There’s an awkward silence.
Alexis clears his throat. “How are you today, Drakeward? Any side effects?”
“I feel like I’ve been in the ring at Machete’s; sore but nothing to worry about.” Cosmo's eyes slide over to Ludo. For a moment I think I almost see a smirk on my janitor's face. Which is weird, because he's truly not the smirking type.
After a beat, Cosmo sighs, then wipes his fingers on a cloth napkin. “I keep playing over the scene with Father, Jonquil andJoyce. I can’t remember anything further than I’ve already told you. It’s frustrating.”
—Jonquil and Joyce?—Ludo’s confusion is understandable.
“Jonquil and Joyce are the twins' parents.”
“Yup, the famous J’s. Father dearest—Jonquil Hart, MD, is a Medical Geneticist, and mother is Joyce Hart, D.Sc, Arcanogenetist,” Donovan adds.
“Mother and Father are in town?” Wes frowns.
“Er, yeah, bro,” Donovan replies, quirking his mouth. “They are doing their usual thing of ignoring us and working on messed-up stuff with the Conclave. You remember what they’re like?”
Wes's frown deepens. “I-I think so.” He pushes back his chair and stands up. “I’m not hungry.”
We all watch in silence as Wes retreats to his room again.
“Shall we tell them about Amos now?” Alexis asks me.
I nod, hating that we are hiding things from Wes, but it only makes sense.
Alexis squares his shoulders, and settles into Professor Mode. He starts to outline the encounter—the suicide threat, and the partial confession from Amos.
The room goes deadly silent.
“Fuck,” Cosmo sighs. “That’s a dead end then. If he was bound...”
Alexis gives a small, dangerous smirk. “Hardly. Theo broke the binding. The sigil exploded off his neck.”
“Whoa!” Donovan exclaims, jumping half out of his chair.
“Clever girl, sparkles!” Max yells, pumping his fist.
But Cosmo? He just turns white as a sheet.
“You… you can do that?” His voice is stripped of any arrogance.
“It was a joint effort. Alexis found some ancient casting texts, and we amped it up with my Lumina.”
“And once he was freed, Amos was able to tell us a lot more,” Alexis adds, his voice grim. “He was blackmailed into working for the Conclave in the research of energy transference. The research involved using human test subjects in the form of orphaned children.”
Max curses, but I stop him. "There's more. I had a vision." Nausea rising in my throat.
Alexis instantly flicks his fingers, casting a privacy bubble around the table.
“A fucking vision?” Cosmo asks.
“In divination class. I saw Wes, sometime in the future he’s involved with all this evil. There was a white room, and a child strapped onto the table. Wes wasn't just watching... he was nodding. Like he was approving the procedure.”
The room goes silent as they all comprehend the horror of my words.
Finally, Donovan breaks the quiet. “No. That’s not happening. We destroy whoever is taking these kids and we fucking save Wes. Save him from himself.”
“We’ll tear it all down.” Maximus gives a nod, looking more grim than I’ve ever seen him.
