John F. Kennedy International Airport.

  A woman with long green hair was standing in the departure area, waiting with a restless air. In her hands, she held a sunflower, its head drooping, the petals hung low, stripped of all brightness. Photenis stared at it for a while, her brows furrowing, before she let out a heavy sigh.

  “Damn it, why does this cursed thing sometimes work and sometimes refuse to do anything at all?” she muttered under her breath.

  The flower she carried was a spell meant for tracking. Yet in the past few days, it had only shown results a handful of times, and even then, the effect lasted no more than a short burst, sometimes just a couple of seconds before fading out.

  Because of this fickle spell, Photenis had been forced to take several flights back and forth, wandering from one location to another. At best, she had just a faint sense of the person, or the thing, she was seeking was somewhere around New York. No more precise than that.

  As she gazed at the endless streams of people moving through the terminals, a dull pain began to press at her temples.

  “How in the world am I supposed to pick someone or an object out of this entire sea of humans? Why not send Elaria here instead? That woman is always bragging about how well she can foretell things with her tricks. Well… anyway, Her Holiness already said there’s no need to be too thorough in the search. I guess I should just think of this as a trip to the city,” she whispered, trying to lighten her own mood, and the tense lines on her face softened a little bit.

  Ten minutes later, a sleek black Maybach limousine rolled to a stop right in front of her. From the driver’s side stepped a man in a pressed suit without a single wrinkle. He opened the rear door and bowed.

  “Good morning, madam. My apologies for making you wait,” he said.

  Photenis covered her nose with her hand and hurried into the car.

  “Just get me out of here. The air in this place is unbearable.”

  “Yes, my lady. We have prepared a private villa by the seaside for you. It has been enchanted with purification spells. I hope it will suit your needs.”

  At the same time, from the Ravenswood house, Acher turned his head toward the airport and gave a warning:

  “There’s a grand mage who just arrived here. You two had better be cautious.”

  “Whoa! A grand mage!” Aaron’s eyes widened with amazement. “That’s the highest rank allowed on Earth at present, except for Gnomon and the Dark Side.”

  …

  A few days after Thanksgiving.

  Lincoln High, in Mr. Bryce’s classroom, just before the bell rang for class.

  Aaron checked the time and said:

  “Class is about to start. I need to head back. I’ll meet you at the cafeteria during lunch, alright?”

  “See you at lunch,” Luther replied with a nod.

  After Aaron left, a boy in the front turned around and teased with a grin, “You two are pretty close, huh?”

  By now, Luther’s role as Aaron’s tutor had attracted quite a bit of attention, so he had become a little bit well-known around the school.

  “Aaron’s good,” Luther answered, not bothering to deny anything.

  “What kind of food does he like the most?”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “Does he already have a girlfriend?”

  “Luther, a friend of mine wants to ask if you are free this weekend?”

  “Can you show me again how to solve this equation? Pleaseee!”

  One after another, classmates crowded around Luther, throwing out question after question. He tried to handle them as best as he could for a moment. At last, fortunately, Mr. Bryce entered the room, and the commotion died down.

  Luther let out a breath of relief. He had made his cloak thinner, since Aaron had reminded him that he needed to practice dealing with people by himself.

  From his bag, he pulled out a round pumpkin, polished and plump, and set him on his desk.

  “Be good. Don’t scream too loud.” He petted his head.

  Then he opened a packet of dried graveroot chips and poured them onto a little paper plate for the pumpkin.

  “Squeak! Squeak!” Jack-O squeaked, bouncing up and down.

  Today, he tagged along to school again, while Squashy and Pompo had stayed home with Acher.

  Two periods passed by in a blink. At lunchtime, Aaron said:

  “Luther, today we’ve got beef spaghetti with grilled prawns.”

  He brought three boxes for himself, Luther, and Jack-O.

  “I want some spaghetti too!” Wilson chimed in.

  “Why didn’t you let me know beforehand?” Aaron looked at him in surprise. “I only packed enough for Luther and me. And you never need me to bring lunch for you.”

  “How was I supposed to know what you’d bring? It’s not like you ever say, ‘Hey Wilson, tomorrow we’ll eat this, eat that, it’s delicious.’ You never give me a heads-up.” Wilson smirked.

  “You jerk! Keep making fun of us, and I’ll kick you in the ass,” Aaron retorted with a laugh, throwing in a curse for good measure.

  “Oh, right, I heard that yesterday, Natasha Olson called you aside for a private talk, didn’t she? Did she confess her feelings to you? Did you say yes?” Wilson asked again, his grin widening.

  “WHAT?” Kevin shot up from his seat, startled. “Hey, hey, hey, Natasha is one of my crushes. You know she’s off-limits, man!”

  Luther paused eating, setting down his fork, and turned his head to look over Aaron, waiting for his answer.

  “Don’t be so nosy. There’s nothing going on between us. And seriously, please have some respect for a girl’s privacy.” Aaron frowned.

  “Oh, so that means you rejected her? Still, you’ve been even more popular lately. I heard Cheri Green from Ms. Moana’s class also has a thing for you, and many other girls are talking about you too,” Paul cut in, chuckling.

  “What they feel about me is their own business. I can’t control that. I’m not thinking about dating anyone.” Aaron shrugged, then used his fork to pick up one of the large prawns from his lunch box and dropped it into Luther’s. “Try this one. It’s the best part!”

  Wilson and Paul exchanged a tired look.

  “…”

  What? Does he think we’re blind or something?

  “Man, girls these days only care about looks,” Kevin sighed in frustration. “They are so shallow.”

  To be honest, Kevin himself was quite good-looking: tall, broad-shouldered, well-defined features, and athletic. But when placed next to Aaron, a young divine being, the comparison was not fair at all.

  “Don’t say that. You like Natasha just because she’s pretty, too,” Wilson said with a shrug.

  “That’s right, I’m shallow myself. Shallow and shallow go better together, right?” Kevin laughed, scratching his head. “But seriously, what’s this guy been eating? It’s annoying how good he looks lately. Do you wear makeup or something?”

  “Make up my ass,” Aaron cursed, smiling and shaking his head.

  I wonder what they will say when they see the real Luther.

  As Aaron glanced at the quiet boy beside him, who was eating without a word, he then couldn’t help but reach over and ruffle Luther’s hair.

  “It’s yummy, right? Tomorrow we’ll have red wine beef stew, it’s one of Aunt Hanna’s best dishes,” he said.

  Paul and Wilson exchanged sly glances, then burst out laughing.

  “What are you two laughing at?” Aaron snapped.

  …

  The following day, after school.

  “Hey, wait!”

  As Luther stepped out of his classroom, someone blocked his path.

  The speaker was a tall girl with bright ginger hair, large, round eyes, and a cute face. Beside her stood another girl, shorter, with short black hair. Both of them were staring at Luther from head to toes, almost as if examining him.

  Other students nearby threw curious glances their way when they noticed the scene.

  “Isn’t that Natasha Olson from the cheerleading team?”

  “Why is she looking for Luther?”

  “Isn’t it obvious? Probably because of…, you know.”

  The whispers grew louder around them, floating through the hallway.

  Natasha’s eyes darted around at the crowd, then she asked Luther:

  “Can we talk in private for a bit?” Her voice carried a hint of pleading.

  If it’s supposed to be private, then why bring a friend along? Luther wondered.

  Instead, he followed the two girls to a quiet corner.

  “Um, Luther, could you do me a favor?” Natasha spoke up.

  “Do I know you?” Luther asked. Acher, perched on his shoulder, glanced over and then went back to staring at the EPhone; and from inside Luther’s backpack, the three pumpkins poked their heads out, watching with open curiosity.

  Natasha lowered her head, speaking in a softer voice:

  “You don’t, not really, but it’s just a small favor… please?”

  “What is it?”

  “Could you give up your position as Aaron’s tutor and let me take over?” Natasha bit her lip, her face turning red. “Please, it’s super important to me.”