Star. She felt like she was going to faint.
“Tanner.” Darien’s voice cut into her bubble of panic. “Pull up the forcefield projections for Angelthene Academy.” The rapid clicking of keys filled the silence. “There’s an abandoned building on that property called the Old Hall.” Darien met her terrified gaze, and she wasn’t sure if he was still talking to Tanner or to her as he said, “We’re getting in there tomorrow night.”
—
Loren couldn’t stop tapping her foot. Couldn’t stop looking over her shoulder.
The latter didn’t do her any good, for the grounds surrounding the academy were so dark, her mortal vision couldn’t tell the difference between a tree and a person. But it made her feel like she was doing something useful as Darien paced in the shrubs by the chain-link fence surrounding the Old Hall, cellphone glued to his ear as he listened to what Tanner was saying on the other end.
All power in the city came from the Control Tower. Located in the heart of the North End, it was a sleek pillar of glass calledcristala.The tower acted as a conduit for the magic that stemmed from the energy grid of the earth—from the anima mundi itself, the world soul and the source of all magic that bound the universe together. It powered their cars, made spellcasting possible, lit their homes—it even created the forcefield, an invisible dome over Angelthene that kept its registered citizens safe from outside forces.
It wasn’t perfect by any means, for the odd demon still managed to slip through—which was how the city had gotten its pest problem to begin with—but no matter how trained a person was in magic, no one could cause a power outage great enough to take down the entire grid. It was impossible; even Darien had said as much when Loren had asked him if he could do it to locate Sab. She’d had little hope of him saying yes, though she’d asked anyway.
And perhaps the only person in this whole city who was skilled enough in hacking to cause even a blip in the advanced spellwork shieldingjustAngelthene Academy was Tanner Atlas.
Tanner was the reason Darien was here tonight in the first place. From where he was currently stationed at Hell’s Gate, Tanner was busy hacking the academy’s spell network; earlier that evening, he’d bought Darien two seconds to jump the wrought iron surrounding campus, through the softest spot Darien could pinpoint in the forcefield around the school with his Sight. And now, Tanner would do the same to allow them into the Old Hall.
At least, if everything went according to plan. But the longer Darien spent on that phone, the faster Loren’s foot tapped in the grass, and the more times she looked over her shoulder.
The Devil shot her a glare. His eyes were so black, they gobbled up the moonlight filtering through the palm trees rustling overhead.
“What?” she demanded, though her foot stilled at the sight of those all-black eyes.
“Your annoying little foot is distracting me.” The phone speaker crackled as Tanner laughed on the other end.
She stuck her tongue out at him—and Tanner.
“Caligo spare me…,” Darien muttered. Although she couldn’t quite tell, she swore he was rolling his eyes. He made to say something else, but Tanner was speaking on the other end.
A hand grabbed Loren’s arm.
A muffled scream clawed its way up her throat. She spun around, heart kicking in her chest at the sight of the shadow looming before her.
It was Dallas.
“Gods-damnit, Dal,”she hissed, pressing a hand to the fluttering in her chest. Behind her, Darien was unfazed. “You almost gave me a heart attack!”
The witch was grinning, teeth gleaming in the moonlight. “You soft-hearted mortal.”
“You’re supposed to be keeping watch!”
“And miss out on all the fun?” At the sight of whatever expression Loren was wearing, she clicked her tongue. “Relax. No one’s going to catch us.”
Darien shushed them. He concluded his call with Tanner, hung up, and shoved the cellphone into his pocket. “Starting at two minutes past Witching Hour, Tanner will buy us sixty seconds to get through the forcefield.”
“Sixty seconds each?” Loren asked.
“Sixty secondstotal,”he clarified. Loren tried to swallow, but her mouth was too dry.
Grass crunched beneath Dallas’s heels as she stepped up to the fence, tipping back her head to survey the height of it. Her hair brushed the waistband of her low-rise jeans. “Where exactly are we getting in? You don’t really expect us to climb.”
“If you want to get inside, you’ll do whatever I tell you to.” His eyes narrowed as he appraised the witch. “Might I remind you that I specifically told you to keep watch overthere?”He pointed a gloved finger at the academy.
“You clearly don’t know me well enough, Slayer,” Dallas said, matching his tone, “to understand that I never sit out on the fun parts.”
But Darien’s attention went back to the forcefield. Although invisible to the naked eye, his Sight allowed him to see the barrier clear as day. “Thirty seconds.”
Loren didn’t think Dallas was breathing either as they waited for Darien’s signal. She tried to tell herself that it wasn’t a big deal—it was just a silly fence. But if she didn’t make it to the ground on the other side before those sixty seconds were up, she would be singed into nothing.
