Free The Emerald Mask by H. K. Varian Page A

let go.
    Mack sneaked a look at the door, but there was no sign of Jiichan. Just a peek, he promised himself, already feeling guilty.
    Then he opened the folder.
    MILES CAMPAGNA
    Age: 26
    Changer form: aatxe
    Mack sucked in his breath sharply. Miles is a Changer! he thought in excitement. He didn’t even know what an aatxe was (or how to pronounce it for that matter), but he was dying to find out. Mack turned back to read more, but the next words on the page stopped him.
    Occupation: assistant manager at the Middletown Marina
    This changes everything, Mack thought. If Miles worked at the Middletown Marina, if he would help Mack and his friends rent a boat, maybe, and pilot it out to the site of the shipwreck . . .
    The plan was forming so fast in Mack’s head that he didn’t even notice the teakettle’s high-pitched whistle as steam billowed from its spout. The only thing that could shatter Mack’s thoughts was a knock—sharp, loud, insistent—at the back door.
    Mack was so startled that he jumped, dropping the file. As the pages scattered across the floor, Mack panicked. “Hang on!” he hollered to the visitor, who was still knocking, as he ducked under the table and grabbed the stray sheets of paper and then shoved them back into the folder.
    Mack hurried across the room and checked the peephole to find a tall, lanky guy standing on the doorstep. He had rough stubble on his cheeks and a shiny metal stud in his ear. His dark hair was all messy and tousled—not like he’d tried to style it that way, but likehe just didn’t have time. Mack recognized him from his picture in the file and opened the door.
    â€œAre you Miles?” Mack asked.
    â€œAre you Mack ?” the guy said. He reached out, grabbed Mack’s hand, and started shaking it. “You—what you did on the beach—”
    Miles took a quick glance over his shoulder. Mack immediately held the door open wider. “Come in,” he said.
    â€œIt was incredible!” Miles continued as soon as he was safely in the Kimuras’ kitchen. “Everybody’s still talking about it—you know that, right?”
    Mack shook his head. “Jii—um, my grandfather—he doesn’t tell me much.”
    Miles flashed him a crooked kind of smile. “Well, you and your buddies are pretty much celebrities,” he said. “I forgot how young Changers don’t really get out much beyond your training unit, do you? But trust me, when you’re a little older, and out on your own, there’s this whole network of Changers who will have your back and be there for you, no matter what.”
    â€œCool,” Mack replied. He didn’t really know what else to say.
    â€œYou saved us all, you know—you and your friends,” Miles continued. “Nobody saw it coming—that warlock mess. I’m in your debt, man. If I can ever do you a favor . . . um, you going to get that teakettle?”
    â€œRight! Tea!” Mack exclaimed. He dashed over to the stove and turned off the burner to silence the shrieking kettle. “Do you want some tea? We have, um, green tea, and white tea with ginger . . .”
    â€œWhite tea with ginger, for sure,” Miles replied. “Thanks. I’ve been on the ocean all day, and let me tell you, it’s a lot colder out there than it is on land.”
    â€œWhat were you doing? Surfing?” Mack asked, even though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.
    â€œBoating, actually,” Miles replied. “I work at the Middletown Marina. We do a few glass-bottom boat tours on the weekends.”
    I bet you do, Mack thought as he made the tea, all the while trying to get up the courage to ask for that favor Miles had offered. Mack knew that he couldn’t just blurt it out. . . . He needed to be subtle, to figure out the right way to ask. But the clock was ticking; Jiichan could appear