Winnie would do what had to be done. People were dying because of how they were born. If she failed in this quest, her mother would survive near-death in the hospital only to be harvested like an animal to slaughter. Thinking about it sent chills down her spine.

  Winnie shrugged away the shivers, leaned back against the wall, and sat with her eyes closed, trying to clear her mind. Soon, she was sleeping, and for the moment, her woes were behind her.

  Chapter 44

  Victor drove down Baltimore’s moonlit boulevards toward an unfamiliar section of town. Ordinarily, he wouldn’t have left at this hour of the evening. But the message had come from the Department. Director Kane requested his presence, alongside his protégée, Morgan Bennett. He glanced at Morgan in the passenger seat of his unmarked car. He was still unsure why she’d been invited. It made him uneasy that Director Kane might be aware of their inappropriate relationship.

  He had a great deal of affection for Morgan. He might call it love, if he believed in such things. They had a mutual respect for the law. A necessary ruse to gain information about a dangerous charm runner and her crew had blossomed into something much greater. Now, he could barely remember a time without her, or was perhaps unwilling to try.

  Morgan looked splendid in her Red Legs cadet uniform. She was proud to earn her rank as full officer. In another six weeks, she would be helping him rid the city of illegal magic and its demonic influence on law-abiding citizens. Victor was proud of her transformation from uninformed college student to enthusiastic informant and colleague. It gave him hope that other young people could change, too — that there was hope for this oft-corrupted world.

  Morgan caught his glance and smiled. She was unsure of herself, too. This would be her first meeting with the Director in person. Victor remembered how he’d felt on the first audience with the man who had single-handedly brought magic under government control. He laid a hand on hers where it rested on her leg, and felt her stiffen at the contact, then relax.

  He’d detected apprehension, or perhaps anxiety, in her throughout the last week or so. She was uncomfortable discussing it and Victor didn’t press the issue. At first, he thought she was pulling away from him and their intimate encounters. She told him not to be silly, she was just dealing with something from home. He didn’t want to pry, but offered to help if she shared her problem. Again, she said it was nothing.

  Now they were traveling in silence to the industrial area of the city that had recently seen a resurgence of retail businesses and residential lofts. But with only an address and instructions upon arrival, their final destination was a mystery.

  “Morgan, would you read the email I forwarded you again? We’re getting close and I don’t want to make any mistakes. Security precautions around the Director are stringent and I don’t wish to embarrass either of us by making an error.”

  “Sure,” she said, tapping to bring up the email on her phone. “It says to ‘proceed to 8701 Eastern Avenue and turn into the gated lot. Once there, stay in the vehicle with the interior light on so that all occupants are visible to guards at the gate. Present identification for yourself and Cadet Bennett, then await instructions.’”

  He reached into her tunic pocket and pulled out her departmental identification. It looked like his, though he kept his in a leather wallet designed to hold both the ID and his badge. She didn’t have her badge yet and had no need to keep the items together.

  “We’re almost there, I think. Can you read the numbers on your side of the street?”

  Morgan peered out the passenger window. “We’re in the 8500 block. Even numbers are on my side of the street, so our building should be on your side.”

  “Remember to stand at attention when we get out of the car. March just behind me and slightly to the right. Follow my lead. Speak only when spoken to by the Director. Otherwise, it’s best to observe in silence.”

  “Right, women should be seen and not heard, is that it?”

  “No. Cadets should be seen and not heard. Don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of time to talk on the drive home.”

  Buildings on the driver’s side were all part of some large industrial complex. There were tall fences, topped with coils of razor wire between the buildings — much more secure than a typical manufacturing facility could possibly need. There was an opening in the sidewalk between two buildings and a parking lot with a large gate. This had to be it.

  Victor pulled up to the gate, stopped, put the car in park, then reached down and switched on the interior lights. He pulled out his identification, holding out his hand for Morgan’s as well. He looked around, though it was hard to see in the darkness outside with the lights on inside. He was startled by a tap on the driver’s window. He jumped, embarrassed, then lowered his window.

  “This is a secure location, open to authorized personnel only. Please show me your identification or you will be detained.” The man’s voice was accompanied by a bright flashlight beam slicing the darkness to shine in his eyes.

  Victor handed over his ID and waited. A moment later, a hand reached back into view, returning the documents, and the blinding light finally left his eyes.

  “Proceed through the gate and drive straight ahead until you see lot 5A on your right. Park in a designated visitor’s spot and exit your vehicle. You will be met there. Leave your interior light on until you turn off the car. Do not stray from the vicinity of the vehicle until your escort arrives. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.”

  “Very well. Proceed.”

  The shadowy shape stepped back from the car and disappeared into the shadows. The gate slid open and out of the way. Victor slid the car into gear and pulled forward, keeping his speed constant and low to avoid any misunderstandings.

  “That was creepy,” Morgan said, breaking the silence. “What is this place? I know you said you’ve never heard of it, but how could something like this exist without anyone knowing about it?”

  “I don’t know. I guess if security is tight enough, anything’s possible.”

  “Be careful, Victor. This doesn’t feel like a normal meeting with the Director. It’s the middle of the night and we’re in a secret facility. This is how people disappear.”

  “It will be alright, Morgan. The Director can be trusted. You’ll see.”

  Victor was trying to reassure himself as well. Because Morgan was right. Everything about this place felt wrong. He was a high-placed Red Legs officer in the city. How had he not known about this place before now?

  The designated lot and marked spaces were exactly where the voice had described. Victor parked in a visitor’s space. Theirs was the only car in the lot. He killed the engine and the interior light. Street lamps overhead lit the parking lot like daylight. He nodded at Morgan and handed her the ID card. Then they exited the vehicle and stood beside the car, looking around.

  Victor shrugged. “I guess we wait.”

  “That will not be necessary, Constable.” The voice behind him caused Victor to jump again. He spun around to see a female Red Legs officer with a constable’s tabs on her tunic collar, too.

  He nodded and gestured to Morgan. “This is Cadet Bennett. I didn’t get your name?”

  “I didn’t give it. If you would please follow me.” The woman turned and started towards the nearest building, the largest one of the group he could see. Ancient lettering covered the door, paint fading on old red bricks: Beth Steel.

  “I thought all the old steel mills had stopped operating years ago,” Victor said. Morgan followed them to the closest steel door.

  “No talking. Please hold your questions for later. I’m sure the Director can answer them all.”

  Victor closed his mouth and followed her into the building. He held the door for Morgan, then resumed his place behind the other constable as she led them deeper into the building.

  The short hallway turned into a metal catwalk, then the building opened into a large, cavernous space. The floor was several stories down. On it loomed a massive, humming machine with cables thicker than his arm, leading from it to giant floor-to-ceiling tanks that lined the walls. Technicians moved around the bus-sized device, making adjustments or repairs. For every technician, Victor saw at least one Red Leg.

  He’d fallen behind their guide and rushed to catch up. He glanced back over his shoulder and saw Morgan wide-eyed, staring around at everything.

  They reached the far wall after crossing above the machinery, then down a set of zig-zagging stairs leading to the floor below. Nearing the lower level, Victor recognized the Director, dressed in his usual black suit, standing with a horde of technicians in white lab coats and pointing at the machine. One of the technicians — or maybe a scientist — shook his head then shouted something at a nearby group and sent them scurrying about.

  The machine’s hum was more than a sound. It resonated inside him as they approached the Director and lab coats. Victor pressed a hand on his stomach to throttle his nausea.

  The female constable tapped him on the shoulder and shouted in his ear. He could barely hear her over the machine’s racket. “Stay here. The Director will be with you shortly. I will return later to escort you out.”

  He nodded, watching her cross the floor and exit via a door on the far wall, near the machine’s front end. At this angle, he could see eight examination chairs arranged in a row before the machine. They resembled dentist chairs, save the straps where a person’s limbs might be tied down. About six feet above each chair was something resembling a small, inverted satellite dish, pointed down over the chair’s head. Each dish was about eighteen inches across with one of those thick cables leading to its back. Victor fought a fresh round of chills.

  He felt Morgan step up behind him, her chest pressing into his shoulder. He didn’t admonish her. She felt great so close in this place, her contact reassuring.

  Everything else felt somehow wrong.

  Director Kane finished his conversation with the lab coats, dismissing them with a wave, then turned and walked over to where Victor and Morgan were standing nearby.

  “It’s fabulous, isn’t it?” the Director shouted over the noise. “It took years to develop the technology from initial concept to working prototype.”

  “Yes, sir,” Victor said. “What is it, sir?”

  “This is Project X. Our final solution to managing the chanter problem and their unnatural control over the world’s magic. I wanted to show it to you and your young companion here, since it was your involvement in breaking up the sting operation with Justice Harriman’s granddaughter that finally garnered me the Assembly support required to pass the final resolution.”

  “Resolution 85, sir?”

  “No, 85 was a public front, laying the groundwork for Resolution 86.”

  Morgan started to say something. Victor shook his head to stop her.

  “You have a question, young lady?” the Director asked. “It’s alright, Constable. This is a momentous evening and her help was instrumental to moving this project forward.”

  Victor stepped aside so that Morgan could move up next to him.

  “What do you mean by saying it’s a ‘final solution,’ sir?”

  “Simple, my dear,” said the Director, as the first group of people were led in and strapped into the waiting chairs in front of the machine. “Once we’ve extracted all the magic from the chanters using this machine, they’ll serve no purpose and thus must be disposed of once and for all.”

  Victor froze at the older man’s words. Morgan looked from the Director to him, shock blighting her eyes.

  The machine hummed louder.

  Then the screaming began.

  Chapter 45

  The serpentine trip back through the sewers took them on a winding route through the city’s bowels with Tris leading the way. At one point, they emerged through a maintenance access door into one of the city’s subway tunnels. The crew had to flatten themselves against the walls as an underground commuter train roared by. At another point, the tunnel had partially collapsed and they were forced to climb into the cold sewer water, wading through the city’s waste and refuse for several hundred yards.

  After an hour and a half, Tris scratched some debris covering a wall placard, read the letters and symbols, then turned to the group.

  “We’re here. That access tunnel leads to the basement level of the old Beth Steel Mill.”

  Danny stepped forward to move up the passageway. Cait grabbed him from behind and halted him with a jerk to his collar. She wasn’t gentle. He turned to complain but she held a finger to her lips and stepped past him before closing her eyes to mutter a spell while her fingers wove a complex pattern in the air.

  Winnie cast a view magic charm and tried to follow the weave, but it was unfamiliar, and she got lost in the twisting flows as magic spread into the passage.

  After a few moments, Cait opened her eyes. “Multiple security measures have been deployed in the passage ahead, all installed in the last year or two and very sophisticated. I think I countered them all with some misdirection spells, but we should go slow and stay careful from here on out.”

  Winnie nodded. “Cait, you take the lead with Danny following to point you in the right direction. Then me, Tris, and Joey, you bring up the rear to watch our backs. Cool?”

  “Got it.” Joey smiled.

  Winnie exhaled. “Then lead on, Cait. We’re right behind you.”

  The group fell in line with careful, watchful steps, slowly approaching the steel mill above. After a bit, Tris said, “Can you hear that?”

  “What?” Winnie stopped. “I don’t hear anything.”

  “It’s more of a vibration, I guess. There’s some large equipment of some sort running ahead. This is supposed to be an abandoned industrial complex. I think we found Project X.”

  Winnie nodded. They had been as sure as a hunch could get them. The fact that Tris could detect the hum of machinery ahead in a place that was supposed to have no activity, coupled with the advanced security measures, all pointed to this being the right place.

  Now, their plan had to work.

  They walked up a bit farther. Winnie could feel the vibrating hum beating back through the floor and walls. Cait held up a hand to stop them, waving them to stand flat against the wall. She moved up to a crossing passage ahead, peered around the corner, then backed up and returned to the group.

  “There’s a pair of Red Leg guards ahead, watching a door set in the wall.”

  Tris leaned forward and whispered, “That’s the door we want. It’ll take us into the main mill building above.”

  Cait nodded, looking around, thinking before sharing her plan. “Joey and Danny, come with me. I’m going to try a spell I learned in the army. It should disorient them for a few seconds, no more. When I finish the spell, you’ll see a flash from around the corner. That will be your signal to rush forward and tackle the guards. Grab their weapons and radios before they come to. I’ll be right behind you in case one of them wakes early. Got it?”

  Danny and Joey nodded, then the three of them advanced to the branch in the passage ahead. Winnie watched as Cait started casting her spell. There was a bright flash from around the corner, almost like someone had opened a window to a sunny day in a darkened room. She saw Danny and Joey disappear around the corner, followed closely by Cait. She and Tris moved up to the corner, peeking around it to see Danny and Joey wrestling on the ground with a pair of Red Legs.

  Cait waded into the fray and, with an expert blow to the base of each guard’s skull, knocked them unconscious. At least, she hoped that was all her friend had done. Winnie hated the Red Legs, but didn’t want any deaths on this raid if they could avoid it.

  She and Tris moved up to join the others while Danny and Joey used the guards’ cuffs to secure them to pipes along the wall. One of the two groaned as they were moved to the wall. She was thankful that they were alive. Awake or not, once secured, they wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

  Tris squeezed by the others, walked up the two concrete steps, and examined the heavy steel door. A security keypad was set in the wall beside it. Winnie wished they’d left one of the guards awake to grant them easy access.

  Tris leaned over to look at the keypad before taking a small container from her shoulder bag. She sprinkled a powder on the keys, letting the fine dust settle on the edges, then whispered something, stroking the keys with her fingertips. The dust glowed, hovered, then settled on only four keys. Grinning, Tris tapped out a combination with the four illuminated buttons.

  The steel door separated from its frame by a few inches with an audible click.

  Cait stepped up after Tris made way and poked her head through the narrow opening. She pulled back and gripped the heavy door, swinging it wide to make room for them to go through.

  The vibration they’d been feeling through the concrete floor now sounded like the end of the world as a louder machine hummed from the other side. Cait stood guard while Tris took the blueprints from her bag and conferred with Winnie and Danny. Joey leaned over and looked on.

  “Okay, we are here.” Tris pointed to a passage and door on the plans. Her hand followed it to the right and her finger stabbed a small room at the end. “This should be the main utility room for the building. From there, in theory, we can control power and maybe even some of the building’s security systems.”

  Her finger moved the other way in the passage to a spot where it split into stairs and another passage opening into a cavernous basement space.

  “These stairs go up into the main mill floor. That would be the logical location for a large piece of equipment. Power and utilities would connect there.”

  “Right, so we take the control room, then move upstairs to find Project X and stop it.” Winnie looked into her friends’ faces. They nodded.