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“Yeah.”
“Man, you should just quit already. I don’t know how you sheep stay in those dead-end jobs.”
Eva rolled her eyes. “It’s called a paycheck, Tony. You know, the thing that keeps the lights on? I need to eat and live. Anyway, my-boss-just-walked-out-of-her-office-I-gotta-go-byeee.”
She hit the end call button and put down the phone, blowing out a breath.
“Wow, your brother sounds like a real stand-up guy,” I said.
“Oh yeah, a perfect gentleman. Every mother’s dream.”
“Well, at least we know for sure we’ve got the right guy,” I said. “And he’s working with a wizard. Plus he doesn’t have the money yet, which must mean he still has the locket.”
Yes! Now we were cooking with gas!
Chapter 9
Eva
“So, you got it?” I asked, turning to Seth.
“I did.” He waved his hand, and a map of Darlington appeared in mid-air. He panned across to the outskirts of town and zoomed in on a run-down motel.
Across from me, Mateo grimaced. “Ugh. That place is disgusting. I had to hole up in one of their rooms once when I was working for the EA. The only people who ever go there are criminals or people who are really down on their luck.”
“You used to work for the EA?” I asked, surprised.
Mateo grunted in a non-committal way. “It was a while ago, and only for a short time. Too many rules.”
“And you hate rules,” I said, remembering our first meeting.
He turned to Seth. “So, we’ve narrowed it down to that motel. Are you able to open a portal there?”
“Better,” Seth said. “I can open one right in his room.”
“You can? Cool.” I said, impressed.
“You are not coming,” Mateo said firmly. “Not there. This place is disgusting; you don’t want to be anywhere near it.”
“It’s my brother, and it’s my responsibility to face him.”
“She’s got a point, you know,” Seth said. “It is her brother. What, are you worried that you won’t be able to protect her? I mean, you did manage to lose a priceless artifact.”
I knew Seth was just teasing him, but in this case, it helped my cause, so I let it lie.
Mateo’s look darkened, and he let out a low growl. “I’m able to protect her.”
“Perfect!” I exclaimed. “That solves it. I’m coming along.” I beamed at Seth. “Open her up!”
A few minutes later, a portal opened in Desmon’s library. Unlike the one I’d stepped through before, this one did not open onto blackness. Instead, it revealed a shabby motel room that had seen better days. There were stains on the carpet, and the wallpaper was peeling. There was a good week’s worth of empty beer cans and bottles strewn about. It looked disgusting, and even from this side of the portal, I swear I could smell the stench.
Yuck. Maybe Mateo was right after all. Did I really need to face my asshole brother?
“We’ll be watching. If anything happens, I’ll portal you right back here,” Seth said.
My brother sat on the bed looking at the portal, but he didn’t look particularly scared or nervous. It was like he’d totally expected something like that to happen.
“That’s definitely the ‘volunteer’ from the museum,” Mateo grumbled. “Except he didn’t look like that. He looked like a student, like the other two.”
