“Thank you for coming,” the woman said as she stepped aside. Understanding this was their cue to head out, they all said thank you and goodbye as they retraced their steps and exited themuseum.
When they were safely within the confines of their rental car, they each breathed acollectivesigh.
“We aren’t coming back tomorrow, right?” Z asked as he looked over his shoulder to thebackseat.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea, considering we just stole a piece of their property,” Anna pointed out. “And probably a very valuable piece, judging by the age ofthatbook.”
“I thought it might make us look guiltier if we said we weren’t coming back. We only made it through two rooms in an hour,” Jewelexplained.
“Guilty?” Sly coughed as Z drove back to the motel. “Did we look guilty? Not me. I was trying really hard for the not-guiltylook.”
Jewel shrugged. “I’ve never stolen anything. I don’t know what the not-guilty looklookslike.”
“But you’ve done bad stuff you’ve been guilty of, right?” Sly countered. “Nobody’sperfect.”
“Well, yeah, but that’s a different kind of guilty than the stealing kind of guilty,” sheargued.
“Is that a fact? Like did you read that in your books somewhere and store it away for just such anoccasion?”
“STOP!” Anna yelledsuddenly.
Jewel’s mouth snapped closed as she stared wide-eyed at her usually calmfriend.
“I’m sorry,” Anna said, her voice no longer sharp and high. “But you guys were arguing about something extremely silly, and we have in our possession an object that is clearly magical and most likely very powerful, and I’m a little stressed out at the moment. So let’s just get back to our rooms and figure out some kind ofplan.Okay?”
Jewel and Sly both nodded at the same time. There was an obvious Anna’s-about-to-smack-someone vibe in the air, and Jewel was glad he picked uponit.
Anna was frustrated.She didn’t exactly know why she was frustrated. She just knew that if Jewel and Sly had continued their ridiculous argument, she was going to shove the stolen book down one of their throats. Harsh much? Yes, that was harsh and way out of character. So what was her problem? Though she hadn’t noticed it at the time, looking back she remembered something strange about the magic in the museum. It was as if something in there was trying to cling to her skin, and now she recalled absentmindedly rubbing her arms, as if she were trying to remove an unwanted lotion. The thought made her shiver, but she wasn’t sure exactly how to explain it to the others, so she decided to keep quiet about it for the timebeing.
They arrived at the motel approximately thirty seconds later, as the building was just across the street from the museum. Why they had driven the car to begin with, Anna had no idea, but Sly and Z had insisted. When they were back in their room, the warlocks joined the girls, instead of immediately retiring to their own quarters as usual. Sly pulled the book out of his backpack, and she felt that same magic again, this time exploding from the backpack and seemingly covering everything in the small room. Jewel recoiled. She must be feeling itaswell.
“I don’t want to touch it again,” Annaadmitted.
Jewel shook her head. “Meeither.”
“Well, when we touch it, there are no words,” Sly reminded them. “So, gonna be kinda hard to figure out what it says if neither of you two wants toopenit.”
“It’s in a language we don’t understand anyway,” Anna said. “What good woulditdo?”
“What are we going to do with it then?” Z asked. “Tell me we didn’t steal it for noreason.”
“No, I don’t think we did. It’s important. I’m sure of it,” Jewel said. “I just don’t know exactly whyorhow.”
“Just put it back in your bag for now,” Anna told Sly. “I don’t know about you, Jewel, but I need a shower. I feel gross after being in thatplace.”
“I feel the same,” Jewelagreed.
“We’ll let you guys get cleaned up, then we get something to eat for dinner, and then call it a night,” Ztoldthem.
They both noddedhalfheartedly.
The guys left, and Anna felt as though she was going to claw herskinoff.
“It’s the dark magic,”Jewelsaid.
“What?”
“You’re rubbing your arms, and you look as angry as awetcat.”
