“Not that I mind meeting you on my day off, but what’s so important that it couldn’t wait til Monday at the library?”
“I won’t be at the library on Monday. I’m leaving for Japan tonight.”
“Japan?” The librarian’s eyebrows shot up.
“Well, adjacent to, anyway. Sakhalin Island is just north of Hokkaido.”
“First Australia. Now northeast Asia. You’ve become quite the globetrotter.”
A waiter arrived at that moment to take their orders.
Since this was one of Chris’s favorite haunts, he didn’t bother to check the menu. He asked for a glass of pinot grigio and ordered the house club sandwich. Noting the iced tea next to Daniel’s plate, he asked, “No pale ale today?”
“I need to keep a clear head. Too much is happening right now.” The scion handed the waiter his menu after ordering the same sandwich as Chris had chosen.
“For a world traveler like you, it shouldn’t burn up too many brain cells to pack a suitcase.” The librarian took a sip of water.
“That’s not the problem. There have been some new... uh... developments.”
Chris leaned forward, a gleam in his eye. “Really? How much could have happened in a week? You already gave me the scoop on your Australia trip—the armed satellite compounds and your brother’s nefarious schemes. Last I heard you and your flying monkey Leroy were going to tattle on Joshua to your dad.”
“We did. At first, Father didn’t believe us. But then, something happened to change his mind.”
The waiter returned with Chris’s wine.
Daniel paused to drink some tea. “The doctor who runs the secret lab arrived with a test subject who survived his experiments. It was Erik.” The scion waited to let that bit of news sink in.
Chris did a double-take. “You mean Erik, the artifact thief? The one who was killed trying to rescue Hannah?”
Daniel nodded gravely.
“But how is that even possible?”
The scion launched into a recap of Erik’s injuries, the doctor’s pneumonic plague experiments, and Daniel’s quick thinking in securing the thief’s safety by holding him hostage until the Sage Stone was found. As he was finishing his tale, their food arrived.
Chris barely noticed. He was staring open-mouthed at Daniel, trying to process this barrage of information.
“Why don’t we eat something and talk afterward,” the scion suggested. He wisely concluded that Chris needed time to digest the facts along with his lunch.
The librarian didn’t argue. Instead, he directed his attention to his plate.
Neither one spoke for several minutes.
Half a sandwich later, Chris stopped chewing and fixed Daniel with an earnest gaze. “So, now what? Is Erik going to rescue Hannah and escape again?”
Daniel shook his head. “He’s in no shape to rescue anybody right now. The head of his organization instructed him to stay at the compound. She wants him to engage in surveillance to see what my father is up to.”
Chris broke into a radiant smile. “That’s terrific! You’ve got an ally on the inside now.”
“Hannah is certainly relieved to have someone watching out for her,” the scion equivocated. “Late last night I was able to sneak Erik into her room to introduce them. Their chambers are adjacent. Hannah had been fretting about her isolation in the guest wing. Now she feels more secure just knowing a friend is within earshot.”
“How is Erik supposed to surveil anything if he’s locked up?” Chris objected as he began working on the second half of his sandwich.
Daniel had lost his appetite and pushed his plate away. “I made a spare key for him today and also copied a set of blueprints that contain the security camera set-up. While I’m out of the country, he’ll find a way to get into my father’s office and search it. I gave him a phone, so he can communicate what he finds to his superiors.”
“You must be relieved,” the librarian observed. “I know I am. I thought it was going to be just the two of us against the Nephilim.” He frowned as he noted his friend’s expression. “You don’t look relieved. Why is that?”
Daniel sighed. “I’m relieved that Erik is alive. I’m more than relieved that Hannah has someone besides me to watch out for her. It’s just...” He threw his arms up helplessly. “I don’t know if I can fully trust his associates. I don’t know if they intend to harm the Nephilim when this quest is over.”
The librarian raised a skeptical eyebrow. “I’m having a bad case of deja vu right now, Danny Boy. We’ve been over this before. Your problem is you don’t want anybody to get hurt on either side of the conflict. It’s inevitable that somebody will. You need to stop dancing around and take a stand once and for all.” Chris tapped the tabletop impatiently. “Between the relic thieves and the Nephilim, I’m more inclined to side with the thieves. Your father’s weaponized plague is going to hurt a lot of people—thousands, if not millions. Is that really what you want?”
“Of course not!” Daniel exclaimed hotly. “But you keep forgetting that my family is involved.”
Chris paused to consider before he spoke. “Family loyalty is an admirable thing. Blind devotion to a mass murderer simply because he’s your father isn’t! Do you want the deaths of all his victims on your conscience?”
Daniel grimaced with pain at the impossible choice set before him. “It isn’t simply my father I’m defending. The lives of my daughters and wives are at stake too. The relic thieves work for a formidable organization. We’ve recently learned that their reach and resources may well exceed our own. How do we know that they won’t want to take revenge on the Nephilim? How do we know—”
The librarian cut him off. “We don’t. We can’t know if we bet on the right team until this scavenger hunt is finished. But actions speak louder than words. Your father aimed Leroy Hunt at those thieves and gave him orders to kill. They never retaliated in
