“There,” he said and rushed over, Saint hot on his heels. They pushed the door open and froze, finding Wren on his knees in front of carnage.
Cages upon cages had been tipped over, traces of blood splattering the floor and cloying the air.
“We’re too late,” Wren said, sounding choked.
“But…but how?” Saint demanded.
“The blood is fresh.”
Saint crouched to examine it himself as Teddy walked over to Wren, laying a hand on his shaking back.
“Maybe there’s still some left farther in,” Teddy said. “Don’t lose hope, Little Bird.”
Wren did his best to still his quivering jaw. “I failed them.”
“You didn’t. You never could.”
“If we had found them sooner—”
“There still might be some left, and even if there aren’t, we’re going to put these guys down and prevent them from ever hurting another person or animal again. Okay?”
Wren took a deep breath before nodding.
“The blood trail leads that way,” Saint said somberly.
“We should still be careful,” Teddy said.
“There’s no way they don’t know we’re here.”
“Good,” Wren said. “I want them to know I’m coming for them.”
He strode to the door and Teddy followed closely on his heels, ready to back him up no matter what was around the corner.
What they found was more destruction. Side rooms had been turned upside down, paperwork clearly burned, the embersstill smoking a little. Lab equipment was also upended, bits of broken glass and syringes scattered around the floor.
It was clear that distribution of their drug had been done here, but any remnants were gone. They’d taken whatever stock they had made with them, probably when they decided to liquidate their assets.
In another room they saw glass cages of all sizes, attached by wires to computers that had been smashed or blue screened, hard drives no doubt wiped of any evidence.
Among the equipment were pieces Teddy had never seen before, resembling artifacts you found in the official warehouses. Cogs and magic thrummed from them, purpose unknown. There was a hint of a familiar flavor in the air, but Teddy couldn’t put his finger on it exactly.
“What is this?” Teddy asked. “Do you recognize it?”
Wren shook his head, still trembling with sadness and anger.
“Holy shit,” Saint said from another direction. They walked that way, into the main room of the warehouse, it seemed like. The ceiling was completely vaulted, with steel beams crisscrossing and a rusted metal walkway curling around the upper level and leading to what seemed like a suspended office with a huge window that overlooked the space.
In the center of the main room was a huge glass cylinder from floor to ceiling, connected to all manner of cogs and mechanisms. It filled the room with the stench of magic.
“Don’t touch,” Teddy warned the others, everything in him telling him to step away from it.
There was a tug from it he could feel in his chest, his cursemark aching for some reason. He rubbed the area and saw Wren do the same, cupping his eye.
“What the hell is that?” Saint asked, curling fingers around his upper arm.
“I have no idea.”
“We need to get a Nexus team out here, don’t we? This thing is…” Saint couldn’t even finish.
