Page 18 of Spirit Storm

I tell them everything. The cave, the enormous carved circle on the wall, the geometry drawn in blood across the floor, the jeweled dagger, the black ooze that seeped from the cut in his palm...

“And the way he drew his own symbols over the top of the existing carvings… It felt like he was rewriting something that already existed.”

Orion shakes his head. “Okay, there is a lot to unpack in that, Pops. You’re sure he was imbuing the runes with souls?”

“That’s what it felt like, yeah. And I think it worked because as he did it, the runes blazed to life.”

Asher runs a hand through his shaggy blond hair. "Okay, that's a lot."

Orion's brow has pulled together. "And if you’re right, it sounds like he was doing something to a pre-existing magical structure."

Asher blinks. “You mean like taking it offline?”

“No, more like converting or repurposing it."

"For what?"

He shrugs. “I have no idea."

“Do you think if we figure out where it was, we could maybe figure out what it was?”

Asher sits forward. "All we need to do is find a cave with a giant magical circle inside that’s been used to feed souls into stonework. That doesn’t sound so hard.”

I sigh and reclaim my breakfast. “Not helpful.”

“My bad. Okay, so what do we know for sure?”

I think about that. “I know that whatever he did, his spell unleashed at 11:47 our time, because I checked the time the moment my eyes flew open. I know that there was a gigantic rush of power. And I know it was in an old, damp cave that had already been set up with magic.”

"Hold, please." Asher pulls his phone out of his pocket and scrolls through a couple of screens. His thumbs fly as he gets into the zone, and less than a minute later, he’s frowning at his screen. “Oh, shit.”

“What? Did you figure it out?”

“Okay, so I searched for weirdness in the news that might be Tharuzel-shaped that occurred at 11:47 EST.”

“And?”

“And there’s been an earthquake in Ireland."

"And that qualifies as a Tharuzel event, how?”

“Well, aside from it happening at the exact moment Tharuzel was up to his fuckery, it was a 4.8 magnitude quake in an area with no fault lines, no seismic history, and no reason to explain an earthquake there. Geologists are calling it anomalous."

My egg scramble feels heavy in my stomach.

"Do they mention a cave?”

Asher frowns. “Not specifically, but Ireland is riddled with networks of caves and has centuries of fae magic, right? It stands to reason that the cave you saw could be there.”

Orion stands. “Can’t hurt to check it out.”

I reach for my phone and dial.

Garrison picks up on the second ring.

"Miss Hallowind." His voice is a low rumble, the kind that seems to travel through floors. "Please tell me this is a personal call and not yet another calamity you’ve stumbled into.”

"If only I could, I definitely would.”