Chapter 47- Emergency Session

Session Three

The next morning, Donovan emerged from his room at ten o'clock. He sat down at the table in the common area and ordered Blaine to prepare breakfast, then stared straight forward and did nothing.

Molly was on him immediately, sitting down directly in front of Donovan before he could blink. Not that he did anyway.

“Donovan, while you were here last time, what did you do to kill time?” Her tone was harshly inquisitive.

“If only I could kill time,” Donovan replied. “It has proven impervious to my attempts, and continues to thwart my plans.”

“Did you ever do any research at the library?”

“I did not enter the library much. I was far too busy conspiring to rebel against the school and recover the tome.”

Molly frowned. That answer somehow seemed palatable. “And after we got back?”

“The rebellion was successful and the tome recovered. What need do I have for further plotting?” He huffed. “Other than my usual plans for conquest.”

Molly couldn't believe she was going there, but she asked, “And did your other plans for conquest involve the library?”

“I know not.”

“Then how do you-”

Blaine interrupted. “Donovan, how do you want your eggs today?”

Donovan glowered at his minion. “Sunny side up.”

“Blaine, did you do any illicit research at the library last time you were here?” Molly asked, still staring at Donovan.

“Uh, yeah, probably,” Blaine replied, focusing primarily on the eggs.

Enough for Molly. She fired off her trigger and pulled Donovan's seat from under him. Then she walked around the table, grabbed his collar and teleported them to the library. Blaine was left tending to the eggs, which he continued to do even without Donovan.

As they entered the building, Molly instructed, “Now tell me everything you asked them to look up and everything they found for you.”

They didn't even get that far. They heard an angry beeping noise as soon as they entered. Within moments, Marlowe and Smittle had appeared in front of them, Smittle pointing his shotgun at Donovan.

Smittle lowered it as soon he saw who it was. “Damn, hoping it was somebody evil.”

“That's a pretty harsh response for leaving with an unchecked book,” Molly said. “Especially since we're entering.”

“Actually, it detects demonic traces, in case somebody is possessed or something,” Marlowe explained.

“We know about this one, though,” Smittle said.

Molly narrowed her eyes. She hadn't heard anything official about an investigation of library usage, but this was an awfully blatant alarm and the response was less than casual. She could work with this. “Still, a shotgun in the face for that? In the library? Why not install this at the entrance to the campus?”

Smittle explained, “We've tightened up security into the campus and anyone purely demonic is obliterated quickly.”

“Right, so no worries there,” Marlowe added, smiling.

Not budging, Molly asked, “So what makes the library so special?”

“Some git's been reading up on some pretty crazy stuff. We think-” Smittle's voice stopped. Molly noticed Marlowe's right hand in his trigger position.

Marlowe finished. “It's nothing serious, but obviously we have some sensitive material here that students are welcome to, but we may not want in demon hands.”

“What material?” Molly asked.

“Nasty things,” Smittle said, able to talk again. “In the wrong hands, could mean the revival of the-”

Another silencing spell. Molly fired off a counter for it, and Smittle obliged her in repeating the word, “Mynoni.”

Molly felt sick to her stomach just hearing the name. The Mynoni were only spoken of in history classes, and with no fondness. They were the most ruthless, bloodthirsty demon factions that had ever existed. The Urayoni did most of their dirty work through unethical lobbying firms. Even the Hageshoni had a few legitimate industries making aircraft and artillery. The Mynoni's most integrated firm on Earth had been the Mongol hordes.

In a cataclysmic struggle, they had been driven away. Most magi, demons included, assumed they were completely gone. The knowledge that there may be a way to bring them back would scare anybody. As much as Molly distrusted the MST, this massive reaction to library usage suddenly seemed rational and justified.

“Who in their right minds would want to bring them back?” Molly asked. “Even the factions would be at risk.”

Marlowe was unusually grim. “That's what we'd like to find out. We didn't think it was possible to revive them, but somebody's called up a perfect storm of material that has some of us wondering. Question is- is some faction working through a contact in the MST or it some idiot looking this up on his own?”

“Is he truly an idiot if he gains such power?” Donovan said, a little too boastful for Marlowe's taste. Molly felt that nausea again.

Marlowe grimaced. “Donovan, I was trying to tiptoe around it, but you are the only student on campus bound with a demon. And you were here last month with plenty of time to kill. And your track record isn't shimmering with loyalty to the MST.”

Donovan merely laughed. “Do you believe I would summon a horde of demons solely for the laughable purpose of destroying the world?”

Marlowe turned to Molly. She just shrugged. That was what scared her: she wasn't entirely certain that Donovan wouldn't try something this stupid.

Still, Marlowe forced a smile. “Well, that's a relief. Because destroying the world is what it would amount to.”

Grinning, Donovan said, “My goal is to conquer the world!”

Molly rolled her eyes. Smittle nodded in understanding. Marlowe reacted a little more strongly. “Donovan, care to have a word in my office?”

“You will never get me to confess-”

“Donovan, go with him,” Molly said. She hoped that a good interrogation would get him to treat this seriously for once.

Turning to Molly, Marlowe said, “As his guardian, you're welcome to join us.”

“No thanks,” Molly replied, folding her arms. “He's on his own for this one.”