“I can’t imagine why,” Victoria said. “Unless Nathan has something they need and he doesn’t know about it. He would never willingly help them.”
“Did you at least get a better look at the person in the cloak?” Daphne asked.
“No,” Alex said, “but I think whoever it is, he or she is trying to help us. That’s the second time it led me to overhear a conversation.”
“No,” Nina said, her eyes glaring with sudden anger. “That’s the second time you’ve been stupid enough to follow it all alone.”
“Anyone want to place bets on whether he’s stupid a third time?” Rafael asked.
“Okay, I admit, I should have taken someone with me,” Alex said.
“I was standing right next to you holding your hand,” Victoria said.
“What?” Ben said. “You were holding hands.”
“Yes, well…” Victoria started to say and then fell silent, looking unsure how to continue.
“Now, I really don’t understand how you ended up kissing Leanna,” Rafael said, laughing quietly.
“Gorping goon,” Daphne said, shaking her head.
“I’ve got an idea,” Nina said, looking around the table. “Since we don’t know what the Shadow Wraith’s followers are up to and since we can’t spy on them with vampires protecting the grounds, and Alex can’t astral travel to spy on them because of the artifact and the barrier, why don’t we spy on who we can spy on because we know they are up to something and we know it will be bad for us if they succeed at whatever they are up to?”
The others looked at Nina in mystified silence.
“The Mad Mages,” Nina said, sounding slightly exasperated that no one had followed her train of thought.
“Genius idea, Sis,” Alex said, his face brightening with the idea. He was happy to have something constructive to do since they seemed stymied in their attempts to learn the plans of the Shadow Wraith’s followers. He was even happier knowing it would finally eliminate his time with Leanna in the magic boxes from the conversation.
“You owe me,” Nina whispered to Alex as she leaned over and as the others all began discussing exactly how they might go about spying on the Mad Mages’ clubhouse. Alex mouthed a silent, “Thank you.”
Their eventual plan was not daring, but it did seem to have a higher chance of success than the various plans originally suggested. Fifteen minutes after Alex finished his last bite of hamburger, he and the rest of the Guild, with the exception of Rafael, crouched in the shadows of the alley behind Dillon’s house, waiting for the Mad Mages to arrive.
The Mad Mages clubhouse was an old tree house Dillon’s father had paid to renovate and expand until it stretched through three large oak trees in the mayor’s backyard. Alex and the Guild knew from past experience there were magical wards and booby-traps of all kinds throughout the backyard, the trees, and around the clubhouse itself. They had no hope of getting physically close enough to hear what might be said inside.
On a previous occasion, Nina had tried to charm a bird to settle in nearby branches and relay the conversation within the clubhouse back to her through a psychic link. The bird turned out to be less than responsive and had flown right into one of the windows of the tree house, nearly breaking its neck and leaving Nina with a headache for days. She had suggested the bird trick again, but Alex had convinced her it would be best to save that for when they had more time. In the end, the Guild decided if they could get close enough to see when the Mad Mages arrived at their clubhouse, Alex could use astral travel to eavesdrop on their conversations.
An impossibly large raven landed on the fence in front of them and spoke in Rafael’s voice. “They’re coming down the street now.”
“You should change before they can see your light,” Alex said.
“Then I’d only have to change back when the running starts,” Rafael said with a cackle. “This way, I can watch from above for anyone who might come down the alley.” Rafael, in raven form, leapt into the air, wide wings taking him up into the night sky. Alex had to admit, whatever Kendra had taught Rafael seemed to work. That raven was the largest bird Alex had ever seen Rafael transform into.
“They’re coming,” Victoria said and ducked her head down behind the fence. Her horse legs were already curled beneath her as she knelt on the thin strip of weeds at the edge of the alley. It was not easy for a centaur to hide, much less behind a common yard fence.
“Mmm, I wonder if they would notice if we magically made this fence taller,” Clark said, hunched down next to Victoria, trying to make himself as small as possible. Victoria winked at Clark in sympathy.
“Get ready,” Daphne said, peeking through a knothole in the fence. “The slime suckers are calling down the ladder now.” One of the reasons the Guild had never been able to break the security of the Mad Mages tree house was because of the enchanted rope ladder that only unfurled with the correct password.
“Careful, Brother,” Nina said from beside where Alex sat cross-legged with his back against the fence.
“I’ll be fine,” Alex said. “They can’t see me.”
“It’s not the Mad Mages I’m worried about,” Nina said.
“Hurry,” Ben said. “We don’t want to miss anything.”
“You know what to do,” Alex said to Nina and closed his eyes.
He breathed deeply, focusing his mind and quieting his thoughts. After a moment of concentration, he could feel himself slipping into his astral body. Opening what would have been his eyes, Alex found himself floating a few inches above his physical body, Nina watching over him, waiting for some sign of distress.
Alex looked around at his friends, taking an extra moment to gaze at Victoria. Her face was tight with what Alex hoped was worry about him and not memories of seeing him climbing out of that magic box with Leanna standing next to him, her lipstick smeared on his face. He watched as her face shifted to something that might have been admiration and decided he couldn’t waste any more time.
His view changed as he willed himself to the edge of the tree house, appearing outside the window. He could see Anna, Dillon, and the other Mad Mages assembled around a well-polished maple table.
With a gentle thought of his mind, Alex eased through the wooden wall of the clubhouse to hover in astral form at the edge of the room. Anna was in the middle of speaking and he caught only the last bit of what she was saying as he took a moment to look around the interior of the tree house. It was lavishly decorated.
Anna and the others sat in sturdy wooden chairs with plush velvet cushions. There were three couches along the walls with well-packed bookshelves standing between them. There was even a sink, a small stove, and a miniature magical cooling box. A doorway led to a small bridge across the branches of the neighboring tree and toward what seemed to Alex like an office. It had a desk and filing cabinets.
The Mad Mages clearly have a larger budget for their clubhouse than the Young Sorcerers Guild,
he thought with a bit of jealously. Alex ignored all he saw for the moment and concentrated on what he was hearing.
“…We go to the museum,” Anna said, taking a sip of a Royal Crown Soda. “Everyone else will be at the festival.”
“Won’t people notice we’re gone?” Dillon asked, his face twisted in annoyance.
“We’ll be there when you father begins his speech,” Anna said. “Then we’ll slip away while he talks.”
“He’ll talk long enough, that’s for sure,” Koji said with a snort. The mayor was renowned for his longwinded speeches. Dillon frowned and Koji stifled a grin.
“We have plenty of time to get to the museum, accomplish the mission, and then return before anyone has missed us,” Anna said.
“And we get them at the museum,” Karl said, his face more thuggish than usual.
“We get it,” Anna said, casting a sharp look at Karl.
“Right, we get it,” Karl said, his eyes darting around the room quickly before settling on Anna again.
“Then what?” Mai said, taking a dainty sip of her soda.
“Then we get to be the heroes,” Dillon said, sneering as he reached into a yellow tin and withdrew a handful of Red Dot potato chips.
“Then we act surprised like everyone else,” Anna corrected. “We get to be the heroes later. At the appropriate time.”
Alex felt his astral vision of the clubhouse fading, as if something was pulling him back into his body. He struggled to remain present in astral form.
“Timing is the key thing,” Anna said. “Now let’s go over the plan from the start.”
Alex heard no more. The next thing he knew he was back in his body, his eyes blinking open, struggling for breath. He saw the look on Nina’s face as she pulled her hands away from his nose and mouth.
“Dillon’s dad is coming,” Nina whispered as Alex gasped for breath. Nina’s instructions had been to hold his nose and cover his mouth to force him from his astral form if something seemed wrong — either with his breathing, which might indicate he was in danger — or in the event something in the alley was amiss. Dillon’s father showing up was definitely something amiss.
“Where?” Alex asked, quickly crouching on his knees.
“Around that corner,” Daphne said, pointing
“Rafael spotted him,” Victoria said, pointing up to where a large black crow circled in the night sky.
“Dog,” Ben said. “He’s walking the dog.”
“Ah, we should go now,” Clark said, beginning to run in a low crouch down the alley.
“Rafa will be sorry he missed more running,” Victoria said, trotting quickly beside Alex, trying to keep in the weeds to muffle the sound of her hooves.
“This is much better,” Rafael said, his raven wings letting him swoop down beside the others and then soar up into the darkness.
“Could you hear anything?” Nina said as she ran up beside Alex.
“Enough,” Alex said as they dashed around the end of the alleyway and back into the street. They quickly grabbed their bikes from behind the bushes where they had stashed them and rode as fast as they could. Several blocks away, they paused to catch their breaths beneath a chestnut tree outside the home of the local grocers, Mr. and Mrs. DeSoto.
“What did you hear?” Rafael said, still in the form of a crow, sitting on a low hanging branch.
“They’re going to rob the museum,” Alex said.
“Perseus’s pustules,” Daphne said. “What are they going to take?”
“I’m not sure,” Alex said and proceeded to recount all he had heard and what he thought it meant.
“We have to stop them,” Victoria said, the pitch of her voice sharp and firm.
“We will,” Alex said.
“Easy,” Ben said. “We know their plan, so we can catch them.”
“Most of it,” Alex said.
“We should tell Dad,” Nina said.
“He has enough to worry about with followers of the Shadow Wraith in the carnival,” Alex said.
“Don’t we have enough to worry about with followers of the Shadow Wraith in the carnival?” Rafael asked.
“We can handle this,” Alex said, determination in his voice.
“Mmm, we owe them one, too,” Clark said. “Maybe more than one.”
“So, we’ll meet tomorrow at the Guild House,” Alex said. “The festival begins at noon. That gives us the whole morning to search the carnival.”
The others could not think of a better course of action, and Nina was eventually convinced to withhold telling their father of the impending break-in at the museum by the Mad Mages. Once Alex pointed out how satisfying it would be to catch them personally, Nina’s opinion swiftly changed.
The Guild departed in pairs, Daphne offering to see Clark home. Clark bashfully, but thankfully, accepted. Rafael flew above Ben before taking wing toward home, while Nina and Alex escorted Victoria to her door. Nina managed to find something interesting in a tree down the block, within eyesight of Alex, but out of earshot.
“Thank you for seeing me home,” Victoria said, her tail flicking behind her, “but it’s not me people are trying to kill.”
“Hang around me long enough and I’m sure they’ll try,” Alex said. He had meant it as a flippant comment. Something humorous to ease the tension. Instead, the frightening truth of the statement left them both in silence. Maybe being around Victoria was dangerous. For her. Maybe he should stay away from her for a while.
“It was an interesting day,” Victoria said in a tone giving no indication what she really meant.
“It was,” Alex said, not really thinking about what he was saying, but looking up into Victoria’s deep blue eyes and forgetting all thoughts of spending less time with her.
Now
. Now was the time to kiss her. He took two steps up the stairs of the front porch and turned to face her. They stood eye to eye.
Now
. Now was the perfect time to kiss her and make her forget all about the lipstick and Leanna and anything else. All he had to do was lean in and…
“Victoria?”
Alex and Victoria turned their heads in unison to see her father standing in the doorway of their house, looking out at them from behind his lopsided spectacles. He adjusted the glasses and smiled.
“Oh, it is you,” her father said. “I was wondering if you would be home before dinner. I’ve made a roast. Or I roasted something. There are potatoes, too. There were carrots, but I ate those. I got a little hungry. Oh, Alex. Have you had dinner? Would you like to stay and join us?”
“Thank you,” Alex said, groaning despite all his efforts not to. “I ate. And Nina’s waiting for me. I should go.”
“Oh, Daddy,” Victoria said with sigh as she looked back to Alex. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Alex. I have to help Daddy with his invention booth, but I can join you for the festival speeches and…everything else.”
“It’s a date,” Alex said, fumbling over the words. “Or an engagement...or a…I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Alex waved goodnight to Victoria and her father, grabbed his bike and rode past Nina.
“Her dad has the worst timing,” Nina said, riding up beside Alex.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Alex said.
“I hope for your sake that’s a lie,” Nina said. “Otherwise, I suspect you might be irreparably brain damaged.”
“What I am…” Alex began to say and then suddenly stopped. He stopped not because he wanted to, but because he had to. His body was frozen, locked in place, his hands gripping the handlebars, his feet suspended inches above the pedals, his mouth held open, but unable to move.