Page 110 of Magic Claimed

We leftthe control room and jogged through the wide hallway that had been teeming with people only a short time ago—now empty. Passed through the double doors and took the stairs leading down, but instead of only two flights we went three—all the way to the bottom.

“This is where the kids headed,” Shane told me. “They had a little freedom to explore, but they said they were never allowed down here. If Blake’s cache is in this complex, this is the most likely spot.”

The hall we entered was narrow and the ceiling low, as if we were in an underground tunnel of some kind. Fluorescent lights flickered, and water dripped from overhead in multiple places. There were no signs of habitation, but still a strange itch developed between my shoulder blades and only grew as we kept moving.

“Someone is coming,” I murmured to Shane, and his minuscule nod indicated that he heard me but didn’t want to alert enemies to our presence.

I reached for my magic again and felt the slightest trickle of power… but not enough. Not yet.

The sound of running feet from up ahead sent my heart into overdrive and tensed my muscles for attack…

But as they came around the corner, it proved to be a pair of panicked teenagers who took one look at us, screamed, and skidded to a halt, preparing to run the other way.

Oops.

Shane had been wearing his glamour when he rescued them.

“Wait up!” I called after them. “We aren’t your enemy! We’re just trying to get out of here!”

The smaller of the two—a tiny blonde girl—looked back over her shoulder, her face twisted with suspicion. “Where’s the woman who saved us?”

Shane growled under his breath, and suddenly the air rippled again as his Kes glamour settled into place. “That was me.”

The two teens’ eyes went huge, and the boy stared from me to Shane and back again, his gaze watchful and tense and somehow very familiar…

“You’re Jeremiah,” I breathed.

He took a step back. “How do you know my name?”

I glanced at Shane. “What did you tell them?” Or rather, whathadn’the told them?

“I didn’t have time to explaineverything,” Shane muttered.

Diplomat the goblin was not, so apparently it was up to me to convince them to trust us.

“Your mom asked me to look for you,” I told Jeremiah. “Once we found out you’d been kidnapped, we started looking for other kids who’d gone missing after playing online games.”

I glanced at the blonde girl. “I don’t suppose you’re TabbyCat409?”

She gulped.

“You may not recognize me, but I live across the hall from you. With Logan.”

Her eyes finally flared with recognition. “Did my mom ask for your help,too?”

“She did,” I assured her. “She has the police out looking for you.”

That turned out to be a mistake. Her eyes narrowed, and she backed away from me. “You’re lying. My mom hated you guys. Told me I wasn’t allowed to talk to Logan. No way she asked you for help.”

Jeremiah moved to place himself between us, and I immediately knew I was going to have to find some other way to earn their trust.

“I’m telling the truth,” I said calmly. “But if it helps, Jeremiah, your mom’s name is Monique, and I’ve been to your house on the corner of Twenty-first and Lee.”

“My kidnappers would know that much,” he responded flatly. He began to back away, holding out an arm to the side as if to shelter the girl behind him. “Tell me something they wouldn’t know.”

“Your mom believes you didn’t run away. She showed me your room. It has dark wood floors and a dark blue comforter. Dirty dishes on the desk, and your closet is basically a booby trap waiting to happen.”

He didn’t budge, and I realized I was heading in the wrong direction. I could describe his bedroom down to the last detail, and it wouldn’t help, because his kidnappers had been there too.