Halfwizard (Troy Sanders Book 2)

4: The Sanders Way

“Troy, Morris is here to see you,” Mom called and I rushed down the stairs with a nasty migraine as company. That was what I got for having only about two hours of sleep last night; between the peeping wizard and my freakish nightmare, it was only natural really that sleep would be out of the option for me.

“Where’s Grandpa Blake? He told me that he was going to be here this morning,” I said when I reached the door and- obviously- found that Morris was alone. I had called Grandpa Blake when I couldn’t sleep the previous night and he promised that he would be the first face I saw in the morning. Now, he sent his butler- not cool, grandpa!

“Mr. Sanders said you should come with me,” replied Morris, gesturing to the limousine packed outside.

Come on, what’s the old man thinking? “Morris, you know I can’t go all the way to the estate when I’ll be going again tomorrow.”

But Morris replied me adamantly, “Mr. Sanders said to bring you and that’s the only thing I can do.”

I leaned my head against the door; partly because of Morris’ reply and partly because my migraine seemed to have invited his other little friends to his “Split Troy’s head” party.

Well, thinking about it critically, what could another twenty-four hours do to me? “Alright,” I finally replied. “Just give me a sec.”

After some minutes of painkillers and clothes selection, I was finally ready to follow Morris.

We drove around for a while. But instead of heading to the estate like I expected, we drove up to another limousine packed right in the middle of the road. “Hey, sonny,” said Grandpa Blake as the window rolled down.

“You know you’re one hell of a big show off, don’t you?” I asked, pointing to the limousine- seriously, was all the whole “I’m a big rich man” show really necessary?

“What do you want to see me for?” he asked, pretending not to hear my previous comment.

“How about we go somewhere else to talk?” I offered. “Like somewhere that isn’t the middle of the frigging road.”

Grandpa Blake smiled, almost like I had taken the words right out of his mouth. “Well, I hope you like fish cos there’s this sushi restaurant I’ve been dying to go to." - yep! Typical Blake Sanders. Always the dramatic one.

"Let's," I replied and we drove away.

The place Grandpa Blake was talking about wasn’t just “this” sushi restaurant, it was the sushi restaurant.

It was so fancy that I felt greatly underdressed in my blue blazers and jeans. I didn’t know if there was a super ingredient in their food but everything had a thousand-dollar price tag on it.

“So, what is it that you called me in the middle of the night for?” asked Grandpa Blake after ordering a really expensive sushi that I couldn’t afford to spill even a morsel on the table.

“There’s a wizard in town and he was at my window last night,” I replied.

“Are you sure?” he asked, very surprised. In fact, he seemed to be more surprised that there was even a wizard around to begin with although I wasn’t sure why that was.

“Of course, I’m sure,” I returned at him. “I have a photograph to prove it.” I showed him the picture of the shoe print I took on my phone and I saw his face light up in recognition- yep! Grandpa Blake knew exactly what was going on.

“So, do you know what kind it is?” I asked.

“Of course,” he replied. “It’s the kind that’s worn on the feet.”

“Seriously, grandpa!” I laughed and punched him playfully on the arm; that man was incapable of changing.

“No, I don’t,” he finally replied, although I thought he was lying; or at least, not telling the entire truth. “Look, don’t worry, I’ll send some guys over to watch the house in case this wizard wants to cause trouble. How about that?”

“No need, I can take care of myself,” I replied; an army of suited men protecting me would surely cause the trouble I was trying to prevent. “Besides, I’ll give you a call in case things go wrong.” I really hoped it didn’t.

“Seems you’ve not been getting enough rest,” he said when he noticed the bags under my eyes. “Care to explain what’s up with you?”

“It’s nothing. I had to stay up last night in order to complete the assignments I was given,” I replied. Blake Sanders wasn’t the only one that could keep a secret; and who better to use as cover-up than my overpriced tutor.

He gave me a long scrutinizing look before taking my hands in his and saying, “You know I’m here in case you need anything, right?” And I knew in that moment that he didn’t believe a single word I had said- well, the summer was back, and by the looks of it, so were the Sanders family secrets.