Page 18 of The Tree of Spirits (Paragons #2)

THE BAIT

R ane tossed a grape into her mouth. “How long do you think this will take?” she asked when she was finished chewing it.

“Just a little longer,” Ansel said.

He, Rane, and I had gathered around a fold-out table in Rane’s family’s greenhouse. The tabletop was hardly sturdier than a piece of cardboard, so it was a good thing that Ansel’s tablet was so lightweight. And that he’d had it with him when I’d messaged him, asking him to meet us here.

“Annnd…I’m in,” Ansel declared.

“Just like that?” I asked hopefully.

“Just like that,” he confirmed, flashing me a grin.

Rane leaned over, glancing at his screen. “So you hacked into both Raytan’s and Isidora’s company network thingies or whatever they’re called? And you did it in like, what, five seconds?”

Actually, he’d been here closer to five minutes than five seconds. But it was still impressive. Dante had told me Ansel was good with tech, but this was really something else.

“So.” Rane looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. “Any chance I could, like, hire you to break into my parents’ phones? I’m sure there are lots of embarrassing gems tucked away on them, and I could really use some leverage the next time they go all crazy-controlling-parents on me.”

“I think Ansel wants to use his powers for good, not evil,” I told Rane.

“Good, as in hacking Raytan’s and Isidora’s businesses?” she said, smirking.

“Hey, do you want to get your tree hauled away or not?” I asked her.

“Ok, ok.” She backed away, lifting her hands in the air.

“Thanks, by the way,” I said to Ansel.

“If the General finds out about this and calls me in for an inquisition, I’ll tell him you made me do it.” He threw me a crooked smile, then continued typing.

I snorted. “Fair enough.”

“But, seriously, no problem,” he said. “Actually, you did me a favor. You gave me an excuse to get away from your friend Kylie. She wants me to try to lift fingerprints off your necklace so I can tell her who made it.”

Rane blinked. “You can do that?”

“I guess. But I told Kylie that I couldn’t.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“Hey, I get it, Savannah. I get wanting a little privacy in your life. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t want people trying to figure out who my ‘mystery Knight’ is.”

“I can’t believe they’re still on about that,” I groaned.

Ansel shrugged. “Apprentices and Knights are teenagers. And teenagers love to gossip, especially about people’s secret boyfriends.”

Rane perked up. “Wait, you have a secret boyfriend, Savannah?”

“Two secret boyfriends,” Ansel told her. “At least if you listen to the Castle’s gossip wheel.”

“Which you totally should not listen to.” I drummed my fingers against the tabletop. “So, Ansel, could you send out an anonymous message to every employee in both Raytan’s and Isidora’s companies?”

“Sure.” He started typing. “What should it say?”

“Tell them that the Watchers found something at the explosion site today. Tell them there’s…a magical fingerprint or signature or whatever—just make it sound all techy—on some of the debris. Tell them that the Watchers are going to use it to reveal the culprit behind the explosion.”

Ansel’s fingers danced across the keyboard. “Done. Should I send it?”

I read what he’d written, and it sounded much more technical and convincing than what I’d said. I really needed to get myself an Alchemist dictionary.

“Yes, please send it now,” I told him.

“Savannah, you do realize the debris from the explosion is all locked up securely in an evidence locker deep inside the Black Obelisk?” Rane reminded me as Ansel sent off the message.

“I know,” I told her.

“So how are you going to steal it?”

“Who said anything about stealing anything?” I replied with a smile. “All we need to do is wait. And watch.”