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Of course it was.

“And you know about it?” I asked Daphne, who crouched before me.

“I know a pixie who was in it. She hasn’t been the same since.” She turned to Hazel. “It was your contact that did this? Only an unseelie would dabble with that kind of magic.”

“I just provided a name.” Hazel shrugged. “Don’t blame me.”

Zoe sat on her other side, putting a protective arm around her shoulders.

“And if someone is in the deprivation chamber and between dimensions, they wouldn’t be visible?” I asked, calling their attention back.

“No. They wouldn’t,” Hazel said, shaking her head slightly. “It would explain why no one knew where she was.”

“And would their clothes travel with them?” I stood to pace, recalling how Lauren had been found naked with no sign of sexual assault.

“Nope.” Hazel shook her head.

Wait. Dr. Orpheus’s description of the machine he wanted to try on me replayed in my head. It’s fae. It crosses dimensions. I want to know if your experience will be different than other supes when connected.

I dropped onto my knees in shock, forcing Daphne to skip back a couple of steps. “Where is this device located?”

“It’s portable, but I’m guessing the brig because there’s limited personnel allowed there,” Daphne said.

“Who has access to this machine?” I asked, grabbing both Daphne and Hazel’s hands in mine. “Anyone besides the general?”

It wasn’t like I had warm fuzzies for him, but I didn’t plan on accusing him without cause, and it seemed so unlikely that the head of the base would be working to destroy it.

“Lots of people in SHADE,” Daphne said with a sigh.

“And the sect leaders?” I asked.

“No, actually. The general ordered me to forget about the contact.” Hazel tilted her head like she’d just noticed something. “The only reason I knew what he wanted was because Fazz told me.”

I assumed Fazz was the unseelie contact she’d given the general.

“Come on, we need to get to Julian.” I hauled them up with me.

“But we can’t get through the brig’s wards,” Daphne said, exchanging the kind of look with Hazel that said she thought I’d lost it. “They’re stronger than just about anywhere.”

“My sister can. Trust me.” I smiled at Zoe, who grinned in response.

“It’ll be faster if she gets us in the front of the base,” Hazel said as Karma stalked in the room again as a cat, then sat to lick his paw.

“Works for me,” Zoe said, striding toward the open space between the sitting area and kitchen and throwing out an arm. “Be careful. Wish I had clearance to come with you.”

Hazel dotted a peck on her cheek before taking my hand. “Watch Karma. If he signals you with a roar, that means I called for him, so let him through too.”

With that, she, Daphne, and I went through the portal, rushed up the steps, and into the lobby.

Gladys surprised me by standing and grabbing my arm before we quite made it to the elevator.

“Julian is missing,” she said. “They never left the building even though the general ordered house arrest. When I mentioned it to him, he replayed the video in the control room. They were escorting him out. But I’ve been here the whole time and it didn’t happen. Something is going on here, and it smells like a troll.”

“What? Are you sure?”

“If I wasn’t sure, would I be babbling to you right now?” Gladys narrowed her mismatched eyes at me.

Daphne hummed softly, closing her lids for a moment.