Will met his eye and nodded his thanks.
Rourke stood. “Will, do you have any questions for me?”
Will stood as well, clasping the falcon figurine tight in his hand. He looked at the portraits of the previous headmasters on the walls, Thomas and Franklin Greenwood, and thought back to his father’s medical bag.
“Do you know a man named Hugh Greenwood?” he asked.
Rourke and Jericho glanced at each other before Rourke answered. “Hugh was Franklin’s son.” Rourke nodded to his portrait. “Our second headmaster.”
“So he was Thomas Greenwood’s grandson,” said Will.
“That’s right. He used to teach here,” said Rourke. “Before I came on board. What was his subject, Coach?”
“Science. Biology, I think,” said Jericho.
Will tried to keep what he was thinking from his eyes. “Where is he now?”
“He and his wife left the school,” said Coach Jericho. “Resigned about sixteen years ago. I had just started here then, but I knew them both.”
“Was he a doctor?” asked Will.
“Yes,” said Jericho.
“Why do you ask, Will?”
“His name came up in a conversation,” said Will. “I was just curious. Would you mind if I had another look at the Infinity Room, sir?”
“Of course,” said Rourke. “May I ask you why?”
“Because I was afraid before. And I’d like to see how I feel about it now.”
Headmaster Rourke walked Will to the door leading to the long strange hallway and opened it for him. “Shall we wait here for you?” asked Rourke.
“If you don’t mind, sir,” said Will.
“I don’t mind at all,” he said. “It’s a beautiful night. Believe it or not, after that storm, they say we’re about to have Indian summer.”
Will walked out along the narrow suspended corridor, lit by silver moonlight reflecting off the new-fallen snow. He looked straight down through the clear panels to the ground far below his feet and out the windows lining either side. The whole room felt different in the dark, when you couldn’t see as much—far different.
And so, as he’d hoped he would discover, was he. His heart beat a little faster as he moved along, and maybe he took in a few extra breaths. But he wasn’t afraid.
He reached the far end of the corridor and stepped into the peculiar glass observatory bubble, where the night sky opened up around him. The lights of the campus off to his left cast a warm, reassuring glow—evidence of civilized life, solid grounded lives, safe and secure. Stars scattered, an immensity, an almost indulgent surplus of them, overhead.
No, Will wasn’t afraid. Even with the hardest truth he’d had to face in front of him. He didn’t feel afraid of that, either. Because he knew now, after coming this far, that he would find a way to reckon with it.
Something in his pocket buzzed. Oh my God, did I leave it there? Really, Will? The iPhone had been in his front pocket the entire time he was in Rourke’s office. What a knucklehead.
He flicked it on, saw he’d received a text. It came up on-screen, all in caps, and time stood stilclass="underline"
THEY HAVE ME, WILL. I DON’T KNOW WHERE. ONLY YOU CAN FIND ME. 51. 51. 51.
Through a heart-pounding haze, Will fumbled through the rules in his mind, until he remembered #51: THE ONLY THING YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO LOSE IS HOPE.
Will’s father was Dr. Hugh Greenwood. And he was still alive.
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TO BE CONTINUED IN
THE PALADIN PROPHECY BOOK 2: ALLIANCE
#4: IF YOU THINK YOU’RE DONE,
YOU’VE JUST BEGUN.
Ajay laid the glossy black-and-white photograph on the table.
“There’s a lot more detail in the original,” he said.
It was the same photograph from 1937 that they’d seen online: the Knights of Charlemagne hosting a gala dinner for Henry Wallace, the country’s soon-to-be vice president. Will’s eye immediately went to one of the twelve young men at the table—a student, one of the Knights. The one, when he’d first seen the photo, whom he’d thought he recognized but couldn’t place. He could now.
It was the Bald Man, Mr. Hobbes.
He didn’t know how this was possible—the picture was taken over seventy years ago—but then something even stranger happened.
He recognized a second student, across the table from Hobbes. Looking straight into the camera, smiling. The closer Will looked, the more certain he became. The photo had been taken before he’d been changed or altered into the twisted miserable wretch they knew now.
The second student was Happy Nepsted.
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D
AD
’
S
L
IST
OF
R
ULES TO
L
IVE
B
Y
#1: THE IMPORTANCE OF AN ORDERLY MIND.
#2: STAY FOCUSED ON THE TASK AT HAND.
#3: DON’T DRAW ATTENTION TO YOURSELF.
#4: IF YOU THINK YOU’RE DONE, YOU’VE JUST BEGUN.
#5: TRUST NO ONE.
#6: REMAIN ALERT AT ALL TIMES TO THE REALITY OF THE PRESENT. BECAUSE ALL WE HAVE IS RIGHT NOW.
#7: DON’T CONFUSE GOOD LUCK WITH A GOOD PLAN.
#8: ALWAYS BE PREPARED TO IMPROVISE.
#9: WATCH, LOOK, AND LISTEN, OR YOU WON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE MISSING.
#10: DON’T JUST REACT TO A SITUATION THAT TAKES YOU BY SURPRISE. RESPOND.
#11: TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS.
#13: YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION.
#14: ASK ALL QUESTIONS IN THE ORDER OF THEIR IMPORTANCE.
#15: BE QUICK, BUT DON’T HURRY.
#16: ALWAYS LOOK PEOPLE IN THE EYE. GIVE THEM A HANDSHAKE THEY’LL REMEMBER.
#17: START EACH DAY BY SAYING IT’S GOOD TO BE ALIVE. EVEN IF YOU DON’T FEEL IT, SAYING IT—OUT LOUD—MAKES IT MORE LIKELY THAT YOU WILL.
#18: IF #17 DOESN’T WORK, COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS.
#19: WHEN EVERYTHING GOES WRONG, TREAT DISASTER AS A WAY TO WAKE UP.
#20: THERE MUST ALWAYS BE A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EVIDENCE AND CONCLUSION.
#23: WHEN THERE’S TROUBLE, THINK FAST AND ACT DECISIVELY.
#25: WHAT YOU’RE TOLD TO BELIEVE ISN’T IMPORTANT: IT’S WHAT YOU CHOOSE TO BELIEVE. IT’S NOT THE INK AND PAPER THAT MATTER, BUT THE HAND THAT HOLDS THE PEN.
#26: ONCE IS AN ANOMALY. TWICE IS A COINCIDENCE. THREE TIMES IS A PATTERN. AND AS WE KNOW …
#27: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A COINCIDENCE.
#28: LET PEOPLE UNDERESTIMATE YOU. THAT WAY THEY’LL NEVER KNOW FOR SURE WHAT YOU’RE CAPABLE OF.
#30: SOMETIMES THE ONLY WAY TO DEAL WITH A BULLY IS TO HIT FIRST. HARD.
#31: IT’S NOT A BAD THING, SOMETIMES, IF THEY THINK YOU’RE CRAZY.
#34: ACT AS IF YOU’RE IN CHARGE, AND PEOPLE WILL BELIEVE YOU.
#40: NEVER MAKE EXCUSES.
#41: SLEEP WHEN YOU’RE SLEEPY. CATS TAKE NAPS SO THEY’RE ALWAYS READY FOR ANYTHING.
#45: COOPERATE WITH THE AUTHORITIES. BUT DON’T NAME FRIENDS.
#46: IF STRANGERS KNOW WHAT YOU’RE FEELING, YOU GIVE THEM THE ADVANTAGE.
#48: NEVER START A FIGHT UNLESS YOU CAN FINISH IT. FAST.
#49: WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, JUST BREATHE.
#50: IN TIMES OF CHAOS, STICK TO ROUTINE. BUILD ORDER ONE STEP AT A TIME.
#51: THE ONLY THING YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO LOSE IS HOPE.
#54: IF YOU CAN’T BE ON TIME, BE EARLY.
#55: IF YOU FAIL TO PREPARE, YOU PREPARE TO FAIL.
#59: SOMETIMES YOU FIND OUT MORE WHEN YOU ASK QUESTIONS TO WHICH YOU ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER.
#60: IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE ANSWER YOU GET, YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE ASKED THE QUESTION.
#61: IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE THE RIGHT WAY, DO IT YOURSELF.
#63: THE BEST WAY TO LIE IS TO INCLUDE PART OF THE TRUTH.
#65: THE DUMBEST GUY IN A ROOM IS THE FIRST ONE WHO TELLS YOU HOW SMART HE IS.