“It’s some kind of rune,” I say, rewinding and watching again at a slower speed. “But from this vantage point, I can’t tell whether it’s a rune of protection or…” I rewind and watch again. “Or something else.”
Baz blows out a breath. “Something else. With her, it’salwayssomething else.”
I watch a few more times, that dread in my stomach growing until it plunges like a hot rock.
“What’s wrong?” Stevie asks. “Did you figure it out?”
“Baz is right.” I set down the tablet and take off my glasses, polishing the lenses on my shirt. “It’s not a protective rune. It’s not a benevolent rune at all. As far as I can tell, Janelle Kirkpatrick is trying to spy on you.”
“Trying?” Stevie asks.
“She didn’t do the rune correctly. She rushed through it, and left out the last three lines. This rune is completely ineffective—it didn’t even take. If it had, we would’ve seen a faint blue glow. I’d be able to sense it now, too, and there wasn’t anything off when I came in earlier.”
“A spying rune?” Baz asks. “What the fuck even is that?”
“Just like it sounds,” I say. “It could be visual or auditory, or both, depending on her intentions. If it had worked, she’d be able to tap into the power of it anytime she wanted to check up on you. It would basically work as if she were standing in the doorway, without the barrier of the door. She’d be able to see anything in the line of sight from the doorway, and hear any sounds that would normally travel that far.”
“But it didn’t work,” Stevie says.
“No. I’m sure of it.”
Next to us, Baz seethes. I’m no empath, but I’m intimately familiar with the lead-up to a complete meltdown, and this man is about two seconds from exploding.
“Fuck this.” He turns around and charges for the door.
“Where are you going?” I ask.
“I need to find Janelle. Time to end this bullshit game.”
“Don’t be stupid, Baz.” I dart in front of him and put a hand on his chest, stopping him in his tracks. His heart is going crazy, his breathing rapid. “Calm down.”
“Fuck calm. She’s trying to hurt Stevie. I warned that bitch, if she eventhoughtabout it…” He pinches the bridge of his nose, sucking in ragged breaths of air. “I need to eliminate her from the equation. Now. Before she tries something else.”
“Far be it for me to advocate non-violence at a time like this,” I say, “but personally, I find it best to plot murders on days when the campusisn’tcrawling with APOA agents.”
“Baz, Kirin’s right,” Stevie says, reaching up and touching his face. The tenderness of her touch makes me ache, but it has the desired effect, immediately taking Baz down from a 10 to a 4 on the murderous rage scale. “Besides, she didn’t hurt me or cast any attack magick. She’s just nosing around for something.”
“But what?” he asks. “What the fuck could she possibly want with you, unless it’s about me?”
The two of them share a glance loaded with some hidden meaning I couldn’t even begin to guess at, but Stevie shakes her head. “She knows I’m spirit-blessed. Carly told me that her mother was always trying to find a way to manipulate Carly’s powers. Maybe she just wants a piece of mine.”
“I’m not buying it,” Baz says. “She’s scheming. She’s always scheming. And by now she knows her spell failed, so we can bet she’s going to try something else again soon.”
“Let her,” I say. “This time we’ll be ready. Catch her in the act.”
Baz considers it, then shakes his head. “Too risky.”
“Baz,” Stevie says, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m with Kirin on this one. We have the upper hand here. Let’s lie low and let her walk into her own trap.”
He opens his mouth to argue, but with a single raised eyebrow, Stevie shuts him down once again.
Finally, he blows out a breath and nods, pulling her close and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
“So how do you want to play this?” I ask.
“You guys head to the library as planned,” he says. “I’ll get Cass over here to do a full sweep and an obfuscation spell to take care of any lingering spy energy. I’m also going to set up a crystal grid for additional protection.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I say.
