The Power (The Magnificent 12 4)

None of this worried Mack very much. First of all, he was done worrying about YouTube. It was just a given that they would be starring in yet another viral video.

And the armed men weren’t a great concern because, frankly, at this point the Magnificent Seven had more than enough Vargran to deal with mere humans. Indeed, Sylvie, Jarrah, and Charlie had combined to freeze the armed men in place, which was why Mack was not handcuffed and on his way to jail.

This meant that all the beards on all those armed men were also frozen in place. This definitely made them less terrifying. After all, a beard at rest will stay at rest, while a beard in motion may run right into you at some point.21

Dietmar had his phone out and was googling the “Golden Temple.” Actually he pronounced it “golten,” with a t. It irritated Mack, as most things about Dietmar did.

“It is a temple belonging to the Sikh religion,” Dietmar reported.

“Oy, don’t be calling someone’s religion sick,” Charlie said.

“Sikh not sick,” Dietmar explained.

“You’re doing it again?” Charlie demanded.

Xiao put a calming hand on his arm. Charlie needed a calming hand because he had been pretty shaken up seeing Xiao first turn into a dragon and then turn back into a girl. There was a lot of weirdness to being part of the Magnificent Twelve. He was one of the newer members and he’d already had to get used to a lot.

“Sikh. S-I-K-H,” Xiao spelled it out.

“Yeah,” Jarrah said, like she’d known it all along. (She hadn’t.)

“In fact, most of these fellows around us with the beards are Sikhs,” Dietmar pointed out.

“Yes, this is true.” This from Singh, whose reappearance made them all jump. Mack was adjusted to the fact that all the closest beards were spell-frozen. Singh had been out of range and he now threaded his way carefully through the rows of poised and motionless soldiers and police.

“No closer!” Mack cried, and covered his eyes. “No offense. I have a phobia about beards.”

“So you came to the Punjab?” Singh asked skeptically. “If you have a phobia of sharks, do you go swimming in the ocean?”

“Please don’t say shark!” Mack begged.

“What’s this Golden Temple, then?” Jarrah asked, trying to move past the awkwardness.

“It is a place very sacred to our religion,” Singh said.

“Then how come they let Valin in?” Mack demanded through his fingers. “I mean, even if he’s a Sikh, I don’t think Nine Iron is.”

Singh shrugged. (Not that Mack could see this.) And he said, “All faiths, all races, all sexes, everyone is welcome. Plus: free lunch.”

“I’d kill for a burger,” Stefan said at the mention of lunch.

Singh shook his head. (Again, this was los

t on Mack.) “No, sir, we are vegetarian.” Then, seeing the blank look on Stefan’s face, he expanded. “We do not eat flesh. The meal would perhaps be lentils.”

“I’d kill for a lentil,” Stefan said.

“Is there anything you wouldn’t kill for?” Rodrigo asked. Like Charlie, he was still somewhat new to the Magnificent Twelve.

“Brussels sprouts,” Stefan said without hesitation, and the pure, distilled hatred in his voice convinced Mack that no matter where else they went, they should never go to Belgium.22

“Could Valin stay in the temple?” Mack asked.

“Not for long,” Singh said. “It’s a very busy place.”

“Okay then,” Mack said forcefully, or as forcefully as he could under the circumstances. “We go after Valin. Then: San Francisco.”

“Why San Francisco?” Sylvie asked.