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Hope dashed. Other than Katashi, I didn’t know if Tessa knew any other summoners. And with her avoidance of summoning and summoning topics, there’d been no chance to teach her the nifty storage diagram I’d developed, which might have given her the potency needed to do it alone. Double crap.
Idris seemed pretty cozy, not at all like he was under duress or anything. Here he was talking about doing arcane Research and Development with Mzatal as if it was normal everyday business. What the hell was he doing here with that dickwad? “How long have you been here with Mzatal?”
“Just under four months,” he replied. “It goes fast.”
“And how long have you been summoning?”
His shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Since I was sixteen. Almost four years now.”
I stared at him. “Only four years? Holy shit. I’ve been doing it close to a decade, and I don’t think I know a tenth of what you do.”
“Well, I learned a lot from Master Katashi,” Idris said. “And now that I’m here,” his face filled with awe, “every single day is just…wow.”
Another summoner trained by Katashi. So, why the hell didn’t I learn anything worth a shit while I was with him? “Okay, please don’t take this the wrong way, but how does your family handle you being here?”
He let out a soft chuckle. “Well, they don’t know I’m here,” he said, copying my emphasis. “They think I’m in Japan on a special foreign school program. Master Katashi takes care of all that.”
“They don’t expect emails or phone calls?” I asked somewhat dubiously.
“Yeah, well, Master Katashi told me not to worry about it.” He shrugged again, smiled. “He said everything would be taken care of.”
Holy crap, but this kid sure seemed way too naïve and trusting to be dealing with demonic lords. “Don’t you miss your family?” I hid a grimace, oddly bothered by the idea of him being in the demon realm without his parents’ knowledge. Yeah, sure, he was a legal adult, but it still seemed weird.
He exhaled, gave me a smile tinged with sadness. “Don’t get me wrong, my family’s great. But I’ve only been with them since I was about fourteen.”
“Something happened to your natural family?” I winced and shook my head. “I’m sorry. I have a habit of being too nosy sometimes. It’s none of my business.”
“Nah, it’s okay,” he replied. “Actually I was adopted twice. The first couple got me when I was a baby.” A fond smile crossed his face, and it was clear that he’d enjoyed a good childhood. But then his smile slipped. “There was a car accident. A truck crossed the center line and they died. I was in the backseat.” He exhaled. “I was lucky—I got adopted almost immediately by another really great couple.” The smile returned to his face. “Turned out that the guy who lived across the street from my new family was a summoner. One day he caught me peering at his wards, and that was the start of all this.” He gestured to encompass the demon realm. Safar gave a low snort from his perch on the wall.
“I’m sorry about your parents,” I said quietly. “My mom died of cancer when I was eight, and my dad was killed by a drunk driver three years later. My aunt raised me. She’s a summoner,” I added. Tracy’s comment rose in my mind. We don’t have a choice. They make sure we become summoners. I pushed it away for now.
“Do you learn a lot with Mzatal?” I asked in a ruthless change of subject. By the relief on his face it was clear he was just as glad of it.
“Yeah,” he said, making a face like a glazed-eyed goldfish. “Holy shit, there’s always more.”
“Do you…like him?” I asked doubtfully.
A somewhat pained grimace came over his face. “Well, um, he’s an awesome teacher.”
“It’s cool,” I said, grinning. “I get it.” Likeable wasn’t a necessary requirement for a good teacher.
He cocked his head to one side. “I mean, it’s hard to explain. He’s always about ten steps ahead of me, so I really really have to stay on my toes.” Then he shrugged. “He always tells me when I’m doing it wrong, but he always tells me when I’m doing it right, too. And he’s never stepped outside of our agreement, that’s for sure.”
I pursed my lips, considering that. He did sound like a good teacher, but I’d probably think more kindly of him if I wasn’t constantly worried about him killing me. “Agreement? Some sort of official contract?”
Idris nodded. “Yeah. Katashi’s already Mzatal’s sworn summoner, so anyone else the lord works with would have an official agreement with the terms laid out.”
My rising questions derailed as an odd vibration went though the tower. I started to ask Idris if he felt it too, but the frown on his face told me he did.
“Shit,” he murmured. His eyes widened as a much stronger vibration shook the tower. “Holy shit!”
I reached for the wall. “What the hell was that?” I asked. “Earthquake?”
In the span of a heartbeat his face shifted from insecure teen to intense and serious arcane practitioner, far closer to how he was in the midst of the purification ritual. “Anomaly,” he said, intaking breath at the sharp sound of cracking rock. “Not safe here. Safar! Take her up!”
With that he turned and ran for the door.
Chapter 7
