Ever since she’d come back from visiting Alora, the Star of Time, and found out the truth of Grandpa Odd, Raiya hadn’t had a lot of time with just me—or, maybe I should say, we didn’t have enough time with each other. I know that was hard to imagine, considering I would go running to her house early in the morning, but it was true.
Raiya and I were busy, and we liked our own version of busy. She had her GED test prep and work at Rachel’s in the morning, while I had work and the SATs and school. It was part of the reason we went well together. But I was determined to make her happy, and to spend as much time with her as I could. (It was limited enough as it was, really.) Especially time when we could be normal teenagers in love. As much as I loved spending time with her, I didn’t really want to count trying to save the city as a bonding activity.
As we walked into the shadows of Lakeview Observatory, I pressed the four-point star on my wrist and transformed into my superhero self. Logan was on good terms with “Wingdinger.” Or maybe it was Wingdinger that was on better terms with him than Hamilton. Either way, I needed to be able to get information from him, and I didn’t think Logan would just up and give it to a mere acquaintance.
“Starry Knight’s in the telescope room, talking with Logan,” Elysian said. “Or at least she was when I left her.”
“Does Logan know her real identity?” I asked. Raiya seemed pretty chummy with Rachel’s brother-in-law.
“I don’t think so,” Elysian said. “Come on, she wouldn’t have told you if you weren’t going to find out, remember? Do you really think it’s likely she would’ve told Logan?”
“I guess not,” I said, as we approached the back door to the observatory. I didn’t add that I was just a bit jealous of Logan. He had earned Raiya’s respect since the beginning. I’d lost it several times, it seemed, even if I never lost her love.
Before I could ask Elysian what he thought she wanted, a guardsman came out. “You! Stop there,” he commanded.
“Excuse me?” I shuffled a few steps back, making sure I was out of his reach. “I’m here on official business.”
“You’re trespassing,” the guard insisted. “This is a restricted entrance.” As he seemed to finally register the outfit, he gasped. (Seriously, how did anyone miss the wingdings?) “You’re Wingdinger!”
“That’s right,” I asserted, trying to keep my attention on him, rather than his radio. The last thing I wanted was trouble.
But trouble didn’t seem to ever take the hint, especially when it came to this sort of stuff.
The guard frowned and shifted his feet. I knew he was getting ready to charge. “There’s a warrant out for your arrest.”
He reached for the gun at his belt, and that’s when I just reacted instantly, sending a jolt of power straight at him.
Before he could properly cry out, he fell over, unconscious.
I just stared at him. I’d never just attacked someone like that before, let alone a guard. It was too close to the police for comfort.
Elysian let out a guffaw. “You got him! Good aim.”
“I hope I didn’t hurt him.”
“He was going to hurt you, with no qualms.”
“Still, he was doing his job.”
“Evil ‘just does its job,’ too, boss. We’re allowed to disturb that,” Elysian argued.
“Evil has to be intentional,” I said, sure I was right. “I’m not sure if it’s the same thing as ignorance.”
“Willing ignorance is evil.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I waved him off. “We’ll have to discuss it later; I’m not in the mood to discuss the finer points of ethics or philosophy or whatever it is.” At least with Draco’s revelation and betrayal, I don’t have to worry about Grandpa Odd making me converse with him.
“Door’s open,” Elysian said after he used one of his claws to pick the lock.
“Cool.”
We headed down the labyrinthine walls, the ones that somehow connected each room and closet. I peeked into the room where the meteorite had been kept prior to its theft; nothing looked any different from the last time I’d seen it.
The fuse box was still melted, and the rest of the display looked untouched.
I stopped for a moment. “Elysian,” I said, “the fuse box has been melted. Would Draco be able to breathe fire like you can?”
Elysian snorted. “Of course,” he said. “He’s always been just as powerful as me. He never explicitly lauded it over me, at least until now. You’ve already seen how he can transform into people.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But he didn’t breathe fire at us while we were fighting him, back when we first found out. Why wouldn’t he, if he has such power?”
“Maybe I was right before, and he’s not up to full power,” Elysian suggested. “That would be my first guess. The second, well, you have to understand, that Draco is a fiercely proud dragon. If he didn’t breathe fire when he fought us earlier, it’s likely because it wouldn’t have been up to his standards.”
“But he could still do it?”
“Yes.” Elysian nodded, his dragon head bobbing up and down.
“So he must’ve used the fuse box to disconnect the power,” I said. “Just like Logan told me.”
“It makes sense, too, because it is older technology,” Raiya called out from behind me.
“Starry Knight.” I greeted her with a big grin on my face. Quickly glancing over, I saw the lanky shadow next to her. “Logan.”
“Nice to see you again, too,” Logan said. He had the eager face that came with innocence, and some days I envied him for it. “Starry Knight was just talking about you.”
“She was?” I knew the grin on my face turned into a goofy-looking one, and I didn’t even care. That much.
“Logan’s been able to reconfigure the radiation feed,” Raiya told me. “I thought you’d like to see it.”
It took me a moment to remember. (There’s just so much stuff to recall about this stuff, it was a wonder I could remember any of it at all. Of course, that was where being a genius made a big difference.)
Logan told me before the meteorite had been giving off a strange radiation pattern, one that was a mirror image of the universe’s. Almost like an infrablue, he said, instead of infrared. He had every reason to guess that it’d come from outside of our universe. I was more than willing to agree with his conclusion, although I didn’t think it was going to help him make his case before the various scientific communities to tell him it had been from a supernova caused by Starry Knight.
In fact, I figured Logan would be laughed at. So I said nothing. It’s better to let the facts speak for themselves at times like these.
The meteorite’s radiation pattern had also shown up in various parts of town—specifically, in places that seemed to correlate with places where demons of all sorts attacked.
As I glanced over at the map of the city next to the computer reading, I knew all too well which attacks had been at which locations.
“So it’s back up and running?” I asked. When the meteorite was stolen, the radiation tracker was disabled.
“Yeah, and it gets better. There’s a collection of radiation that’s growing just north of the center of the city,” Logan said, waxing enthusiasm for his topic, “and the radiation isn’t just different, but it’s thick. There’s a major flux going on, almost like a vortex, collecting the energy and perpetuating itself into … ”
I exchanged looks with Raiya as Logan went on with his scientific-sounding spiel. While I liked the guy, and I could appreciate a serious scholar not bent on world domination, this was more or less like one of Mr. Hale’s lectures on science stuff I didn’t care about, or one of Mr. Elm’s chemistry lectures on stuff I only cared about to get me through the SATs.
When I saw what I suspected was a similar expression on Raiya’s face, I almost laughed.
“Where is the center of the vortex, Logan?” I asked. “Can you tell me where I could physically see it, maybe?”
“
Let me pull up the coordinates on the map,” Logan offered.
When a little red blip appeared on the screen, we all focused in on a particular point. A second later, Raiya shook her head. “I should’ve guessed,” she said. “That’s where Rosemont Academy was.”
“It’s being cleared, since Maia more or less managed to bring it crumbling down,” I said. “Why would you guess there?”
“Because,” Raiya said, “The Skarmastad Foundation was a big donor in making the school as renowned as it was.” She shook her head, and after glancing over at Logan, chose the rest of her words carefully. “I got a scholarship. My grandpa said it was a good move, especially since it would let me pursue my interests.”
I knew she was thinking of her artwork, and she nodded. It would be a good set up, I thought. Grandpa Odd—Draco—could easily keep tabs on her.
“What happened when the meteorite struck down in front of it?” I asked.
“Grandpa was not happy,” Raiya recalled. “I thought at the time it was because he was concerned for me, being upset, but I don’t think that anymore.”
“Are you guys going to go check it out?” Logan asked. “Do you mind if I come with you? The meteorite might be there, after all,” he said. He pushed a stray lock of his black hair out of his eyes, looking at Starry Knight like a hopeful child asking his mother for permission.
“It would be best if you stayed here,” I said. I was happy when Raiya nodded. “If there’s a lot of radiation, it could mean more of the demons like the one who … hurt you before.” I still didn’t think “possessed” was the right word. Especially after seeing Elektra and Asteropy hiding out in humans, too. Their minions seemed more like amateur puppeteers playing at power games too advanced for them.
Fortunately, Logan didn’t make me explain anything. He just nodded, disappointed but secretly relieved. For a long moment, he almost reminded me of Jason on the night the meteorite crashed into the city.
Raiya patted his arm. “We’ll come and check in more frequently,” she said, “and we’ll bring the meteorite back if we find it.”
“Thanks,” Logan said, cheering at her message. “The police haven’t been terribly helpful, and I at least know that you have an idea of what to look for.”
I laughed. “Yeah, the last thing you need is people bringing in fake space rocks for some reward.”
Logan grinned. “Exactly.”
“What else is going on here?” I asked. I’d failed to mention my attack on the guard to Raiya and Logan, but that didn’t mean I’d forgotten it. “How are the Otherworld guards?”
“Tyrannical at times,” Logan said with a shrug. “But it’s expected, especially since we just got more funding.”
“From the Skarmastad Foundation?”
“Yeah. They had insurance on the meteorite, if you can believe it.”
“I’m surprised it was covered,” Raiya retorted. “Who would cover a piece of rock?”
“It was quite a prize,” Logan said, “but it wasn’t really enough that the insurance companies would have noticed. The average layman would have no idea it was special.”
“What was special about it, besides the radiation?” I asked.
“The metals and substances of it,” Logan answered readily, making me suspect he’d thought this over before. “Most meteorites break down because of the heat and pressure from entering the atmosphere. This one did, quite a bit we suspect, but this piece is the core of it. It’s awesome, and very strong.”
“So basically it’s pretty hard to crack?” I asked.
“Yep.” Logan laughed. “You’d need some serious heat to melt it down. It’s different from any other meteorite or meteor I’ve ever seen or read about.”
“Maybe that’s why the Skarmastad Foundation wanted to have it covered,” I speculated.
“Maybe.”
“And maybe that’s why they hired extra people to guard it,” I said.
“Most likely,” Logan agreed. “But even then, I only found out about the composition a few weeks before it was stolen. They’ve had extra guards here for nearly a year, or maybe more.” He glanced at Raiya. “I was hired here as the main lab coordinator once I entered my second year of graduate school. As long as I can come in and work with no trouble, I usually don’t pay attention too much to what happens on a day to day basis.”
“Passion has a way of clouding the mundane,” Raiya replied.
Logan nodded in agreement, before glancing at his watch. “I’ll say. I’ve got a few grant proposal sheets to fill out. You guys are welcome to stay as long as you can. I wouldn’t touch anything, though,” he said, looking at Elysian pointedly. “We’re pretty conscientious about germs here, sorry.”
Elysian grumbled to himself as Logan left. “Spoiled science brat,” he muttered.
“Logan’s been very helpful,” Raiya shot back.
“Hopefully not enough SWORD will notice,” I said. “Especially in conjunction with what happened earlier.”
“What happened earlier?”
“The kid here was attacked by a guard,” Elysian told her.
“He was doing his patrol and he said that there’s an arrest warrant out for us,” I said. “And so, when he started to look like he was going—”
“You’re okay though, right?” Raiya asked.
“Yeah, of course.”
“Good.” Raiya sighed. “Why would there be an arrest warrant out for us, anyway? Don’t you have to be proven guilty?”
“Not if there’s suspect,” I told her.
“Oh. I guess I should know that.”
“I’m here,” I reminded her. “I’ll take care of the legal side of things.” She grinned back at me, giving us a moment of warm comradery.
“What we should know,” Elysian cut in, “is what’s going on down near your old school, Starry Knight.”
“I agree,” she said. “But we’re going to have be careful about it. Grandpa knows me really well. He’ll know what to expect, and he can anticipate it.”
“Don’t you know him pretty well, too?” I crossed my arms over my chest.
Raiya flushed over red. “I thought I knew him,” she said. “But we already know the depths of Draco’s cunning. I can never be fully sure, when it comes to knowing what he is really like.”
I turned to Elysian. “What do you think?”
“I think we should go and check it out before he does something with the meteorite,” he said. “He’s got his full power, and he in all likeliness has the meteorite, too.”
“What can he do with it?” I asked. “I mean, I know he can cause trouble, but I don’t have any specific idea.”
“Causing trouble is the most specific we can probably get,” Raiya said. “We’ll need to investigate.”
“Speaking of investigating,” I said, “I’m trying to find Otherworld. See if we can find its hiring base or something.”
“Why?” Raiya frowned. “You know that Dante works for them, but it’s just a front for SWORD.”
“Draco’s been around for a long time,” I said. “And he’s old enough to have the same weakness as plenty of other older people. He’s not as familiar with technology or anything remotely popular.”
“What are you talking about?” Raiya asked.
“The Internet,” I said. “Otherworld, Inc., as an incorporated business, has to submit documents every year, but I’ve checked, and there’s nothing. No records. I was wondering if they were the connection to the Skarmastad Foundation.”
“We already know they are the linked to the Skarmastad Foundation.” Elysian huffed indignantly. “They were hired by them.”
“But why?” I asked. “SWORD is a global company that’s largely a shadow organization. They seek out power to control it. Why would Draco risk his plan—which we can all agree is pretty sadistic—and hire them? Why not just hire a regular bodyguard or a private police force?”
When neither of them could answer me, I said, “There has to be something linking t
hem in more than one way.”
“Like the insurance?” Elysian asked. “So he can get more money funneled into his company while still keeping the goods?”
“Exactly.” I nodded.
“Maybe Draco’s also the head of SWORD,” Raiya suggested. “He’s the founder of the foundation. Why couldn’t he be in charge of SWORD, too?”
“I don’t know about that,” I said. “I know Dante knows the leader, and he said ‘she’ when he was talking about her.”
“Maybe he hired them to focus on us,” Elysian said. “As a distraction.”
“That’s a good theory,” I acknowledged.
“Just be careful,” Raiya said. “Grandpa—uh, Draco—told me about SWORD some. He said they were not to be trusted, even if they said they were on our side.”
“And yet he hired them?” I asked.
“He’s been here a long time,” Elysian said. “Maybe he’s picked up an additional grudge or two along the way.”
I sighed. “This is not getting us anywhere. We need more information.”
“Well, that’s why you’re trying to get it, right?” Raiya said. She nodded toward the door. “Keep us updated. In the meantime, I say we go try and get some information on the vortex Logan found for us.”
Elysian frowned. “Let me go,” he said. “I’ll check it out by myself. Draco wouldn’t expect just one of us to show up.”
“I’m okay with that,” I said. “But you only get to go for reconnaissance. No attacking him.”
“Aw, come on,” Elysian whined.
“No whining,” I added. “We’ve got to get out of here carefully. We don’t need the guards busting in on us because you’re being a whiny dragon.”
Fortunately, we were able to sneak out without interruption.
As Elysian took off for the Rosemont Academy remnants, Raiya and I stayed behind, watching him take off.
I squeezed her hand. “Hey,” I said, glancing over at her.
“Hey, what?” she asked. There was a smile on her face as I reached over and took her hand in mine.
“So, I was talking with Drew today,” I said.
“If you’re going to ask me about patrolling the city while you have another game night,” Raiya warned, “I’m going to tell you no. I don’t—”