After peering at Hol y’s wounds, Tamara looked over at Caleb and motioned for him to show her his hand and arm.
She studied his wounds for a while and then leaned back, placing her hands to the side and slightly behind her on the coffee table.
“If I hadn’t been looking for it, I never would’ve spotted the spel ,” she said, shaking her head. “And it’s a weird spel . I mean, it’s more a trace than anything active.”
Damn. That was exactly what I was getting as wel . I closed my shields and blinked in the sudden darkness clouding my vision.
“Can you sense what it is or how to counter it?” Hol y asked. She was an exceptional spel caster, but she wasn’t the least bit sensitive.
Tamara reached out a hand, but hesitated before touching Hol y’s shoulder. “This might feel a little invasive.”
Hol y nodded assent and Tamara pressed her palm to Hol y’s skin. Tamara’s eyes closed, and whatever she did made Hol y cringe, but she didn’t pul away.
“It’s like the spel is hibernating,” Tamara said without opening her eyes. “It’s hard to explain, but it’s like the spel formed a crystal ized shel . I doubt it can do anything inside al that protection, but it’s barely traceable and I can’t get a slip of magic beyond the cocoon it’s formed.”
“So it would have to be active to be dispel ed,” I said, fol owing her logic, though I didn’t like it one bit. “But we fol owing her logic, though I didn’t like it one bit. “But we don’t know what triggers the spel or what it does.”
Tamara dropped her hand and nodded that she was finished. Hol y dressed quickly.
Caleb leaned back in his chair. “Hol y left yesterday morning. When she claimed she hadn’t, I thought she just didn’t want us to know who she went to see.” He shot her an apologetic glance. “But maybe that was just a trial run for tonight.”
It was possible. I drummed my fingers on the arm of the chair. “Both events happened in the middle of the night.
Was the timing based on when the caster assumed Hol y’s absence wouldn’t be noticed and when the attack would be unexpected, or does the spel ’s host have to be asleep?”
“Great. I’l never sleep again,” Hol y said, slumping.
Yeah, like that was real y an option.
“I think you should go to the hospital in the Quarter,” I told her. Caleb voiced his agreement and I turned to him. “You too.”
“No.” He pushed himself out of his chair. “Hol y, yes, definitely. She should be under observation and under the care of trained physicians and healers. No offense.” He glanced at Tamara. “But not me. I’m fae—the spel might not even work on me.”
“Or it might.” It was probably aimed at me, after al , and I was part fae. I hadn’t told Tamara and Hol y that little detail yet, so I kept that thought quiet. Caleb gave me a look that said he wouldn’t budge, and I sighed. “So now what?”
“We need to cal the police,” Hol y said.
I agreed. Caleb didn’t. Majority vote won and Hol y phoned in the cal .
“You probably need to find a way to fix that,” Tamara said, pointing to the far wal of the room.
I twisted to see what she meant and the blood drained from my face. In the air where we’d fought the ravens, smal , pinprick-sized wisps of Aetheric energy twisted.
I’d ripped holes in reality. Again.
Chapter 14
There were seven smal holes—not nearly as many as spel ed disks, so apparently only the ravens I’d destroyed had caused tears. I couldn’t close the rips in reality, so Caleb worked on glamouring over the holes while we waited for the police to arrive. My friends shot curious gazes my way, but none demanded an explanation. Yet.
I excused myself, gathered PC and my purse from the guest room, and then retreated to the stairs so I could dress before the cops arrived. I grabbed one of the charmed disks before I left. I had no doubt the police had their very best people working to unravel the spel s on the disk, but the feet, the constructs, and the spel s on my friends were linked, and once the police confiscated everything, I wouldn’t get another look at the disks. I needed a lead in this case. Now more than ever. Dropping the disk in my purse, I took the steps two at a time. It wasn’t until I’d reached the top and my free hand was hovering over the doorknob that I remembered my apartment wouldn’t be empty.
Falin is on the other side of this door. And aside from when he’d been unconscious and when we’d fought side by side against the ravens, I hadn’t seen him in a month. Now I couldn’t decide if the prospect of being alone with him excited, terrified, or agitated me, but my fingers shook as I grabbed for the doorknob. Get hold of yourself, Alex.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open, not sure what I would find.
Not finding anything wasn’t what I was expecting.
Not finding anything wasn’t what I was expecting.