I'd continued reading the advanced offense spells, despite her warnings. With this new development, though, I knew she was right about defense being more important. Still, I couldn't shake the worry that Veronica had discovered me by watching Ms. Terwilliger, which in turn made me fear for my teacher's safety. "You keep saying she's not after you . . . but are you really sure?"
"She'll avoid me if she can," said Ms. Terwilliger, sounding confident. "I have the power but not the youth and beauty she's after. And even she would draw the line at taking on her sister. It's the only remnant of human decency she has left."
"Will she still have that attitude when you confront her?" asked Adrian.
Ms. Terwilliger shook her head. "No. Then anything goes. I'd like to meet with you tonight to practice a couple other defensive tactics."
I eyed her carefully. "Are you up for that? No offense, ma'am, but you already look exhausted."
"I'll be fine. Meet me at the park again around ten. I'll get Weathers to let you go. We must keep you safe." She stared off into space for several moments and then focused on me again. "In light of this development . . . it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to find some, ah, more basic means of defense as well."
"Basic?" I asked, puzzled.
"She means like a gun or a knife," supplied Adrian, catching on to what I hadn't.
Ms. Terwilliger nodded. "If you ever confront Veronica, it'll most likely come down to magic fighting magic . . . but, well, one can never say. Having something else for backup might prove invaluable."
I wasn't a fan of this idea. "I have no clue how to knife fight. And I don't like guns."
"Do you like being put into a coma and aging before your time?" asked Adrian.
I shot him a glare, surprised he'd be on board with this. "Of course not. But where would we even get one on such short notice?"
From the look on his face, he knew I had a point. Suddenly, he became enthusiastic again. "I think I know."
"I'm sure you two will figure it out," said Ms. Terwilliger, her mind already moving to something else. She glanced at her watch. "Almost time for classes."
We all stood up, preparing to go our own ways, but I held Adrian back. I couldn't imagine how in the world he would know where to get a gun on no notice. He wouldn't elaborate and simply said he'd meet me after school. Before he left, I remembered something I'd wanted to ask.
"Adrian, did you keep my cross?"
"Your - oh." Looking into his eyes, I could practically see yesterday's events playing through his mind - including us rolling around on the bed. "I dropped it when - ah, well, before we left. Yo u didn't pick it up?"
I shook my head, and his face fell.
"Shit, I'm sorry, Sage."
"It's okay," I said automatically.
"It's not okay, and it's my fault. I know how much it means to you."
It did mean a lot to me, but I almost blamed myself as much as him. I should've thought of it before we left, but I'd been a little preoccupied. "It's just a necklace," I told him.
This didn't comfort him. He looked so dejected when we parted ways that I hoped he wouldn't forget about us meeting up later to visit his mysterious gun source. There was nothing to worry about, though. When classes ended, he was outside my dorm in the Mustang and looked much more upbeat, with no more mention of the necklace.
When he told me his gun plan, I was shocked, but after a few moments of thought, I realized he might be on to something. And so, a little less than an hour later, we found ourselves far outside the city, driving up to a forlorn-looking home on a large, barren piece of land. We had reached the Wolfe School of Defense.
"I never thought we'd be here again," I remarked.
Wolfe's house had no windows, and there were no cars in sight as we walked up to the door. "He may not even be home," I murmured to Adrian. "We probably should have called first."
"Wolfe never struck me as a guy who leaves the house very much," said Adrian. He knocked on the door, and almost instantly, we heard a flurry of barking and scampering feet. I grimaced. Wolfe, for reasons I would never be able to understand, kept a herd of Chihuahuas in his house. He'd once told us that they could kill a man upon a single command.
We waited a few minutes, but the barking was the only sign that there was any sort of life inside. Adrian knocked one more time (driving the dogs into an even greater frenzy) and then shrugged. "I guess you were - "
The door suddenly opened - just a slit - and one gray eye peered out at us from underneath a chain. "Oh," came a grizzled voice. "It's you two."
The door closed, and I heard the chain being unlocked. A moment later, Wolfe slipped outside, careful not to let any of the dogs out. He had a patch over his left eye, which was probably just as well since his other eye alone seemed to peer straight through me. "You should've called," he said. "I nearly turned the dogs on you."
Wolfe was dressed in his favorite pair of Bermuda shorts as well as a T-shirt showing a bald eagle riding on a monster truck. The eagle held an American flag in one set of talons and a samurai sword in the other. That seemed a weird weapon choice for such a patriotic shirt, but we'd long since learned not to question his wardrobe. That had come after he'd kicked a woman out of our class who'd dared to ask if he only had one pair of shorts or several identical ones.
"What do you kids need?" he asked. "Next classes don't start until after New Year's."
Adrian and I exchanged glances. "We, um, need a gun," I said. "I mean, just to borrow."
Wolfe scratched his beard. "I don't lend them out to students who haven't taken my gun class. Safety first." I found it promising, however, that he lent out guns at all. It was a sign of his character that he didn't even bother asking why we wanted one.
"I've already had training," I said. That was true. It was mandatory for all Alchemists. I'd done well in it, but as I'd mentioned to Adrian, I really didn't like guns at all. At least a knife had other uses. But a gun? It was only there to injure or kill.
Wolfe arched an eyebrow, the one over his good eye. Clearly, he didn't believe me. "Can you back that up?"
"Do you have a shooting range?" I returned coolly.
He almost looked offended. "Of course I do."
He led us to a building beyond the garage we'd trained in. I'd never been inside this building before, but like his house, it had no windows. The door was covered in enough locks to meet with Alchemist security standards. He let us inside, and I gaped when I saw not only a practice range but also a wall covered in various types of guns. Wolfe gave the small holding space a once-over.
"Earmuffs must be in the house. Be right back."
I continued staring at the wall, knowing my eyes were wide. "There's no way those are all legal."
Adrian's response was unexpected. "Did you notice his eye patch?"
I dragged my gaze from the arsenal. "Um, yes. From the day we first met him."
"No, no. I mean, I swear it was on his other eye last time."
"It was not," I said immediately.
"Are you sure?" asked Adrian.
I wasn't, I realized. Words and numbers were easy for me to memorize. But other details, like clothing or hair - or eye patches - were sometimes easy for me to miss. "That doesn't make any sense," I finally said. "Why would he do that?"
"He's Malachi Wolfe," said Adrian. "Why wouldn't he do that?"
I couldn't argue against that.
Wolfe returned with ear protection. After examining his wall, he selected a small handgun and then unlocked a cabinet containing ammunition. At least he didn't leave a bunch of loaded guns around.
"I'll do that," I told him. I took the gun from him and effortlessly loaded it. He made a small grunt of approval. He gestured toward the far end of the range, to a large paper cutout showing a human silhouette with various targets marked on it.
"Now then," he said. "Don't worry about hitting the - "
I fired, perfectly emptying the clip into the most difficult targets. I handed the gun to him. He handed it back. Behind him, I could see Adrian staring at me with enormous eyes.
"Keep it," said Wolfe. "You passed. You've gotta buy your own ammunition, but as long as you fill out the rental agreement, you're good to go."
As it turned out, the "rental agreement" was a piece of paper where he wrote the gun type on one side and I put my initials on the other. "Really?" I asked. "That's all I need to do? I mean, I'm glad, but . . ." I didn't really know what else to say.
Wolfe waved off my protests. "You're a good kid. If you say you need a gun, I believe you. Someone giving you trouble?"
I slipped the gun into my messenger bag. "Something like that."
Wolfe glanced over at Adrian. "What about you? You need a gun too?"
"I'm good," said Adrian. "Besides, I haven't had the training. Safety first."
Wolfe opened up the ammunition cabinet again and produced a long wooden tube and a sandwich bag of what looked like small darts. "You want to borrow my blowgun? Not much of a learning curve on this. I mean, you'll never be able to match the skill and cunning of the Amazonian warriors that I stole this from, but it can get you out of a pinch."
"Thanks, but I'll take my chances," Adrian said after several long moments. He almost sounded as though he'd considered it.
I was still hung up on Wolfe's other words, not sure I believed what I'd heard. "You were in the Amazon?"
This time, Wolfe arched the eyebrow above his eye patch. "You don't believe me?"
"No, no, of course I do," I said quickly. "It's just, you've never mentioned it before."
Wolfe gazed off beyond us. "I've been trying for years to forget my time there. But some things, you just can't escape."
A very long and very uncomfortable silence followed. At last, I cleared my throat. "Well, thank you, sir. We should get going. Hopefully I won't need the gun for very long."
"Keep it as long as you need," he said. "If I want it back, I'll find you."
And on that disturbing note, Adrian and I left. Although I understood Ms. Terwilliger's reasons for "old-fashioned" defense, I was in no way comfortable having a gun around. I'd have to keep it in my car in case school authorities ever did a search of my room and discovered it. My Alchemist and magical kits were already a liability. I was pretty sure there'd be no talking my way out of a gun.
Adrian returned me to Amberwood. I started to open the door and then paused to glance over at him. "Thanks," I said. "For everything. Going to the inn. Suggesting we see Wolfe."
"Hey, that was worth it just to know Wolfe owns a blowgun."
I laughed. "Actually, I'd be more surprised if he didn't. See you later."
Adrian nodded. "Sooner than you think."
"What's that mean?" I asked, suspicion rearing up in me.
He dodged the question and reached underneath his seat. "I called Alicia," he told me, producing a small box. "She couldn't find your cross. Her housekeeping service had already gone through and cleaned the room, but she says she'll check to see if it got caught up in the bedding. Oh, and I also asked about Veronica. She hasn't been back."
That was disheartening news, but I was touched he'd called. "Thanks for trying."
He opened the box and pulled out a necklace with a tiny wooden cross on it. "I got you a replacement. I mean, I know there's no real substitute, but I wanted to get you something. And don't start about not being able to accept some fancy gift," he said, guessing the protest I was about to make. "It cost me five dollars from a street vendor, and I'm pretty sure the chain is brass."
I bit off my words and took the necklace from him. The cross barely weighed anything. Studying it more closely, I could see a tiny pattern of silver flowers painted on its surface. "The vendor didn't do that. That's your handiwork."
"Well . . . I know you're into simple stuff, but I've always got to have some embellishment."
I ran my finger over the cross's surface. "Why'd you choose morning glories?"
"Because I'm not the biggest fan of lilies."
I smiled at that.
When I returned to my dorm room, I laid the necklace out on my dresser. I gave it one last fond look and then tried to decide how best to spend the rest of my day. Our trip to Wolfe actually hadn't taken that long, so I had plenty of time to catch dinner and make sure I was up to date on my homework. I actually ate with Kristin and Julia for a change, which was kind of a nice break from the drama of my other friends. Of course, most of the meal consisted of Julia gushing about "Dave." By the end, both she and Kristin were demanding to know when I'd bring him by again.
As the evening pushed on, I began to prepare for my meeting with Ms. Terwilliger. I wasn't sure what kind of magic we'd be practicing outdoors but figured I should be ready for anything. I packed a wide variety of items from my kit and even had the foresight to bring a granola bar for post-magic fuel. Once everything was in order, I headed back downstairs. I was nearly out the dorm door when Mrs. Weathers called out to me.
"Sydney?"
I paused to glance back. "Yes, ma'am?"