Twisted Sister of Mine

"What's that?" I asked, pointing to the structure.



"That was Ezzek's estate," Zagg replied, pausing the image, and zooming in on the house by putting his fingers on the location and moving them apart. He made a grabbing motion at the image and twisted it, orienting the view from the front of the house.



I felt my mouth drop open. Ezzek's pad was no house. It was a friggin mansion. And it wasn't just any old mansion.



It was the old fraternity house I was living in.



Chapter 32



After class, I corralled Zagg in his classroom, even though my stomach grumbled and complained since it was lunchtime. "What can you tell me about Moore's house?" I asked him.



The historian leaned against his desk, a hand under one chin. "Well, it was built before the university as a place for the Council to live during the campus construction. After completion of the campus, many in the council took teaching positions and quarters inside the castle. The Council of Seven renamed itself to the Arcane Council, and voted Alexander Tiberius as the first Chancellor."



It certainly explained why the place was so huge compared to the other houses on Greek Row. "And it eventually became a fraternity house?" I asked.



"Yep." He adjusted the holographic image floating above his desk to better show the mansion. "In fact, Tiberius founded the first so-called fraternity. Of course, he hadn't intended for the members to turn into a bunch of alcoholic party animals. His original intent, though, was something of a mystery."



Zagg looked at the open door. Walked over and closed it. When he returned, he took out his wand and made a little spinning motion with it. I felt a slight increase in air pressure as an anti-eavesdropping ward dropped into place.



I felt my forehead wrinkle. "Geez, what's with the secrecy?"



"I want to tell you something. But you have to promise not to repeat it to anyone else."



"Pinky swear?" I asked.



He snorted. "You've followed through on your word to me about the other matter. This is for your protection as well as mine."



"I promise to keep it a secret."



He nodded. "Good." Glanced at the closed door once more, and back to me. "Several years ago, one of my students wrote a dissertation—"



"Wait, a dissertation? Isn't that way above elementary level?"



His lips pressed tight. "Let's just say the story I'm about to tell you had political repercussions for my career."



"Oh." I felt bad for asking.



Zagg continued his story. "My former student wrote a dissertation behind the origins and mysteries of the first fraternity. During his research, he came to me several times, very excited about his findings. One night, he showed up, a copy of his dissertation in hand, and scared out of his wits. He told me people were after him. He said the Primus and Chancellor themselves had, through proxies, told him to cease work on his dissertation and find another subject. He told me the dissertation panelists were refusing to assign him a date for review."



"Why would bigwigs care about a paper on fraternities? Were they afraid people would find out they were wild and crazy in college and kick them out of their positions?"



Zagg shook his head. "It wasn't anything so simple. The student left the paper in my office for safekeeping. When I came the next morning, I discovered someone had tripped or disabled the wards on my office, and all that remained of the dissertation was a pile of dust."



"They burned it?"



"No, they transmuted it to dust so it couldn't be magically reconstituted."



"Why didn't they just steal it? Seems kind of dramatic to turn it to dust."



The historian offered a wry smile. "For one thing, if I'd put a tracker on it, I could have found those responsible. I think whoever did it wanted to send a crystal clear message."



I cringed. "Stop writing or end up like this?"



He nodded. "My thoughts exactly. Transmuting paper to dust is no simple matter. Whoever did it was very powerful. I recommended a safer subject for my student. He ended up writing a lame dissertation about the founding of the library instead. Passed with flying colors."



I raised an eyebrow and wrinkled my forehead for good measure. "Uh, so what's the point of telling me all this?"



"Always make a copy."



I laughed.



He smiled and continued. "I was curious to find out why important people would care about the crackpot theories of one doctoral candidate. While his paper read a lot like something bred from the wild fantasies of a kid who reads too many comic books, I was able to confirm many of his findings. At that point I had to admit his paper held water."



I still didn't understand where Zagg was going with this. "Are we still talking about fraternities here?"



"As a matter of fact, we're talking about the very first one on campus. But it was more than a fraternity. It was a secret order."



"Spit it out already," I said in an exasperated tone. "The suspense is killing me."



"Tiberius founded the Illuminati."



"Oh," I said, thinking that should have been my first guess. Unfortunately, I would never make a good detective. "To counter the Templars, right?"



Now it was Zagg's turn to look confused. "What do the Templars have to do with this?" he said, eyes flicking toward the door as if the chancellor and a squad of dissertation panelists might burst through at any moment and throw us in the dungeons.



I wasn't sure what I could tell Zagg. He seemed like a really cool guy now that we'd gotten past the stage where he'd tried to kill me and all, but I still didn't know him that well. On the other hand, what if he could help me find the Cyrinthian Rune? He trusted me with this secret, so maybe I could trust him with some of mine. "I've met a member of the Illuminati."



The historian's eyes flared. "What? Who?"



"Look, I think my secret is bigger than yours."



"Are you bragging about the size of your secret?" he said, raising an eyebrow.



I shrugged. "Not bragging. Just telling you how it is. I want you to promise to keep it to yourself."



He nodded. "I promise."



"Pinky swear?" I held out my pinky.



He blew out a breath and hooked his little finger in mine. "You are one strange man, Justin." A sigh. "Pinky swear."



I gave him the lowdown on my conversation with MacLean, leaving out his name for the time being. I told him about the rune and that the Conroys, Bigglesworth, and worst of all, Daelissa, were willing to kill anyone who got in their way.



Zagg dropped onto his stool, staring blankly at the floor. "Moore's lover, Lissa, was—is a Seraphim? And she created the Templars?" He seemed speechless for several moments. "These facts change everything. This knowledge would rock the very foundation of Overworld history."



I laid a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I'll be more than happy for you to spring the news on the world, but not now. Not while the Conroys and Daelissa are hunting for a relic that could allow them to achieve world domination."



"It sounds so dramatic when you say it that way." He stood. Nodded. "I'm your man. If Moore and Tiberius hid a relic somewhere on campus, I can probably triangulate it with copious amounts of historical research."



"Could you use an assistant?" I asked, the perfect candidate in mind.



"Definitely." He nodded his head toward the spinning ASE. "I've got hundreds of those to go through. Far more than I can do on my own. Who do you have in mind?"



"You met him in the forest the first night we, um, met," I said. "He was the one in the gray suit."



"I remember him. Odd fellow."



"Yeah, well that's because he's a golem. His name is Cinder."



"A golem?" Zagg's eyebrows rose. "He looks so real."



Feeling buoyed by optimism, I added, "If you can even get a general location of the rune, my Illuminati acquaintance can help us find it. He has a special ability for seeing things most of us can't."



Zagg opened his mouth, no doubt to ask me more about this special ability, but seemed to rein himself in. "Sounds good. I'll get back to you as soon as possible."



By the time I reached the cafeteria, lunch was almost over. I stood in the passageway outside the dining hall as a noisy mob of well-fed students poured from within, while my stomach rumbled angrily.



"Hi, Justin," said a familiar voice. I turned and saw Ivy grinning brightly at me, Morgana by her side. She held out a paper bag to me. "Morgana and I saved you some lunch since you were late." She made a tutting sound. "I went through a lot of trouble to sneak away today, and you didn't come.""I enjoyed talking to you," Morgana said to Ivy. She looked tired. I wondered if the other kids had been teasing her.



"Thanks, Ivy," I said, taking the bag. "This is really thoughtful of you." Somehow, I had to separate her from Morgana so I could talk to her about saving Mom.



"Aw, well, Morgana thought of it." She shrugged. "And then we talked about clothes." A look of wonder came over her face. "I really enjoyed it. I never get to choose what to talk about with the grownups."



"We both like purple clothes," Morgana added. "Especially dresses."



"Out of the way, freak," said a burly guy close to my age as he shoved past Morgana, knocking her over.



White hot anger flared in me. Before I could react, Ivy grabbed him by the arm. She obviously didn't have super strength, because the bully dragged her a couple of feet before turning to face her, a sneer on his face. "Get off me you idiot!"



Ivy's face turned to stone. "You will apologize to my friend," she said.



"Make me," he growled, as fur started to sprout from his face. His voice turned mocking, as if speaking to a child. "Or do you need to go get a Conroy to hold your hand, little baby?"



Ivy seemed to muse the question. "I think I'll handle you myself." Without so much as retrieving a wand, she slammed a palm to his chest. Light flashed between her hand and his body. The lycan howled, flew back, and slammed into the wall hard enough to knock loose several portraits.