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little bit of flame actually move across his eyes when I managed to make myself look up again. His body language made him look tense; I felt as if he was waiting for a chance to jump out of his chair and throttle me. He made a motion with his hand in the air, indicating that time was wasting and I had better get started because he didn’t have all the damn time in the world.
    “The chateau was attacked by a group of Lycans.”
    “I find that odd. The Lycans would have no use for what was being stored there,” he said, cutting me off.
    “Well, I didn’t get a chance to tell you about the best part.” He made another motion for me to continue. “The Lycans that attacked weren’t behaving like any that I had ever fought before. They charged at me without trying to dodge any of my attacks. After a closer examination, it appeared they might have actually already been dead for some time.”
    Adam looked as if my story confirmed something he already knew. He shook his head for a moment as if to clear it and then looked back up at me. His expression was grim when he said, “Go on.”
    “After I had dispatched the Lycans, the dead guards rose and stormed the house. I was able to dispatch most of them before the hooded figure showed up.”
    “And this man in the hood, did you ever see his face?”
    “As a matter of fact, I did.”
    “And?” he said with impatience.
    “I hate to report that I have seen the man at least one other time. In fact, it was the day that I met you for the first time. He would have barreled into me on my way to see you, had I not moved to the side of the hall. He said his name was Gaston.”
    “That bastard!” Adam slammed his fist down on his desk in a bout of fury. A flame actually flew up from where his hand impacted the desk. I watched him with horror. He seemed to be speaking to himself when he said, “Gaston, you arrogant ass, the secrets of the Jar were for us to unlock together.”
    “Sir?”
    “I’m not even sure I should tell you anything about what is going on, but since you have seen the dead reanimated, I feel like I owe you a small explanation. Gaston was one of our most promising adepts. His work with the elements and pushing the boundaries of the gift itself have been nothing short of remarkable. When he came to me saying that he had been able to animate a dead mouse, I should have put an end to it right then. Instead I was fascinated by what he could do.”
    “Controlling a mouse is hardly what I saw last night. He had control of at least eight Lycans and, when they fell, about five soldiers. I can tell you that fighting something that doesn’t feel any wound and has no fear is disturbing. If he could animate enough of them, it would be an overwhelming force.”
    He looked at me with a wry smile on his face. “It seems that he has grown stronger than he ever let on.” Adam sat back into his chair and removed the pair of reading glasses he had been wearing. “In the beginning, it was about seeing what we could bring back to serve us, and for a time, that was enough. Then we moved on to trying to find any practical applications for what we had done. A mouse wasn’t very intimidating, but it could sneak around, and with just the right magic being cast, we could see through its eyes and hear what it was hearing. That in and of itself was an amazing breakthrough, but also something that was forbidden to study long ago.”
    “I can see how once it was discovered, it would have been hard to stop expanding your knowledge. It is, after all, one of our tenets to never stop learning.”
    “I knew I picked the right man for the job when I sent you. Not everyone would be so understanding of our trespasses.”
    “I could see where many of our order would have considered it an abomination, that it would be an affront to the gift that we have been blessed with.”
    “That is why we have always worked in secret. What started with a mouse moved on to other creatures, and finally a