That caught Michael’s attention. His face contorted into a frown. “You’re saying they’ll torture them in a bid to flush me out?”
It was Emily’s turn to shrug. “They’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish their mission. They’ve proven that already.”
Michael was still frowning. “You can’t expect me to just go back to sleep. I’ve got to do something.” His voice raised in pitch. His emotions were truly coming out now. And Emily saw that in spite of the bravado and nonchalance, he was a guy of deep yearnings and emotion. He cared a lot about what was happening.
It was just the fact that he couldn’t do anything about it now that made him feel so inadequate.
“It’s not like you’re just standing around with your thumb up your butt.” Then a thought occurred to her. “Look, you’re a warlock. You might hate being a supernatural, but for now, you’ve got to think about what we’re up against. The vigilantes are toast. In fact, very soon, they’ll be marching on this house to take us hostage because they’re under the thumb of the Alfreds.”
Emily lifted her chin as she spoke. “So we need your powers. If we’re going to break the spell, we’ll need you at the top of your game. If we’re going to face off against five evil roves—the three guys out there, and the mom and dad in the castle on Main Street—then we need you to know your stuff.”
Emily paused to suck on air. She saw that she’d finally gained Michael’s attention.
“So what do you want me to do?” Michael glared at her. “I don’t know shit about being a warlock. I mean, I tried to take down Mr. Alfred, and look where it landed me.” He paused and looked at her again.
“I never got to say thank you for helping me out of the dungeon,” Michael continued. “I must say, I was surprised when I saw you.”
“You didn’t look surprised,” Emily reasoned. “If you were, it was probably because you felt that you were right all along; that I was an Owl and probably should have been hanging from the town’s center—entrails all spilled out on the ground.”
Silence.
“Okay, maybe,” Michael said with a slight smile. “But I am grateful I didn’t allow my stupidity to get the better of me. I’m grateful you came for me.”
Emily nodded. “There is something you can do while I sleep off my fatigue.” Emily led Michael into the back room, where Aunt Anastacia had a large library.
The place was cleaned out. Books that she’d seen splayed across the central table had been returned to their shelves. The place smelled nice and was well aired. Aunt Anastacia had to have cleaned the place up well before going to sleep.
As they entered the library, Emily had this great sense that Aunt Anastacia valued her books more than anything. She would probably curse anyone who laid a finger on them.
“Whoa!” Michael muttered as he looked up to see the library stretching up past the ground floor. Books everywhere. It was a sight.
“Let’s not touch anything yet, okay?” muttered Emily. If Aunt Anastacia had put a protective spell on the house, Emily had every reason to believe there was a spell on the books, too.
“I suppose you want me to read up, right?” Michael pulled out a chair from the table and sat down in it. “I’m game. The problem is, where do I start?”
Emily nodded. That was indeed the problem. They didn’t have time for him to read any non-essentials. She wished there was a book he could read that would bring him up to speed in the few hours they had before the outer perimeter collapsed. “If only there was a book that taught you the basics,” she wondered aloud.
“Yeah, that would work,” Michael replied. “If I know the basics, I can get creative.”
A book glowed on a shelf to their right. It caught Emily’s attention, and she turned to face that direction. “Um, is that book glowing!?” It was on the fourth shelf from the floor. It had even popped out a little, half the book visible past the spines of the others. It was thick and heavy-looking and packing a lot of dust. Michael had seen the book as well. He was now standing, although he allowed her to go get it first—probably because he was afraid to touch it and wanted her to be the guinea pig.
Emily hoped there was no protection on the books as she reached out to the binding. As she wrapped her hand around it, she felt a thrill of electricity course through her body. It was mild—more like a warning. It said: Break the book, and I break your bones.
Emily swallowed hard and pulled it the rest of the way out. The book’s weight made it drop. Emily had to put her other hand underneath it to keep it from slamming to the floor. “Phew!” she said with a nervous laugh as she carried the book to the table and put it right in front of Michael.
History of Magic: Basics for Beginners.
Michael growled. “I don’t have time for a history lesson!” he complained. “I need to learn battle spells. The sort of thing the Alfred kids are doing outside.”
Emily shrugged. She knew very little about magic or the skills needed to practice it. She did, however, know that the library was enchanted. If the library had responded to their need for a book to get Michael into fighting shape, at least, with this book, there was something in it Michael had to read. “Look, it says it’s the basics for beginners,” Emily read.
“Yeah, as in basic history for beginners,” Michael countered. He didn’t even bother to open it. He pushed it aside and looked at the other books on the shelves. “I need something on battle magic.”
“Maybe open it first,” Emily encouraged.
