The waggle of her fingers indicates not the structure we’ve parked next to but one farther down the street. “That warehouse. He’s inside. Second floor, I think. I’ll have a stronger feel once we’re closer. I thought we should conceal ourselves first.”
No light gleams in any of the windows I peer at. By all appearances, the warehouse in question is totally empty.
We ease out of the car, ephemera quivering around us as we all ward off notice from anyone beyond our group. Cole has parked behind Daphne’s car. He and Asher come up behind us.
We approach the building Daphne indicated, crossing the desolate street through a waft of damp breeze drifting from the valley.
The rustle of tree branches reaches my ears. Taking the sound in, I could almost believe the city has fallen into ruin, taken over by nature after a long abandonment.
Halfway past the paved yard next to the warehouse, my feet jar to a stop. Uneasiness prickles down my back. “We shouldn’t go any farther.”
Byron starts to nod. “Better to head back. We?—”
He halts, looking as if he’s bitten his tongue, and presses his hand to his temple. “There’s a magical barrier here. Deflecting anyone heading this way.”
The others have stopped around us. Aunt Daphne squints at the sidewalk ahead and pushes her foot forward, only to spin around and retreat a couple of steps.
She catches her flight with a jerk of her body and a rough chuckle. “That’sstrongmagic. Let’s see if we can pick it apart.”
The six of us concentrate on the energy condensed along the street in front of us. I stalk onto the road and then over to the yard, but I don’t find any gaps.
The ephemera resonates with a hint of that dense or maybe heavy vibe that niggled at me when I sensed it in Kenneth’s clothes. The vibe that struck me as vaguely familiar.
After just seeing Uncle Nik, a clearer impression shifts into place.
I picked up odd vibrations like that from the magicheworked sometimes, didn’t I? Not much, just enough to itch at my skin for a moment here or there.
I don’t like what that might mean.
Thinking back to his lessons on breaking through security, I attempt to wriggle my way through this barrier like I did the one guarding Groove Garden’s basement. But this time, the energies shift before me more like a drifting haze than a solid wall. Wherever I focus my attention, any nook I catch is filled in a moment later.
Sweat trickles down my back. I glance around at my matches and my aunt to see just as much frustration on their faces.
Asher grimaces at the warehouse. “Somethingimportant must be happening in there, or they wouldn’t be protecting it so much.”
“Fucking twisted magic.” Salvatore glowers at the invisible barrier. “I can’t get enough of a grip on it to break it.”
Cole backs up a step, his posture rigid. He stares at the road ahead with a pained expression that turns increasingly resigned. “I might be able to get us through.”
Byron gives him a surprised glance. “How? Can you read something in the ephemera that shows a weakness?”
The professor offers a grim smile. “No. But if the people responsible for creating this barrier are nearby… I think my glim can alter the outcome of their efforts.”
My throat tightens with a jolt of understanding. “You’re going to look for a fate where their magic falters.”
He inclines his head without looking at me. “Please stand back, everyone. I don’t want there to be any chance that my power latches on to any of you.”
None of my other matches have seen his glim in action before—or the shift that comes with it. It’s obvious he doesn’t really want to go this far.
But he’s doing it, because it’s the only way through. Because it matters to me.
We all ease back several steps. Cole crouches down.
Salvatore cocks his head while he watches. “What kind of glim?—”
He cuts off his own question with a grunt of surprise. Because Cole’s body has just spasmed with the initial force of his transformation.
As his clothes meld into spurting fur and his limbs slide into their new configurations, my other matches simply stare.
