Peter is already there, trying to claw through the rubble that used to be the front porch. The roof is partially gone, bricks and debris scattered in all directions. Smoke coils from the scorched trees, and the earth is marked with blast damage. Veda’s bike is untouched, but Khadijah’s car is destroyed.
Hiram steps out, his legs nearly buckling beneath him. Crippling dread tells him that no one could’ve survived this. Before he can help Peter clear the debris, Gabriel intercepts with a grim expression. “Let us go first.”
So he doesn’t have to see what’s left,Hiram finishes in his head.
“Do it.”
It takes three investigators to clear the doorway. One of them tries to block access after Gabriel and Francisco enter. In an uncharacteristic outburst, Peter snaps, “Move out of my way or I’ll make you.”
“You and what amulet?” the investigator sneers.
“His.”
Before Hiram can step in to back up Peter’s threat, Francisco bursts out of the building, panic written all over his face. “Call a healer—now!”
While orders fly, Hiram and Peter rush past the threshold. Magic burns each of Hiram’s senses, watering his eyes and choking his lungs. It’s hard to wade through the potent waves, but he forces himself.
Gabriel is on his knees, performing chest compressions in a desperate effort to keep Khadijah alive. Her leg lies twisted at an unnatural angle, her arms and hands marred by cuts and bruises. Once white, her hair is matted with blood and ash. Peter moves Gabriel out the way and takes over.
Hiram pushes past them, searching the wreckage for any sign of Veda and Antaris, calling their names, panic mounting with each unanswered shout. Then Francisco calls for Hiram, and he runs over to them again.
Khadijah is conscious, trying to catch her breath. “They ... they ran,” she rasps. “I held Ariadne back ... as long as I ...” Her words dissolve in a coughing fit. “My Sight ... she—she took it.”
The horror that rises in Hiram is snapped by the sight of a red flare exploding in the sky.
“Veda,” he breathes. Itmustbe her. Then it hits him—Antaris’s notes. Thank the Cosmos he thought to enchant them. Without hesitation, he points toward the rear of the house, speaking the incantation to trigger the tracking spell. “Invenire aliquem.”
His ring glows green, confirming the direction. Francisco and Gabriel follow him out the broken pane of the solarium and into the forest. Each wrong turn makes the amulet in his ring glow red.
Terror claws up his spine, driving him to run faster, shouting for Antaris and Veda. He’s met with silence. The green glow is his only comfort, his only guide, until he sees a clearing littered with dead trees. Gabriel and Francisco shout for Veda. Still no answer.
“Antaris!”
A rustling sound comes from one of the fallen trees. Hiram sprints forward as his son crawls out into view.
“Dad!” Antaris sobs, throwing himself into Hiram’s arms. Shaking and terrified, his son refuses to let go. It’s only when Hiram sees his trembling hand rise, pointing toward the smoke, that he understands what Veda did.She hid him. She’s still out there. Something else draws his attention—the green light of his ring flaring anew.
He stoops in front of Antaris, wiping his tears. “Did Veda take a note?”
His son nods frantically.
Hiram turns to the others. Gabriel is already calling for backup.
“Francisco, I need you to take Antaris out of here.”
“Of course.”
But Antaris clings to Hiram, refusing to let go. The smoke in the distance is thickening when he kneels again. “I need to find—”
“Mom. Find Mom.”
Smoke blankets the sky and rises from the ground, thickening the deeper they go. Somehow, it feels familiar to Hiram, though he’s never been here before. The scent of magic grows stronger with each step. His amulet is still glowing, guiding their way. He doesn’t see the source through the wall of smoke until it’s right in front of them: a blazing ring of fire.
Gabriel extinguishes it with a charm. Hiram steps over the smoldering brush and nearly trips over something solid.
A body.
He recognizes the shoes.
