Back at Evan’s house, Michelle drops us all off before driving herself back home. I reflect for a moment on how much gas she must be using up, shuttling us all back and forth across town like this. Those Land Rovers are not known for their efficiency, but given that Michelle’s rich, I’m sure she can handle it.
“You okay?” Evan’s about to follow Adele and Rachel back into the house, but she turns around to talk to me some more.
“Yeah,” I say, edging aside so Kevin can get past me and into the next house over. He lives next door to Evan? I didn’t know that.
“You sure?” Evan asks. “You look disturbed.”
“No more so than usual,” I say. “Trust me, I’m fine.”
“Look,” Evan says, stepping closer to me, “I can see you’re bothered by what Elena told us today. If you wanna talk about it, I’m here.”
“Me too,” Harris says. “But not really here, ‘cause it’s freezing. Anyone else wanna go inside?”
“Yeah,” I say. “Good idea.”
Evan takes us inside and sits us on the living room couch. “Either of you guys want anything to eat?” she asks.
“No thanks,” I say. Harris agrees, and then Evan sits next to me.
“I feel like I’m in an intervention,” I say.
“An intervention for your feelings, probably,” Harris says. “Hey, I know. It’s not every day you hear your dad’s workin’ for some evil Dark warlock.”
“I know,” I say. “And the funny thing is, even if Dad has no idea what he’s doin’, chances are he’s still doin’ bad stuff to help these Scaler guys out.”
“It’s like he’s in SD-6 or something,” Evan says. Seeing Harris and me both returning shocked stares, she says, “What? It’s not like you guys can be the only members of our generation to have seen Alias.”
I hug myself a bit. “Now, see, my problem is, I wanna bring it to his attention, but if he’s already aware and willingly workin’ for the Scalers, I’ll just make myself a target.”
“Well, neither of us know your dad,” Harris says, “but if he’s any level of reasonable, I’m sure he’ll at least listen to what you have to say.” He laughs harshly. “But if he’s really evil, then you’ll only find out when he guts you like a fish in your sleep, like the goddamn sociopath he is.”
“Thanks for the help,” I mutter.
“Don’t mention it.”
I turn to Evan. “Would you have any helpful advice to give me, love?”
Evan pushes her bangs out of her eyes - she tends to do that when she’s thinking hard. “It can’t hurt to go to him, can it?”
“You really think it’s a good idea?” I ask.
“Come on, what are the odds he’s really evil?” Evan asks. “You said it yourself, your dad always says he could be laid off anytime. Sounds to me like he wouldn’t be evil enough for Marten Drake, and that’d be their excuse when they can him.”
“Every other working stiff in the country wishes their bosses were evil like that,” I say, laughing. Evan’s assessment of the situation has really cheered me up.
“So are you gonna go and ask him?” Harris asks.
“I dunno,” I say. “Probably not tonight. I’ll save that particular line of questioning till tomorrow. Today, all I’m gonna ask him is his permission to go on a campout with you guys this weekend.”
YOU ARE READING
The Dark Ice Chronicles - The Magi
ParanormalDark warlock Jason Cross is quite the lonely boy - until the girl he likes takes the time to get to know him. Evan Michaelsen's presence leads to a string of major changes in Jason's life - not the least of which is the development of Ice powers he...
