The Society of Imaginary Friends (Book 1 of The Conjurors Series)

Chapter 6

Once they were out of sight of the hospital, they slowed down, melting into the pedestrian traffic on the sidewalks. Thai walked purposefully down the sidewalk, his eyes sweeping the dingy streets for any sign of danger. Valerie did her best to hide the strain that her sprint had taken on her now that the adrenaline was fading.

“You want to tell me what all that was about?” he asked with a stern glare.

“Depends—are you sure that you want to know the answer?” she asked in the sweetest of voices.

He looked like he was forcing himself not to smile. “You’re right. I don’t.”

Too absorbed in her new freedom, she didn’t even think to ask where they were going. Before she knew it, they were on the open-air platform at the MacArthur BART train station, and Thai was opening one of the lockers lining the walls.

“I rented this locker so I didn’t have to lug our stuff all over Oakland. I figure that would look more than a little suspicious to Child Services.”

“Our stuff?” she asked, confused. The locker popped open, and he pulled out two large hiking packs, handing one to her.

“You’ll need this. Dump all your stuff in here. We need to travel light. Almost everything we’ll need for the trip is in these two bags, so don’t let yours out of your sight.”

“Uh, actually I have no stuff,” she admitted.

Thai didn’t ask for details. “Well, now you do,” he said.

Valerie peeked inside her bag and saw that Thai wasn’t kidding. He’d packed everything from a lightweight sleeping bag to what looked like an extremely fancy, technical pair of sunglasses covered in buttons and dials. She pulled the glasses out and started to try them on.

“Put them away! And be careful, those night vision goggles were not easy to get.”

“Unbelievable. I can’t wait until we get to use these! But how will I ever pay you back for all this?”

“Whatever, it’s a gift,” he said gruffly. “Oh, and you’ll need this,” he added as he handed her a passport.

“How did you manage to get this?”

“Those Conjurors have a few tricks up their sleeves. And good thing, too, or we’d never get out of here. Now let’s go. Our flight to England is in two hours.”

“England. That’s where the launch site is?” Valerie asked, a little embarrassed that she hadn’t bothered to find out before.

“Not exactly,” Cyrus said, suddenly popping into view next to Thai, who jumped about a foot in surprise.

“Don’t do that!” Thai growled.

“Sorry, champ,” Cyrus said with a smirk. Before Thai could reply, Cyrus turned to Valerie. “The launch site is in Giza, inside the Great Pyramid.”

Her eyes widened. “Then what’s in England, exactly?”

“You have to go there and take a test to prove your magic.”

Her mind whirled, trying to take in so much new information at once. “Prove my magic? What am I going to have to do? What if I don’t pass the test? Will I have to go back to a foster home again?”

“Don’t be such a worrier, Val. You’re bursting with magic, so I’m sure you’ll pass with flying colors. When you do, you’ll get a message that will show you the next step to the launch room inside the Great Pyramid.”

She wasn’t reassured. What if Cyrus was totally wrong about her and she failed the test? She still found it a little hard to believe that there could be anything magical inside of her. But she’d come this far; there was no way she was turning back now.