Page 25

Seth

“Well, have you tried blocking it off?” asked the head idiot the EA had sent from Rome.

We were all in the fanciest meeting room of Darlington’s EA headquarters.

At the head of the table was Director Kwan.

Then there was Sybil and me. We were here on behalf of Desmon, which meant I was in civilian clothing instead of a stuffy uniform.

I was dressed extra punk gothy today since the spikes made me more emotionally stable than I felt.

Sybil had drawn on her eyeliner extra thick. And even though she didn’t have any spikes, we matched kind of well. Together, we looked like a couple of delinquents and not a dragon’s preferred personal magic users.

Across from us were Officer Koo and Newman, who represented the police. And finally, there were the two reps the EA had sent from head office since they seemed to think our local branch wasn’t doing enough to eliminate The Breach.

The first rep, Palivius, was the one who’d just asked the inane question, which had Eugene looking like he was going to have to stop Tommy from taking the guy’s head off.

He looked a little older than me, though I couldn’t be sure because it was obvious he used magic to alter his image.

He was wearing a suit. A suit! For a meeting at the EA office!

Did I mention that Palivius insisted on being called a mage?

I was glad most of the monster and magic world worked on a first-name basis, or else I was sure he was the type to insist we address him by last name only out of respect. Nina’s opinion that he was a stuck up prick from their web meeting had hit the mark.

The second rep was a shifter, though I couldn’t place what type and he never offered.

Alfonzo was also the nerdiest shifter I’d ever met.

I mean, straight out of 80s movies, you-can’t-make-this-shit-up kind of nerdy.

All he was missing was a pocket protector.

Oh, wait. He had one. He didn’t talk much but scribbled madly into a notebook any time anyone spoke.

At least I was triple sure these were not WEC plants. They’d taken one look at me and brushed me off, which was all the same to me. They could underestimate me all they wanted; that was how I liked it.

Director Kwan rubbed the bridge of her nose like she couldn’t believe head office actually thought we hadn’t tried something as simple as blocking off the area.

Officer Tommy Newman, on the other hand, looked like he was about to blow a gasket.

“Of course we’ve tried blocking it off, you sniveling sack o—”

Eugene elbowed him hard, then started talking over his partner loudly, listing all the things the EA and the police have done separately or in conjunction to contain or otherwise remove The Breach.

As he did, I zoned out, my mind going to my personal troubles.

Namely Hazel and Liam. Realizing how unfair I was being, I’d removed Liam’s barrier to Hazel shortly after he left the house yesterday.

Except, that wasn’t where he’d gone. He’d come home in the early hours of the morning smelling of booze and McDonald’s. Who the hell was he eating Mickey Dees with?

Ugh! I trusted him not to skip out on me, but I hated not knowing.

I didn’t know how to take rejection well. At least not from the people I actually cared about. Everyone else could take a hike. But Hazel? I actually cared about what she thought.

Was my little bit of deception with Chief Henderson a bad idea? Yes. That was uncalled for, but he was adamant that she’d lie to get back to work early, so I’d fudged it. I figured it would give us a few extra days. I didn’t want her to go yet.

I hadn’t actually planned to ask her to move in right away.

Liam had jumped the gun on that one. But when she refused his offer to have her stay, it had hurt.

Then she started going on about discretion and that had seemed like she was embarrassed to be seen with us.

Except she was trying so hard not to say it.

So I’d fished, even though I’d known that I wouldn’t like what I’d catch.

Of course, it’d be tough for her if they found out. I’d made sure of that by being the way I was. And I’d expected her to deal with that for me, after what? A little more than a week? After she’d already been plenty clear that this was supposed to be temporary?

For someone who fronts as nonchalant and unflappable, I sure had some deep-seated insecurities. The Breach and those stupid fucking dreams hadn’t helped. No matter how hard I tried to become more powerful, I was still human, and without proper sleep, my nerves were tattered and frayed.

Sybil’s knee hit mine hard under the table, bringing me back to the meeting I knew was crucial but didn’t have the energy for.

Palivius was looking at me expectantly. Shit. He’d asked me a question, hadn’t he?

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t catch your question through the accent,” I said.

“I asked,” he repeated slowly like I was hard of intellect, “why have you not banished this ‘breach’ with your magic?” He rolled the R and made dramatic air quotes at the word breach.

Was this guy serious?

Instead of answering such a ridiculous question, I asked my own. “Have you been to the site?”

“I have flown over by helicopter.”

“So you understand that it’s the size of a major intersection, right? And we just told you that it’s impervious to wizardry.”

He waved his hand like it was no biggie. “This is an issue of skill.”

I couldn’t help but notice Nina’s eye roll. Yeah, this guy was annoying. But I was sure of myself enough not to react to his implication that I was unskilled. Let’s see him try if he was so good.

“Well, if you think you can do it, maybe we can take a trip out to the site, and you can give it a try.”

Yesss…come to me, Seth. You’re the one I want.

Keeping a straight face while the entity behind The Breach spoke in my head proved a hell of a lot harder than ignoring Palivius’s jab at my skills. Since Hazel had stormed out and Liam and I had our spat, the voice had gotten stronger and stronger, harder to ignore too.

Did it know that I felt alone? Was it trying to sneak in while I was weak?

I hummed a tune in my head, trying to block the words without using magic, lest those at the table realize what was happening. I wasn’t sure how they’d react if they knew. But this was why it was crucial that we took care of this problem now rather than later.

Sybil cleared her throat. “We have strict orders from the Dragon of Darlington not to approach it yet, remember? So Seth and I will need to stay here if you guys decide to go.”

I sent her a nod of thanks. I didn’t want to be anywhere near the thing if I didn’t have to. It was bad enough with it talking to me. Technically, the order had been for me only since Sybil was female, and so far, all the victims outside of the initial moment of the breach opening had been male.

Oblivious Palivius snorted. “Imagine being suppressed by a dragon. Pity.”

It was then decided that the others would take a quick trip down to The Breach while Sybil and I stayed back and awaited their return. Nina sent Sybil and me a look that clearly said she’d rather hang out with us but had to go.

“Want to go raid the cafeteria, Sethy boy?” Sybil asked when we were alone.

“Sure,” I said, ignoring the nickname.

“So what’s on your mind?” Sybil asked as we sat at the cafeteria scarfing down the world’s largest bowls of spaghetti Bolognese.

“What do you mean?” I focused on my food and refused to meet her gaze.

“I mean, you’re not your usual witty, annoying self. The Seth I know would have been running circles around that Palivius guy and making him look like an idiot.”

I shrugged. “He was doing a damned good job of that himself.”

I wasn’t sure if Sybil was trying to ask about my relationship problems or about the voice in my head, but I didn’t want to talk about either of them.

“You’re right about that, but seriously. You’re not you. Having trouble with the missus?” She made a face. “Er, mister?” she corrected.

Ah, it was the relationship problems. Did it really show that much? I didn’t reply.

“Ha! I knew it. Well, I know you’re not going to tell me anything.

So I’m just going to give some general advice.

You can take it or leave it.” She held her fork in her food, pasta half-swirled.

“Sometimes if you want to fix things, you just have to apologize and really mean it, regardless of who was at fault.” She finished swirling her pasta.

“One time, Zayn’s serpent form decided to make a den inside the house.

And I don’t mean a blanket fort thing, an actual one with leaves and twigs and mud.

In my kitchen! I freaked out because, hello!

There was shit all over my kitchen! I demolished it, sweeping everything outside.

And he got all offended because I rejected his den. ”

Zayn was a naga who could become fully human, fully serpent, or stay in his natural form as a man on top and a snake at the bottom.

When Sybil first met him, he’d been under a curse that prevented his serpent and man side from working together, losing his natural form.

It seemed that serpent Zayn still let his serpent side take over completely because that was the only way he could possibly believe that building a leaf and mud den inside the house was a good idea since human Zayn would have to clean it up.

“I was angry for days,” Sybil continued.

“My kitchen! But eventually, I sucked it up, even though it was technically his fault, and told him I was sorry for yelling instead of explaining why I was upset and that I accepted his den, just not the location. And since I said sorry, he also apologized for messing up my kitchen and that it was perhaps not the best place for a den. Now, we both laugh about it. It was still his fault, though. But at least he never made a den in the house again.”

I’d already planned on apologizing. The problem was finding them and actually doing it.

Liam hadn’t been in the spare room when I looked for him this morning, and Hazel was already at the precinct.

Knowing how she felt, I didn’t think a big, public apology with flowers and romantic displays was a good idea.

We weren’t even finished with our meal when grim-looking Nina stuck her head into the cafeteria, and everyone who was eating lunch immediately sat a little straighter and ate a little faster. She waved us over.

“That was fast,” I muttered under my breath.

“My pasta,” Sybil sniffed.

But wasted food or not, we ditched our plates and joined the director out in the hallway.

“What was his professional verdict?” I asked. “It mustn’t be good because you look like you just swallowed a box of thumbtacks.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Nina said, tight-lipped. “The Breach ate him.”

Sybil and I exchanged a look. I hadn’t felt much overwhelming magic coming from the guy, but he could be shielding his powers the way Sybil and I were. But it explained why The Breach had been silent; it had been busy.

“Don’t worry,” Nina said. “It barely grew. Either head office got so sick of him they sent him over hoping something like this would happen, or he got his job through nepotism, and now I’ll have an angry father breathing down my neck.”

“His buddy recorded it all, though, right?” Sybil asked.

“That he did. And both officers had their body cams on. Even recorded him saying no one better touch him while he was ‘channeling.’”

That was convenient.

Eugene and Tommy were waiting for us back in the meeting room. Tommy looked almost smug, and I had a feeling we were on the same page for once. The nerdy shifter was back in his seat too, wiping the sweat off his brow with a handkerchief.

Nina took her seat at the front, then squared him a look and asked, “Any more ideas from head office?”

He shook his head.

“We might have one,” Sybil said, nodding to me. “We know the EA has a group of witches on their backup roster, and Desmon has working agreements with several small covens. We can get everyone involved.”

We explained the idea we’d been working on over at Desmon’s estate.

The plan was to use a mass spell, one cast by dozens of witches, all combining their powers.

While wizards sometimes worked together to achieve a goal, shared spells like these were rare, and trying to get different wizards’ magic to mesh was challenging.

But it was quite common in witchcraft, and even strangers could add their strength to the spell.

We’d only allow male practitioners who had already displayed resistance to help out.

With everyone involved, we should be able to close the portal together.

Some of the men, like myself, would still be in danger of being pulled in since we had both forms of magic.

“But we can help with that,” Eugene said. “We’ll stop anyone from jumping in. And the police have existing agreements with the local wolf pack; we can bring them in to help.”

“And the Redrock brothers,” Nina agreed. “The non-magic users can keep you all safe.”

There would be choppers in the sky to watch and make sure no one came and disrupted the efforts, and more importantly, this plan had to be thrown together quickly so that the criminal types wouldn’t use the operation as an excuse to rob a bank at the other side of town.

The EA would have to send those deemed unable to work on or near The Breach to cover the officers pulled from their usual patrols.

It would be a huge operation, one that required everyone to work together.

It wasn’t guaranteed to work, but it was worth a try. The only problem for me was that I’d need to get close to The Breach again, something I dreaded.

“You can’t be serious,” exclaimed Alfonzo. “You are talking about working with common witches!”

“What’s wrong with witches?” Sybil asked, her tone ominous. “I could neuter you with a single thought.”

“Not you,” the nerdy shifter sputtered. “I mean the commoners.”

What a way to backpedal. Commoners? Was this guy serious? He reminded me of the WEC with their talk about being the world’s elites. I guess the EA was really still ass-backward in other parts of the world. Or was it just the head office?

“And not just the witches, but the other monsters,” he continued. “We are supposed to work in secret.”

“Umm, I hate to break it to you, but they dropped the Secret part of the Enforcement Agency when The Wall fell,” I said. “I don’t see anything wrong with working with the public and other private businesses like Redrock Protective Services.”

If I were throwing myself into The Breach, I’d want the gargoyle brothers to be there to stop me.

“But it’s not orthodox!”

“Do you have another plan?” Nina asked.

That shut him up. Clearly, the head office’s plan had been to send Oblivious Palivius to take care of the problem. Now that he had failed, there was no backup.

“Then it’s decided,” Nina said firmly. “We fight this thing together.”

And that meant I was going to have to face The Breach head-on.