Page 68 of Mage Massacres

“Yep. Meet you at the top.”

I tipped my head and turned away from him, surveying my surroundings as I ventured to the side of the last building on the street. I wandered all the way around until I got in the alley behind it, then I pushed myself into the Void, exactly as we’d been practicing.

The roof I started on was flat, but some of them had pitches. I hoped the objective wasn’t to stay hidden because I didn’t think I could. Stone could hide in the shadows, but I would be in the open. I’d just have to make myself look like I was supposed to be walking the roofs... If anyone glanced this way.

Now that I could see more, I noticed that the people below me didn’t look up at all. They all had their heads down. Like they were watching the steps they were taking. I didn’t see anything on the footpath, though.

Using the height advantage, I searched for symbols, runes, anything that appeared to be magic as I walked along the roofs. I was so into my hunt that when a fan turned on in a nearby refrigeration unit, I jumped at the racket. I glared at the machine, spotting a black symbol about the size of my fist.

“Barbie? Can Stone hear me?”

“Yes,” he gruffly answered. “What is it?”

“Look around you. I just found a symbol that’s kind of like a spiraling web of some sort. I don’t think it’s part of this unit, and I’m pretty sure this is about the area where you felt the thinner air too.”

“There’s something on the bottom corner of this building, too,” Sloane murmured thoughtfully. “It’s, well, I think it’s a wall, not a barrier. It could show the caster what kind of people are passing by.”

Palmer nodded his head in the direction they’d been going. “Let’s keep walking and see if we can find anything else. The place Miller mentioned is a few shops up.”

Vaughn and the mage went ahead, a few paces in front of Sloane. York and Novak stayed closer to her back as Stone and I climbed from rooftop to rooftop.

None of the pedestrians looked away from their feet, their movements faster in this between these two buildings. As the air grew thinner once again, the smell in the area changed. It wasn’t something I was familiar with, but it reminded me of the forest floor.

“Fear,” Sloane stated matter of factly. “The scent around us is fear. It has a floral aroma when it’s fresh, but it takes on a compost smell when it’s old and lingering.”

I reached the end of my roof before Stone. The demon was meticulously searching for more symbols, though I had a feeling the next set would be farther down.

If what Sloane said was true, then they’d probably want the walls to be away from the actual building they were in. We wouldn’t find two walls caging in one single office or shop. They would encompass the entire block and any side alleys.

I peered over the edge of the roof, making sure there were no people below before I jumped down. Stone appeared beside me, jerking me away from the edge. Sloane was still, her shoulders tense as she stared into the alleyway I was going to drop into.

“Do you see that?” Stone asked.

“Barbie? What’s wrong?” I questioned her, following the demon’s line of sight.

“Fuck,” I drawled. “I guess we figured out who set the wall up.”

“How long do you think she’s been waiting for us—for Sloane—to pass by?”

I tilted my head to see Stone standing at my right side. “Too long. That’s not what I’m curious about, though. Is the wall making the pedestrians act paranoid? Is the fear theirs, or is it coming from someone else? The missing mages, perhaps?”

Between one blink and the next, Sloane was standing behind Annette. Seeing my mate so close to her was a kick in the balls, but only because I’d thought of our old neighbor as a harmless, frail, elderly woman.

She whispered something to Barbie, too low for me to hear. And then they misted, the water particles disappearing before I fully registered what was happening.

I landed a full six seconds after Stone. His swearing echoed between the buildings as the guys rushed forward to meet us. Their footsteps pounded on the pavement, a subtle throbbing at the base of my skull.

Wherever she was misting to, Sloane went with her. The possibilities of where they could be were endless.

I closed my eyes, breathing deeply to center myself. We could track her across the realms, and we would find her before anything went wrong.

Barbie was no damsel.

When I opened my eyes, I felt slightly calmer but ready for a fight. Palmer was on the phone with Murphy. Stone was describing the magic symbols as Millie asked questions in the background.

Novak and York eagerly combed over both ends of the alley, ensuring we were uninterrupted while looking for any more clues or symbols.

But Vaughn was missing, too.