22
Markus reached out to a few other contacts.
They all but confirmed that a convoy of trucks would be transporting the captured phantoms through the narrow streets of Salem.
The mapped out route, as far as we could tell, was a mix of populated areas and historical sites.
Alex, Markus, and Jordan would patrol the outer circle, ensuring the array was stabilized while Ren, Stella, Ivy, and I would focus on protecting the center circle so I could activate the array.
If everything worked out the way we expected, I’d be able to connect with the phantoms to guide them home while using that immense magical power they left behind to repair the tear in the veil.
As we were all heading out the door, getting ready to set our plan into motion, Ren grabbed my arm. “Theo, wait.”
Alex turned around, concern lighting up his expression.
“It’s okay,” I told him. “Just tell the others we’ll be out in a minute.”
He nodded, and the moment he closed the door behind him, I turned to Ren.
“What’s ahh—” I dropped my jacket when Ren grabbed my shirt. He whipped me around, slamming my back against the closet door. For just a moment, his warm lips pressed into mine with a ferocious need until he pulled away.
“Ren?” I whispered.
“You don’t get to fucking die tonight, Theo.” His voice was firm and unyielding but carried compassion with it. His jaw was set, eyes dark and steady, burning with the fear I knew was still settled in the back of his mind—that recurring nightmare of him ending my life.
I lifted my hands to his face, my palms cool against his warm cheeks.
“Ren, as much as I find your caveman-level possessiveness and constant need to protect me sexy as hell, you do realize I can take care of myself … right? I’ve survived the underworld, handled psychopathic murdering phantoms, and avoided dying quite a few times already. I’m not exactly a delicate houseplant.”
“I kill houseplants,” came his dry response.
I sighed, dropping the humor. “Okay, I get it, Ren. I promise I’ll be careful. If something feels wrong, I’ll run. No heroics. No last stands.”
“What about him? Do you really think he’s ready for this?
” Ren’s mouth twitched, frustration bleeding through the control as he nodded toward the front door through which Alex had just left.
“Does he really know what he’s doing? He’s been sheltered his whole life, and as far as I’m concerned, his magic isn’t listening to him. ”
I tenderly kissed him on his chin. “We share the same magic, remember? Whether we like it or not, we’re connected and my magic wants to work with his. Let’s also not forget his magic alerted him once already when I was in danger. It'll do it again if anything happens. I’m sure of it.”
Ren was silent for a beat, no words coming out of his mouth.
“I meant what I said earlier, Ren. If you’re really not okay with this, we can—”
His lips met mine once again, cutting off the last of my statement. “Just … come back to me in one piece. I’m not taking a second trip to the underworld to pull your sorry ass back to the living realm.”
“Oh, I doubt you’d have to worry about that.
” I chuckled as I picked up my jacket and zipped it up, then grabbed his hand in mine and led him toward the door.
“If I die, I’m definitely not going back to the Nether realm.
I’m staying right here with Emily and the other ghosts while haunting you for the rest of your life. ”
Outside, two cars were parked in the driveway. Markus was waiting inside his SUV with Jordan in the passenger seat and Alex in the back. The rest of us, including Ivy and Stella, piled into Ren’s car and set off toward downtown Salem.
The mood in the car was abysmal, everyone on high alert and expecting the unexpected.
It had been nearly two hours and there was still no sign of the Syndicate anywhere.
According to Markus, the center of the array should have been somewhere around Derby Street but we weren’t seeing anything out of the ordinary.
As far as everyone was concerned, it was a normal evening in Salem.
Darkness was settling in, the streetlamps casting a warm glow over the brick sidewalks, where a modest crowd meandered.
Despite the bitter winter cold, the streets seemed calm, almost peaceful, but there was an unease settling deep inside my chest.
“Okay. I’m just going to get this out. Am I the only one who thinks this whole thing is fishy?” Stella finally broke the long silence blanketing the car. She opened a bag of candy, offering a piece of chocolate to Ivy, who enthusiastically accepted. “Something’s not adding up and I don’t like it.”
“Are you saying we shouldn’t trust Markus?” Ivy asked, nibbling on her piece of chocolate.
Stella adjusted the beanie on her head, tucking her hair out of her face. “How should I know? We’ve been circling for two hours and nothing has happened yet. Did no one else think this whole thing might be a ruse? That’s literally what the Syndicate does … manipulate people.”
“But we know they’re manipulating us. It’s not exactly a secret.
” Ren turned down Front Street, starting our fifth time circling downtown Salem.
“Whether Markus’ assumption is correct or not, we can’t pretend the Syndicate isn’t planning something tonight, even if they have an ulterior motive behind it. ”
I watched the uneven sidewalk of Front Street move past under amber streetlamps, narrow lanes flanked by squat brick storefronts, their windows etched with frost. The sentient magic stirred inside me, uneasy and icy, crawling through my veins with the taste of something unsettling lingering in the air.
Ahead, the junction with Derby Street opened into a wider cobblestone stretch near the old square, with shadowed facades on each corner where small snowbanks were piled.
Even in winter’s quiet, downtown remained busy with the after work crowd of bundled figures crossing the intersection, their footsteps leaving damp trails where their boots met the bricks.
“Something’s not right.” The magic in my chest churned and snapped, crawling through me like a warning I couldn’t ignore.
“Were you not just listening to me? That’s literally what I just said!” Stella grunted.
It was near a battered brick wall beside a darkened café that was closed for the evening, a place we had passed countless times tonight, that something finally caught my eye—a spray-painted mural on the side of a building.
Thick strokes of black and rust-red paint cut through one another in sharp angles and spirals, the lines warped just enough to look careless.
Anyone else would’ve dismissed it as messy artwork.
I replayed that night Ren and I had come back from the club and bumped into Sly as vandals were painting a similar mural. These paintings had a strikingly similar art style … and the people they depicted?
“Stop the car!”
Ren slammed on the brakes, the car behind us honking as it suddenly swerved around us. “What is it?” He pulled off to the side, powering over a small snowbank to fit into a parking spot too small for his car.
“That … that mural.” I pointed, already hopping out the door, boots skidding on icy asphalt as I crossed the sidewalk. The others jumped out of the car and trailed behind me.
“What about it?” Ivy cocked her head as if changing her viewing angle would reveal some hidden message.
“Looks like some doodle from an aspiring artist whose talent didn’t get the memo.
” Stella stared at the artwork in front of her, failing to see it for what it really was.
“Wait, I’m getting bits and pieces of a young guy with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Did you commission someone to paint your portrait? Because I’d ask for your money back.”
“No. Look harder.” My chest tightened as I analyzed the wall.
The longer I looked, the more the shapes aligned.
The disproportionate face had a snarling mouth and aggressive stare.
But beneath the curves of his nose, the sharp angles and slashes of his eyes and jaw, circles nested inside one another.
Angles converged toward a central point.
Tiny runes hid in paint drips and cracks.
“This isn’t some amateur drawing. The lines, the shapes …
they’re runes! It’s a fucking magic array! ”
I took off my glove, running a hand down the rough brick.
The paint glowed with my touch. It was faint, with lines lighting up like veins under skin.
From the array’s center, thin filaments of light spilled outward, racing along the ground and vanishing down the side streets, slipping beneath doors, curving around corners.
My blood ran cold.
“Oh, fuck. I think I just activated it,” I said as I saw half the city light up from a distance. It was followed by screams erupting from all around me.
“What the fuck did you do?” Stella stepped in front of Ivy, summoning flower petals that swirled around them chaotically.
I shook my head. “I … I don’t know! I just touched it!”
My phone buzzed in my pocket. “Markus?” At first there was nothing but a static, muffled noise. “Are you there? What’s going on? We found this magic array …”
“It’s not just one, Theo.” I could hear commotion going on in the background as Markus responded.
His voice was shaking, his breathing labored.
It sounded like he might have been running.
“They’re all over the fucking city, and they’re connected to the underworld.
The Syndicate never planned on transferring the phantoms in a convoy, they’re going to send them through these transportation arrays!
” The phone suddenly went silent. It sounded like Markus and the others had their own problems to deal with. We were on our own.