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“Would she have to destroy the stone for that?” Petra asked.
“Or just change the spell.” He pointed to the symbols. “The power of the stone is in the symbols. If she did that, who knows what she could do? Power whatever she wanted using the ley lines, I guess?”
“And that’s why the Cornerstones are magic neutral,” I said, “and why so few people know about them—so they don’t become objects of supernatural lust.
“We need to find her before she gets to one,” I continued, “and we need to stop her. Is there anything else you can tell us about where you think she might go, or where the other Cornerstones might be? Anything that might help us take her in before she hurts more people?”
“No. But if I think of anything, I’ll let you know.”
I didn’t doubt he would. He’d been entrusted with the care of a magical object, and he seemed to take that obligation very seriously. The problem was, based on everything we knew, he wasn’t going to have any more information.
Hugo ran a hand through his hair. “What should I do now? I mean, it’s my job to maintain the machine.”
“The machine is cordoned off while the investigation is underway,” Theo said, tapping fingers against his cast as he considered. “But there’s going to need to be repairs and cleanup.”
“There’s a fund for that,” Hugo said.
“A fund?” Theo asked.
“It’s part of the trust. The Machinist gets paid, and there are funds for repair.”
“We’re going to talk to the CPD,” Theo said, “and get you in touch with the right people so you can coordinate the repairs.” He pulled out his screen, started sending a message.
“Oh. Cool.”
Petra nodded. “We’ll need your expertise if there’s any hope of getting the ward up again.”
Hugo perked up now, straightened his shoulders. He’d been given another task, a new mission, and that eased his guilt. “Yeah, yeah, whatever you need.”
Theo nodded. “Good. I’m also going to get some guards over here now. Plainclothes so they don’t draw too much attention, but we need someone keeping an eye on this stone and making sure she doesn’t come near it.”
“Sups would be best,” I said quietly. “They’ll be able to sense her magic.”
“Yup,” he said, and tapped at his screen.
“Could I go see the machine?” Hugo said. “I don’t have to touch anything, but if there are parts that need repair, I could maybe make some sketches?” He sounded hopeful.
“We’ll see what we can do,” Theo said.
***
We locked up the shed, then walked Hugo to the warehouse.
“Wow,” he said, staring up at the broken building. “Wow.”
“We think it broke out the windows when the machine started,” Petra said.
Hugo looked at her, confusion in his eyes. “No, it wouldn’thave done that. It does the beam of light, but that’s only vertical, and there’s a door for it.”
Petra, Theo, and I looked at each other.
“Then it was probably due to fighting humans,” I said. “She’s a chaos demon, after all.”
“CPD is working on getting surveillance video,” Theo said.
“I can do that for you,” Hugo said brightly. “For my building, anyway. I’ve got cams, and I’m sorry I didn’t think of it.”
“We’d appreciate it,” Theo said.
