Chapter 831

Evenson had figured it out by now.

The Eredar twins weren’t actually talking to him.

There were three Warlocks in the room, while Gabriel was the only mage—at least, the only person who had once been one. So if the twins weren’t directing those pointed remarks at the Warlocks, there was really only one possible target.

Yet Gabriel either hadn’t caught on or was deliberately pretending not to. She kept looking around the room, stubbornly refusing to take the bait.

The twins eventually had no choice but to make their intentions explicit.

"We’d like you to become our daughter’s teacher," Alythess said. "At least long enough to give her a proper foundation in magic. Would you be willing?"

"Oh?"

Gabriel blinked innocently.

Then she smiled.

"You’re asking me?"

There was an unmistakable note of satisfaction in her voice.

Normally, these two were unbearably arrogant. They were always criticizing the magical system Gabriel had developed, calling it crude, primitive, and beneath them.

And now they were asking her for a favor.

How could she possibly waste an opportunity like this?

Of course, Gabriel seemed to have forgotten exactly who she was dealing with.

Alythess and Sacrolash were the Legion’s lieutenants, servants of the Deceiver himself. They had spent ages destroying worlds. Pleading with someone was not exactly the sort of thing people expected from them.

"It is," Sacrolash said simply. "We’re asking you."

Just like that.

Apparently, it really was that easy.

The two sisters had survived the Legion’s invasion of Azeroth while countless other demons had fallen. They hadn’t survived by being proud. When circumstances demanded it, they knew exactly when to lower their heads, change sides, or run.

Survival had taught them that humility was sometimes considerably more useful than pride.

Gabriel stared at them, momentarily speechless.

After a moment, she cleared her throat.

"I suppose I can agree. But you know how I teach."

She raised one finger.

"Study."

A second.

"Practice."

A third.

"Then repeat the first two for years."

Gabriel looked between the sisters.

"That’s all I know. Can your daughter handle that kind of training?"

"You don’t need to worry about that."

Evenson answered before either sister could.

"On one hand, she can spend her days doing sequences and calculus. On the other, she can learn how to swing a giant sword at demons."

He shrugged.

"I think she’ll make the right choice."

Gabriel nodded solemnly.

"That does sound persuasive."

Then her expression became more serious.

"But what about the result? Can you accept the possibility that she’ll end up like my other students?"

The twins knew exactly what Gabriel meant.

"Or..."

Gabriel narrowed her eyes.

"Are you asking me to teach her forbidden knowledge?"

She paused.

"Because if that’s what you want, you’re better off making her a Warlock."

"Dormammu has already put Earth on his blacklist, so that’s one problem."

"And the Darkhold has already been promised to Clea."

Gabriel smiled faintly.

"I do still have the Seven Chapters, though. If you really want her studying that sort of thing, I can—"

"No."

The answer came so quickly that Gabriel stopped.

Learning forbidden cosmic knowledge sounded considerably less safe than becoming a Warlock.

"You don’t need to worry about that," Alythess said with a smile.

"Our daughter’s potential isn’t comparable to that of ordinary humans."

"Exactly."

Sacrolash continued smoothly.

"Magic is simply a form of energy. If your students failed to reach the heights you expected, there may be flaws in how they use it."

Her smile widened.

"And although we have become Warlocks, Argus was once the jewel of magical civilization. The magical education we’ve received over our lifetimes is beyond anything you could imagine."

"So all we need from you is the foundation."

"We’ll handle the actual application."

Evenson stared at them.

So that was the plan.

The little girl would spend her mornings learning to swing a sword from Gabriel and her evenings studying calculus with two ancient demons.

She’s still a child.

He felt a strange pang of sympathy.

Then he remembered that she wasn’t his daughter.

Not his problem.

"Fine," Gabriel said. "Bring her to me. I’d like to examine her talent first. Then I can determine which branches of magic suit her best."

"No problem."

Alythess nodded.

The sisters shifted back into their human forms at the same time.

"It’s about time for her to get home from school anyway."

They didn’t have to wait long.

Alice, Angelica’s nanny, soon arrived.

She was alone.

Sacrolash immediately noticed.

"Where’s Angelica?"

Alice gave a small bow.

"The young miss has gone to her room to rest."

"Rest?"

The twins exchanged a glance.

"At this hour?"

Angelica was normally bursting with energy after school. Recently, she’d been pestering them every day about becoming a magical girl.

Going straight to bed without so much as causing a scene was completely unlike her.

That left only one obvious explanation.

"Don’t tell me she failed to finish her homework?"

"No."

Alice shook her head firmly.

"All of her assignments were finished the night before school started."

She paused.

"With my help."

The twins weren’t particularly bothered by who actually did the homework. Neither of them had ever considered holiday assignments especially important.

"Then what happened?"

Alice hesitated.

"She may have been followed."

The room went quiet.

"Danny said there was a strange man outside the school. During recess, he kept watching the young miss from behind the wall."

She frowned.

"Apparently, it frightened her."

"A strange man?"

The twins’ eyes narrowed simultaneously.

"Who was he?"

"We don’t know yet."

Alice looked troubled.

"As soon as Danny noticed him, he reported it to the school security officer. But by the time they went to investigate, the man had disappeared."

"After school, I heard what happened and checked the school’s security footage myself."

She shook her head.

"He seemed to have deliberately stayed outside the cameras’ coverage. He was always in blind spots."

"So far, all we know is that he’s a large man. He was wearing a gray jacket and a hood. Danny couldn’t get a clear look at his face."

Evenson’s expression changed.

"That’s not nothing."

At first, he’d assumed the man was simply some disgusting stalker.

The world had billions of people in it. Of course some of them were going to be psychopaths.

And Angelica was an adorable little girl. Unfortunately, children like her attracted the attention of exactly the sort of people nobody wanted anywhere near them.

But the more Alice explained, the less convincing that theory became.

A normal pervert got caught.

This man hadn’t.

School security hadn’t found him. The cameras hadn’t captured him. Nobody had seen his face.

The only thing they knew for certain was that he was male.

That suggested training.

"Ah."

Evenson suddenly looked at the twins.

"I know exactly what happened."

Both sisters looked at him.

"You showed off your wealth."

He gave them an accusing look.

"I told you this arrangement was a bad idea."

Angelica attended an ordinary public school in Queens.

She wasn’t the only unusual child there, either. Danny, Nadia’s son, attended the same school, as did the daughter of Adrian, Gnos’s assistant and the man responsible for developing the Pharaoh’s Eagle combat armor.

Evenson had never understood the decision.

If they wanted the children of their employees attending an inexpensive public school, fine.

But Angelica was the adopted daughter of the Eredar twins.

Surely she could have attended an elite private school.

The twins had disagreed.

They thought elite schools were too stuffy and isolating. An ordinary school would give Angelica a chance to grow up around children her own age instead of being separated from them by wealth.

As for etiquette and aristocratic manners?

They weren’t concerned.

They had been Eredar nobility from the moment they emerged into the world. They were older than human civilization itself.

Why would they need a school to teach them how nobles behaved?

And academics weren’t an issue, either.

If the school failed to teach something properly, they could simply make up for it at home.

Alice, a veteran flight attendant who had once served aboard Air Force One, taught language arts.

Moira taught biology.

Adrian and Gnos handled mathematics and the sciences.

Former U.S. Special Forces Sergeant McNair handled physical education.

History had been the only troublesome subject.

Then Gabriel had appeared.

There was hardly a more qualified history teacher on Earth. Official history books were practically folklore compared with what she personally remembered.

Music and art were even easier.

The twins handled those themselves.

They’d been creating art while humanity’s ancestors were still living in trees.

With a faculty like that, Angelica didn’t actually attend school for the education.

She went there to play with children her own age.

The arrangement itself wasn’t a problem.

The problem was transportation.

Every other child arrived on a school bus.

Angelica arrived every morning in a limousine.

A nanny and private driver handled everything.

In a public school, that was about as subtle as a flashing neon sign.

Everyone knew she was rich.

And once someone knew a child was rich, kidnapping became a possibility.

"So I’m betting today’s visitor wasn’t some random creep."

Evenson’s expression hardened.

"He’s either a professional kidnapper working alone or someone scouting the target for a larger operation."

"And judging from how carefully he avoided the cameras..."

He frowned.

"An experienced one."

A strange smile appeared on Alythess’s face.

"He doesn’t know how fortunate he is to still be alive."

She looked at Alice.

"Replace the usual driver."

"Have 76 handle the car from now on."

"If that man appears again, capture him and bring him to us."

"I’d like to meet him."

"Yes, ladies."

Alice nodded.

"I’ll arrange it immediately."

She hesitated.

"And the young miss?"

"Don’t bring her here," Sacrolash said, waving a hand.

"She was frightened. Stay with her and make sure she’s all right."

Alice bowed and left.

Alythess turned toward Gabriel.

"Looks like you won’t be meeting the little one today."

"Another time."

"That’s fine."

Gabriel shrugged.

"It gives me time to figure out how I’m going to teach her."

Before anyone could say more, Evenson’s phone rang.

He pulled it out.

His expression changed when he saw the caller.

Nick Fury.

That’s unexpected.

After everything that had happened with Kaecilius and Dormammu, Evenson wondered if S.H.I.E.L.D. had finally learned something they weren’t supposed to know.

He excused himself and stepped away from the group before answering.

"Hello?"

There was a brief pause.

Evenson’s expression immediately changed.

"What?"

His voice rose.

"Coulson was kidnapped?"

He stared at the phone.

Then he slowly looked back toward the Eredar twins.

Apparently, kidnapping season had arrived.

Angelica hadn’t even been kidnapped yet, and S.H.I.E.L.D. had already lost one of its senior agents.

What was wrong with people lately?

Why were all these kidnappers suddenly so active?

And why did none of them seem particularly concerned about staying alive?

Is it spring or something?

"What happened?"

Fury explained.

Only then did Evenson begin to understand the situation.

Coulson had been busy lately, taking on several assignments.

During one of them, he’d unexpectedly uncovered a lead on the Centipede organization, a group S.H.I.E.L.D. had been unable to locate for some time.

Naturally, Coulson had started investigating immediately.

That was exactly what the Centipede organization had been waiting for.

The lead had been a trap.

They’d planned it carefully, and Coulson had walked straight into it.

Now he was a prisoner.

"That’s strange."

Evenson frowned.

"A criminal organization should be doing everything possible to avoid S.H.I.E.L.D. Why would they deliberately provoke you like this?"

Kidnapping a senior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent wasn’t merely crossing one of Fury’s lines.

It was walking across that line, turning around, and slapping him in the face.

Then asking him what he planned to do about it.

S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn’t going to let something like that go.

Which meant the Centipede organization had either lost its mind or believed Coulson was worth the risk.

"A criminal organization researching biological weapons kidnapping a biochemist? Sure. That makes sense."

"A group running short on money kidnapping a wealthy businessman? Also believable."

"But kidnapping Coulson?"

Evenson paused.

"What could they possibly want from him?"

Then it clicked.

"Unless..."

"They know."

Fury was silent for a moment.

"Yeah."

His voice was grim.

"That’s what I think, too."

Coulson’s value wasn’t simply what he knew.

It was what he’d experienced.

He was a man who had died and returned to life.

For an organization obsessed with biological research, the implications of that were practically priceless.

"Wait."

Evenson’s brow furrowed.

"How could they know? Coulson himself doesn’t know what happened to him."

"I’ve been wondering the same thing."

Fury’s voice hardened.

"Who knew?"

"Me."

Evenson hesitated.

"And Melinda."

His tone immediately changed.

"Hold on."

"You don’t think I leaked it, do you?"

"No."

Fury didn’t hesitate.

"Melinda would never sell Coulson out. That much I know."

"As for you..."

There was a pause.

"I checked your financial records. You haven’t received a transfer larger than three hundred dollars."

Evenson stared blankly at the phone.

"You’re not telling me you’d sell Coulson for three hundred dollars."

Three hundred?

Seriously? That’s the going rate?

He couldn’t help thinking that if Fury had put a thousand-dollar bounty on Coulson, he’d better have told him first.

"Who leaked it isn’t important right now," Fury continued.

"And it isn’t just you and Melinda. The doctors who treated Coulson know what happened as well."

He paused.

"Anyway, I have a suspect."

Fury’s voice had grown noticeably darker.

"But right now, our priority is keeping Coulson alive."

"So you want me to get him back."

Evenson nodded.

"What does the situation look like?"

"I’ve already put Coulson’s team under someone else’s command. They’re working the case."

"Then I’ll go meet them."

"No."

Fury’s answer was immediate.

"Come to my office."

Evenson frowned.

"The situation is more complicated than that."

The call ended with those words hanging in the air.

Evenson slowly lowered the phone.

Whatever had happened to Coulson, Fury clearly believed it was bigger than a simple kidnapping.

And that was never a good sign.