“Point taken,” Griffin admitted.
Erik intervened, turning to Cassie. “I already told you that I’ll let you carry a stun gun, all right?”
“Oh great,” Cassie snorted. “I’d have to be up close and personal with a bad guy before I could do any damage.”
“That’s exactly why I’m not giving you anything with more range than that. Your reaction time is way too fast. If you had a real gun, you’d end up killing one of us from twenty feet off.”
Cassie scowled. “Right this minute, I’m gonna have to agree with you.”
“Take two stun guns. Take a dozen. I don’t care. But no guns that shoot bullets!”
“What are you three plotting now?” A booming female voice rang in Cassie’s ears.
They all turned guiltily as if caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
Cassie gave a rueful sigh. “Nothing, Maddie, but it’s amazing how paranoid we all get when you ask that question.”
The operations director grinned. “I like to keep you on your toes.”
Griffin rose on tip toe.
Maddie looked at his feet, unimpressed. “Yeah, yeah I got the news. The wheelchair’s been decommissioned. Kudos.”
Cassie turned to the operations director and pleaded, “Maddie, help me out here. I’m a great shot, but Erik won’t give me a gun for the next leg of our relic hunt.”
The resident Amazon paused to light up a cigarette. She wafted the smoke away from her companions before replying. “Sorry, kiddo, no can do. I don’t let Erik make too many unilateral decisions because that’s how things get blown up or set on fire. But when it comes to arming the three of you, weapons are his call.”
“See, I told you she’d say that.” Erik smirked in triumph.
“Nerts!” Cassie folded her arms truculently.
Griffin looked anxiously toward the foyer of the schoolhouse which was nearly empty by now. “We should go inside before all the seats are gone.”
After taking a few more hasty drags on her cigarette, Maddie crushed it out in the frozen grass.
The four hurriedly climbed the stairs that led to the main hall of the schoolroom which was abuzz with life for a change. Usually, the room was quiet and empty—merely a transition space to the elevators in the back vestibule which led to the secret vault beneath. Tonight, all the chandeliers were blazing with light, and the stained glass windows shimmered in the glare. The tiered box seats lining the walls were filled with two hundred of the oddest specimens of humanity ever assembled under one roof.
“It’s like a United Nations of fashion victims,” Cassie murmured. As she recalled from her last experience with the assembly, trove keepers from around the globe tried to incorporate some item of their native costume into their clothing. The results were usually bizarre.
After hanging their coats on racks near the door, the four scurried to the box seats. Cassie dived for the first available space she could find on the bottom tier next to a woman wearing a little black dress and a capelet of parrot feathers. Her headdress looked like a Smurf hat made entirely of red and yellow plumes.
Although Cassie did a double take at the headdress, none of her companions seemed to notice.
“Scoot over,” Erik demanded.
All four were able to squeeze in and settle themselves just as the proceedings commenced.
The low rumble of conversation in the hall died to a whisper when a tiny elderly woman in a gold brocade coat dress and matching pillbox hat made her way to the center of the room.
“Faye always reminds me of visiting royalty when she gets decked out for one of these meetings,” Cassie whispered to Erik.
He nodded in agreement. “Hard to believe her usual outfit is a housedress dusted with cake flour.”
The memory guardian of the Arkana came to a halt in front of a huge circular table which was already occupied by thirty oddly-dressed dignitaries. Her own high-backed wooden arm chair remained empty. She preferred to stand to address the gathering. Smiling briefly as her gaze travelled around the room, she said, “My thanks to all of you for coming here on such short notice. Our reason for assembling this evening has only happened a few times before in the long history of the Arkana. I’m glad so many of you could join us for the ceremony.”
“Ceremony?” Cassie repeated. “What’s she talking about?”
Erik shook his head, Griffin looked perplexed, and Maddie shrugged her shoulders.
Faye continued speaking. “You’ll recall the last time we all met in grand assembly. It was to debate sending an expedition to recover a legendary artifact—the Sage Stone.”
Whispers of acknowledgement traveled around the hall.
“At least some of you are aware that the team I picked to undertake that mission includes Griffin our Chief scrivener, Cassie our pythia, and Erik our security coordinator.”
All eyes turned to the trio seated in the bottom row. Those sitting above them leaned forward to get a closer look.
Cassie squirmed in discomfort at the scrutiny. “This had to happen on a bad hair day,” she mumbled under her breath.
Faye’s gaze came to rest on the fourth member of their party. “In addition, our operations director Maddie has taken charge of overseeing their activities from home base. She has accepted this duty along with her responsibilities as manager of Global Operations. A heavy load, to be sure.”
“Global Ops is nothing compared to riding herd on you three,” Maddie whispered pointedly to the trio. “I’ve got the gray hairs to prove it.”
They pretended not to hear her and focused intently on the tiny woman standing at the round table.
“The quest to discover the location of the Sage Stone has taken our team from Crete to Turkey to Spain to America. During that time, their lives have been repeatedly endangered by operatives of the Blessed Nephilim. Griffin is even now recovering from a gunshot wound received during their last field mission.” Faye paused for a moment. “Throughout the course of this quest, they have all shown extraordinary bravery. Thanks to their determination, we
