Modern Sorcery: A Jonathan Shade Novel by Gary Jonas Page B

only turn up in texts dealing with sorcery, alchemy, and the like.”
     
    “Hmm.   I may need to access the Forbidden Texts,” she said, and her voice seemed to drip with delight.   “That could take a few hours.   I’ll have to call you back.   Oh, and it’s going to cost you.”
     
    “It always does.”
     
    “I want to go to a Rockies game.”
     
    “It’s a date.”
     
    “No, it’s a payment.   I’ll bring my own date, and you’re not invited.”
     
    “Oh, like a stake through the heart.”
     
    She laughed.   “Sorry, darling.   You know I like you, but I’ve had enough adventure for twenty lifetimes.   I want to find a quiet man and settle down.   I want a man who will always come home in one piece.”
     
    “Hey, I always come out okay.”
     
    “You didn’t come out okay three years ago, and you need to know that I won’t always be there to bring you back.   So I want two Rockies tickets and two silver dollars.   Got it?”
     
    “Done.”   I hung up and worked my way across a few lanes of traffic to my exit.   “Sharon’s working on it,” I said.
     
    “I like her, Jonathan.   She’s pretty cool for a librarian.”
     
    “Librarian by day, Wonder Woman by night.”
     
    “Sounds like the headline to a personal ad.”
     
    I pulled into the parking lot in front of the dojo and shut off the engine.   Kelly started to get out, but I put a hand on her shoulder.   She looked at me.
     
    “I know Naomi ranks two notches above Hitler in your book, but please don’t accuse her of anything.”
     
    “Oh, she’s at least four notches above Hitler.   All I’m saying is that she hired you for a reason, and I suspect it’s something that could get you killed.”
     
    “You’ve got my back, though.”
     
    “I can’t always be there to protect you.”
     
    Lot of that going around.
     

 

     

     

     
    CHAPTER FIFTEEN
     

     
    We entered the dojo with two middle-aged women who were there for their women’s self-defense class.   Inside, there were another eight women busy doing stretches on the tatami mats in front of the full-length mirrors.   Naomi sat on a bench, watching them.   Esther stood on the mats, working through stretches with the women.   I couldn’t imagine how stretching would help a ghost, but I didn’t say anything about it to her.
     
    Kelly glanced at the clock; it was five minutes to five.
     
    “I need to grab a shower,” she said.   “Can you lead the class until I come down?”
     
    “What should I teach them?” I asked.
     
    “It’s their second class.   Go with the combs.”
     
    I nodded.   “You got it.”
     
    Another woman entered the dojo.   “Am I late?”
     
    “Class starts in a few minutes,” Kelly said.
     
    “Oh, good.”
     
    Kelly clapped her hands, and the students all gave her their undivided attention.   “Hey, everyone, I’ll be down in a few minutes.   My friend Jonathan is going to start the class.”
     
    The women looked at me.   A few of them smiled.
     
    “Oh, he’s cute,” one of them said.
     
    “Don’t tell him that,” Kelly said.   “It will go straight to his head.   See you in a few.”
     
    I took off my shoes and padded onto the mats.   “Is everyone here?”
     
    The woman who thought I was cute did a quick head count.   “I think we’re waiting on Margie.”
     
    “Well, it’s not quite five.   Let’s give her a few minutes.   Everyone keep stretching.”
     
    I approached Naomi.
     
    “How did it go?” she asked.
     
    “It didn’t.”   I told her about the empty floor, and she seemed surprised by the news.   If she were acting, she’d been giving lessons to Meryl Streep.
     
    “And?” she said.
     
    “I think they lied to you.”
     
    “Al must have known I’d tell you where they were.”
     
    “He doesn’t like me.”
     
    “I don’t think he cares one way or the other about you.   He’s not a big fan of Kelly, though.”
     
    “Really?” I