D'Orsay patted his son on the back. "You've wanted to leave here, anyway. So, we'll gather up the weapons we can salvage, and go on to Trinity. I think it best that we're there to keep an eye on our new allies.

“You see, I believe Hastings and Downey have made a tactical error in coming here. Possession of the hoard is unimportant next to possession of the Dragonheart. With Hastings and Downey in the hold, the rebels have lost two of their most effective agents. We'll see how the children do on their own, hmmm?”

Chapter Twenty-three An Ultimatum

“Jack.”

Jack Swift paused with his hand on the latch of the back door and looked back up the stairs. His mother stood on the landing, gazing down at him.

“Where are you off to?” she asked.

That was a difficult question to answer, since he was off to pull guard duty at the Weirgate, where his job was to prevent the unfettered coming and going of spies, assassins, and would-be magical thieves. He blessed the fact that Shadowslayer was hidden in the duffle bag slung over his back.

“I'm…going hiking. At Perry Park.” The Weirgate was within Perry Park, the largest tract of unbroken forest in the sanctuary.

Becka descended the steps until she was at a level where she could look him in the eyes. “Okay if I come along? It's been a long time since we've been hiking together.”

“Well. That would be …” A disaster. “That'd be great, except we're going rock climbing. At the gorge. It's a technical climb. You wouldn't like it.”

She crossed her arms. “Okay. I'll be more direct. What's going on?”

“Going on?”

Becka hesitated. Nagging didn't come naturally to her. “Harold's complaining that you haven't been around to prep the boats for the season. He's had to hire another full-time captain to keep both boats in service. Seph's quit working at the docks altogether. Jason, too.”

She sighed, an exasperated sound. “You'll be graduating in a few weeks. I'd think you'd want to earn money this summer. Or get a head start on your classes. Or do you want to go to Boston and work with your father?”

“No,” Jack said quickly. “I want to stay here.”

“And do what?” She paused, and when Jack didn't answer, said, “I feel responsible for all three of you with Linda out of town.” A hint of judgment crept in. “Even though she seems to think Seph and Jason are fine on their own. I haven't seen Jason for weeks. And he hasn't been at school, either, from what I understand.”

Official-looking notices from the attendance office at the high school had been arriving regularly at Aunt Linda's, addressed to Parent or Guardian of Jason Haley.

Here was one piece of good news he could give her. “Jason's back, Mom. He got back two days ago. He…uh…was visiting Madison in Coalton County.”

“In the middle of the semester?” She lifted an eyebrow.

“Yeah, well, then he came down with something.”

“You know how important attendance is. Mr. Penworthy will be all over him.”

“He was. All over him, I mean. Jason was in the attendance office all morning.” Jack couldn't help thinking there was a reason why the classical heroes didn't have lawyers for mothers.

“It's not like you're lying around at home playing video games. In fact, you're never home.” She reached out and put her hands on his shoulders. “On the plus side, it's obvious you're getting your exercise. And I haven't heard any reports of all-night parties on the beach.”

Ironically enough, that would be harder to get away with in a small town than building a magical fortress. Linda and Hastings weren't the only ones with an intelligence network centered in Trinity. Information flowed to Becka Downey from all over town.

As if she'd read his thoughts, Becka leaned against the banister and said, “Bill Childers says he's afraid you and Will had a falling out.” Will's father, the newly elected mayor of Trinity, was one of Becka's regular contacts and closest friends.

“What? No, we're fine,” Jack said. “It's just been kind of crazy with Will's work schedule. Plus he's on the soccer team and there's practice and…everything.”

“That's another thing. You didn't even go out for the team this year.” She paused, and when he didn't speak, continued. “Why not? You love soccer, or you used to.”

“I just … I just didn't think I had the time, with my classes.”

“Bill asked if Ellen had been spending time over here. I guess she's among the missing, too.” Ellen lived with Will's family.

“Yeah. We've…um…been spending a lot of time together. Hiking.” Jack snuck a glance at his watch. He and Ellen were sharing the next shift on the wall, and she'd be on his butt if he was late. She was totally into military discipline when it came to the security of the sanctuary.

“Has Ellen decided what she's going to do next fall?”

“Hmmm? Oh. She's still thinking about it.”

“I'm worried about her. She's so bright, and has so much potential. But she doesn't seem to be considering her future at all.” Becka brushed dust off the newel post with the hem of her T-shirt. “If money's an issue, let me make a few calls. I'll see to it that she has the funds she needs to go to college.”

And she would, too. All his life, his mother had been taking in strays.

She was also a pacifist. So he didn't know how to tell her that, absent the impending crisis in Trinity, Ellen's obvious vocational outlet was a post in a magical mercenary army.

“You know visit day at Trinity College is tomorrow.”

Oops.

“Do I really need to go? I feel like I've spent my life on that campus. I could probably lead the tour and give the dirty lowdown about most of the faculty.”

Becka laughed. “I'm sure you could. But this time you'll be there in a different role.” She paused. “I hate to admit it, but your father might be right. About going away for school, I mean, Ivy League or not.”

“Mom, I …”

Becka plowed on. “You've lived here all your life. You've never known anything else. To be honest, I'm surprised you want to go to Trinity. I know living in a small town gets on your nerves. Sometimes you have to go somewhere else to appreciate what we have here.”

“I do appreciate what we have here,” Jack said desperately. “I don't want to go away to school. Trinity's fine.”

“Listen to yourself. 'Trinity's fine.' When I was your age, I couldn't wait to go away to school. I wanted to be as far away from my parents as possible. I wanted to live in awful student housing and immerse myself in the English poets and stay out all night.” She frowned and bit her lip. “All right. Forget that last part.”

He did his best to avoid the explicit lie. “I feel like this year is like—you know—a turning point. Like nothing is ever going to be the same. Fitch is going to Stanford. Will's going to Ohio State. I know they'll be home for holidays and stuff, but still.”

He looked down at the floor, avoiding her eyes. “Seph and Ellen and Jason and I—we're just trying to find our way. I want to get through the summer before I make plans for the rest of my life. I hope you can just—you know—trust me.”

He looked at her. “Believe me. I don't think my future will hinge on whether I get into Harvard Law School.”

She studied his face, then nodded. “All right. I'll give you some space. But I do want you to go down to the registrar's office tomorrow and sign up for classes. You can always drop, but deciding you want to go in September won't get you into a closed section.”

“Okay.” He shifted from one foot to the other, conscious of Shadowslayer's weight across his back. “Thanks, Mom. See you later.”

Moving at a trot, trying to make up for lost time, Jack cut across campus on his way to Perry Park. Ivy-covered buildings clustered around grassy quads. Tall trees shaded the stone walkways that quilted the greens. It was a place to be sequestered from the outside world. But, the outside world had a way of intruding into Jack's life.

Despite his rapid pace, he was intercepted before he made it into the margin of the trees. Will Childers appeared on one side of him and Harmon Fitch on the other. They were wearing athletic shorts and soccer jerseys, carrying duffles, and he knew they'd just come from soccer practice. He felt a twinge of envy.

“Hey, there, Jack,” Fitch said, keeping step with him, despite Jack's longer stride. “What's up?”

“Long time no see,” Will added.

“That's not true,” Jack said. Must be “catch up with Jack” day, he thought.

“Fitch, do you think he knows we're going away in another three months or so?”

“Couldn't possibly, Will. Otherwise he'd be more attentive to old friends. Nostalgic about old times. Anticipating the big good-bye.”

“So where you off to, Jack?” Will asked, tugging at Jack's duffle bag. “War games in the woods?”

“How can we help?” Fitch asked. “We fetched Jason back. Now what else can we do?”

“This isn't…”

“I know,” Will said, holding up his hand to stop the speech. “This isn't our fight. It's only taking place in our town and involves all our friends. Let's pretend we argued about this and finally agreed that it is our fight.”

“Well,” Jack said, giving in. “Come on. I'll show you what Ellen and I have been up to.” Not that there'd be much for them to see.

Perry Park straddled the city limits of Trinity. Mercedes had located the Weirgate deep in the woods in the hopes the traffic 'would be less noticeable to the nonmagical citizens. Nick Snowbeard had built a barrier around the gate meant to turn the average Anaweir hiker away. It was a confusion charm with a bit of structure to it. Jack had to create an opening for Will and Fitch. Still, passage through the barrier was not particularly pleasant for them.