nothing to Theo, but judging by how Meg stiffened, it must be another important wizard.
"Not that I realized it until too late. Ugh...." Groaning, Ryan buried his face in his hands. Several uncomfortable seconds slipped by before he finally lifted his head. "So Enson's demon fights Avia and we're doing okay but it turns out it was a ruse. Just buying enough time for Enson to set up the trapping diagram."
"And he captured Avia," Meg said, her voice tight.
"She's – she's gone now." Ryan stared beseechingly at Theo. "The contract's broken. Please, I need your help to get her back."
"Uh...." Theo wondered if he wasn't dreaming. No way would Ryan ever look at him like that in reality, not to mention he'd understood only about half of the conversation. "Sorry, but – I don't know who Oliver Enson is? What do you mean, trapping diagram? Broken contract?"
Even though not a second earlier he'd been begging Theo for help, Ryan rolled his eyes. "Oh, for fuck's sake."
"You know, you oughtta be a little more polite if you want our help!" Sam snapped, hands on her hips. "Just a suggestion."
"I don't know who Oliver Enson is either." Darian cast Meg a sidelong glance. "Care to enlighten us?"
It was Lodo who spoke. "He is the heir to the Ensons, another prominent wizard family. Although they've never been very skilled in the arena, they've nonetheless made a name for themselves because of their ability to maintain dozens of familiars at once."
"What?" Theo's heart slammed. "Is that possible?"
"By all the laws of wizardry, it shouldn't be." Meg shook her head. "No one knows how they do it, and they keep it a very tight secret."
"Regardless of how they came across it, they've made great use of this ability to act as brokers for other wizards. They collect Tielans and sell them to the highest bidder. Many wizards rely on them to procure familiars," Lodo explained.
"What? That's awful!" Sam shouted, and Theo had to agree. So it seemed attitudes like Ryan's really were more the rule than the exception.
"I've never agreed with it," Meg said, tossing her hair. "But still, you expect us to believe you? I've heard of the Ensons capturing unwilling familiars from Tielos, but never outright stealing familiars who already have wizards. Let alone if the wizard is a Crowley."
"I know!" Ryan burst out, wringing his hands. "I wouldn't believe it if it hadn't happened, but I'm not lying! Oliver Enson really was there. He somehow knew a spell that broke our contract. Said something about wanting to add a homunculus to his collection...fuck it, how could I have been so stupid?"
He tugged at his hair and gnashed his teeth, looking for all the world like he was having a mental breakdown. Theo wished he could take a little more schadenfreude in it, but seeing Ryan actually blame himself for once made him feel strange and off-balance.
"So that's the story." Meg tapped her foot. "But that doesn't explain why you want Theo's help. Couldn't you just go running to mommy and daddy?"
The disdain twisting her voice made Theo uncomfortable, even if he knew it wasn't aimed at him. Even if Ryan deserved it more than anyone. He still didn't like seeing his usually amicable teacher like this.
"Arrrgh!" Ryan tugged harder at his hair, to the point where Theo started to worry he might actually tear it out. "If it was that easy, I wouldn't be here, would I? No, look, I...."
He coughed a little, then dropped his gaze to his lap as if he'd suddenly discovered something very interesting in it. As he squirmed back and forth, crossing and uncrossing his ankles, Theo felt the tension gather thicker in the air. With each tick, the wall clock sounded louder and louder.
After a while, Lodo cleared his throat. "Do pardon us, young master Crowley," he said, heavy with irony, "but if you would please explain yourself sooner as opposed to later? Lunch is getting cold."
"Fine! Okay!" When Ryan slapped his cheeks, Theo jumped. Then he looked back at Theo, something desperate in his eyes. "I kind of...was doing something I shouldn't have been?"
Uh-oh. Theo sure hoped it wasn't an illegal something.
"I – okay, I lied, a little. I wasn't in an arena. Enson ambushed me with his arena. I wasn't paying enough attention." With each word, Ryan looked all the more pained, as if he was trying to pass an enormous bowel movement. Incredibly, Theo started to feel sorry for him.
"My." Meg whistled. "This Oliver Enson really must be something. Getting the drop on you and stealing your familiar? Isn't he just a little kid? No wonder you can't tell your parents; you must be so embarrassed."
Ryan's face flooded red. He kicked his feet back and forth, looking for all the world like an overgrown child.
"So what were you doing in the first place?" Theo asked.
"Hngh...it...I...." Ryan rubbed the back of his head, causing a large patch of hair to stick up. "I was in the family library...looking up random shit...okay?"
He was blushing like a tomato, which just confused Theo more. What reason was there to be so embarrassed about researching? Unless Ryan didn't want them to think he was a nerd, or something. But the sheer level of his discomfort made Theo think something far deeper was going on.
Then it struck him. "Hey, wait. Were you trying to figure out how to give Avia a glamour?"
Ryan jumped like a bee had stung his ass. "No! I mean – ye – I mean – whatever, it's not important!"
Bullseye. Theo grinned. "You ought to be honest from the beginning, Ryan. It'd make things a lot easier."
"Fuck you!" Ryan howled, kicking his heels.
"Easy on the carpet now," Lodo warned.
"So what do you want us to do about it? Bust into this Enson place and set Avia free?" Sam asked, blinking at Ryan.
Ryan swallowed. The sound echoed across the entire sitting room. As he shifted back and forth in the armchair, nervous as a defendant on trial, a sick foreboding dragged down Theo's stomach.
"Yeah...uh...." Ryan's voice came out smaller than Theo had ever heard it. "That's...kind of...the idea?"