Paladin Prophecy 2: Alliance Read Online Free PDF Page B

ancestors in the photo? Because, like Hobbes, whoever that is would have to be at least a hundred years old by now as well.”
    “I can’t tell you why I’m sure it’s him, Ajay. It’s more than just what he looks like. It’s the look in his eyes,” said Will. “And the first time I ever talked to him he said something curious: ‘I’m older than I look.’ ”
    Ajay almost moaned. “And it’s been so agreeable around here lately. No paranormal calamities, nothing going bump around campus in the night. I’d almost convinced myself we were just normal kids enjoying high school.”
    “Come on, what fun would that be?”
    “Easy for you to say. My palms are sweating and I have that shaky feeling all through my knees and quadriceps again,” said Ajay, rubbing his hands on his shirt. “Even my breathing is starting to constrict. I feel I could black out at any moment.”
    “You just need to burn off some adrenaline,” said Will. “Let’s run.”
    As they cleared the crowded quad, Will broke into a trot and Ajay fell in alongside him. “Of course, this wretched timing makes sense. I met the most fantastic girl recently, and I was just beginning to think that she might find me equally interesting.”
    “Why haven’t I heard about this?” asked Will.
    “You know I don’t like to put my carts in front of my horses, Will. I prefer to lie in wait, an enigma, ever so patiently. Let her grow to believe I’m difficult to reach and deeply mysterious, and then, once she’s ripe for the plucking, strike like a cobra.”
    Will glanced sideways at him. “So she won’t talk to you, huh?”
    “Wrong, wrong, one hundred percent wrong,” said Ajay, offended. “We’re exceedingly friendly, and there’s little doubt in my mind that we’re also one hundred percent pheromoneally compatible.”
    “So what’s the holdup?”
    “I’m still in the intelligence-gathering phase. A wise general plans his campaigns with the utmost care before committing any resources.”
    “I don’t know how to break it to you, Ajay, but advice from Sun Tzu is not going to help you with romance.”
    “I respectfully disagree,” sniffed Ajay.
    “Yeah, well, for one thing, Napoleon, your timing stinks. You’re about to not see her for three months.”
    “Ah, but you see that’s where you’re wrong, oh ignorant one. She’s interning at the science lab during summer school, just as I am.”
    “Perhaps I underestimated you, Mr. Bond,” said Will as they approached the field house. “So who’s the target of ‘Operation Mongoose’? What’s her name?”
    “Robyn Banks, from Cincinnati, Ohio. She’ll be a sophomore this fall.”
    “At least you know her parents have a sense of humor,” said Will, opening the door for Ajay.
    “Whatever do you mean, old boy?”
    “Maybe they’re related to John Dillinger,” said Will, and then, seeing that Ajay still didn’t get it. “Robbin’ banks?”
    “Oh,” said Ajay, and then he stopped to think about it. “Oh.”
    Nick, showing off when he saw two friends enter the gymnastics room, ended his workout on the high bar with a quadruple somersault dismount onto a nearby pommel horse, where he landed on his hands. Then he backflipped off the horse onto a nearby springboard, tumbled twice in the air, and stuck a landing in a ta-da! posture right in front of them. The burly, compact crew-cut blond looked even more pumped than usual.
    “Hope you brought me my postworkout snack,” said Nick, eyeing Ajay’s backpack.
    “No, but you just received a nine-point-four from the Martian judge,” said Ajay, tossing him a towel.
    “Take a look at this,” said Will, handing Nick the photograph.
    “Whoa,” said Nick, glancing at it. “That is a really antique snap. You know I never really got how you can take a picture in black and white. I mean it’s not like real life is in black and white, right? So what is the camera not seeing ?”
    Ajay and Will looked at each other with familiar