The Scroll of Knowledge

Chapter 22

"Amber, which school did you say you go to?" Axel asked. I knew he was younger than Thomas but he was definitely bigger, though I guess that wasn't much of an accomplishment. Brennan was bigger than Thomas and he wouldn't be considered big by anyone's standards. There was a little resemblance between Axel and Thomas, if I squinted.

I opened my mouth.

"Don't answer that," Brennan said. He glared at Axel.

So this was one of those cousins Brennan talked about before.

Axel rolled his eyes. "I'm just trying to make conversation."

"Most universities are the same. If you don't go to one of the big ones then the actual name doesn't really matter so long as you have the degree to prove that you went to one," I said. "I'm actually looking at the statistics right now. Dammit. I really should have gone to MIT. I wonder if I could get in now that I have the Scroll of Knowledge." I shook my head in an effort to get rid of all the numbers.

"What are you doing?" Axel asked.

"Social work. I originally wanted to become a doctor. I read all the books from the library I could get my hands on but I didn't have the grades to get in. I always end up panicking in the exam." I grabbed Brennan's arm. "I just found out how to completely reverse asthma and COPD with one injection."

"What?" he asked.

"Yes. Going by what that 1994 Japanese research says and then that 1950 German one and that 2002 one in Congo and an ancient Incan antidote for snake bites, I think I can get it to work. I can asked Shay to look ahead and tell me if it does before I actually do anything," I said. A thought hit me. "My mother should have been able to figure this out. Why was she just a lecturer?"

"It's the Scroll of Knowledge not Wisdom. Having access to a lot of information doesn't mean you know how to use it. It is possible that she saw those very same researches but had no ways of connecting them. Or maybe she just tried to avoid using the Scroll at all." Brennan shrugged. "Either way, this means you're not a complete idiot."

I narrowed my eyes. "Thank you so much for that compliment." He hid a smirk behind his cup of tea. "I need a lab to test it out."

"That isn't an issue," Brennan said. "There's one at the house in Russia. If Shay says it can work then you might as well use it. Zahir would be the first to give you what you need. The second youngest of us has bad asthma and the doctors aren't sure what to do."

"Angela isn't the youngest anymore?" Axel asked. "Wow. How do you keep track of everyone?"

"I know of bigger families," I said. "There's a man in the Middle East trying to break the world record. He's almost at a hundred. No, wait. He just broke a hundred. So many overlapping names... He has six sons named Muhammed and seven daughters named Aisha. Ah. It's giving me a headache. Why would someone even want to break that record?" I rubbed my temples. Brennan pushed my glass of orange juice towards me.

"I'm ashamed at how impressed I am," Axel said.

"You should be," Brennan said. His bracelet beeped. "That's Zahir. I need to take this." He glared at Axel before stepping out of the kitchen.

Axel chewed thoughtfully for a bit. He was attractive but I preferred guys who dressed in something other than ripped jeans. I hated ripped jeans. Just because he could pull it off didn't mean he, or anyone else, should wear them.

"Amber, since you have a connection with the Scroll, would you be able to find someone for me?" he asked.

"That depends," I said.