The Intuitives(89)

“No… no… yes!” He snatched the paper out of the file and grabbed his phone out of his pocket, starting to dial the number before he had even left the room.

“Is everything OK?” she asked again.

“What? Oh, um, yeah… I mean, I hope so. Uh… one of the other kids… called me… about another phase… this summer… that they might need me for… I’ll tell you about it in a bit, OK? I’m trying to find out… right now…” He stopped dialing and looked at her, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

“OK,” she said, smiling. “I have to say, Ashton, it’s nice to see you taking something college-related so seriously.”

Sure, he thought to himself. College-related. Let’s go with that.

“Um… yeah… thanks… do you mind, though? Sorry, I kind of have to…”

“Go ahead,” she said, laughing now. “Make your call. Love you, honey.”

“Love you too,” he said, and with that, he was out the door.





50


Instructor Report



“I presume you have seen this evening’s news story of the plane that disappeared over the Atlantic?”

“Don’t tell me.”

“Yes. I am sorry to report that a summoned creature was involved in some way. I do not know the exact details, but it seems clear enough that the creature was the cause. It had already attached itself to the aircraft before it took off from Atlanta.”

“Same thing as before?”

“No, actually. This one was larger than the other, and of a different nature. But in the end, I am not certain what difference it makes. It was equally effective in its purpose.”

“It’s not about the thing itself. It’s about whoever’s behind it. If it was the same, I might have believed that they had reached their limits, at least for now. If it’s different—bigger—then they’re still escalating.”

“It would appear so. Yes.”

“Which means it’s even more important that we learn how to fight these things, and so far we haven’t even been able to see one long enough to shoot it at a distance we can measure in paces, for God’s sake.”

“But if we could control it, then your soldiers could shoot it, yes? If you had a target that would stand still for you?”

“And how the hell are you going to get the piss-damn forces of darkness to stand still and let us shoot them? There’s only so far I’m willing to follow you down this rabbit hole, Professor. If it involves garlic, silver chains, or holy water, I don’t even want to hear it.”

“Quite the contrary, Colonel. I believe we have, as you say, already found the man for the job.”





51


Marshmallows and a T-shirt



Sketch was asleep on the couch when the sound of the suite door opening caught his attention, at least for a moment. He opened his eyes groggily, but it was only Rush coming back from wherever he’d been. He rolled over, turning his face away from the light of the hallway, ready to doze off again, before his sleep-addled brain finally managed to process what he had just seen.

Rush!

Sketch flipped back over and opened his eyes wide. It wasn’t a dream. Rush was back, standing right there next to the couch, grinning down at him like he had never left.

“Rush!” Sketch exclaimed, throwing his blanket on the floor and scrambling off the couch to hug his friend.

“Shh,” Rush said, chuckling and hugging him back. “Don’t wake Daniel up. I’ll see him in the morning.”

“So you’re staying?”

“Yep,” Rush confirmed.

“For good?” Sketch asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

“For good.”

“What about your competition? You leaving for that?”

“I don’t think so, buddy. I don’t think they’ll let me, but it doesn’t matter now.”

“Why not?”

“Let’s just say you were right. Some things are more important.”

“Like friends,” Sketch said, sounding more than a little accusatory.

“Like friends,” Rush agreed, chuckling quietly. “But listen, it’s late. You should get some sleep. We’re both going to need our rest for tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Sketch agreed, frowning. “We’re gonna have to summon something bad tomorrow.”

“Something bad?”

“Yeah, like the imp, only worse. Maybe like the thing from the plane.”

“You saw that?” Rush asked.

“Grid made us all watch the news,” Sketch said. “You saw it, too?”

“Yeah. Sketch, I’m so sorry, man. I didn’t know what was on the line, you know? I never would have left if they had told me. I swear.”

“I know,” Sketch said.

“But what’s this about tomorrow? What imp? What do you mean they want us to summon something bad?”

“So they can shoot it,” Sketch said.

Rush paused for a long moment, letting that sink in.

“You know what?” he said finally. “Maybe we should wake Daniel up after all. It sounds like I have a lot to catch up on.”