Page 24

“Thanks, Sensei,” I teased. I’d already mentally tallied the list of supplies I planned to grab from the lab and stash in the bottomless belt compartment she’d gifted me.

Thankfully, by the time I got home and packed up, Mama and Em were sound asleep and Zoe was presumably at Hazel’s, so without having to launch into another exhausting explanation, I stuffed some extra things in my belt and changed into black leggings and a forest green tunic-style top I had to admit looked killer with my black belt and high-heeled boots that felt like slippers. I braided my hair, something I rarely did, and finished off the look with a chameleon charm I snuck out of Zoe’s jewelry box. That way, no one would easily recognize me if MorningStar had my photo on a list or something. My body stretched upward by about two inches and my boobs swelled until my bra became uncomfortably tight and my cleavage spilled over the top. My eyes stretched and thinned, turning coffee-colored, my skin deepened to a golden tan, and the auburn of my hair darkened until it resembled the shade of Karma’s raven feathers.

I was hot. I’d wanted to be discreet, but now I felt like I’d attract more attention. At least I didn’t look a thing like me. The obvious and completely unwelcome thought that Zoe used these charms for bedroom play had me gagging as I snuck outside to meet Mabel.

“Sorry, I’m waiting for an expected fare,” the ghost said when I opened the door.

“It’s me,” I hissed as I climbed inside. “I’m in disguise.”

Even barely visible, Mabel’s eyes bulged, and her mouth shaped itself into an O. “You’d win the costume contest for sure.”

“Thanks,” I said, buckling up. “The portals, please.”

“Any particular one?” she asked, squealing as she pulled a U-turn.

“Sedona, or as close as possible,” I said, taking a deep breath. At least it should be easier to track a psychic down there than in a big city like New York.

“Oh, that’s easy,” Mabel commented. “That place is already full of natural vortices, so that was one of the first portals erected.”

In less than half an hour, I was stepping through the metallic archway where the afternoon sun nearly blinded me. Luckily, I threw up an arm and steadied myself before accidentally stumbling off the dirt trail and down the side of the steep incline into a cluster of cacti.

The other portals I’d used with Julian had been hidden inside of buildings with security in place, so I’d expected something similar. Apparently, this one was old enough and out of the way enough that it didn’t rate those kinds of measures. It was a major oversight I’d have to tell the gener—

Turning, I realized there was no portal back on this side. I reached out and set palms against the rock and dirt of the shallow cave inlet I’d stepped out of. Huh. I was about to have a fit in the middle of a mountain in the desert when I spotted the shimmering crystal embedded at the base of the cave wall. I bent to inspect the piece of quartz and, when I touched it, the glowing green portal energy lit on the other side of the wall, and I could just make out the familiar forest beyond the base’s tarmac. Clever. I straightened, counting, and the entrance faded in ten seconds. I could work with that.

I pulled out my cell and checked the GPS so I could start winding my way down toward the town before dark, not wanting to encounter any nighttime desert creatures like tarantulas, scorpions, or…I snickered at the thought of bats and the silly stories about vampires turning into them. Imagining Julian as a bat shifter instead of a vampire humored me enough to get me down the mountain with a good hour of sunlight left.

From there, I used an app on my phone that I hadn’t since moving to the island and ordered a rideshare to a nearby hotel so I could grab some water and settle into a base of operations. The enormous red rocks were beautiful backlit by the sunset, but I had bigger things on my mind.

Sedona wasn’t huge, which was both good and bad when it came to my mission. It would be easier to find the psychic, but it would also be easier for the enemy to find them. I wished Tittwell had given me more information on the target’s name and appearance. As it was, I didn’t even know if they were a man, a woman, or something else entirely.

A sudden veil of hopelessness fell over me as I sank into a chair in the lobby of the resort. I had no clue what I was doing. I wasn’t a spy; I was a scientist. I couldn’t use either mind-bending or telekinesis without risk of being detected. It had already been almost forty-eight hours since Julian and MorningStar had gotten a head start. For all I knew, they and the psychic were long gone. What was the point in trying?

It took me exactly two minutes of wallowing to realize that these strong emotions drowning me were coming from someone else. I sat up straighter, sipping the bottle of overpriced water I’d bought, and scanned the lobby. My gaze flitted from the bored, young workers behind the welcome desk to the couple in tourist hats and sunglasses staring at their phones, to a young woman in the corner. A gold nose ring glinted from the tiny open portion peeking out of the navy sweatshirt hood drawn over her face. I squinted, and her aura swam into view, revealing dark gray bursts swirling with sickly yellow streaks. She was on serious broadcast despite trying to hide in her clothes.

Frowning, I put up my energy shield and stood to toss my empty bottle in the recycling. Pythia’s voice piped up so loud it startled me.

Watch.

I sat back down and stretched, zeroing in on the hooded woman in my peripheral vision. Her long ebony fingers had once been polished red but were bitten down to stubs and tapped against the leg of her torn jeans. Her foot, clad in a worn black sneaker, jiggled so fast I was afraid she’d start a fire on the wooden floorboards.

Every few seconds, she glanced at the entrance as though expecting Godzilla to burst inside and level the place. When the sliding door to the outside pool whooshed open behind her, she flicked a finger. It snapped shut, barely missing the woman holding a toddler and striding through.

I leapt to my feet. She’d just used telekinesis. What were the odds that I’d chosen the very hotel she was in?

No accident. Pythia said.

But before I could work that out, the woman in the hoodie had locked on to my reaction and stood as well, fingers twitching at her sides. I opened my mouth to tell her I was no threat, but she bolted before I could get the words out.

Go.

Now Pythia was being downright unnecessary. I charged after the woman, my balance only slightly off-center because of my new body size. The front door slammed shut much faster than natural. It took me precious seconds to pry it open manually and continue the chase.

I couldn’t mess this up. MorningStar probably spotted her use of TK, and if I added to it, they’d be out here that much faster. I had to get to her first.

She darted down a street lined with small shops and restaurants, weaving between tourists until I lost sight of her for a moment.

The psychic, Pythia said.