The Guardian Lineage by Seth Z. Herman Page A

just making sure his potentially volatile secret weapon was up to snuff.
    â€œAll he asked is for you to visit him in his office, to request reinstatement personally. Meet him there tomorrow, just before your Sparring class. All right?”
    Of course, Mike thought. He’d want me to grovel my way back into his good graces. Okay, I’ll go, but I’m not getting on my knees for him.
    The SUV stopped in front of the entrance, and the Headmage got out. Mike followed and headed up the steps.
    â€œMichael,” the Headmage said.
    Mike turned to see the Headmage staring at him in the scariest way possible. Not menacing, just deadly serious.
    â€œFocus on your studies. Hone your abilities. War is coming to Windham. You will need them sooner than you might think.”

 
    Chapter Thirteen
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    Mike headed for Stockton’s office as soon as Magical Detention was over the following afternoon, hoping to catch the Magus before he left for class. He’d thought about Laura all day. It took him many hours of being miserable to realize that instead of sulking about his life, the only way he’d be able to see her soon was to become the biggest kick-ass Guardian the world had ever seen. If he was more powerful, he’d be able to see her, and protect her.
    And to do that, he’d need all the practice he could get.
    Plus – he didn’t admit this to anyone, but still – he was scared about the Headmage’s last words.
    War is coming to Windham.
    The ambush last night had freaked him out more than anything else in his entire life. And, being a pretty freaked-out kid in the first place, that was saying something.
    It was one thing to hear about war, to see army footage on TV, or watch some movie with stuff blowing up. But to be in the middle of an actual fight, to smell the smoke and the burning flesh, to see the destruction, the fighting… hell, the death , even if it was the bad-guys kicking the can…
    It was pretty messed up.
    But it also focused him.
    This was a real threat to his own life. A real threat to the people around him, here at Windham. Even if Mike didn’t know them from a hole in the wall, he still didn’t want them being massacred. And he had other people he was close with. His Mom. Laura. Maybe even his friends from Queens. It seemed like they could all be in danger.
    If he would somehow be able to counteract all that with his powers, even though he had a “checkered past…” well, there was no way he was going to turn that opportunity down.
    Mike knocked on the frosted-glass window that said “Seth Stockton” in thick stenciled lettering and brushed the hair out of his eyes. He loathed Stockton for making him kiss up like this, but if this was how he was going get back in, so be it.
    There was a “Come,” from the inside, so Mike turned the gold knob and pushed the door open.
    The room was bigger than Mike expected. Photographs of Guardians in uniform lined the wall, the more recent portraits nearer to a window that overlooked the grounds. Two small chandeliers illuminated the room. A coat rack was set up next to the door, with a long leather jacket hanging on it. A filing cabinet marked “Windham Student Directory” was set against the wood paneling, and a rolling index was placed on top.
    So they really don’t have computers here, after all. The gargoyles can read people’s minds, but the Guardians can’t surf the internet. Hilarious.
    Stockton was wearing a black button-down shirt and a necklace similar to the one Garzan had. He was seated at a mahogany desk, reading over a stack of papers. Mike’s eyes flitted to the scar that stretched across Stockton’s temple, and it occurred to him that whatever kind of injury it had been, it must’ve been insanely painful.
    Stockton rapped the papers on the desk and placed them facedown.
    â€œMister Prior.”
    â€œHi, uh, Magus Stockton,” Mike