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

in the kitchen at any moment—andthen, Mack knew, his chance would be lost.
    â€œSo . . . what kind of Changer are you?” Mack asked as he brought two steaming cups of tea over to the table.
    â€œAatxe,” Miles replied, a hint of pride in his voice. “The bull.”
    â€œSo I did see you on the beach!” Mack exclaimed. “You have reddish brown fur, right?”
    Miles raised an eyebrow and then nodded. “I can’t believe you remember. I barely remember anything that went down. What was that, your first mission?”
    â€œYeah,” Mack said. This is it, he told himself. You’re not going to get a better chance. “So that favor you mentioned? I was wondering . . . would you take my friends and me out sometime, on one of those boats?”
    Miles shrugged. “Sure, no problem. You just have to bring an adult along, since you’re not eighteen yet.”
    â€œThat’s the thing,” Mack said. “This would be more like a . . . mission than a tour. If you know what I mean.”
    Miles leaned back in his chair and gave Mack a long look. “Go on.”
    â€œI don’t think it would take long,” Mack said in a rush. “We know exactly where we need to go. My grandfatherwouldn’t even miss me. We’re talking, like, an hour. Two, at the most.”
    â€œI don’t know, man,” Miles said. “Is this going to be dangerous? Because your grandfather really should—”
    â€œNo! Not dangerous at all!” Mack assured him. “And if there’s any sign of trouble, we’ll call the whole thing off. I promise.”
    â€œThat seems fair.” Miles finally gave in. “I mean, I take people out on these tours every day. They’re pretty tame. And I do owe you one.”
    â€œThank you!” Mack exclaimed. “Can we go tomorrow?”
    Miles scrolled through the calendar on his phone. “Tomorrow’s no good, and we’re closed on Monday,” he said. “Tuesday?”
    â€œSure,” Mack said at once. “We’ll be there right after school.”
    That crooked smile crossed Miles’s face again as he made a note in his phone. “You want a speedboat, maybe?” he suggested. “That glass-bottom boat is pretty slow.”
    â€œA speedboat would be perfect,” Mack said.
    â€œI’ll take care of it,” Miles promised. “Hey, do you mind making another cup of tea?”
    â€œI would be happy to,” Jiichan said as he entered the kitchen. His eyes flickered over to the table. “ There’s my file! I’ve been looking for it this whole time! Mack, thank you for entertaining Miles while I was occupied.”
    Mack could tell that was his cue to leave. “Anytime, Jiichan,” he said. He could barely hide his smile as he hurried from the room. The mission was on —and he couldn’t wait to tell his friends.

    Mack somehow managed to keep quiet about Miles until the end of Changers class on Monday, when Ms. Therian left to check inventory in the storage lockers. Then he told Darren, Fiona, and Gabriella all about his plan.
    â€œI met this Changer, Miles,” he began in a hurried whisper. “He’s a friend of Jiichan’s, and get this—he works at the Middletown Marina. He says he can take us out on one of the speedboats tomorrow ! We can go get Circe’s Compass after all!”
    â€œHe would do that for us?” Fiona asked in disbelief.
    Mack nodded. “He feels like he owes us for savinghim from Auden Ironbound during the invasion,” he explained.
    Darren slowly shook his head. “You heard the First Four,” he said. “They’re already making plans to get Circe’s Compass next week.”
    â€œAre you kidding?” Mack asked. “We can’t afford to waste two whole weeks while they try to pull together some special team of outsiders to do the