Spell Robbers by Matthew J. Kirby Page A

promise you’ll get through it. Every agent has gone through the same process. It’s just the way of things.”
    Ben stood. “I’m not listening anymore. I’m leaving.”
    Peter grabbed his arm. “Ben, don’t.”
    Ben looked down at his friend. Somehow, Peter didn’t seem bothered by any of this. In fact, he looked excited.
    “Just hear him out,” Peter said. “Before you walk away.”
    Ben snatched his arm free. “But this is kidnapping.”
    “You have not been kidnapped,” Agent Spear said. “You are free to leave if you so choose. But you do need to hear me out first.”
    “No, I don’t.” Ben went for the door. “I’m leaving now.”
    “She won’t know you.”
    Ben stopped. He turned around. Agent Spear had risen to his feet.
    “What?”
    “She won’t know you.”
    Ben swallowed. “What do you mean?”
    “Please, come sit down.”
    “TELL ME WHAT YOU MEAN!” Ben held both his hands in fists.
    Agent Spear’s voice remained calm, his face gentle. “You have been detached, Ben. So have you, Peter.”
    “What does that mean?” Peter remained in his chair.
    “It means that the previous connections to your lives have been severed. For your families, your teachers, your friends, it will be like you never existed.”
    Ben’s stomach felt like it was grinding up ice cubes, and a smothering dread settled over him. He couldn’t find any words. He couldn’t breathe.
    Agent Spear continued. “We performed the procedure while you were unconscious in the holding room. Believe me when I say it was absolutely necessary.”
    “Why?” Peter asked.
    Ben couldn’t understand how his friend was dealing with this so calmly.
    “To be blunt,” Agent Spear said, “because you’re kids. Very few parents would just up and agree to let their kids go. This is the easiest way for you, and for them.”
    But Ben didn’t really care about himself. What would his mom do without him? She needed him. Who would help her? Who would remind her to take her pills? He felt tears rising, a tightening in his throat, but he coughed and kept it under control. Now was not the time to lose it.
    “I don’t want to be an agent,” Ben said. “Put me back. Re … reattach me.”
    The door opened behind him, and Agent Taggart came back into the room. She saw Ben, looked past him to Agent Spear, and nodded. “Ah. You told them.”
    “Reattach me,” Ben said to both of them.
    “I’m afraid we can’t do that.” Agent Taggart held up her phone. “Mr. Weathersky is on his way.”
    “He’s coming here?” Agent Spear asked.
    “Yes. And until this matter is resolved, he feels that we may have further need of you gentlemen.” She looked down at Ben. “I’m afraid you don’t have a choice. This is no longer an invitation to join the League. You’ve been drafted.”
    Ben narrowed his eyes at her. “I don’t think so. You can’t do this.” He pushed past her out the door.
    “Ben!” Peter shouted.
    “Let him go,” Agent Spear said. “He needs to …”
    But Ben didn’t stick around to hear the rest. He started down the hallway, took a turn, then another. This place used to be a church, not a maze. He had to find a way out, eventually. And soon, he did. It was an emergency exit, with one of those big red alarm levers. Ben didn’t care. He shouldered it open, hard, and took the cement staircase outside three steps down at a time, while a siren blared behind him. He looked back up at the building. It really had been a church, with white siding and a single square steeple.
    It had also quit raining. Ben looked down the street, saw a bus approaching a stop, and took off running toward it.

    “Mom!” He raced toward her office. He knew her schedule; she wasn’t in class right now, so hopefully, he’d find her there. She would remember him. She had to remember him. He knocked on the door, and then opened it. “Mom?”
    She swiveled around from her computer to face him. He looked in her eyes. She looked back, and