The Wizard Returns: Book Three of the Wizard Born Series by Geof Johnson

serious .
    “Okay, here it is.” Harvey pointed at the screen. “Watch this.”
    On the video, a player from the other team lobbed a pass to a teammate, but Rollie dashed in front of it and blazed down the court. Then he seemed to go out of focus, and nearly ran out of the frame before the camera jerked into position and caught Rollie laying the ball into the basket.
    “See that?” Harvey said. “He’s all blurry.”
    “What if you had a high-speed camera?”
    “We don’t have one.”
    “Is there somewhere you could rent one?”
    “Argent Video. They’ve got ’em, I think.”
    “Is it expensive?”
    “Don’t think so, but the school sure can’t rent one. I can barely get Mr. Steele to pay for blank tape for the old camera.”
    “Okay.” Jamie patted Harvey on the shoulder. “Thanks. You were a lot of help.”
    * * *
    The demon sat beside a tree and picked through the bones that lay next to him on the ground, hoping to find a remaining morsel or two. The long-legged, brown-furred animal had presented a challenging hunt, fast and able to leap and change direction quickly, but had eventually tired before the demon killed it with one swipe of his clawed hand across its throat.
    Now it was just a pile of bones, and the demon’s stomach was only half full. He picked up a femur and paused when a light breeze blew by, bringing with it a scent of prey. It was the same scent he’d smelled when he first arrived on this world, of a two-legged, nearly hairless animal that had a sweet taste.
    He rose silently, fighting the instinct to throw back his head and roar, and loped down the trail in search of the source of the scent, using his nose as his guide.
    * * *
    Carl waited until dinner was nearly over before bringing up the subject that had been bothering him all day. “I got a call from a buddy this morning, Hank Carlan. He’s a park ranger. There’s been another bear attack.”
    Rachel gasped. “Another one?”
    Jamie’s eyebrows drew down. “What do you mean, another one?”
    “There was one a week or so ago. Couple campers got killed on the Appalachian Trail just north of here. Another one got killed two days ago, a male, hiking alone.” He stretched his mouth tight across his teeth. “All they found was a hand. They used the fingerprints to identify him.”
    “Oh my.” Rachel pressed one hand to her chest. “What are they going to do?”
    “They’ll try to trap the bear.”
    “Not with one of those steel kinds with teeth that clamps on their leg, I hope,” Jamie said. “Those are inhumane.”
    “They’ll use one of those big cylindrical ones. They bait it with meat, and when the bear enters the trap, a metal door slams shut behind it.”
    “What’ll happen to the bear?”
    “They’ll probably destroy it.”
    “Why? The bear is just trying to survive.”
    “Jamie, they have to. Once a bear develops a taste for human flesh, it’ll always be a threat. We can’t let it go on killing hikers, can we?”
    “No.” Jamie stared at the table. “Just don’t tell me about it when they do, okay? I don’t want to know.”
    * * *
    Jamie sat with Fred and Bryce for most of Friday night’s game against Roberson High, but when North Henderson went up by twenty points midway through the second half, Rollie got off the bench. Jamie stood, too.
    “Where are you going?” Fred asked.
    “I want to talk to Harvey for a minute.” Jamie hoped Fred couldn’t tell he was lying. “He’s filming the game.”
    “Well...don’t stay too long.” She blew him a kiss as he walked up the steps behind them. “I get lonely.”
    “You’ve got Bryce to keep you company,” he said over his shoulder, then he focused on where he was stepping, careful not to trip. He’d done that before, more than once.
    Jamie didn’t want to talk to Harvey. He wanted to sit where he could use his magic sense while he observed Rollie, and he would have a better view of the whole court from the middle, even if it was up high