“Omnipotent magic and concealment.”
Gabriel nods. “I tried every revealing spell I could think of, but nothing worked. Now that this case is top priority, I’m supposed to alert my commander if I find anything, but I don’t want a hundred people trampling over the scene and destroying evidence. Without Francisco, I don’t trust anyone there, but I still want to go back. Since I need backup, and the kids are watching the movie right now ...”
“I’m an attorney.”
“I’ve seen you fight. Illegal amulet notwithstanding, I’d trust you to have my back just like I trust Francisco.”
“How is he, by the way?”
“Mostly recovered. He’s off mainly because he’s gone to Portland with Marlene for rehabilitation. He has a lot of family in the area who are banding together to help. I’m glad they weren’t here ...”
Hiram is, too.
“How about you?” Gabriel waggles his brows. “Is Veda a permanent houseguest?”
Ignoring him is easy. “I have hiking boots in the trunk. Let me tell Antaris I’ll be back, and then we can go.”
“Wait, you didn’t answer my question!”
Hiram closes the door in his face.
Fifteen minutes later, Hiram parks on the side of the road before the Dalneau Bridge and lets Gabriel lead the way into the forest on foot. Their destination is deeper off the road. He sees the pile of ashes first, then catches fragments of the barrier refracting the sunlight. Gabriel is watching him expectantly, which makes him realize his second purpose of being here. “You want me to try and tear it down.”
“I thought you knew that.”
Hiram laughs. “What was the strongest spell you used?”
“A shattering spell approved for investigators.Concutere.” That spell is strong enough to take down a building if it lands in the right place.
“My amulet is designed to serve my best interests, but sometimes it won’t absorb consequences from certain spells. I canenhancethat spell, if you’d like.”
Gabriel thinks about it. “A bit of an archaic way to cast, but worth a try.”
Working together is useful when Mages aren’t strong enough to withstand the consequences of some spells. The amulet will shield him from most of the blowback, but not all.
Gabriel raises his hand.“Concutere.”Without direction or focus, an orange orb appears in the palm of his hand and hovers.
Hiram opens his hands around the orb, the heat of its magic warming his palms. “Potentia.”
The orb grows hotter, turning from orange to ice blue. Hiram steps back, letting Gabriel guide it. Silently, it races toward the barrier with conscious precision, which shatters like glass, the fragments scattering across the forest floor. It sounds like someone screaming, high-pitched and terrifying. But it vanishes immediately, revealing what’s been hidden all along.
It’s closer to a shack than a cottage, though it’s well maintained. Gabriel is instantly on high alert. He’s the first to the wooden door. A talisman chimes in warning, but Gabriel puts it to sleep with a spell Hiram doesn’t hear. Gabriel steps inside and quickly returns, looking shocked.
“You need to see this.”
When Hiram enters, his first instinct is to pack Antaris and Veda up and return to the island. The shack is a mess, covered in nothing but pictures and frantic scribblings, trash littering the floor along with balled-up sheets of paper with numbers and incoherent words written in jagged penmanship. This is the prison cell of a man going insane but fighting it every step of the way. Hiram has chills. One wall is covered entirely with pictures of Veda. How long has Everett been watching? He estimates the time from her attire in each picture and guesses at least since February. It tracks from what Veda recalled about the shift in his behavior. There are a few photos of Khadijah and Peter, one of Antaris with Veda at the school holding pots of lavender, and several of Hiram marked with the wordcousin. Everett had worked out the link between him and Ariadne.
But it doesn’t stop there. Everett made more connections. Pictures of Marlene and Seren, with the wordtricksterscrawled across their faces. He knew. Pictures of all Ariadne’s victims, including Grace, are marked with the same thing:Sight Unseen.How did he know she had performed the spell on each of them? Hiram’s musings are interrupted by a photo of a familiar section of trees.
Did Everett find Veda’s house?
“Look at this,” Gabriel says from behind him.
In the corner, a small television flickers to life, already showing Everett on-screen.
“The remote was buried under a pile of garbage,” Gabriel explains, holding it up. “When I stepped on it, this started.” He waves the remote and unpauses the video.
“If you’re watching this, I’m dead, and she hasn’t found this place.”
