Page 35 of The Tree of Spirits (Paragons #2)

THE CELESTIAL GLOBE

C onner brought me to another one of the Rebels’ hideouts. It was an abandoned house just a five-minute walk from the Killfield train station.

“Make yourself at home, Red,” Conner told me once we were safely inside and had shrugged off our invisibility disguises.

I looked around. The house wasn’t fancy, but it was far less raggedy than the other Rebel hideout I’d visited. For one, the floor was a smooth, even layer of wood, so I didn’t have to watch my every step.

Conner set the celestial globe on the kitchen counter. “Ok, let’s figure out where the Templars have been.”

I plopped down on the sofa and turned on the TV. “Hey, it looks like your friends fixed the Watchers,” I called out.

“Awesome, now the Generals’ soldiers can get back to hunting us down,” he quipped.

I turned, watching him over the back of the sofa. “I’m sure they’re looking for the Templars too.”

“Yeah, I’m not holding out much hope for their success. The Watchers don’t handle matters of magic very well.” He shook out his hands, setting off a few sparks. “Ok, so the good news is I’ve managed to pull up this celestial globe’s full location history.”

“And the bad news?”

“It’s a very long list of realms.” He exhaled deeply. “Like very long. It would take us months, if not years, to visit them all and search for the missing Apprentices.”

I joined him in the kitchen. “Yeah, I was afraid that might be the case.” I reached out and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “But we can still use this information to prove that the Rebels are not the Templars, right?”

“Yeah.” He stroked his chin thoughtfully. “There are a bunch of dates when the Templars were in other realms, and the Rebels were definitely here, saving people from bandits while the Watchers made a very public scene of trying to arrest us.”

“Bandits,” I repeated in a mutter.

“Red?”

I looked at him. “During my Discovery Quest, bandits attacked us at the mall. The Rebels swooped in to take care of them.”

“You mentioned that before. So I asked Vivi. She said that she, Benek, and Angel were the Rebels in the mall that day.”

“Benek?”

“You haven’t met him yet,” he told me. “In any case, Vivi said the three of them tied up the bandits and left them for the Watchers.”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “If only they’d brought them back to one of your hideouts instead.”

“Why?”

“Because the Templars aren’t the only threat to the Apprentices. I think the Brotherhood sent those bandits to kill us,” I told him. “And I want to know what else they’re planning.”

“The Brotherhood isn’t planning anything nowadays,” said Conner. “After what happened in the Park, the Watchers arrested all the Brothers.”

I shook my head. “Only the Brothers they know about. I’m sure there are more out there, just biding their time.

This isn’t the end of the Brotherhood. They sent Cursed Ones to take out Apprentices.

They also kidnapped Scavengers to use them as slave labor.

And they attacked the Tournament. Furthermore, the ‘Black Knight’ the boys in Bayshore mentioned—I think that was one of the Brotherhood’s Techno Knights.

The Brothers used Finn and Sean. They cursed them so they would take out Bayshore’s Chosen.

The sort of people who would do all of those terrible things wouldn’t give up just because the Watchers caught a few of their members.

The Brotherhood isn’t done with us yet.”

“You might be right about that, but for the moment they’re out of the fight,” Conner replied. “So we need to focus on the Templars. We need to focus on saving the Apprentices they abducted from the conference center.”

“Right.” I drew in a deep breath. “And we can start by proving the Rebels didn’t kidnap the Apprentices.

The Templars did.” I glanced down at the celestial globe, which was still glowing faintly.

“Whoever these so-called Templars are, they’re not from Gaia.

They’re from somewhere else in the Many Realms. That should make the General happy.

It will give him ammunition against Prince Fenris, who’s always going on and on about our ‘in-fighting’. ”

“At the very least, it will keep the General busy while we try to save the Apprentices before the Templars escape our realm with them.” Conner’s eyes drifted upward.

“So you’re going to send this proof to the General?”

His gaze snapped back to me. “Actually, I have a better idea.”

“Kato. You’re going to send the celestial globe to Kato,” I realized.

“Well, the General will be more willing to believe it if it comes from Kato rather than from me,” he said. “And it looks like Kato will be back tonight.”

I followed his gaze to the TV, which was cycling through clips of a white Knight—Kato—leading the other Knights in battle. Words scrolled across the bottom of the screen.

Victory in the Park.

Fallen district reclaimed.

Operation: Free Gaia is a success.

Knights returning home.

Then the camera jumped to an interview with some Government official in a suit, holding a press conference in front of the Diamond Pyramid, a prominent building in the Government’s exclusive Paradise district.

“After three long days and nights of intense fighting, the Knights have defeated every last Cursed One in the Park,” he told the reporters and cameras.

“Some of the Knights will stay behind to patrol the area while the Fixers stabilize the buildings and make the district suitable for human habitation. But the majority of the Knights will join in our soldiers’ continuing search for the Rebels. ”

“Hopefully not for long,” I said. “Once they realize the Rebels aren’t responsible for the missing Apprentices, they’ll call off the search for you. And focus their efforts on the real threat.”

Conner snorted. “I think you’re seriously underestimating the General’s stubbornness.”

“No, I’m not. But surely in the face of all this evidence?—”

“All we can prove is we aren’t the Templars, Red. The General still hates us for rebelling against the Government. And he will still make every effort to bring us in for that.”

“Hey, that’s not a very positive attitude.”

“Ok, how about this? I’m positive the General will make every effort to hunt us down.”

“You’re hopeless.”

A devious spark lit up his eyes. “I never pretended that I wasn’t.”

I circled around the kitchen island and started pulling out drawers.

Conner watched me. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for something I can use to make a snack. I’m starving.”

“There’s some spaghetti in the pantry,” he told me.

“Great. Thanks.” I pulled out a box of spaghetti and a big pot.

“Try not to burn the water.” He winked at me.

I rolled my eyes. “Funny.”

He took a bow. “I live to serve.”

His bright words were followed by a sudden darkness that rolled over the windows, blocking out the evening light.

A moment later, I heard the deafening roar of thunder.

The trees outside started rattling violently in the wind.

Rain hammered the windows like nails. The temperature plummeted in an instant.

“Well, that is certainly ominous.” I rubbed my hands up and down my arms, trying to warm them.

But Conner didn’t seem bothered. “Na, storms like this happen all the time around here. No need to worry. But, just in case, maybe we should upgrade that snack to dinner. It’s not safe out there for you.

Stay here tonight, at least until the storm has settled down and the Watchers are no longer hunting you. ”

I wondered which of those two things would come first.

“Ok,” I agreed. “I’ll stay. But just for tonight.”

His whole face lit up, like I’d just given him the world. “Great! It’s been a long day, but tomorrow we’ll nab those Templars and save the missing Apprentices.”

Later, I was just setting our plates on the table when the overhead lamps sizzled out.

“And there goes the power.” I squinted at Conner in the dark room. “Still think I shouldn’t worry?”

“Oh, I totally expect you to worry.” He smirked at me. “You enjoy worrying.”

“I do not enjoy worrying.”

“Sure you do.” Conner pulled a bunch of candles out of a closet and set them on the table.

I lit them with a candle lighter, then we both sat down.

Conner grinned at me over braided fingers—and a sea of flickering candles. “Now isn’t this romantic?”

It kind of was, but I’d never admit that. Instead, I handed him the spaghetti sauce. Lightning flashed through the windows. Thunder answered with a roar. And the whole time, the rain beat down on the roof like a stranger knocking on our door, desperate to get inside.

“This is going to be a long night,” I sighed.

We ate spaghetti by candlelight. As the minutes passed, the room grew darker, until our table was a tiny beacon of flickering light in the blackness.

We talked and laughed, and after a while, I didn’t mind the storm at all anymore.

Because I wasn’t alone in all this. And in our crazy, scary world, that was what truly mattered.