"What's up with him?" Connor scratched his head.
Corwin narrowed his eyes. "I don't like that slimeball. If he ever touches Nana again, he will truly lose that arm."
I shivered. That tone of voice coming from Corwin scared me a little and I was relieved that Marcus and the black suits had left the dining hall.
But more than that, I was curious about their presence within the Academy and whether it had anything to do with what I had just overheard from the two professors.
"Ummm…Connor, Corwin." I interrupted the twins from their silent twin-speak. They turned their intense sapphire eyes at me.
"I heard Professor Farley and Professor Jonesbarry talking about Borlik Jaynami and his men already sent out to the front lines as skirmishes are already happening."
"You heard Farley and Jonesbarry talking about this?" Corwin's eyes widened.
"Yes. They were just here. They were also saying something about the fact that you and Connor couldn't be assigned to help protect the pyramid because you were already assigned a Priority One Assignment."
The twins looked at each other.
"Is the Demon Book the Priority One Assignment they're talking about?"
Connor smiled. "Never you mind about that. We can't really talk about our Priority One Assignments, now can we Corwin?"
Corwin merely raised an eyebrow.
Simon put his drink down. "If Borlik Jaynami and his men have already been deployed, we are taking the threat of a war very seriously."
Corwin rubbed his head. "Let's not get too far ahead of everything. It could be a cold war and House Jaynami remains deployed for a long time with nothing happening."
Simon gave him a baleful glare, "Or it could be a hot war and things degenerate really fast."
"Let's not go borrowing trouble," Connor slapped Simon on the back.
"What about the black suits who were crawling all over the Dinning Hall just now?" Simon asked.
"Maybe they're just here for breakfast?" I volunteered.
Everyone looked at me. No one believed it.
I suddenly remembered the way they were checking out the Kitchen Primates.
Suddenly, cold fingers clutched at my heart. This was too scary and too risky.
I shot a glance over at Tarzan who was in the middle of serving a student.
'Tarzan,' I mind-called.
He immediately whipped his head in my direction, his bright intelligent gaze clearly fixed on me.
Beside me, I could feel the twins' gaze. They could see that I was staring at Tarzan and he was staring at me.
'Tarzan, take all the Kitchen Primates and return to the Primate Compound. NOW.'
'Yes Nana.' Tarzan responded.
'Make sure you take Maggie too. And if you pass by any Primate worker, make sure they come with you. I also want all Primate Gardeners, Primate Farmers, Primate Construction Crews and Primate Guards to return to the Primate Compound NOW!'
'Yes, Warrior Queen.' He threw the ladle down and walked off the job.
The Overlord in charge ran after him, swinging the Mage Staff but Tarzan caught the glass ball and whipped the metal rod back at the Overlord.
Finding himself isolated in the midst of a large group of Kitchen Primates who had suddenly turned on him with fierce eyes, the Overlord took off running for the exit.
Within seconds, the entire kitchen crew had followed Tarzan through the back doorway.
"Nana, what did you say to that red orangutan?" Simon asked, his mouth agape with astonishment.
"I told him to take all the Primate Workers and head back to the Primate Compound on the double."
"Why?"
"Because Professor Morton is there right now. And the way those black suits looked at the Kitchen Primates make me nervous. If anything goes down, Professor Morton will protect them."
The twins nodded, relief showing in their faces.
"We've wasted enough time here," Corwin said, chugging down the last of his chocolate milk.
He slammed the empty glass down onto the table and pointed at Simon.
"We are giving you an hour to get yourself cleared and excused from your class, and we are all going to meet back at the chapel fountain at..." he glanced at his wrist watch, "9:00 AM sharp."
Simon quickly nodded. When Corwin spoke in that tone of voice, it was best just to follow directions.
He turned to me. "That goes for you too. Do what you have to do, but in an hour, meet us there."
"Me?" I gulped. "Why me? What do I have to do with this? I can't find the source of the disruption. I barely have any magik to do anything. How am I supposed to help you?"
Connor raised an eyebrow and gave me a wicked smile. "You have promised me and my brother that you will help us figure you out. We need to spend more time observing you, so from now on, whenever you have some spare time, you will be spending it with us."
I sighed. I had been effectively shanghaied. I was hoisted on my own petard and swinging like a banshee in the mild summer breeze. What else could I do but nod my agreement, since I had already committed myself to the deed.
"Fine. I'll be at the fountain in an hour. But I have to be back by 5 PM. I have to check in with Professor Morton."
"Professor Morton?" Connor looked surprise. "Why him?"
"He's my employer." Not to mention the fact that he was also head of Thaumaturgy. I wasn't sure why the twins were so perplexed.
They exchanged knowing glances.
"Professor Morton is not going to give you a hard time, I promise," Corwin said. "I will take care of everything."
"At least I have to give him a call if I can't make it back this evening."
"There's no need to worry. I'll pass on the message." Connor gave. "I can give you a ride if you need to get somewhere."
"I'm just going back to my apartment."
"Come on," he grabbed my arm. "I'll take you there."
The brief ride on Connor's board was smooth and uneventful. Since the flow of his energy was opposite of Corwin's it did not take me long to adjust my own internal rotations to accommodate.
As I did with Corwin, I leaned with him when I saw the blasts explode from his hands. It made for a quick trip back and I was sorry when it ended.
"Wow Nana. You're a natural at this." Connor grinned. He brought the board down and led me off. "Call me if you need a ride back to the Chapel Fountain."
"Thanks, but I'll be done here soon, and then I'll be back in that area around that time."
"See you then," he waved and hopped on the hoverboard. In seconds, he had soared off into the sky.
I hurried back to my apartment, worried that I had left the bats to their own devices for far too long. I didn't want anything untoward to happen to them while they were in my care.
As it happened I was worried for nothing. When I slipped in through the door, they were still sleeping in the closet suspended from an open space on the clothing bar. I really had to take them back to their owner.
The entire week had flown by and I still had not been able to find the time to bring them back to the Magik Bookshop. If I didn't take advantage of the few hours I had between my job and the guys to return them, I'd be considered pet thieves.
I bound The Demons book inside a scarf and placed in one of the zippered side pockets of my messenger bag. I didn't want to chance it falling open on its own and spewing out an inadvertent demon or a spiteful imp, cursed as I was with such dreadful luck as of late.
Then I dumped everything else out of the main compartment and placed it on the bed.
'Come on guys. Let's get you back to your master,' I pulled them out of the closet and placed them near the opened messenger bag.
'In you go.' I called out to their minds.
They obligingly shuffled in.
Nothing left to do except return the bats to the Magik Bookshop.
I opened the door and was about to leave the apartment when I nearly tripped over something on my doorstep.
"Ahh!" I barely caught myself from falling onto my face. Someone had left a cage with two white rats on the floor outside my doorway.
Joy.
I bent down to take a closer look at the cage. There was a tiny note tucked into the cage's handle. I opened it and found Professor Pomello's neat cursive writing covering the small scrap of paper.
Nana,
Thank you for the loan of your pet rats. As you can see, I am returning them to you, unharmed.
PS. They have already been fed for the day.
Much obliged.
Professor Pomello.
Pet rats? When did these ruffians become my pets?
I sighed and reached out to open the cage door, thinking they'd be happiest if I released them back into the wilds where they belonged.
Startled, they scampered out of the cage and ran into the apartment disappearing under the bed.
I reached out with my mind to connect to them but they seemed to be perfectly happy under the bed. They truly did not like the cage at all.
Fine.
I would deal with them when I got home. I needed to get to the bookstore where I would be minus four bats.
I checked my watch and made note of the time. I still had half-an-hour, which meant I would be able to make it to the Magik Bookstore if I hurried.
I hurried.
Upon entry of the Magik Bookstore, I noticed a different person at the front desk. She was a petite woman with curly blonde hair and large horn-rimmed glasses perched on a thin pointy face.
She reminded me a bit of Professor Pomello.
"Excuse me, is the other front desk clerk here today?"
"Sorry, who?" The woman turned and focused her eyes on me.
"The bookstore clerk who was here last Monday, a blonde man about this tall," I raised my hand a bit above my head.
"Monday?" She gazed at me; confusion reigned in her pale violet eyes. "I'm sorry dear, but the bookstore is closed on Mondays. See?"
She pointed to the plaque with 'Hours' written on it.
I stared at the sign in disbelief. Large blue letters proclaimed with aplomb that during summer sessions, Monday was a definite off-day.
"But—I was just here Monday. I met up with a male clerk who helped me with a box of books. I'm here to return his bats."
The clerk looked at me with pity. "Oh dear. I'm very sorry, sweetie, but I am the head clerk here. There is no such person working at this bookstore."
But suddenly, she had a strange glint in her eyes and came out from behind the counter.
"Could you tell me what the title of the books that you took from the store was?"
Uh oh. Was I in trouble?
"There was a box of Demons books which the clerk took from up there." I pointed to the rafters above the front desk and we both looked up. "They were school texts that I delivered to a classroom."
"Demons books, huh?" She looked at me. "let me see..." she muttered a bit, flicked her hand into the air and a small brown leather-bound book appeared.
She pushed up the horn-rimmed glasses onto her face, cleared her throat, and consulted the well-worn book.
"It says here that our inventory did indeed have a box of books titled Demons, which…" her mouth shaped into an O of surprise, "was settled and sold out as of yesterday by none other than the shop owner himself!"
She looked up at me with an apologetic smile. "I do apologize. I would never expect Michael to be coming into the Magik Bookshop, especially on an Off day."
She consulted the small brown book and gave a gasped that sounded like a squeak toy. "It seems as if those books have been around for a very long time—about a hundred years ago, give or take a few years."