Hardison lay on the floor with his head cushioned on a pile of books. He had another book propped up on his belly. It was big and heavy, but it had bits and pieces that teased at some of the answers they needed. He'd been flicking through it for about half an hour, absorbing the parts he thought might be important.
Cassie was nearby, sitting primly at the desk where she'd been sitting all day. Her head was bent over her own book, and she was completely silent.
They'd been looking through books for hours. Even with the time difference, which Hardison couldn't be sure of because he had no idea where they were, it had to be getting pretty late. Before long, he and Cassandra would have to give up for the night. Hopefully, Sophie had saved them some supper because he was starving.
Just thinking how tired he was made him yawn. If he weren't so hungry, he'd bunk down among the books for the night.
When Cassandra's chair squeaked, he glanced over at her. Her back had straightened, and he could almost feel the excitement radiating from her body.
"Did you find something?"
"The books are there." She turned and pointed towards the shelf her current stack of books had come from.
"I found this one on the sacrifice ritual over there."
"These aren't about the ritual. This is a section on the Warrior Quartet itself. I think we need to read these. All of these."
"Okay." He set his book aside and rubbed at his eyes.
She didn't speak again, so he got up and went to get a book off of the shelf she'd indicated. There were lots to choose from, and most of them were in English. He took one at random.
Flipping open the cover, the first thing he saw was a drawing of the Warrior Quartet. Each piece was labeled with 'Mind', 'Heart', 'Strength', or 'Bravery'. Underneath the drawing was another of four fierce looking warriors. They, too, were labeled with the words 'Mind', 'Heart', 'Strength', and 'Bravery'.
Hardison frowned, wondering how the two were connected. He turned pages until he got back to the beginning and began to read. At first, there was a lot of talk about something called the Serpent Brotherhood. He skimmed over that until...
"Skeletons."
"Huh?" Cassie asked, turning around to look at him.
"The skeletons." He pointed at the book. "I know what they mean."
"Something about death?" she suggested.
"Yeah." He looked down at the page. "But not bad."
"There's good death?" She sounded incredulous.
He went over to her desk and put the book down. "Look."
"The Serpent Brotherhood!" she said almost immediately.
"Sound familiar?"
"They're the ancient enemy of the Library," she said absently as she read.
"And the Robes."
"The skeletons represent the Robes laying down their lives to defeat the Serpent Brotherhood." She summarized as she read. "These are supposed to be the good guys."
"They have a strange way of showing it." He took the book back.
"Let's find out what we can so we can tell Colonel Baird and the others."
He nodded, already reading more. Now they were on the right track, they might find something to help after all.
XXX
As the night wore on and it got quite late, Eve, Stone, Sophie, and Eliot were reluctant to go to bed. Even though they were all exhausted and feeling the effects of a very stressful day, it had been hours since they'd seen Parker, and the others hadn't checked in since their first meal. It had been an unspoken agreement to wait until they couldn't anymore, in case one of the others showed up with needed information.
Eve sat at the table with Eliot, passing the time by telling him about some of the adventures she'd had with the Library. She avoided asking about his past, even though she was now sure he was the Eliot Spencer she'd heard about.
Stone and Sophie were each in one of the big chairs, both leaned back with eyes closed. Eve didn't know whether they were napping or just resting their eyes.
Everything was quiet. They hadn't heard any robes passing their room for hours, and the only outside noises were ones you got in the countryside at night.
When the door rattled and burst open, the sudden sound had Eve jumping to her feet, not knowing what to expect but ready to defend the others. She was fast, but Eliot was faster. Both of them relaxed when it was obvious that their intruder was Jones. He stood in the doorway, his eyes a little wild and his face full of excitement. This was so unusual for the consistently bored Jones that Eve took a step forward.
He came in and closed the door behind him. Unlike everyone they'd seen in this place—besides one another—he was not wearing a robe.
"What's going on, Jones?" Stone demanded, opening his eyes and leaning forward.
"The Serpent Brotherhood," he blurted.
"What?"
Eve instinctively reached for her gun, thoughts of Dulaque driving everything else from her mind.
Sophie glanced from Eve to Stone to Jones and back again. "Is this significant?"
"What's the Serpent Brotherhood?" Eliot demanded more directly.
"An ancient order dedicated to unleashing magic on the world," Eve told them absently, her eyes still on Jones.
"That must be what Heart meant by the Children of the Serpent," Sophie said.
Eve nodded.
"Are they here?" Stone asked.
"No. No." Jones shook his head. "They're just what this is all about."
Eve crossed the room and took him by the shoulders. When he looked up into her face, she said calmly, "Start at the beginning."
She dropped her arms, and he sat on the free arm of Sophie's chair. "This place," he waved a hand, "it was created to fight the Brotherhood. It's job was to send its best warriors to kill as many of the Brotherhood as they could. That was a long time ago, and the mission has changed."
"Changed how?"
"They want to take over the Brotherhood and, through them, take over the world for themselves. It's brilliant."
"And evil."
"Maybe a little bit evil."
"I don't understand," Sophie said. "What does that mean?"
"The Brotherhood is the big bad of the magical world," Stone told her, his face very serious. "They're trying to break the world."
"How do you know about this?" Eliot went over to Jones and stared down at him. Jones flinched.
"It's all right," Eve assured Jones. "He's on our side."
Jones looked doubtful but continued, "There's a group who wants to get back to killing snake men. They call themselves the True Robes. I'm so awesome that they guessed I came from the Library. They want me to help them take out the High Robes. I told them I would."
"Jones!" Eve threw her hands in the air. "Don't we have enough to worry about?"
"Baird wait," Stone interrupted her, and she stopped to listen. "This here's our job. The other stuff—escaping death, breaking our connection to the Quartet, finding out if we can do magic, that's all secondary. We're supposed to save the world from magical objects. As much as I hate to say it, Jones is right. We've got to stop the High Robes from taking control of the Serpent Brotherhood."
"Isn't breaking the High Robes control over the Warrior Quartet what we have to do to survive anyway?" Eliot pointed out. "Without the Quartet, they can't do anything. If they could, they would've done it already."
"There's another issue," Eve commented. "What if the True Robes' intentions are not what they seem? They could be worse than the High Robes."
"I can find out," Sophie said quietly.
Eve turned to her. "How?"
"Heart. She can tell a truth from a lie. What if I use my connection? She said it can be done, and I can talk to her now that I've touched the Bowl. You can talk to Bravery, can't you?"
Eve thought about the whispers in her mind that she had been trying to ignore. "Yes."
"I'm sure she'll help us. After all, the Quartet wants freedom as much as we do."
The door burst open again, this time revealing two robed figures. For a moment, everyone froze. Eve tried to quickly come up with a story explaining why a member of the kitchen staff was lounging in their room. She had just opened her mouth to speak when the shorter of the two robed figures pushed off her hood to reveal Cassandra. That's when Eve noticed the other figure was carrying books.
"Cassandra!"
"Hi. Sorry we're so late. I was afraid you'd be sleeping."
"We were waiting for you."
"Good because we found stuff." She waved her arms. "Lots of stuff."
"Information we can use?"
"Oh, yeah," Hardison said from inside his cowl. "It's amazing what you can find out when someone points you in the right direction."
"What do you mean?"
Instead of answering, he put his books down on the table in front of the artifacts. He struggled a bit with his robe, letting it slide down until it was in a pile at his feet.
"Pick that up, Hardison. You might have to wear that tomorrow," Sophie told him sternly.
He looked sheepish but did what she said. "What are you all talking about?"
"How to break the connection between the Robes and the Quartet," Stone said.
"Oh, I know how to do that. I know everything."
"We," Cassandra corrected, placing a hand on his arm, "know everything."
"Uh, yeah. That's what I meant."
Cassandra looked around the room"Should we wait for Parker?"
Eve thought about this before replying, "We can catch her up. Right now, I want to know what everything entails and how it will free us from the High Robes and save the world from being taken over by a new Serpent Brotherhood."
"You know about the Serpent Brotherhood?"
Jones raised his hand and wiggled his fingers. "Courtesy of me."
"What do you know?"
"I know all about the High Robes' plan for world domination."
"Later," Eve told him. "For now, let's see what Cassandra and Hardison have come up with."
"Okay. Gather 'round," Hardison said, an expression of superiority on his face. Eve couldn't tell whether the expression were real or fake.
When he went up to the table to pick up his books, Eve winced. "Use the eating table."
"Why?"
"Damn it, Hardison," Eliot growled. "Use your eyes."
He glanced down at the Quartet. "What, these? They're harmless unless someone activates them, and that someone can't be me. Only a High Robe or someone who...well, someone like you...can do that."
"Unless you open the lid of the Box," Cassandra added. "That releases the curse."
"Good point. I'll use the eating table."
He carefully picked the books up and lugged them to the big table.
"All right, all eyes on me."
Cassandra went up to stand beside him. "And me."
"Somebody better start talking," Jones drawled, "or I'm going to sleep."
"Pay attention, Jones," Eve told him, tapping him on the head. "This is important."
She settled on the other arm, facing Cassie and Hardison. Sophie sat up so she could see around her, and Eliot settled on the floor, his back against the side of Stone's chair.
"Everyone comfy? Good." Hardison picked up one of the books.
"Get on with it, Hardison," Sophie prodded.
"Okay." He started checking to make sure they were all paying attention. "I'm sure you're all familiar with this symbol." He opened one of the books and held it up to show a picture of a skeleton. "And Cassie tells me some of you know this, too."
Eve recognized the symbol of the Serpent Brotherhood.
He went on to describe in more detail the history they'd heard from Ezekiel. Every once in awhile, Cassandra interjected something, but mostly she left it to Hardison.
"The Warrior Quartet was created because so many more of the Robes were dying than the Brotherhood," Hardison explained. "The Brotherhood is nasty, and it plays dirty. Ten Robes died for every Brother. So, they called for volunteers. Cassie?"
Cassandra held up one of the books to show four figures so lifelike it wouldn't have been surprising to see them walk off the page.
"Four of their best warriors gave their souls to these things."
Cassie scrambled to turn pages before holding up hand drawn representations of the Quartet.
"Heart. Mind. Strength. Bravery..."
"We know that, Hardison," Eliot cut him off.
"Well, did you know that there are two ways to be connected to the Quartet, and that sacrifices weren't even part of the original concept? The people connected to the Quartet don't have to die."
"Oh, I knew that last bit," Sophie pointed out.
"Can I get back to my presentation, please?"
"Go ahead," Eve told him.
"The thing is, the link was created so the Quartet could be used. That's how someone accesses the magic. The objects were given free will to choose their users based on certain personality traits. Y'all were chosen." He pointed at Eve, Sophie, Eliot, and Stone. "They can only be connected with one person at a time like this."
"But there's another way to access the magic," Cassandra broke in.
He gave her a sideways look but just said, "Yes. The High Robes were given a backdoor. They have a way to temporarily access the Quartet's magic."
Cassandra dug through the books until she found a small, red one. She held it up, but Eve couldn't see the picture she was trying to show them.
"We can cut their access by stealing the key."
Ezekiel sat up straighter. "Steal?"
"Just so you know, there's some freaky power tied to these things. When the bond's strong enough, there's super strength, mind reading, super speed, and the power of truth, whatever that means. You guys might be able to use some of that if you need to."
Eve nodded, remembering Sophie's words.
Cassandra almost danced in place. "Don't forget the warrior."
He waved his hand at her. "I was getting to that."
"Sorry."
"If the Quartet is used together, it can create an unbeatable warrior, one that can't be touched, but who can kill as efficiently as, well, as efficiently as Eliot."
Jones's head swung around to stare at Eliot. "Exactly how efficient is that?"
"Efficiently enough. You want to know more than that? Keep pushing me."
"Enough," Eve told them. "So, you're saying if we steal the key, the High Robes can't use the Quartet?"
"Yup."
"Okay, guys, new plan."
Everyone looked at her expectantly.
"We steal the backdoor key from the High Robes to free the Quartet and take the Robes ability to control us away. We then use our bonds to help overthrow the High Robes with the Quartet's magic so we can put the True Robes into power. That way, the Quartet can go back to the purpose the Library created them for. Agreed?"
"Sure." Ezekiel shrugged. "Easy, right?"
"Wait," Cassandra held up a finger. "Um...who are the True Robes?"
XXX
Sophie was dreaming about being home curled up with Nate on the sofa when her world erupted around her.
"Sophie!" The whole bed jiggled as something bounded onto it.
"Bloody hell!" Sophie exclaimed as she was jolted out of sleep.
"Sophie, wake up."
As Sophie reached for her wits, she realized the bouncing object was a very exuberant person. "Parker?"
"Why is everybody asleep? Aren't we supposed to be getting you guys out of here?"
"It's the middle of the night." Sophie struggled to sit up.
Parker had stopped bouncing and was sitting calmly on the bed beside her. Sophie could just see her face in the soft moonlight coming through the window.
"What's going on?" Eve's tired voice came from the other bed. She sounded sleepy, but Sophie had a feeling at the first sign of danger she'd be wide awake.
"It's just Parker," Sophie said quietly Cassandra was still snoring softly in the little nest she'd made for herself on the floor.
"Tell her to get some sleep. We've got big plans for her tomorrow."
"What does she mean?" Parker asked, joining Sophie at the headboard.
"I'll tell you in the morning. Right now, I'm half asleep. Where've you been?"
"Exploring."
"Exploring?"
"I had to wait until I was done in the kitchen. You wouldn't believe the woman with the wooden spoon. She's worse than Eliot!"
Sophie couldn't help the small smile that came to her face. "Did you find anything?"
"Maybe. I think so. There are a lot of rooms. No alarms or guards, though. There's some kind of weird thingy on the second floor. It made me feel funny."
Sophie remembered that both Ezekiel and Hardison had mentioned this. "Did the Robes ask you any questions?"
"Nope. You were right. Servants are invisible."
"Go to sleep." This was Eve, and she sounded grumpy.
"Do you have a place for the night?" Sophie asked Parker. "Ezekiel and Hardison are on the floor in Eliot's room, and Cassandra is over there by the window."
"Can I share with you?"
The bed was easily big enough for three people. "Sure, Parker. You don't snore, do you?"
"I don't know. I've never heard myself."
"Because you would."
Parker just smiled and slithered down until she was lying with her head on one of the pillows. Sophie tried to sigh but yawned instead. More slowly and with less enthusiasm, she shifted until she was also lying back down. Parker was closer than she needed to be, on her side and gazing at Sophie. Her eyes sparkled in the dim light.
"What?"
"I really miss you," she said.
Sophie thought about her days with Leverage. It had been an exciting time where Nate made up all the plans and she watched over everyone to keep them safe. She missed being a part of that, missed that sense of family. Even though she loved her life with Nate, and she loved her acting classes and directing plays, sometimes she longed for the days when her life was full of adventure and every night she went to sleep knowing she'd made a difference.
"I miss you, too," Sophie admitted. "Now, go to sleep."
"Good night, Sophie." Parker closed her eyes, looking like a peaceful child.
"Good night, Parker."
Parker was asleep in seconds, but Sophie couldn't get back to sleep. The past and the future swirled together in her mind, and she couldn't shut off her thoughts. She lay there in the dark for what felt like hours before she finally drifted off to sleep.