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I released them. Once they’d left, I took a deep breath, drawing in the night, letting it filter through me, change me, until I was once again little more than shadowed energy. I surged upward, being mindful of both the distance I was traveling and the shield I couldn’t see but could still feel. Once I was well over sixty meters in the air, I moved toward the square, making sure I took a curving path rather than a more direct flat one. The foul energy briefly grew more intense about three meters in and then disappeared. Its abrupt absence made me feel a whole lot lighter—and a whole lot cleaner.
When I reached the center of the old city square, I paused and studied the ground below me. I’d half expected vampires or wraiths or some other force waiting for me, but the square was empty and quiet. The only thing stirring was the occasional dust devil caused by the wind drifting through. The false rift still hovered above the bones of Carleen’s people, meaning what I’d seen on the other side of the wall had been nothing more than an illusion.
Unless, of course, what I was seeing now was the illusion.
I took a deep breath to calm the nerves, but just as I started down again, movement caught my eye. The rift had begun to spin gently on its axis, its dark surface alive with shimmering, sparkling energy.
A heartbeat later, a fist-sized hole appeared in the shield I’d only been able to feel up until now. Light began to peel away from this point, until what had formed was a doorway.
Through this stepped a woman.
She was tall, thickset, with dark hair and skin, but even as I watched, her form began to ripple—change—until what stalked toward the rift was tall and thin, with pale skin, close-cropped blond hair, and an odd mark at the nape of her neck.
And the power that radiated from her was every bit as powerful as that I sensed in Nuri—only its feel was corrupted, alien.
This was our earth witch, and the third of Sal’s partners.
I arrowed down as fast as I could, but the woman disappeared inside the rift before I could get close enough to grab her. I cursed and shifted shape, landing feetfirst and in my true form. Lightning lashed out from the rift’s dark surface; it wrapped around my wrists and ankles, then unceremoniously dragged me toward the fast-rotating dark orb. Air spun around me, thick and foul and filled with dust, growing stronger and stronger, until it felt like I was being pulled into the heart of a gale—and one that might very well lead to a trap. Just because there’d been nothing waiting for me on this side of the unseen shield didn’t mean there wouldn’t be anything on the other.
The darkness of the rift encased me. Energy burned around me, through me, tearing me apart, atom by atom, until there was nothing left but an echo and a thought. Then, piece by tiny piece, it put me back together again.
I had no idea how long I hung in that darkness, silently screaming, but eventually the energy died, the whips holding me disintegrated, and I was jettisoned out onto a surface that was hard and cold.
All I wanted to do was collapse in a bleeding heap and let my body repair itself, but I had no idea where I was or who might be near. And the witch I’d followed surely couldn’t be too far away.
I forced my head up, sucking air into my burning lungs as I scanned the immediate area. The room wasn’t locked in darkness, as I’d half expected, but instead washed by a clean blue-white light. I couldn’t sense my quarry’s presence—or anyone else’s, for that matter—but the room itself wasn’t empty. Rows and rows of high metal shelving stretched before me, each one filled with an assortment of boxes or old bits of office equipment. Dust swirled through the air, the only indication someone had been through here recently.
I took a deep, shuddering breath, then crawled over to the wall and called to the healing magic. I might want to give chase, but doing so when my strength was low wasn’t a good option right now.
Once the lash marks on my body and limbs had healed and my energy levels were somewhat replenished, I changed the color of my hair and eyes as well as my scent, then pushed myself upright.
The dust had settled, but it had left enough of a trail to follow. I wove my way through the metal canyons and couldn’t help noticing that many items on the shelves bore government bar codes. Had I landed in some sort of dumping space for unwanted items? It might explain the government-marked crates I’d discovered in the Broken Mountains base—though all of those had seemed far newer than anything here.
I continued on, but the room was vast, and it seemed to take forever before I finally reached anything resembling a door.
But it was one hell of a door.
It was ten feet high and at least that in width, and made of a sturdy metal that rivaled anything I had in my bunker. It not only had blood and iris scanners on board but almost medieval-looking dead bolts. While these had been slammed home, they weren’t actually padlocked, but they didn’t need to be, thanks to the attached electronics.
I wasn’t getting through this door with anything short of a cannon. Certainly, none of my weapons would make even the smallest dent in it. And I doubted I could shoot the panels out of action—as I had done in the basement of Deseo—simply because
these appeared to be a more modern version of the ones I had in the bunker. Shooting them sure as hell hadn’t gotten me anywhere.
Which meant I had two choices—either I went back through that damn false rift, or I made some noise and got some attention.
After a moment’s hesitation, I stepped up to the door, raised a fist, and hit it as hard as I could.
Chapter 6
The metal rang like a bell and the sound echoed loudly in the silence. I moved back and away, keeping to the left of the door as I hastily wrapped a light shield around myself. I wasn’t sure how strong it was or how long it would hold, given the low-grade level of the lights in this place, but it was all I had. The corridors and rooms beyond this one would undoubtedly be brighter, so taking on energy form would be pretty pointless—especially given my reserves weren’t great.
For several seconds, nothing happened. But as the echoes began to subside, the panel on this side of the door sprang to life, quickly running through its various checks before it cleared whoever was on the other side.
I unclipped a gun, flicked the silencer into place, and held it at the ready. The bolts slid back and then the panel flashed green and the door silently opened. No one entered, nor could I see anyone. Not from where I stood, anyway.
But I could hear them breathing. Could sense their tension, expectation, and alert readiness. Whoever these people were, they were well trained.
After a moment, one man in a mottled blue uniform slipped through the door, his movements quiet and fluid.
