Page 86 of The Princess of Portals

“I wonder what he wanted here,” I said.

“To steal magic. He had this on him.” Kato showed me something in his hand: a squishy ball. Light swirled around inside of it, pulsing.

I frowned at the ball. “That’s…weird.”

“Yes,” Kato agreed.

“The Monolith was made by the spirits. There have to be lots of powerful magical objects stored in this building, and the Masked Metamorph tried to steal this. Why? Why this object?”

Kato shook his head. “I do not know.”

Kato and Conner looked at each other, bewildered. It was so unlike them. So I took a closer look at both of them. That’s when I noticed the bruises on the backs of their necks and the cuts on their arms. It must have been a brutal battle.

“You’re bleeding,” I told them.

Conner touched his forehead. Kato did the same. Each one looked at the blood on his hand, then wiped it on his shirt.

“We’re fine,” Conner said.

“No, you’re not. Where are the medical supplies?”

Conner pointed at a pile of debris. Fantastic.

I grabbed their hands. “Ok, new plan. I’m taking you to Killjoy.”

CHAPTER 7

NOTHING NORMAL

Isaid farewell to Capricorn and Scorpio, who were staying behind to help the others come to terms with everything that had happened. The Lost Spirits had decided to make the Monolith their base of operations. I couldn’t decide if they were being pragmatic, ironic, or maybe a bit of both.

Kato, Conner, and I returned to Gaia. I brought the boys straight to the Castle’s infirmary, where Killjoy gave them both a thorough examination.

“Their injuries are minor.”

“As we told you,” Conner said.

I wanted to scream into a bag or something. They were most certainly not ok. There was something wrong with them. I could feel it.

“Please check them again, Killjoy.”

“I already checked them three times. Besides a few cuts and bruises, there’s nothing wrong with them.”

“You missed something. I’m telling you, there’s something wrong with them. This isn’t normal.”

I indicated the boys, who were standing as still as statues—so still that I was watching very, very closely to make sure that they were both still breathing.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Savannah. There’s nothing medically wrong with them.”

“Ok, maybe not medically, but how about magically? The Masked Metamorph could have cursed them or jinxed them or something.”

“If he had, I would see it.” Killjoy tapped the weird, multi-lens goggles he was wearing.

“What about this?” I indicated the glowing ball in Kato’s hand. “What can you tell me about it?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing, as in your goggles can’t see its magic?”