Page 88 of The Tree of Spirits
Instead, I found Kato.
CHAPTER 2
KATO AND CONNER
Kato was sifting through a stack of chairs, apparently looking for something. His helmet lay on the ground. He must have removed it because it was easier to search the building without it obstructing his view.
He looked up, his gaze crossing mine. And then he sighed.
“What are you doing here?” I said quietly, stepping toward him.
“He’s looking for you,” Conner’s voice said behind me.
I pivoted around, but he wasn’t there. All I saw was an empty room that dead-ended in a wall of windows.
“The General said you were working with the Rebels, but I told him that was impossible.” Disappointment dulled the sparkle in Kato’s eyes. “I told him you wouldn’t betray me.”
“I didn’t betray you, Kato.”
“That’s not what it looks like to me.”
“See what I mean?” Conner said. “He’salwaysoverreacting.”
I felt a soft, subtle rush of air; Conner must have passed behind me.
“I should have known you’d be at the center of this disaster, Conner. You’re a bad influence.” Kato folded his arms over his chest. “What is your business with her?”
He was doing a pretty thorough job of glaring at nothing. Maybe he could see through Conner’s invisibility spell.
“What is my business with her?” Conner chimed. “The same as yours, of course: we’re trying to save the world.”
Conner suddenly appeared behind us, dressed in his usual suit of shimmering dragon scales. Kato jumped in surprise. Apparently, he couldn’t see invisible Conner after all.
Kato quickly recovered. He drew his WAND, and it immediately turned into a sword. He stepped toward Conner. “You shouldn’t be here,” he hissed, and flames flared to life on his open hand.
“Ishouldn’t be here? This is my storehouse.” Chuckling, Conner gave his own WAND a flick. The flurry of flakes swirled around Kato’s flames, freezing them solid.
“Is it true?” I asked Kato as he shook the frozen flame fragments off his fingers. “Were you really looking for me here?”
Kato’s gaze slid from Conner to me. “Yes.”
“But how did you know I was here?”
“I tracked your life force here. I got the idea from the spell the Rebels used to track down the invisible Watchers.”
“That spell was actually her idea.” Conner nudged me with his shoulder. “Never thought to use it to stalk pretty girls, but you’ve always been creative with magic, Kato.” He chuckled.
Kato watched us, his face impassive. “I wasn’t stalking her. I went looking for her because the General insisted she was hiding out with the Rebels, and I planned to prove him wrong.” His dark eyebrows twitched, ever so slightly, as he turned toward me. “I looked for you at your house, Seven. When you weren’t there, I decided to use magic to track you, fearing you might be in trouble.” His eyes locked on to Conner. “It seems I was right to be concerned.”
Conner laughed. “Trouble? Me? I’m harmless. I’m not the one who blew a hole in the conference center and kidnapped abunch of Apprentices. Red and I are trying to catch the Templars and rescue the Apprentices.”
“Red?”
“Hey, you’re not the only one who gets to give her a cute nickname.” Conner winked at him.
Kato didn’t look amused. “You can’t trust him,” he told me. “He’s only going to get you into all kinds of trouble.”
“Stop being so negative, Prince Charming. Red and I have already completed many successful Quests together.” Conner casually draped an arm over my shoulder. “We defeated a bunch of Cursed Ones and rescued a Scavenger from a camp full of commandos.”
