The Scroll of Knowledge

Chapter 19

Thomas went up to the room to check on Shay. His head was still reeling with all the information Amber had told them. The artifacts could be assembled like Voltron as Brennan said? Were the realms where the artifacts kept really in different pockets of time and space? It would make sense but it sounded like something out of a bad science fiction movie.

Shay wasn't in bed like he expected. He knocked on the bathroom door.

"Shay?"

Where did she go? His blood ran cold. He had to find her.

There was a flash of light. She appeared in the room next to him.

"Thomas." She looked surprised to see him.

"Where were you?" he asked.

"Out. I had something to do." She sat on the bed.

"You lied to me."

She shook her head. "I did no such thing."

"Then where were you? You shouldn't just leave without telling me anything!" he shouted. She jumped.

"It was urgent."

"What could be so urgent that you couldn't even send me a message on this?" He shook her arm with the bracelet. "Why do we even have it if you're not going to use it?"

"Thomas. Your clothes," she said softly.

Charred bits of what was formerly his t-shirt fell onto the carpet. He needed to cool down.

"I need to take a shower."

"Thomas, wait! Let me ex--"

He slammed the door behind him. He needed to cool down quickly before he started setting things on fire. Shay could cool him down in seconds but he was still too... heated. He didn't even bother to undress. He turned on the shower and let the water fall on his head.

When he was finally cooled down enough and came out of the bathroom, he saw Shay still sitting where he'd left her. She was looking at the carpet.

"I came up to lie down but then I saw something about to happen back at Zahir's house in South Africa and I couldn't get him using the bracelets so I had to go there," she said.

"What was so urgent that you had to leave immediately?" Thomas asked. He grabbed a t-shirt from the drawer.

"I saw someone kill him."

He dropped the shirt. "What?"

"I managed to stop it and now we know who some of the moles are. Once I saw his face, I saw him talking to the others. They weren't supposed to, so that I wouldn't be able to see them, but they did, at least some of them. Zahir is taking care of them." She looked up at him. "I really couldn't tell you first. I only had seconds."

"Were... were you hurt?" Thomas asked. She pulled up the sleeve of her jacket and raised her arm. There was a large bruise there.

"I was too cold. I couldn't move as fast as I usually do and he had an ability. I got hit with a rock," Shay said. He reached for her arm. She pulled it away and glared at him. "You never let me explain. When I want to explain you won't let me and then get annoyed when I don't want to explain."

"I'm sorry. I was just worried."

She turned her head away from him. "Worry doesn't give you the right to shout at me, accuse me of lying and slam the door in my face. That was too much."

There was nothing he could say in defense of that. He shouldn't have done that.

"You always do that." She said it so softly he almost didn't hear it.

"Come. Let's get rid of the bruise and then I'll warm you up," Thomas said.

"No." She stood and walked over to the window. Her back was to him. "I'll do it myself. I'm going to look and see what's going to happen and I need quiet for that. Put on a t-shirt before you leave. Zahir might call you and Brennan back or he might tell you to stay here. It's a fifty-fifty chance."

She didn't want him around. He didn't blame her. He grabbed the t-shirt from off the ground and left the room. Brennan was just coming out of his, a worried look on his face.

"Did Shay tell you what happened?" he asked.

"Just that someone tried to kill Zahir," Thomas said. "Was he hurt?"

"Nothing serious." Brennan ran his hand through his hair making it stick up. "I'm not sure what to do. Do we just hide or do we fight back?"

"There is another option," Thomas said.

"If you're talking about that guy Amber mentioned then I vote no. It could be a trap."

"Or he could know something we don't but that wasn't what I was talking about," Thomas said. "We haven't contacted the other three that were there. They might know something as well. They've been doing this far longer than we have."

Brennan nodded. "I think it would be best if Amber talked to them and not me. They don't know me. I'll ask her." He looked closer at Thomas face. "Did you just fight with Shay?"

"Why would you even ask that?"

"Because it's written all over your face and I'm guessing that this time it was completely your fault. You look too guilty for it to be otherwise."

Thomas narrowed his eyes. "You sure you can't read minds like Joseph?"

Brennan smirked. "No one needs a superpower to be able to read your mind." His smile fell a little. "Zahir said she was hurt."

Thomas nodded. "A bruise on her arm. Nothing serious."

"We were lucky she saw it this time and that there were no casualties on our end. We won't be so lucky again."

"Shay says she's going to look forward. In the meantime, you should get Amber to talk to the other keyholders." Thomas elbowed him in the ribs. "Let's see how well you handle your first crush."

Brennan pushed him away. "Shut up. I'm not some little kid." He wasn't denying that she was his first crush.

Thomas patted his back. "Keep telling yourself that. Now go talk to Amber." Brennan walked down the stairs muttering what sounded like random syllables and words strung together but what Thomas knew was curse words popular in Irish pubs. He needed to keep a better eye on where Brennan was spending his time.

He glanced back at the room Shay was in. What was he supposed to do?