As if on cue, a massive roar echoed from the other side of campus. It sounded like a dragon, but mixed with... opera?
"Is thatThe Ride of the Valkyries?" Jax asked, tilting his head.
"Rook is very theatrical," Ivy said fondly. "He's probably illusion-casting a dragon attack on the library. That should draw the guards."
"Let's move," Stone said, unlocking the heavy service door.
We slipped inside. The administration building was cold, sterile. The air tasted metallic—the taste of Null magic.
"Dean's office is on the top floor," I whispered. "Jax, you scout. Ivy, you handle any magical locks. Stone, you handle any physical guards. I'm the battery."
"The battery?" Jax whispered back.
"If Marrow has Null wards, I can absorb them," I explained. "I can drink the static so you guys can use your magic."
"Useful," Jax noted, blurring forward up the stairs.
We moved quickly. Stone was surprisingly quiet for a large man in boots. He moved with predator grace, checking corners. Ivy was... less quiet. Her boots squeaked, and she kept humming along to the distant dragon-opera.
At the top of the stairs, Jax was waiting. He held a hand up.
"Wards," he mouthed.
I stepped forward. I could feel it a thick, oily barrier across the hallway. It felt like a headache waiting to happen.
I reached out, placing my hand against the invisible wall. "Okay," I whispered. "Bottoms up."
I pulled.
It wasn't like pulling mana from the leylines, which tasted like ozone and starlight. This tasted like ash. Like stagnation. I gagged slightly, but I held on, draining the energy into my own core, grounding it out through my heels.
The barrier flickered and died.
"Nice," Ivy whispered, impressed.
We reached the double doors of the Dean's office. Stone tried a key. It clicked.
"Too easy," he murmured.
We pushed inside.
The office was surprisingly sparse. No grand mahogany desk. No villainous high-backed chair. Just metal filing cabinets, a plain table, and walls covered in...
"Whoa," Jax breathed.
The walls were covered in maps. Maps of the campus. Maps of the town. Maps of the leylines. And pinned to every intersection were photos.
Photos of students. Photos of faculty.
"He's mapping the bonds," I said, walking closer. "Look. Red string for romantic bonds. Blue for platonic. Black for..."
I stopped. There was a black string connecting my photo to the Triad's.
"Black for what?" Ivy asked, coming up beside me.
" anomalies," I whispered. "Threats."
"Guys," Stone said from the filing cabinet. "You need to see this."
