The security room vanished, replaced by a dizzying wash of colors and shapes that gradually solidified into a forest road. The brothers’ SUV was just coming to a stop at what looked like a gravel parking lot. I could hear their breathing through the comms, could see the trees swaying in the evening breeze through Koa’s spy eyes. It was like magic, which, technically, it was. Koa had tried to explain how he fused technology with enchantments, but most of it had gone over my head.
“Okay, Brummy.” I adjusted the VR headset until the nose pad stopped digging. “Time to be heroes.”
He only yawned, and I rolled my eyes at his lack of enthusiasm. Somewhere in New Jersey, my boys were hunting monsters! And I had the best seat in the house! Our old farmhouse hadn’t even had wireless internet, and now I was about to pilot tech that probably cost more than its weight in gold!
“Comms check,” Casimir’s voice came through the headset, deep and clear.
“Reading you loud and clear,” I replied, trying to sound professional. “Visual feed is perfect.”
“Remember the rules, darling,” Zane said. “No unnecessary chatter, no distractions, and absolutely no shadow walking toward us if things get dicey.”
“I promised, didn’t I?” I reminded him, although the temptation to try shadow walking through the hologram if something went wrong was still there. It probably wouldn’t work, but what if itdid?And what if theyneededme?
“The spy eyes operate on a three-second delay,” Koa’s voice cut through my thoughts. “Whatever you see has already happened.”
“Copy that,” I said, proud of myself for using proper terminology. I’d been studying how they talked to each other, and now it was paying off!
“Sweet girl, that means even if youcouldshadow walk here, it would already be too late.”
“Oh.” My shoulders dropped.
Through the spy eyes, I watched them exit the SUV, all geared up with weapons ready. The abandoned village stretched before them, all weathered wooden structures, cobblestone paths, and an old water mill beside a swift stream. This place had been a tourist attraction since the sixties, a preserved slice of 19th-century life, but recently, something had changed. The visitors reported cold spots, whispers from empty rooms, dark spots moving against the light.
Two weeks ago, the local werewolf alpha had reached out to the brothers when his own warriors couldn’t identify the threat, and now my boys were moving forward at Casimir’s hand signal. They moved like dancers through the cobblestone streets, checking buildings systematically. Koa’s spy eyes darted ahead, providing multiple viewing angles that fed directly to my hologram table.
“Eyes on sectors three through seven,” Casimir said. “Seri, confirm you have thermal overlay activated.”
“Um.” I jabbed at the holo panel. “Blue blobs good, red blobs bad?”
“Gold star, baby cakes,” Zane snickered.
With the thermals on, I could now see a red spot near the gristmill. What’s more, Ifeltit, that same strange sensation I’d detected from just looking at the photos. It was a sound that wasn’t really a sound at all. More like vibrations against my skin, like fingers plucking at invisible strings connected to my spine.
“The gristmill,” I whispered, forgetting my promise to stay quiet unless absolutely necessary. “It’s there. Just sitting, but humming, I guess? I don’t know how to describe it.”
“Nothing on my screen, blossom.” Zane’s head tilted. “You sure?”
“Positive,” I insisted. “It’s like it’s calling to someone. Waiting for someone specific.”
The brothers exchanged looks, then changed direction toward the mill. I held my breath as they approached, the spy eyes zipping ahead to scout the building.
“Everyone, switch to spectral analysis,” Casimir ordered.
I brought up the right menu on the third try. The creature materialized, a shimmering mass of what looked like moldering lace, except lace didn’t have teeth made of rot. My stomach turned.
“Contact.” Koa’s voice dropped to that scary-smooth register.
“Confirm hostile,” Casimir requested.
“Confirmed,” Zane and Koa said in unison as the creature whirled toward them, sensing their presence.
It moved like water in zero gravity, flowing and ebbing with impossible physics.
“Zane, left flank. Ko, containment ready?” Casimir’s commands were crisp.
“Affirmative.” Koa held an orb in his hand, another one of his inventions, this one designed to trap magical entities.
What happened next was almost too fast to follow. The creature lunged, tendrils whipping. Zane stepped forward, singing in a language I didn’t recognize.
