Page 109 of The Tribes of Magic
Conner chuckled. “What was that for?”
“For being you.”
“All right then. Iamawesome, after all.”
Kato rolled his eyes.
“Ok. Back to why I asked you guys to come over. It wasn’t to rescue me from a wall.” I blushed. “It’s about the spy at the Castle, whoever is watching me for the General.”
I told them how the Watchers had come to the Castle yesterday and opened up the exact locker I’d hidden the Paragons’ spellbook in.
“If Conner and I hadn’t gone to the Castle and grabbed the spellbook before that, the Watchers would have found it. And it would now be in the General’s possession.”
Kato paced back and forth across my cottage a few times, then stopped in front of me. “You believe whoever the spy is, they told the General about the Paragons’ spellbook.”
“Yes.”
His mouth dropped into a frown. “Why is everyone after this book?”
“Everyone?” Conner asked.
“First, it was the Chameleon. And now the General.” Kato’s eyes found the fat spellbook on the table. His gaze sharpened. “That book is dangerous. Having that book is dangerous for you, Seven.”
“I’m not getting rid of it. I’m learning a lot from the Paragons. I need the book. Somewhere in those pages, I’ll find the answer to saving the missing Apprentices. I just need more time.”
“Time is running out. The General knows about the book, and he wants it. Do you really think he’s the sort of person to just give up? He’ll send the Watchers here next. They will tear this place apart until they find it.”
Damn. Kato was right. The General would do exactly that.
I went over to the table and took the spellbook. I handed it to Conner. “Here, take it.”
“Me?”
“Kato is right. As long as I have the book, the General will find it. But if you took the book, he won’t find it. You’ve been hiding from the General for months, and no matter how many Watchers he sends out to find you, they never do. You have secret hiding places the General doesn’t know about. The safestplace to keep the Paragons’ spellbook is with you. Will you help me, Conner? Will you hide the book?”
“Of course, Red. Of course. You don’t even have to ask. But I thought you wanted to study the book?”
“I guess I can come visit you when I need to look at it?”
A playful smirk lit up Conner’s whole face. “You don’t need an excuse to come visit me. You’re welcome anytime.”
“Thank you.” I handed him the book.
Kato’s mood was more serious. “Hiding the book won’t solve the larger issue. The General has a spy at the Castle. We need to figure out who it is.”
Unfortunately, no one had any idea.
“We need to think about this from another angle,” Conner said. “We need to expose the traitor within the Government, the scumbag who made a deal with the Order of Kings to kidnap Apprentices. That will solve all our problems.”
“How?” I asked him.
“Because the Generalisthe Government traitor. We expose him as an evil criminal mastermind who sells Apprentices to mysterious supernatural bad guys, and the Government will get rid of him. No more General means no more spy at the Castle.”
“What proof do you have the General is the traitor?” Kato asked him.
“You mean, besides the General’s whole personality?”
“Yes, besides that. As neatly as that would tie things up, I hate to break it to you, Conner, but being an annoying control freak isnotproof.”
