time, you know that. He’s better off here than he was in the States no matter what happens.”
I recognized the second voice as Alex, but who was he with?
“He’s just a boy.” A female voice with a Russian accent interjected. “He isn’t ready to take on such a large burden.”
Just a boy…? Better off here than in the States…?
Ryland! They were talking about Ryland! I crept up to the door and carefully pressed my ear against the polished wood.
“It needs to be done slowly and carefully,” the female voice continued. “If everything isn’t handled perfectly, someone could find out that we’ve brought him here.”
“Exactly! Which is why we need to make sure–”
“Reid,” Alex cut him off, “it’s almost two, don’t you have a meeting?”
“Damn,” the same male voice said under his breath, “all right, well, see to it that he decides soon. We no longer have the luxury of time.”
Suddenly there was the sound of motion – of feet walking towards the door. My throat began to spasm as I tried to decide what to do, fast realizing that I had no options. If I ran they would hear me, if I did nothing they would catch me, and in either event they would know I’d been eavesdropping.
I froze. The footsteps had reached the door. I was out of time.
I held my breath as the door opened, and a moment later I was standing face to face with… Taron. I waited for the scolding, the yelling, the haughty derision… but none came. He just stood there looking at me. Thinking offense might be the best defense, I opened my mouth, planning to offer some excuse or maybe even a denial. However, before I could get a word out, he yawned – yes, yawned – right in my face, and walked off down the hall without a word to me at all. He was soon followed by Mr Anderson, a short older woman in a knit shawl and frizzy hair, and a middle-aged bald man with a long nose and wire-rimmed glasses, none of whom so much as glanced in my direction. I was standing right there, in the middle of an otherwise empty hall, obviously eavesdropping on their conversation, and no one cared?
The last person out of the room was Alex, who hung back, leaning casually against the doorframe, watching the backs of the others as they walked up the hall, also not so much as glancing in my direction.
“You should try holding up a glass next time,” he said, after the last of the figures had turned the corner.
“What?”
“You’ll hear better,” he said, turning to face me.
“What was that? Why…?” I stopped, shaking my head, trying to piece together what had just happened.
“Why didn’t they say anything to you? Because they couldn’t see you.”
“Wait, you did that? But… how? You can’t make people disappear… can you?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head and grinning, “but I can cast an image of the hallway without you in it.”
“How did you know I was out here?”
“I felt – er, heard you,” he corrected quickly, looking away. “I was standing right by the door.”
“So your skills not only allow you to impress unsuspecting women by taking them to far off lands from the comfort of their bedrooms, but can also help you aid-and-abet snoops?” I asked, hoping a joke would cover the fact that I was mortified to have been caught spying on them. “You should work with Peeping Toms; they’d probably pay good money.”
I looked up to find his eyes on me. “I impress you?”
Oh God, had I said that? My neck grew hot as his eyes held mine, waiting for an answer. “Yes, of course,” I said, figuring there was no harm in being honest. “Anyway,” I added quickly, pretending I didn’t notice his ears turn red at my compliment, “thank you.”
“No problem.” He closed the door and put his hands in his jeans pockets. “So I imagine, considering you overheard, that you have some questions.”
“I had some anyway, but yeah.”
He nodded. “I think you’re ready for the rest of the story. Any chance you could give me about twenty minutes before we get into it though? I promised Mr Anderson I’d help bring over a few things for his next class.”
“Twenty minutes?”
“Twenty minutes.” We began to walk side by side up the hall. When we reached the main corridor, he pointed, “If you take this all the way to the end and turn right, there is a small rotunda. I’ll