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What’s worse, the insanity that caught my attention shortly after we rescued Caelan is no longer relegated to this region.

I glance at the map spread out on top of a table. It’s one of three placed sporadically around my second-floor library.

Initially, I really thought—hoped—the anomalies I discovered were local. At the very least, I hoped they’d stay local.

They didn’t.

What started as a few instances throughout the coastal region of Massachusetts has spread rapidly. The entire world is on the damn playing board now.

I glare at the screen of my laptop, and I swear it glares back. Or maybe I’m hallucinating. I’ve been reading and re-reading the list over and over. So often, I might actually go mad.

At this point, I can recite the entire multi-page document—a compilation of detailed reports of each strange occurrence over the last forty-eight hours.

I compiled the damn thing myself.

Each time I think the reports are starting to slow down, I come across another random comment, or Reddit post, or Youtube clip. Each one is random. Each one, strange as fuck.

Sighing, I scroll up and start at the beginning. Again.

Seismic anomalies in Southern Italy. Despite an absence of major fault lines in the area, according to the USGS. A mirrored tremor that hit upstate New York less than four hours later. Glitches in the atmosphere above northern Japan.

It started like that. Small, strange things. Odd, but not terribly concerning. Then, reports started coming in of bigger, messier events, all over the globe.

Events that don’t simply set off warning sirens, but are more like an F4 tornado ripping down the road outside your house, demanding your attention.

I navigate to another program on my laptop, pulling up a secondary list. This one contains everything reported by various legitimate organizations around the world: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the USGS, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, the FAA, and plenty of local and state law enforcement.

My eyes scan the document, landing on a particularly odd entry.

Almost thirty-six hours ago, tremor levels spiked in Iceland. Right before a cluster of migrating birds flew straight into the ocean.

Not over it. Fucking into it. Like something scrambled their brains mid-flight.

Last night, three cows in Montana were found dead with burn marks under their hooves. Their internal organs were cooked. They didn’t have a mark on them otherwise.

Then, there’s my personal favorite. Early this morning, a satellite picked up heat signatures in the Highlands of fucking Scotland. In an area that hasn’t seen foot traffic in decades. Images show a perfect circle, fifty feet across in diameter. The fire burned for exactly eleven minutes, then disappeared. There wasn’t a single mark left behind.

All different countries, all different situations. And, no obvious connections, except they all took place in the last thirty-six hours. And quite a few included heat or fire.

I groan, rubbing my temples.

I’ve run logistics, checked maps, been down Reddit message boards, and even hacked into the UN’s internal disaster coordination system. Just to find out what the hell is happening.

I’ve found zero fucking answers.

This is the problem with Gav ordering me to “get information.” I tend to hyper-focus. As soon as tremors ran through the compound here, I looked into the supposed seismic activity at the Varenthrall estate. My mind latched onto the two incidents and refused to let go.

They’re connected. I know it. The same way the other weird shit happening around the world is connected.

Somehow. I just can’t figure out how.

There’s one upside, at least. My obsession with data and patterns keeps my mind from wandering to Caelan every few minutes like a train running off its tracks.

I scrub a palm down my face, letting it rest there for a beat.

There’s been no news on Caelan. I took two breaks to check on him, but he looks exactly the same as he did yesterday. Pale, wan, exhausted. In pain.

Two days since he nearly died. Two days since I sat here and listened to him walk into a trap, and did nothing because he asked me to ‘trust him.’