Feros and the Underworld Prince (32 page)

“
Chezarei, Cole, there is something I wish to speak to you about, but…” Naia says while glancing at Travis.

“
You don’t want me to hear it? That’s fine; I’ll just plug my ears.” Travis offers.

“
No, that is quite alright.” Naia replies, appearing to change her mind about Travis.

“
Well… Ryuji invited me to have dinner with him this Friday… what should I say?” Naia asks in a slightly embarrassed fashion.

“
I haven’t met Ryuji; is he a nice guy?” Cheza asks, directed at Naia and me.

“
Yeah, he is.” I reply. I still wouldn’t trust him around Addie though…

“
I doubt that there is any man that you would trust when it comes to Ada. Well, do you like him, Naia?” Cheza asks. I really need to stop saying my thoughts out loud.

“
Yes… we have a lot in common and he is fun to talk to…” Naia replies.

“
Well then, I think you should accept his invitation to dinner.” Cheza says.

“
I agree completely.” I add.

This is going in a direction that I had not been expecting when I introduced the two of them. I look across the table and see that Travis is sort of moping.

“
I’ll work on setting you up next, Travis.” I tell him and he perks up a bit.

One of the girls in my cardio kickboxing class might be perfect for him. Which reminds me: I still need to work on my joke for Stacy…

I call Sara when we all get back to the dorm. I talk to Addie about her day for a little while before telling her goodnight and that I love her. Sara puts Addie to bed and then comes back and sits down in front of the computer.

“
I wasn’t able to get ahold of my mother today, but I’ll try again tomorrow.” Sara informs me.

“
Alright, is there anything else?” I ask.

“
Yeah, I received a call from Katie today; her analysis of Adelaide’s blood is complete.” Sara replies.

“
And?” I inquire.

“
The enhancement works like a virus that bonds with its host until it becomes irremovable. The virus in Adelaide appears to be a more primitive strain and is missing the agent that allows a third party to control the virus’s host, but is more deeply ingrained into her, as though it had been inserted into the embryo.” Sara tells me.

“
Thanks to the injection that Father gave me before he sent me on my mission to create the girl…”
The memory of Fenrir’s voice surfaces I my mind. I thought he had been talking about Cheza at the time, but it makes sense that Addie would have been conceived under similar circumstances.

“
So will this be able to help The Agency?” I inquire.

“
Yes, they should be able to synthesize a drug with this information.” Sara replies.

“
Good. Now all I have to do is stop the source of the enhancements. Well I still have assignments to complete before bed so I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” I say.

“
Alright, goodnight Cole.” Sara says and ends the call.

…

[September 24th]

After encouraging Naia to accept Ryuji’s date in computer science, I head to my cardio kickboxing class. Spanish Ewan McGregor is setting up the music for class when I arrive.

“
Excuse me, Professor? That is a Bluetooth stereo, is it not?” I ask.

“
That is correct.” The professor states.

“
Then I have a suggestion. Perhaps it would be a good idea to allow a student to pick the music for class every other day. Most people have MP3 players that also have Bluetooth capabilities so that wouldn’t be a problem. It could act as a morale boost and it would give the students more incentive to be excited about class.” I spiel.

“
Hmm… that actually sounds like a good idea… I like it! How about you bring in the music for tomorrow and we will do a test-run?” he suggests, playing right into my hands. Must. Resist. Urge. To. Cackle.

“
Yes, Professor.” I reply and walk over to the girls with my hands in my pockets so that I don’t hunch over and start rubbing them together. This means I have two more questions to get through to have the perfect setup for tomorrow.

“
Hey Stacy, has your mom ever gone on a business trip?” I ask about halfway through the class.

“
Umm, yeah… I like, think so.” Stacy asks with a perplexed expression.

“
Huh.” I reply and then I wait for about fifteen minutes before I ask my next question.

“
Hey Stacy, which job do you think I would be better suited for: mowing lawns, or as a masseur?” I inquire.

“
What?” Stacy asks.

“
It’s kind of like a psychology test… just answer the question, please.” I reply as I hear Kacey giggling, but Sarah looks confused.

“
It’s from the music video.” Kacey whispers to Sarah.

“
Umm… masseur, I guess.” Stacy replies.

“
Alright, thanks.” I say and leave it at that for today.

After English, Cheza and I walk back to Graythorn and I head up to my room. I finish my assignments before Travis knocks on my door. We do a repeat of last night for dinner, only this time Naia is excited about her upcoming date instead of wondering how she should reply.

I talk to Addie on Skype again, once I return to my room after dinner. I tell her I love her and then Sara gets on.

“
Okay, so I talked to my mother and she said that she can’t tell me and I’m not allowed to tell you that the yantra belongs to Ganesha.” Sara says.

“
Well that is stupid that you are not allowed to tell me; I guess I will just have to figure it out on my own.” I reply in a robotic fashion before smiling at her.

“
Well, I have some stuff to finish for school so I’ll talk to you later. Night Sara!” I say.

“
Goodnight Cole!” Sara replies and hangs up.

I access my music management program for my phone, let’s just call it uTunes, and I transfer all of the music by the Fountains of Wayne that I have on my laptop onto my phone. With my stuff for school finished, I access Wikipedia and search Ganesha. I discover that he is one of the most widely known Hindu gods because of his elephant head. His picture includes a lotus flower and a snake coiled around his neck. He is the Deva, or god, of intellect and wisdom, which puts him on par with Saraswati: the Devi, or goddess, of intellect and wisdom. Well, I can now see how Saraswati is connected, but not how she fits into all of this, or why she wanted this to be kept secret from me. I decide to just sleep on it.

Tomorrow should be rather amusing.

…

[September 25th]

I walk into my cardio kickboxing class with a bit of a pep-in-my-step. I sync my smartphone to the Bluetooth stereo before joining the girls in my usual spot. I have the song set to play on track number fifteen, so I wait forty minutes before asking today’s question.

“
Hey Stacy, if you caught me jacking it in your bathroom to the sight of your mom in a bikini, what would be your response?” I ask, trying to be as serious as possible when I hear the opening guitar riff to Stacy’s Mom by Fountains of Wayne.

“
WHAT!?” Stacy replies while Sarah and Kacey start giggling; even Nagi laughs, but I don’t think it’s because of the actual joke, just the side-effect. The singing in the song comes in and Stacy’s face is priceless; she listens while connecting the dots between the lyrics and all of the bizarre questions I’ve asked her in the past few days.

“
REALLY!?” she replies sort of shrilly. Sarah, Kacey, and I are all dying from laughter.

“
My gods that was sooo worth the three days of setup!” I exclaim.

“
Okay, that’s it; the next time you guys want to know something about Cole, you can ask him yourself!” Stacy replies in a melodramatic manner.

“
Well, even though your use of the stereo appears to be for an elaborate joke, I still believe it is a good idea. Starting next week, every other day, someone can play their music.” Spanish Ewan McGregor announces.

With class over, I head to English while deciding that I won’t tell Cheza about Ganesha until I have more information. I sit down beside Cheza and we sit through class in silence. Natasha assigns the new prompt before going through and reading a couple of the papers that are her favorites; luckily she’s smart and keeps the writers anonymous.

The rest of my day follows the pattern that is very quickly becoming routine: walk home with Cheza, assignments, dinner with everybody, nightly chat with Addie and Sara, bed.

Tomorrow is my first fight club meeting; that should be interesting.

…

[September 26th]

“
Cole, I need to speak to you after class.” Natasha thinks during English.

“
Alright, that about covers it for today; have a good weekend everybody!” Natasha announces and leaves the room. I gather up my stuff and slip it into my backpack.

“
Ready to go?” Cheza asks.

“
Actually, I have to talk to Natasha about something so I’ll see you later.” I reply.

“
Reeeeeally… I think I’ll join you.” Cheza responds in a way that tells me that she’s coming whether I like it or not, so Cheza and I head upstairs to Natasha’s office.

I knock on Natasha’s door before entering. Natasha looks at Cheza and raises an eyebrow.

“
So we require a chaperon now, eh? Fair enough… you have your first meeting with the fight club tonight, right?” Natasha asks. I nod in response.

“
Well make sure to be careful and keep your eyes peeled for clues about the enhancements; tell Travis to keep his eyes peeled too.” Natasha says.

“
What does Travis have to do with this?” Cheza asks.

“
He was hired by The Agency and we were both recruited by the fight club.” I answer.

“
This is really the only lead we have so try not to fuck it up, Cole.” Natasha says in a lighthearted tone, but I can tell that she’s a bit worried about this.

“
Don’t worry, everything will work out fine. I’ll make a report tomorrow.” I reply while trying to sound reassuring.

Cheza and I return to Graythorn Hall, I finish my assignments, and I call Addie to talk to her, knowing that I won’t be able to later tonight. After I tell Addie that I love her and end the call, I decide to take a nap before Travis and I have to leave.

…

Chapter 29: Who needs Flunitrazepam when you’ve got
style
?
7

I awaken to knocking at my door at 6:26pm. I trundle out of bed and answer my door.

“
Hey bro, are you ready to go?” Travis asks while wearing a track suit.

“
Oh… umm… yeah.” I groggily reply. I start to step out into the hallway before Travis stops me.

“
You should probably put some pants on first.” Travis informs me.

“
Right… pants.” I trundle back inside and pull on a pair of jeans before heading back out.

Travis gives me a sideways look, but doesn’t say anything. We head downstairs and find that Penelope, the girl from the arm-wrestling contest, is awaiting us. She also gives me a sideways look before smiling at us and walking out the door; she’s no Lassie, but I’m pretty sure she wants us to follow her.

“
So where are we going?” I inquire when we walk onto the path that leads into town.

“
You’ll see.” is all she says and continues walking.