Casey finally stops pacing and drops into a chair near the fireplace. “Goddess, by this time tomorrow, Eastman’s ranks could triple. Quadruple. We just don’t know.”
“What about the students?” Professor Maddox asks.
“Most of the students seem to be lying low in the dorms,” I say, “too terrified to defy lockdown orders. I saw a couple of graduate researchers trying to leave campus with two professors, but they were all detained by Eastman’s mages and brought back to the admin building—that seems to be their HQ.”
“What happened to them?” Isla asks, her eyes wide.
“The guards brought them to a room with a few other students. It didn’t look like they were being harmed—just held against their will.” I let out a breath, but the relief is short-lived. “Whether he’s physically hurting them or not, he’s keeping everyone in constant fear that hecouldhurt them.”
“It’s an old tactic.” Kirin wraps an arm around my shoulders, and Baz shifts closer. “Effective too.”
“If he terrifies them enough,” I say, “they won’t need much convincing to take his side when the fighting starts. Especially if he brainwashes them into believing he’s their savior.”
“Aside from Kirin’s earlier idea about hacking the security protocols,” Quintana says, “did you see any holes? Anything we might be able to leverage to get a message to the good guys and boots on the ground in there?”
“No. They’re patrolling every nook and cranny on campus. They’ve emptied out all the classroom buildings and shops, closed up the restaurants and bars, and blocked access to the nature paths beyond the dorms. The whole place is a heavily guarded ghost town, with all the most vulnerable targets sequestered in the dorms. The faculty is there too, trying to keep everyone calm. It looked to me like the mages ordered it—the faculty housing was all empty, just like everywhere else.”
“Any large-scale weapons?” Professor Maddox asks. “Military, police, anyone from outside services?”
“Not that I could tell. Just the mages working for Eastman. No witches either, now that I think of it—just men and their magick tricks.”
The room falls silent, each of us marinating in our own gruesome thoughts about the days and nights to come. I wish I could just leave it at that, but there’s more.
“In addition to our tour of campus,” I say, “we did a few flyovers of the House lands.”
“No patrols?” Quintana asks.
“Not beyond the initial access points behind the dorms. They seem pretty confident they’ve got everyone corralled inside their perimeter.”
“So maybe that’s our in,” Quintana says. “Back door.”
Casey shakes her head. “Even if we can get onto the lands without being noticed, there’s no way we’ll get past those patrols and onto the main campus without raising the alarm. We’d have to go for a distraction of some sort, but that’sextremelyrisky.”
“Not to mention,” I remind them, “we wanted to get word to campus that the students and faculty need to be ready to fight. But Eastman’s guys are already ready. They’ve got a full-on army in there, and that’swithoutthe Dark Arcana. It’s too late to prepare anyone on campus for the attack. When the fighting starts, they’re just going to have to pick a side.”
“Let’s hope it’s ours,” Kirin says.
“What else did you see?” Carly asks.
“We tried to find the caves from my vision, but no luck. Everything beyond Breath and Blade is completely enshrouded in—well, I’d call it mist, but this stuff is different.”
“Different how?” Professor Broome leans forward in the chair across from me, her brow knitted with curiosity and concern.
“This stuff was like… like a magickal fog. Thick and roiling, but dark—almost like an indigo color. But shot through with flickering light. Like a lightning storm on the ground.”
She exchanges a worried glance with Professor Maddox. “Sounds like a cloaking spell.”
“That was my first thought too,” Maddox replies. “Which means it’s likely the Dark Arcana are already materializing in our realm—or readying for it.”
“Regardless, the guys and I still need to get to the caves beyond the Void,” I say. “That’s where Doc and Ani are being held. I… I’m sure of it.”
Kirin squeezes my shoulder, a deep sigh escaping his lips. “Why do I sense a but coming?”
“They took Doc because theyknowwe’ll come for our friends. And you can bet your magick wands they’re planning one hell of a welcome party for us. Even if everyone in this room stormed the caves together, we aren’t strong enough to face the Dark Arcana.”
“Agreed. So where’s that but?” Kirin asks.
“We can’t leave Doc and Ani to the wolves. We need to get to those caves.” I lean my head on his shoulder, hating the words before they’re even out of my mouth. “But… we can’t do it without the Arcana objects.”
