Chapter Fourteen
Hex
After hours of searching for the house from my vision, I realized it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Without a general location, that house could literally be anywhere.
Now, after numerous additional scrying attempts over several days, Apollo, or whoever is out there, must have had mercy on me and given me a break.
I'm currently staring at the house on my computer screen.
Typing the address into my phone, I grab my helmet and head out to my bike.
The GPS guides me via the blue-tooth connection as I ride.
Not knowing what I'm walking into, I park my bike a couple streets over from my target and slink through the neighborhood, grateful for the darkness that helps hide me.
Soon, I have eyes on my target, but the house is dark.
Either they've gone to bed, or no one is home.
There's no car in the driveway, but one could be in the garage.
Looking around, I check to see if anyone is out and about.
The coast is clear, so I sneak up to the side of the garage and peek through the window. No vehicle inside.
My next stop is the back door. I take a moment to feel for any magic traps or spells, but sense nothing.
With a tiny burst of magic, I pick the lock and carefully step inside.
Even with no cars present, someone could still be lurking.
I make my way through the house, keeping an ear out for any noises.
Whoever lives here could use a housekeeper.
This place is filthy, and reeks to high heaven.
Using magic, I illuminate different areas to get a better look at various things, but nothing catches my eyes as particularly important until I see the cage.
Grabbing it from the shelf, I scan for magic and feel a fading spark.
It doesn't mean Kory was here, I remind myself, trying to keep from getting my hopes up.
But something magic was. If it wasn't Kory, it must have something to do with him.
Why would I have seen this place in a vision otherwise?
I swear, the gods better not be fucking with me for their own amusement.
Quickly, I move away from that train of thought. There's no time to start doubting now.
Beer bottles and trash clutter the coffee table in front of me, so I almost miss the papers underneath the mess.
Blueprints. And a picture. Looking things over, pieces start falling into place.
It doesn't take a genius to start connecting the dots.
The one thing I can't figure out is how Kory got involved with people like this. Why would they take Kory specifically?
Without disturbing anything too much, I take pictures of what I can see of the blueprints, including the address and send them to Cipher to see what he can dig up.
After that, I search the rest of the house for clues, but come up empty until I get to the back bedroom.
Shoved down in the nightstand drawer are more vials like we found at Kory's house, only these aren't empty.
Now, I'm sure Kory was here. But where is he now?