Nicole woke to blackness. She felt refreshed, healthy, energetic. She groped around, trying to figure out how to turn the lights on. It took a moment for her to remember what had happened.
She’d been shrunk.
How was that possible?
“Nicole’s awake!” Akeno’s voice shouted.
Nicole immediately clapped her hands over her ears, wincing as they rang at the loudness of his voice.
His face was revealed when he pulled the lid off her container. “Oh, oops,” he whispered. “Sorry.” He sent her a sheepish grin, then held out his hand. “Here, let me put you to rights again.”
She scrambled to her feet and stepped onto his palm. Nausea hit her when she tried to look at the huge room around her. “What on earth is going on?”
“We healed you in a Minya container,” Akeno said. “Putting you back to normal is going to pinch a little. Just don’t move and you’ll be fine.”
Akeno waited until she was ready, then picked her up around the waist and reached out, setting her down. The wind whooshed in her ears, and suddenly, she was standing near the doors to Dmitri’s throne room, right where she’d been when Akeno picked her up earlier.
The Makalo was on the other side of the room, and with him were Austin, Dmitri, and Arien.
Nicole stepped across the room quickly, looking around. Azuriah and Lizzie weren’t there. “Where’s Lizzie?”
“She still hasn’t woken up,” Austin said. “Apparently, you sleep until all your injuries are healed. Since her hands and body were in worse shape than ours, she’ll wake up last.”
“Azuriah’s already awake?”
Austin nodded. “He woke up first and is back at his place again.”
Nicole wondered momentarily where Azuriah lived but found she really didn’t want to know. She didn’t care if she never saw the Shiengol again. “How long have you been awake?”
“A couple of hours. I’ve been grilling Akeno, trying to learn about his magic system.”
Nicole turned to Akeno. “That was my next question. You can shrink people?”
Akeno flushed. “Yeah. And things too.”
“Pretty cool, if you ask me,” Austin said.
Nicole agreed, but she still couldn’t believe it had happened at all. “Okay, tell me from the beginning. What did you do?”
“My Rezend—that’s my magic—gives me control over atoms and living things.”
He acted like that was a good enough explanation.
Nicole shook her head. “It’s cool . . . but I still don’t get how it works.”
Akeno shrugged. “I don’t either, honestly. I was the first Makalo in hundreds of years who’d been able to do it. Jacob had to take me back in the past to learn from the Makalo who knew the most about our magical abilities.”
“I love my own magic,” Nicole said, “but I’d definitely appreciate having some of your powers.”
Akeno grinned. “They’re pretty awesome.”
Nicole sat next to Austin at the table where the Minya containers had been set—only one was still shut—and noticed that the king and queen were deep in discussion. “So, what happens now?”
“Coolidge came and they all had a meeting,” Austin said. “We told them what Renforth said, and Jacob will be watching Keitus closely. But apparently, the only other thing we can do is get the talismans before he finds them. No one wants to sit around and wait to see what Keitus does.”
“Wait—they had a meeting without us? How? Not enough time has gone by.”
Austin chuckled. “It’s been a full day since we got back from Renforth’s planet. We all missed class today.”
Nicole gasped. “It’s Monday? Are you serious?”
Austin nodded. “Yeah. I could have gone back today, but I didn’t want to leave you guys. Plus, it’s been interesting, learning about Akeno and the other creatures here.” A smile played at the corners of his mouth. “For example, there’s this little creature called a Yoon that’s about the size of a cat. It has an arm growing out of its back that points out magical barriers and seals. The Yoon can break through pretty much any barrier out there.”
Nicole raised her eyebrows. “Considering I haven’t really come across a lot of magical barriers during my life, I’m not sure how useful that ability would be.” She tilted her head. “I wonder if it could break into Coolidge’s cabinet. You know, the one where my leather journal was locked up for a while.”
“I’ll bet it could,” Akeno said.
“Where is everyone else?” Nicole asked. “Jacob, Coolidge, the Fat Lady, Aldo?”
“Jacob is at school,” Akeno said. “Mr. Coolidge went back to see if he can get in contact with the guy he knows who owns a talisman, and the Fat Lady and Aldo are doing their own research here.”
Nicole was about to ask how Jacob was going to watch Keitus and go to school until she remembered that the guy could see into the past. He’d be able to catch up on a regular basis. Hopefully, it would be good enough.
“How long do you think it’ll take Lizzie to wake up?” she asked.
Akeno looked at his watch. “Well, Azuriah woke up about five hours ago, then Austin three hours after that, then you. I don’t know how bad off she was. She could wake up any time, or she might sleep for a few more hours. Who knows?”
Nicole sighed. “Well, since she’s comfortable where she is, I won’t worry about her.”
“Do you want to go home now?” Akeno asked. “We could probably ask Jacob to come back from school.”
“No, I don’t want to interrupt him.” She glanced at Akeno. “I’d love to take a look at the castle, though, if you’re interested in giving us a tour.”
Akeno brightened. “That’s a great idea! We’ll bring Lizzie’s container—the minute she wakes up, I’ll enlarge her. You’ll love this place. It’s absolutely fantastic.”
He jumped down from his chair, picked up the container where Lizzie slept, and tucked it in his pocket.
“Will that hurt her?” Nicole asked.
Akeno shook his head. “She’s surrounded by stuff that heals and lots of cushioning. She won’t even notice it.”
“And it won’t delay her waking up?”
He again shook his head. “Nope.”
Reassured that Lizzie would be fine, Nicole allowed herself to relax and enjoy the tour. The castle was a beautiful structure—stained-glass windows, magnificent marble-and-stone staircases, huge bedrooms, halls, and bathrooms, several ballrooms, and a very modern-looking kitchen.
“Where do the plumbing and electricity come from?” Austin asked. “I haven’t seen power lines anywhere here.”
Akeno raised his hand, wiggling his glowing ring finger. “Makalos control electricity. It’s that whole molecule, et cetera thing. We’re able to gather and store it, then direct it along channels. If Jacob were here to key us, I’d show you my home back in Taga Village. You’d love it—we have all sorts of cool things that only Makalos use.”
“You don’t live in the castle?” Nicole asked.
Akeno shook his head. “No, it’s too big. I’m used to much humbler surroundings.” He startled, then laughed. “I think Lizzie is awake now,” he said, pulling the container from his pocket. He opened it and helped Lizzie onto his hand, then enlarged her.
Nicole was excited to see it happen. Now that she better understood what was going on, she was able to sense his magic as he put Lizzie back the way she was before. While Jacob’s powers were like a river, Akeno’s came in pops and bursts, like static. It was fascinating.
After Akeno explained to Lizzie what was going on and what had happened, the Aretes and Makalo returned to the throne room to wait for Jacob to come back from school.
***
“Great, just great,” Coolidge said after the three Aretes told him what Renforth had said. His voice sounded small, coming from Austin’s phone where it lay on Nicole’s kitchen counter. “Well, as long as no one can reach the body . . . It sounds like the only thing we can do is get the talismans before Keitus reaches the rest of them.”
Nicole agreed with that. “So, how are we going to do all this, including school, at the same time?”
“I’ve been thinking about it,” Coolidge said. “I believe we’re going to need to petition for help from the university again. If we can prove that the searches we’ll do can benefit the university, I think they’ll be open to helping out.”
“Do you think they’ll want to do it?” she asked.
Coolidge snorted. “Nicole, after everything you did for Aretes this past summer, I’d be surprised if they didn’t let you take a cruise to the Bahamas on their dime.”
Nicole flushed. “No one has ever said anything to me—I didn’t even know they knew about it.”
“How could they not?” Austin asked.
“They watch the news too,” Coolidge said. “The whole visit from the Great Ones was televised to the entire world, as you should remember.”
Nicole did remember. And she also remembered the role her parents played in that situation. Coolidge’s thoughts must have gone that direction too because he asked her if she’d heard from them recently.
“Not Tiffany—no, I doubt she’ll ever get in contact with me again. But Dad has written once or twice.”
Lizzie glanced at Nicole. “How much time will they have to serve?”
“My mom, at least ten years, if not more. Dad will probably be in for five.”
“Well, too bad things had to go that way,” Coolidge said.
Lizzie chuckled. “And I say good riddance. You didn’t grow up near them—they weren’t the best neighbors.”
Coolidge laughed. “I’d better get going. We’ll most likely have a meeting with Professor Smith to discuss any assistance from the university. I need to arrange that. I’m also still trying to get in contact with my friend in Japan.”
“When do you think we’ll go get that talisman?”
Coolidge sighed. “I wish I had an answer for that, but hopefully, as soon as I can get in touch with Takashi. I’ll let you know when that happens.” He was silent for a moment. “It’s the only talisman I know of. I’m not sure where we’ll go to find the others.”
“Well, keep us posted,” Nicole said.
They ended the call and Nicole turned to Austin. “Do you think the Fat Lady will have any info on the locations of the other talismans?”
Austin shrugged. “I’m not sure. But from what I’ve heard, once we find out where the talismans have been in the past, Jacob will be able to watch them move from person to person with his ability. Shouldn’t be more than just allowing him time to figure things out.”
“That’s really handy,” Nicole said. “I’d like to know how all that works.”
“I’m sure he’d be willing to show you.” Austin said it casually, and Nicole wondered if he was still a little jealous about her interest in the boy—er, teenager. Nicole needed to stop thinking about Jacob like he was a kid. He wasn’t—he was at least twice her weight, and several inches over six feet. Definitely not a kid.
“Speaking of abilities,” Nicole said, “we still haven’t practiced together. Do you want to work on something now?”
Austin nodded. “Sure. Where do you want to go?”
“Somewhere safe—maybe where wind won’t matter.”
“To a park, then,” Austin suggested.
“Have fun,” Lizzie said.
“What are you going to do?” Nicole asked.
“Homework. What else?”
Austin and Nicole chuckled at that, then left the apartment and hopped in Austin’s car. They headed to the same park where they’d played Ultimate Frisbee so long ago. Nicole grabbed Austin’s hand and squeezed it. The last time they’d been there, Austin’s ex had been too, and he’d been struggling with wanting to get to know Nicole or going back to dating Savannah. Nicole wondered briefly what happened with Savannah, but didn’t want to bring her up.
Austin parked the car and they got out and walked through the little thicket of trees to the park.
Nicole suddenly felt shy—nervous. This would be the first time she’d help Austin. Usually, it was the other way around, as he was a much more experienced Arete. He’d Restarted before fifteen, and she hadn’t Restarted until the traditional age of eighteen.
Restarting was when the magic that flowed around the Arete became available to use. It overloaded the system, requiring the body to “restart” itself. Most Aretes passed out briefly. Nicole had puked, then passed out in her puke for ten minutes. And of course, it had happened in school, in front of tons of people, including her new boyfriend.
That relationship had ended really quickly.
Austin, on the other hand, had experienced a very graceful Restart. He’d been milking a cow on his dad’s ranch in Montana when he’d passed out, and he was only unconscious for a split second. He hadn’t fallen over or even skipped a beat. He just went right back to milking, not realizing he’d Restarted. It wasn’t until later when his dad sensed the change that they figured out what had happened.
Austin turned to Nicole once they reached the center of the grassy field. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“What exactly do you want to work on?” Nicole asked, trying to hide her nerves.
“What’s the easiest thing to master?”
“It depends on your focus, or at least, your sub-ability.”
Austin grunted. “That’s going to make things interesting.”
Nicole nodded. Austin hadn’t needed a focus—something unheard of for Aretes. His powers had come without anything holding them back. Basically, he’d been able to Channel Earth properties immediately without any of the snags Nicole had experienced with Wind powers.
“Let’s start with my sub-ability,” Nicole said.
“Stopping sound?”
“Yes. It’s my strongest skill—I’ll be able to see if you’re doing it correctly.”
Nicole held out her hand and he took it, stepping closer, his gaze boring into hers.
His brown eyes had captivated her right away—since that first time in Professor Coolidge’s class when he had been called on to do a magic demonstration. Nicole got chills thinking about that day. Austin had been so hot and so powerful. Even Coolidge had been impressed with his abilities.
“Should I stand closer?” Austin asked, a teasing glint in his eyes. “Would that help you sense my magic better?”
Nicole smiled at him. They both knew it wouldn’t—she could sense his powers fine from where he was, but she loved that he was flirting. “Definitely. The closer you are, the better.”
Austin put his arms around Nicole’s waist, and she put hers around his neck. She shivered and a smile played at the corners of his mouth.
“That good?”
“Mmmm . . . it’s perfect.” She forced her mind back to their task. “Okay, I’m going to talk for a while. Concentrate on the wind as it leaves my lungs and swirls inside my mouth, forming words. Find the point where it escapes through my vocal folds, and command it to stop there.” She looked at him. “Ready?”
“Yes.” Austin’s eyes closed, and Nicole closed hers as well.
She began by reciting the Declaration of Independence. She felt his magic pulse increase and build up, and she felt when he pushed it toward her throat. For a moment, she nearly panicked when the powers tried to stop her sound from escaping. But then the magic swirled away. Nicole opened her eyes.
Austin had a frustrated expression on his face and drops of sweat on his forehead. “Let me try again.”
Nicole nodded. She knew how difficult it was to branch out into other areas of magic. When he indicated that he was ready, she started counting out loud.
Once again, Nicole felt when Austin’s powers neared her throat, and once again, the magic swirled away right when it reached her pathways.
This time, however, Austin startled and scowled. Then he pulled her arms from around him and jerked away. “Get off me!”
Great.
“Austin, it’s me—Nicole. Your girlfriend.”
“I think I’d know my girlfriend. And you are not her.”
“If I’m not, why are you here with me? Think back—how did you get here?”
Austin’s face clouded over. He obviously struggled with remembering. Then he glared at her. “Don’t touch me again.”
Nicole almost told him he’d regret it if she obeyed that, but she knew better than to provoke him. The poor guy had obviously overdone it. This was one of the hardest parts of being an Arete. When they used their magic too much, the pineal gland—where Arete powers originated—would borrow from other areas of the brain. This always resulted in the Arete temporarily losing one of their senses.
When Austin overdid it, he lost the ability to recognize faces. It was always accompanied by a short episode of memory loss and would take around half an hour for the sense to return. If it returned. There was always the risk that permanent damage would occur.
Austin stared at Nicole for a moment longer, then spun and strode back to his car and drove away.
Nicole chuckled, shaking her head as she pulled out her phone and asked Lizzie to come get her, then sat on some benches to wait.
Austin would feel awful once he realized what had happened, but in the meantime, Nicole didn’t want to wait for him to return—it would be at least an hour before that happened.
Lizzie laughed when Nicole told her about Austin overdoing it. “It’s really too bad that happens to him,” she said. “I’d hate to have a boyfriend who blew hot and cold to such an extreme.”
“We’ve never really had a problem with it,” Nicole said. “He so rarely maxes out on his powers. It’s like the guy has a limitless supply of magic.”
Lizzie glanced at her, pulling into their parking structure. “He’s been practicing long enough, I’m not surprised.” She sighed. “Someday we’ll figure out which sense I lose when I overdo it.”
Lizzie hadn’t ever maxed out on her powers, as she still struggled with Channeling.
“Hopefully, it won’t be something dangerous.”
Lizzie laughed. “I think all the senses can be dangerous if lost.”
“The sense of smell isn’t as bad in a high-stakes situation.”
“True.” Lizzie glanced at Nicole. “Unless—”
Nicole laughed, holding up her hands. “There’s always an exception.”
They entered their apartment and tossed their purses on the couch, then started making dinner. Halfway through cooking, Nicole’s phone rang—Austin. She answered immediately.
“Do you remember your girlfriend again?” she asked with a smile.
“I’m so, so sorry, Nicole. Do you need me to come get you?”
“Nope—Lizzie already did. I figured it would be a while before you turned around.” She glanced at her best friend. “But if you’d like to make it up to us, you could come over for dinner . . . and bring dessert.”
Austin agreed immediately. “Any requests?”
“Cheesecake!” Lizzie called out, obviously able to hear the conversation.
Austin chuckled. “As long as my wonderful and amazing girlfriend is fine with that, cheesecake it is.”
“I love everything you make,” Nicole said.
“Great. I’ll be there soon. And we’ll need a few hours for the cheesecake to set.”
Austin came as quickly as he could and helped finish cooking dinner, then he, Nicole, and Lizzie chatted while he made the dessert. They ate dinner and watched a couple of movies while waiting for the cheesecake to set.
By the time they were able to enjoy it, it was nearly midnight.
***
Once Professor Coolidge’s class had ended the next afternoon, he motioned for Nicole to come to his desk to talk with him and Austin.
“We have a meeting with the dean of the Arete department in half an hour,” Coolidge said. “I only just got an email from him confirming the time. Otherwise, I would’ve let you know earlier.” He glanced at Nicole. “I sent an email to your math teacher asking that you be excused from class today.”
Nicole nodded—math was supposed to start in a few minutes. “Thanks.”
They chatted for a while, then the three of them headed to the dean’s office. Coolidge knocked on Professor Smith’s door, then opened it when the dean invited them in.
The moment Nicole stepped through the door, Professor Smith was right there, grabbing and shaking her hand.
“Nicole, we’re so grateful for what you did for Aretes during the summer. And we’re especially grateful you and your professor were thoughtful enough to invite the university to sponsor the expedition. We’re sorry we weren’t able to help more, but from what we can tell, you used what we provided.”
Nicole nodded. Unfortunately, a lot of the equipment the university had supplied had been destroyed. Nicole’s trust fund had forked over two and a half million dollars to replace the damaged equipment, and she was grateful she hadn’t needed to bat an eye at the amount. Her account was significantly larger than two million dollars.
The dean invited them to sit down while he perched on the edge of his desk. He spoke mostly to Coolidge, but his gaze continued to flit to Nicole. It was apparent that he wanted her to feel like she was part of the conversation. She appreciated that, though she didn’t think it was necessary with such a small group. She’d never been shy about her opinions.
“I’ve already discussed it with the other deans, along with the university president, and we’re willing to do whatever is necessary to accommodate any requests you may have.”
Coolidge sent a small “I told you so” glance to Nicole before turning his attention back to Professor Smith. “We appreciate that.”
The professor continued. “What’s going on this time?”
He had directed the question to Nicole, so she told him about Keitus, the talismans, and everything that had happened so far.
Professor Smith steepled his fingers. “We’d be willing to try to convince this Renforth, if you think that’s necessary.”
Coolidge and Nicole both shook their heads.
“I don’t think anything the university could say or do would sway him,” Austin said, speaking for the first time. “He’s pretty adamant about keeping Keitus’s body.”
“What else can we do for you, then?” the professor asked.
“We’ll be missing a lot of classes,” Nicole said. “When we discover the location of any of the talismans, we’ll have to drop everything and go find them right away.”
The dean nodded, an expression of understanding crossing his face. “Makes sense.” He stood and circled his desk, taking a seat in his chair. “If I’m understanding correctly, we’d need to be able to put your schooling on hold at a moment’s notice, for potentially several days at a time, right?”
The three in front of him nodded.
“Assuming, of course, that you’re using your magic while you’re gone, do you want the opportunity to earn credits for these trips? I’d hate you to fail your courses while you’re doing things that benefit the university.”
“Yes, we definitely will be using our powers,” Nicole said. She couldn’t imagine a situation where her magic wouldn’t be useful. Unless, of course, it was stripped away again.
“All right, then. I think we’d be willing to do this. Is there anything else you need the university to do? As I said, we’re very eager to be of assistance.”
Coolidge leaned forward. “Same as last time—allow us to use any equipment we might need. Within reason, of course.”
“Within reason?” Professor Smith asked.
“Well, if the equipment is being used by a class at that time, we’d do our best to find something else.”
“Would other students be welcome to assist in these expeditions?” Professor Smith asked.
Coolidge glanced at Nicole and Austin before answering. “Honestly, I’m not sure if that would be possible. From what it looks like, we’ll be working very closely with Jacob and the people from his planet. Between the three of us here, we represent all the elements, and large groups would most likely complicate things. If we need assistance, I’d rather use people who are as experienced as we are, or who aren’t students any longer.”
Professor Smith nodded. “I take it you expect these trips to be dangerous.”
“Yes. Very. We nearly died trying to get my talisman back.”
The dean was silent for a moment. “I know this is a stretch, but I do have one request, if it’s at all possible.”
“Anything,” Coolidge said.
“Donate one of the talismans to the university,” Professor Smith said. “That is, if the owner doesn’t mind. How many of them are there?”
“Four, that we know of,” Nicole said. “Coolidge’s is out of reach now, one is in Japan, and we still don’t know the locations of the other two.”
“Surely one of the owners would be willing to part with a talisman?”
“We’ll definitely keep it in mind,” Professor Coolidge said. “We can’t make any promises, but we’ll do our best.”
“Thank you.” The dean got to his feet and shook everyone’s hand. “And thanks for meeting with me. Please keep me updated on your progress.”
“What now?” Nicole asked after they’d left Professor Smith’s office.
“We need to go to Japan,” Coolidge said. “Today, if possible. I’m starting to worry about Takashi. I only contact him every few years, but it’s never taken him this long to get back with me.”
“Do you think Keitus has found him already?”
Coolidge nodded. “I’m beginning to think that’s a strong possibility.”
“What do you know about Takashi?” Austin asked as they entered the science building and went down the stairs to Coolidge’s office.
“Not a lot—he did work on Hashima Island for several years, though.”
“Hashima Island?” Nicole and Austin said it at the same time. Nicole didn’t know where that was, but from the expression on her boyfriend’s face, he knew and was very excited about it.
“It’s an abandoned island,” Austin said. “It used to be a coal mining facility.”
“The entire island?” Nicole asked.
“It’s not very big—only ten, maybe fifteen acres,” Coolidge said.
“While Japan was being industrialized, they needed a lot of coal,” Austin explained. “Someone discovered that Hashima Island had a ton of it, and they built an entire civilization around the mine. Once the coal disappeared, the people did too. The place hadn’t been touched in decades until a few years ago, when the country decided to open it for tours. You need to go look it up—it’s pretty creepy.”
“Do you think Takashi might have hidden his talisman there?” Nicole asked.
“It’s a strong possibility,” Coolidge said. “He worked on the island when he took ownership. As most owners don’t use their talismans, I’m willing to bet he stashed his. And if he did, Hashima Island would be the perfect place.”
Nicole nodded. “When should we go? If you’re worried, the sooner, the better.”
Coolidge glanced at them, taking a seat at his desk. “You’re both ready to drop everything at a moment’s notice?”
When Austin and Nicole confirmed that they were, Coolidge said, “I’ll see if I can get tickets tonight.”
“We don’t need tickets,” Austin said.
“What do you mean?” Coolidge asked.
“We have Jacob—he can get us there for free.”
Coolidge chuckled. “I’d already forgotten. Thanks for reminding me.” He pulled a phone out of his pocket and made a call. “Jacob, I need to talk to your parents. Could you arrange for that to happen?” Coolidge nodded. “Yes, thanks. I appreciate it.” He ended the call, tucking away his phone before looking at his students. “Go ahead and get ready to head to Japan. I’ll let you know what to expect.”
Nicole and Austin went home in their separate cars, then met up at Nicole’s place an hour later. Knowing they wouldn’t need to fly meant they could probably get there and back within a day. Nicole was glad she didn’t have to pack much.
Austin’s phone rang right when he got to her apartment. He hung up after a brief conversation.
“We’re heading out now,” he said. “They want us all—including Lizzie—to go.”
“Awesome!” Lizzie said from the couch. “Well, awesome, as long as it doesn’t end up like our last trip.”
“Let’s hope not,” Austin said.
A few minutes later, Jacob and Coolidge walked through the front door, Jacob with his key in hand.
“Ready?” he asked. He wore dark clothes that matched his dark hair, and his blue eyes were much brighter than usual. He was obviously excited for this trip. Nicole couldn’t blame him—they were going to Japan!
“We’re ready,” she said.
“Off we go, then!”
Jacob put the key in the lock, said, “To Takashi’s apartment,” and opened the door.
Nicole and Lizzie looked at each other excitedly. Neither of them had ever been to Japan, and Nicole couldn’t wait. She knew it wasn’t going to be a fun trip, per se, but still, it would be authentic. She loved the Japanese culture.
The moment everyone stepped through the link, they were hit with an overwhelming stench of decay.
Nicole pulled her shirt up over her nose, surveying the complete wreck before her.
Coolidge and Austin rushed into the living area of the Japanese apartment.
“Oh, no!” Coolidge cried out, dropping to his knees near a body. “It’s Takashi.”
Nicole stopped where she was. She’d seen enough death to last her an eternity. She didn’t need yet one more incident forever imprinted on her brain. “The poor man,” she said. “Can you tell how he died?”
“If I had to guess, I’d say a Croent was here,” Coolidge said. “There are several bite marks on his neck. He’s probably been dead a couple of weeks, if not more.”
“Why hasn’t he been found?” Lizzie asked.
“He wasn’t married—his wife passed away years and years ago. But he had kids. Where are they?”
No one had an answer for that.
“Do you think the Croent found the talisman?” Nicole asked.
Everyone turned to Jacob. He put up his hands. “I’m fine with figuring it out, but there’s no way I’ll be able to concentrate here.”
“Take us back to my place,” Coolidge said. “While you’re Seeing what happened, I’ll find another Japanese contact. We’ll also need to report Takashi’s death to the authorities.”
“It’ll have to be an anonymous tip,” Austin said. “And we’ll want to wait until we’re sure we don’t need anything in the apartment.”
Coolidge thought that over for a moment. “Yes, you’re right.”
“Why can’t we tell them it was us who found him?” Lizzie asked.
“We need to be quick about this,” Coolidge said. “And they’d bring us in for questioning. They’d probably have to find translators, the U.S. Embassy would get involved, we don’t exactly have proof of arrival and departure, and we’d be stuck for days as they sort things out.”
Nicole nodded, though she felt bad about the situation. Poor Takashi.
Jacob took them to Coolidge’s house, sat on the couch, and his eyes glazed over. Coolidge excused himself, Austin trailing him, and Nicole and Lizzie sat on the other couch.
“Where’s Hayla?” Lizzie asked.
Nicole glanced around and shrugged. She didn’t know.
It took twenty minutes for Jacob and Coolidge to finish their projects, and they ended at about the same time.
Jacob shook his head when Coolidge asked what had happened. “It was awful, but he put up a good fight.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything else,” Coolidge said.
“The Croent left empty-handed,” Jacob said, “even though he was very thorough in his search.”
“I imagine he wasn’t happy about that,” Coolidge said. “Did he touch Takashi’s safe?”
Jacob looked confused. “I didn’t see one.”
“Takashi had a safe where he kept important documents. It looked like a flat wooden box made in the shape of an apple, about the size of a manila envelope, bright red. He found it in Russia—was one of his favorite possessions.”
“I saw that—no, the Croent didn’t bother it. He moved it around while searching, though.”
“He wouldn’t have been able to open it,” Coolidge said. “Only a Silver can do that. We need to get it. If Takashi had any record of his talisman, it would be in his safe.”
“I’ll go,” Jacob said. He jumped up from the couch and opened a link to the apartment again.
While waiting, Nicole turned to Coolidge. “Did you find someone to help out?”
He nodded. “Yes. She’s not an Arete, but I do trust her, and she speaks English and Japanese fluently.”
“Will she keep things confidential?” Austin asked.
“Definitely.”
Jacob returned then, holding the apple. He handed it to Coolidge, then sat on the couch again. Everyone watched Coolidge with interest.
Nicole sensed Coolidge pulling power to himself.
“All Arete safes work in different ways,” Coolidge said. “The trick is figuring out which element was used to seal it. That’s the element I’ll need to open it again.”
He closed his eyes, holding the apple in his hands, flipping it over and over. Nicole sensed the pressure in the air around them increase—he was using Wind power first.
The safe didn’t open.
Nicole watched as dirt from a potted plant left the pot and spread itself across the safe. Again, nothing happened.
Then the humidity in the air increased exponentially. With a pop and a hiss, the apple opened, revealing a large stack of documents inside.
Coolidge separated the papers into several stacks, then handed them out. “It’ll be written in English.”
“How do you know?”
“One of the talisman owners’ rules. A common language that the majority of Aretes speak has to be used when recording the location of the item. As I explained earlier to Nicole and Austin, no one knows where all the talismans are, but the owners are required to keep a written log of the location of their specific talisman.”
The documentation they were looking for ended up being in Austin’s pile. He started reading it, then looked at Coolidge. “It’s on Hashima Island, as you suspected.”
Coolidge nodded. “I’m sure Juri, our translator, will be able to help us with this.”
He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. “Juri? Yes. Hashima Island. We’ll be there in a couple of minutes.” He ended the call, then held his phone out to Jacob, pointing to a spot on a map. “Take us here.”