The librarian glared at them both, a second warning, and then continued about her duties, leaving the two of them be.
“Fine,” Christine said. “Truce.”
“Truce.”
“Instead of you going off on your own, why don’t we work together?” she said. “Split the work, make notes and go over everything when we’re done?”
“Deal.” Altair dropped into the desk next to her, wondering why he had chosen to sit right next to her instead of somewhere else. Was it because he hoped it would bug her?
If so, she didn’t seem to care anymore, instead just taking two books and passing them off to him.
“Here, start with these. They’re a bit generic, but they give you some good background information on demons in general, which I’m assuming you could use. Make any notes.”
“I will,” he said, and took the first book, entitled Demon Origins and cracking the cover open, leaning back to start reading.
He was half a page in when he felt her gaze settle on him again. Looking up, he saw his instincts were correct. Christine was staring at him, once more looking unimpressed.
“What did I do now?” he asked.
“You’re supposed to be taking notes.”
“I am. I have an excellent memory. Now, if you’re done harassing me?”
She huffed but returned to her own readings. Altair grinned, watching her face, the intense stare of her eyes as she directed her anger into what she was reading.
There was something almost cute about the way she got upset with him.
Realizing what he was thinking, he cleared his mind and picked up his book again. He wouldn’t think of her like that, couldn’t think of her that way.
“You’re a storm dragon, right?”
He looked up several minutes later, in surprise. “Yes, that’s correct.”
“So, you can control the weather, but also the air?” She was leaning forward, staring at him intently, book all but forgotten.
“Um, sort of. I can control the air. So, I can charge it, creating a storm, or I can make it rain by condensing the air and forcing the water to fall. But I cannot, for instance, create water if there is none in the air. Nor can I make it snow without the right temperature conditions. There is a thing as too much manipulation of the weather.”
Christine nodded. “Does it take you long?”
“Take me long to do what?” he asked.
“Control it.”
Altair glanced at a book in the pile next to her and it rose into the air as air swirled underneath it, lifting it free. Christine tried to grab it, but he floated it just out of her grasp. She tried again, and again, but his book dodged her grasp each time. Then it came back to settle down.
“So very interesting. And lightning,” she said. “You can use it as a weapon?”
“Yes.”
“Show me,” she said eagerly, a smile teasing at the corners of her mouth.
“Uh.” He held up a hand, tiny bolts of lightning dancing between his fingertips.
“Fascinating.”
“Why do you want to know this?” he asked, leaning on his side to face her straight on, trying to decipher what she was up to.
“Because, if we’re going to fight this demon and send him back to the depths of the Abyss,” she said with sudden intensity, “then I need to know every advantage and strength available to me and the team.”
Altair watched her eyes sparkle as she talked. Her drive was obvious; the way she was focused on this mission even before it was guaranteed they would get a chance to fight Berith.
A chance to fight for her, but for me, a chance to redeem myself, to change my legacy. No matter what it takes, I will ensure that Berith falls when I meet the creature.
“Tell me more about this Erlinger,” he rumbled, looking down at a chapter of the book dedicated entirely to her. “What is told about her in your circles?”
Christine shrugged. “Master Ada Erlinger is a legend, but we don’t exactly talk about her much. Sometimes, if the subject of demons comes up, she will as well, but it’s not regular dinner conversation. She was a powerful witch several hundred years ago who studied at the Hexe Institute in Germany, our European school headquarters. When Berith pushed his way through from the Abyss, she and two dozen others went after him.”
“She stopped him, by herself though,” Altair pushed.
“Yes, so the stories go. She sacrificed herself to stop Berith from doing any more damage, in the process sending him back to the Abyss.”
“How did she do that?” Altair needed to know, needed to understand what to do if the situation called for him to do the same.
“I...I don’t really know the specifics,” Christine admitted. “I assume she cast a spell that drew upon her own life energy to amplify it, but I’m not really sure.”
Altair grimaced. Damn, a spell. He couldn’t use magic, not in the same sense the witches could. There had to be another way.
Not happy with the answer, he buried his nose in the book, page after page flowing by as he tried to garner some sort of insight into what this heroic and celebrated Master had done to save the day.
He had to know.
Chapter Seven
Christine
EAGER TO BEGIN WORKING with the team, Christine entered the training arena with her spine straight and a smile tugging at her lips. This was what she’d worked so hard for, a chance to combat true evil, and send it back to the darkness from whence it came! Now she was going to get a chance to do so.
Her footsteps slowed as she entered the massive dome-shaped room buried deep into the mountain. Others were already present, which did not bother her in itself; however, the sheer number of people in the room was a little uneasy.
Were there to be tryouts? Circe hadn’t mentioned anything about that. Christine had assumed that the Coven would contact those they figured were best suited to be on the team and tell them to get to the arena. She recognized several other upper-year
