“We are well aware of the intricacies of the situation,” Griffin agreed.
“Our biggest problem is how to keep Daniel out of the way while we hunt for the Sage Stone,” Cassie concluded.
Maddie shook her head. “I don’t think you can do that without making Metcalf suspicious.” As she pondered the dilemma, it was clear that she’d forgotten her grudge against them.
“Guys, please try to remember you’re gambling with my girlfriend’s life.” Zach looked at them beseechingly.
“Don’t worry, kid.” The chatelaine’s expression softened. “We wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize Hannah’s safety.”
“She’s safer now than she was before we cut this deal with the Nephilim,” Cassie reassured the teenager. “Metcalf knows if he lifts a finger to hurt her, he’ll never get his hands on the Sage Stone. She’s his only bargaining chip.”
“I spoke to Daniel at length about Hannah’s situation,” Griffin added. “He visits her every day. She’s being held under lock and key but is otherwise well-treated.”
“So he says,” muttered Zach. “He could be lying.”
“I don’t think he’s lying about that. He’s Hannah’s ally.” Cassie frowned in concentration. “But Zach raises a good point. We don’t know how far we can trust Daniel when it comes to the Sage Stone.”
“And we have to work side-by-side with him during the most critical phase of our artifact quest.” Griffin slumped forward and clasped his hands, resting his elbows on his knees. “His presence complicates our search enormously.”
“It doesn’t have to.” Maddie was gazing off into the distance, puffing pensively on her cigarette.
“I beg your pardon,” Griffin sat up in surprise. “How are we supposed to beat the Nephilim to the Sage Stone with the diviner’s son in tow?”
“Maybe you’re not.” Maddie gave a cryptic smile.
The other three peered at her blankly.
“Maybe you two aren’t going to find it first.” She paused. “We are.”
“We who?” Cassie asked.
“The Arkana,” Maddie explained. “You feed us whatever info you uncover along the way, and we do the heavy research and the preliminary legwork.”
“I volunteer.” Zach’s hand shot up in air.
“For what?” the pythia challenged.
“For research. I’ve been told I’m pretty smart.” He paused to register their expressions of disbelief. “By people who aren’t you, anyway. I get good grades at school. Please, guys. You’ve got to let me help. I can’t just sit here and fret about whether Hannah is OK or not.”
Maddie let out a long sigh. “Fine. You can help. But I still expect you to finish your martial arts and weapons training.”
“Absolutely!”
“Zach, with all that stuff on your plate it means you’ll have to be here full time,” Cassie pointed out. “What are you going to tell your parents?”
“No worries. Only a couple more weeks before school’s out for vacation. I’ll tell them I got a summer job.” He paused as another thought struck him. Turning brightly to Maddie he said, “Of course I’ll need to make it convincing. My folks will expect to see a paycheck.”
“A paycheck!” Maddie glared at him. “That’s unheard of. tyros don’t get paid.”
“I’m operating undercover,” the boy protested. “I’m a special case.”
“You’re a special case alright,” the chatelaine grumbled. “I’ll give you minimum wage.”
“What?” the boy yelped.
“I can go lower,” Maddie warned.
Zach held up his hands in resignation. “Fine, fine. Minimum wage.”
“But what are we supposed to do while the staff at the vault is searching for the Sage Stone?” Griffin persisted.
“Buy us time.” Maddie fixed them with an earnest gaze. “You’ll be decoys. You can still follow the trail of whatever clues you find but drag your feet a little. Let us get there two steps ahead of you.”
“Suppose your plan works and you do get to the Sage Stone before we arrive with Daniel,” Cassie challenged. “We still have to produce an artifact for Metcalf at the end of the day.”
“We could leave the hiding place empty. Make it appear as if robbers had gotten there first,” Griffin suggested.
“Too risky,” Zach objected. “Daniel’s dad might suspect we pulled a fast one and then he’d refuse to turn Hannah over to you guys. We have to give him something.”
“We can do what we always do,” Maddie suggested. “Substitute a replica.”
“As long as the old dude thinks it’s real, he’ll go ahead with his master plan,” Zach cautioned.
“True,” the chatelaine conceded. “But between now and then we should be able to figure out what his master plan is and how to put a crimp in it. When things blow up in his face, he’ll be forced to conclude that the Sage Stone had no power to help him after all. Then he’ll have to call it quits.”
“As an added bonus, he might completely lose credibility with his flock,” the scrivener pointed out. “His failure could demoralize the Nephilim for generations.”
“Fine by me,” Cassie said. “If they crawl back under their rock for a couple hundred more years, they’d be doing the world a favor.”
“So, what’s our first step?” Zach regarded the others eagerly.
“We’ll have to give you some initial momentum,” Griffin said.
“I can think of a good starting point.” Cassie smiled mischievously. “Australia.”
“Australia!” the other three exclaimed in unison.
“Yup, Australia. Since the final clue points north from China, Australia is the one place on the planet we can be sure the Sage Stone isn’t.”
The chatelaine nodded her head approvingly. “That’s a good idea.”
“Marvelous,” Griffin said ironically. “I can’t imagine how you intend to sell the idea to Daniel.”
“Easy,” the pythia replied. “By faking a trance.”
Chapter 7—Top End Down Under
Cassie slouched out of the hotel dining room trailed by Griffin. She sank into one of the lobby’s upholstered wicker chairs and rubbed her eyes. “I feel like my eyeballs are crusted with broken glass.”
The scrivener took a seat beside her. He smiled knowingly. “Your special brand of pythia jetlag appears to be asserting itself this morning.”
“The mother of all understatements,” the pythia murmured. ‘I think Maddie got her revenge for our mutiny by booking us
