Chapter 18 #2
“They’re one of the more specialized mage classifications and tend to get recruited into Family or government infrastructures.
They’re one of the few who can use dimensional rifts to move from one place to another.
Information about them isn’t publicized, but years ago, I ran into one, which is why I recognized the signature type. ”
She frowned. “Okay, it’s a little frightening to realize someone could pop in anywhere at any time and just snatch you away.”
“If it helps any, their magic has its limits.” He shook out his arms, feeling the aches and pains release their grip on his muscles.
“Sliders tend to go through rifts alone, but they can take a rider, although it makes the jump difficult. The one I met was attached to a Family, and he was basically the heir apparent’s bodyguard.
According to him, so long as he had access to what he called a lock, he could move his charge with him through the rifts.
He never explained what the lock was, but my impression was it was unique to his charge. ”
Cass grimaced. “That makes me feel a little better.” She looked over to where Zane was pacing on the balcony, phone in hand, face set in grim lines. “That also means they had to have a lock on Russ, which suggests they know him.”
“Probably, or at least whoever the Slider works for knows him.”
She turned back to him. “Just how far can these Sliders go? Like, can they jump from one city to another or…”
“Short distances. At least, that was my understanding. Say, from here to the parking lot or here to next door—that kind of thing. Anything farther is too risky, especially if they’re bringing someone with them.
I’m not exactly clear on why, but I know it has something to do with how deep they go into a rift. ”
“Kind of like how Oracles can only go forward so far without risking a spiral,” she said almost to herself as she looked back into the living room. “And the chimera? Why leave that behind?”
He thought back to the hints of intent he’d caught while fighting the creature. He’d come in behind Zane and seen the chimera pacing back and forth in the living room. It hadn’t had time to rampage through the condo.
“I think it was left to deter anyone seeking out Russ,” Grayson said.
“So if someone selling cookies knocked, it would—what? Attack, take them out?”
Now that he wasn’t worried about getting his face ripped off or making sure Zane didn’t get a barb in the gut, he replayed his first glimpse of the hex. “No, it was more subtle than that.” The hex had been linked to an existing cast that was tied to… he narrowed his eyes. “The security code.”
Confused, Cass stared at him. “What?”
“The spell that triggered the chimera, it was tied to the security code.” The picture rapidly fell into place. “You put in the code, right?”
She nodded.
“Do you remember what you were thinking when you entered it?”
Light color stained her cheeks as she folded her arms. “I was thinking of how to get Russ to answer my questions.”
Based on the glint in her eyes, he took a guess. “Did those plans involve bloodshed?”
Her chin lifted defiantly. “I wasn’t going to act on it.”
He wouldn’t have blamed her if she had. “No judgment, but that intent triggered the chimera.” When her frown deepened into confusion, he explained, “You were pissed when you punched in the code, and you were pissed at Russ specifically. Those two factors flipped the trigger on the cast, which opened the rift and released the chimera. Until those two conditions were met, the hex lay dormant, keeping it locked on the other side. If I had time for a deeper examination of the spell, I’m betting there was a third condition that would trigger it to attack, one that was met when Zane and I busted in. ”
She rubbed her arms. “Was it really from hell?”
Remembering the oily slide of magic and the burn that lingered as he’d fought against it, he said, “No question.”
“Is it dead, then?”
He shook his head. “Not really. Demonic casts are extremely difficult to kill.”
She gave a delicate shudder. “So, that stuff Zane did at the end… what was that about?”
“Zane needed it to be far enough on our side so he could sever the magical bindings that allowed it to shift between its dimension and ours. Destroying those bindings basically locks it out of accessing our realm.”
She angled her head and studied him. “What about that weird shadow thing at the end?”
He frowned. “You mean the portal?”
“Sure?”
The questioning lilt of her reply told him she was a little unnerved. Not that he blamed her. Wrangling monsters was bound to leave you a little rattled. Not to mention dimensional rifts were not run-of-the-mill occurrences.
He tugged her close, giving her something to hold on to. “It needed to be sealed before anything nastier found it and crawled through.”
She eyed the empty living room. “You’re sure nothing’s coming back.”
He rubbed a comforting hand along her spine. “I’m sure.”
She rested her head against his shoulder. “As much as I want to get my hands on Russ, maybe we should head back to my parents so you can work on Sofia.”
He rested his cheek against the top of her head and briefly considered not admitting what he was about to share. “I know you’re worried about her, sweetheart, but honestly? Our chances of breaking her curse are higher if we can get to Russ.”
She pulled back so she could see his face, panic in her beautiful eyes. “What do you mean?”
He opened his mouth to explain that his conversation with Walter and scanning through the books had only given him a general frame of reference.
He needed to work smarter, not harder, and that meant determining how Russ had factored into setting the hex and, more specifically, what triggers were embedded within it.
Otherwise, Grayson could spend days trying to undo the curse, and he didn’t think Sofia had that much time.
He didn’t get a chance to say any of that because Zane opened the sliding glass door and stalked inside, a keen light in his dark eyes.
“Got lucky. Camera on a business behind the complex caught a shot of your guy being shoved into a cargo van.” He turned his phone so they could see the screen, where a surprisingly clear video shot showed a dusty white cargo van awkwardly parked between one of the condo’s back entrances and the cinderblock wall that separated the condos from the small business park.
“Can’t get much because that back wall is blocking the plates, but watch this. ” He hit Play.
The video started up with no sound. For a long moment, the van sat with its back doors open but blocking any view inside the vehicle.
The windows were tinted, and the camera’s angles kept the driver anonymous, but Grayson caught a shift of shadow from behind the wheel.
There was a blip on the recording, and suddenly, two figures appeared at the van’s rear door, one of whom was a disoriented, barefoot man dressed in a pair of plaid sleep pants and a white T-shirt.
Zane paused the video. “That’s Russ, right?” He handed his phone to Grayson, who tilted it so Cass could see the screen.
“That’s him,” she said. “They must have woken him up.”
“Probably grabbed him as he came out of his bedroom,” Zane added.
Grayson studied the still. The kidnapper’s pants, shirt, and ball cap were all a familiar shade of brown. “The Slider made sure to dress the part.”
“Easy enough to do,” Zane agreed.
Grayson zoomed in, trying to get a better shot of the Slider’s face, but it was pointless. Under the cap, the lower half of the kidnapper’s profile was obscured by an olive-green neck gaiter that was paired with black sunglasses. “Nothing.”
“Yeah pretty much.” Zane reclaimed his phone and hit Play for the rest of the recording.
Together they watched as the Slider shoved Russ into the back of the cargo van and slammed the door closed.
Then he moved out of the camera’s range as he went around to the passenger side.
The edge of the passenger door came into view as it was opened and then disappeared as it closed.
Seconds later, the van drove out of view.
“Is that all we got?” Grayson asked Zane.
The Hunter shook his head as he pulled up an image on his phone. “Your electro mage snagged a shot of the van on another camera about a half mile from here.” He turned his phone around so Grayson and Cass could see what he was talking about. “Notice anything?”
The image wasn’t the greatest, but it was definitely the same van. This time, the camera got a front-facing shot. The driver was in a similar getup as the Slider, but that wasn’t what caught Grayson’s attention.
“What is that hanging from the mirror?” he asked.
Zane’s smile was all kinds of fierce and showed a lot of teeth. “That is a parking permit.”
“For…?” Cass asked.
“The Incantanto.”