Reader Believes

Chapter 10

            Rika sighed, stretched her arms over her head, and fell back against the family room’s couch. “Finally done!” she said, making a face at the homework spread out across the table in front of her.

            “Good. Here’s a snack,” Connor said, coming out of the kitchen with a plate of fruit and cheese.

            Her eyebrows went up. “Aren’t we having dinner in a couple of hours?”

            Her brother matched her expression. “Yes we are. Did you eat lunch today?”

            Rika rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I ate lunch.”

            “All of it?”

            “Almost all of it. I kept getting interrupted, so I didn’t get a chance to eat my pudding, alright?”

            Connor frowned. “Was someone bothering you?”

            “No, not really. Jerome wanted to know if I could explain the Reformation to him, then Parker asked me if I’d seen his hat. To cap it all off, Duncan thought I was a new student and came over to introduce himself, despite having been in Canada and the World with me last semester. But I ate nearly everything you packed, so you shouldn’t have any problems.”

            “Well, as long as you’re not skipping lunch to read, it’s fine I guess. If you run into any problems at school…”

            “I’m fine, God! You are way too over protective sometimes. Besides, between what I learned from Damek and Ahisu, I could probably beat you up,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest and smirking.

            He ignored the expression, eyes narrowing. “And what is our house-guest up to? He doesn’t act like has a job or school, so I have to wonder if he’s doing anything at all.”

            Rika’s spine snapped straight as she glared at her brother. “He’s busy learning about our world, besides identifying and recruiting mages.”

            The creak of the spare bedroom’s door had them both freezing in place before they turned to look. Staff in hand, Ahisu stared at both of them, eyes flicking between both of them, before they finally settled on Rika.

            “Speak of the devil,” Connor said. “Or should I say demon?”

            “Connor!” Rika snapped, rising.

            “Did someone call for a demon?” Shay asked, popping up from behind Ahisu wearing a wide grin that showed off his pointed teeth.

            Rika’s brother blanched. But a moment later, his chin rose, and he glared at the pair approaching the couch. “Riks might have forced me to let you live here, but if you think I’m going to let you turn this into some kind of rebel headquarters, you’re dead wrong. This whole idea of yours is insane. It’s likely to get you all killed, not to mention tearing the country apart with civil war.”

            While Rika glared, Ahisu studied Connor. “Is this a utopia?” he asked.

            Connor blinked then flushed. “No, but no country or government is perfect. How do you know your idea will make things better?”

            “How do you know it won’t?”

            When her brother opened his mouth, eyes hard, Rika cried “Enough!”

            The two men turned to stare at her.

            “Enough of the arguing. It’s not going anywhere, and like I told you before, Connor, we’re still in the planning stages. Nothing’s been set in stone, and we don’t even know how mages here organize themselves, if they do at all. So for the moment, this whole argument’s pointless. You did bring up a good point though. If we eventually get more members than just us five, we’re going to need a space for our headquarters. We’ll never fit more than twenty people here in at a time, not if we all want to be in the same room.”

            “I don’t remember joining you,” Connor said, folding his arms.

            “I didn’t count you. I was including Shay. Now, I think it’d be worthwhile to start taking a look at some buildings, either that we can rent or buy or whatever, so we have somewhere to meet. I don’t think anywhere we have to book ahead of time would be a good idea.”

            Ahisu considered it for a moment before he inclined his head. Rika grinned. “I can check online for listings. We’ll have to hammer out what kind of space we think we need and anything else we want the place to have, then we can start ranking places.”

            Connor frowned. “And where exactly are you going to get the money for this?”

            “My savings.”

            “No! Absolutely not! You are not wasting that one something as stupid as this! You’re supposed to be saving that money for your future,” he said, eyes boring into his sister’s as his hands clenched.

            She matched him glare for glare. “I can do whatever I want with my hush money!”

            “Hush money?” said a different male voice.

            Rika and Connor jerked around to stare in the same direction Ahisu already was. Right at Damek and Elthia, who were standing in the doorway, watching them with wide eyes.