We kept following the scattering claws and slowly picked off more and more gargoyles.

  As we wended our way through the city, I realized we were heading to the industrial district.

  As we picked off one final gargoyle, I caught a glimpse of Alice’s face. She looked confused, concerned, and suspicious.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  It took her a moment to answer. She kept her attention warily locked on the buildings around us. Finally, she opened her lips and took a sharp breath. “Do you get the feeling they’re leading us somewhere?”

  My back arched with nerves. “Leading us where?”

  “I don’t know. But….”

  “But what?”

  “I was investigating this section of town, you know. In relation to the case. In relation to… Franklin.”

  My stomach did that thing – did that thing where it turned 360 degrees and felt like it would tie itself into knots until I choked to death. “What?”

  “I was here only several days ago. There, in fact.” She turned over her shoulder, twisted around, lifted an arm up, and pointed at the door behind us.

  It looked as if it led to some kind of storage facility, and as I inclined my head past the building, I saw there was a large yard out back full of shipping containers neatly stacked atop each other.

  There was now so much chaotic magic swirling around in the storm that it was hard to sense ordinary magic, but as I focused my attention on those shipping crates, I felt an undeniable charge of power.

  Whatever this place was, it wasn’t a simple storage area. “Where are we?”

  “Training grounds,” Alice replied.

  My stomach now didn’t just feel like it was tying itself in a knot – it felt as if it was going to twist itself inside out. Even though I wanted to hide the extent of my fear, I couldn’t, and I clutched my belly, pushing my fingers in until they caught between the button holes of my shirt.

  “The mob has to train their elite magical hitmen,” Alice continued in a cold but firm voice.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean just that. These were training grounds for their warlocks.” Alice kept her hand lifted, her stiff white finger pointed toward the large yard at the back of the building.

  Dread descended through me. It threatened to infiltrate my heart and stop it in place like a lethal electric shock.

  I took a step back, but that was when I heard the claws right above us.

  I jerked around, yanked my head up, and saw the unmistakable flick of a gargoyle’s tail as it leaped onto the roof above us.

  “Shit,” Alice said as she sprung forward, pulling the gun from her holster.

  She lurched toward the door, rounded her shoulder, sent a charge of crackling red sparks over her flesh, and used it to force the door open. Though it sounded as if it was locked, the lock shattered under the brunt of her strength, and the door swung open.

  The room wasn’t lit. Considering the growing power of the storm outside, barely any light could make it through the now swinging door.

  The only illumination was Alice’s magical gun and the glow of my Drift sword as I called it to my side.

  The only sound was our frantic breath and the drumbeat of our footfall.

  I could no longer hear the distinct scattering of the gargoyle’s claws. It had either stopped or disappeared.

  Alice didn’t say a word. I caught a glimpse of the side of her face from the illumination reflecting off her gun. Her eyebrows were locked together and pressed low, her lips flattened into a thin line.

  The magic in this building was so distinct and dark. I’d never felt something more stagnant. Though I’d never put much stock by people who claimed that they could feel that something bad had occurred in a place, now I couldn’t deny the sense crawling up my back. It felt as if people had been murdered here. Death literally hung in the air. Though there wasn’t the stench of rotting bodies, there was something far more devious, something far darker, and something that settled right in the pit of my heart and stopped it from beating.

  More sweat slicked my brow, dribbled down the side of my temples, and dripped along my chin.

  Alice kept pressing on, her footfall measured, her gun always raised before her.

  Finally, we heard a scattering of claws right at the back of the building.

  My eyes were adjusting to the gloom, and as I pumped more light into my sword, I managed to pick up a door on the far side of the room.

  Without a word, we both headed toward it.

  Training grounds. Those words echoed through my mind, blasting through my resolve, through my determination, and through everything I ever thought I’d learned about Vali.

  Franklin had been trained to be a hitman and groomed to be Vali’s possession.

  … No, I couldn’t believe that. Vali would’ve told me. And I’d been through enough with him now to know I had to trust him.

  There would be more to the story.

  We heard another scattering of claws then a scream. It didn’t come from the stone throat of a gargoyle but from the throat of a man.

  “Come on,” Alice screamed as she bolted forward and shot at the door. We were several meters away, but that didn’t matter – her aim was true, and the magical bullet sailed from her gun, dashed against the lock, and broke it.

  Alice rammed her shoulder into the door, and it swung open. She ducked into a roll and pushed to her feet. It was just in time as the gargoyle lanced toward us.

  It moved quicker than any of the other gargoyles we’d fought. It was more like a blast of light.

  I felt its tail sail toward me, and I didn’t have time to slice with my Drift sword. I lifted an arm and deliberately let its tail wrap around it.

  I felt its dark, violent magic and its poison, too. It was this old, foul energy that threatened to crawl through any crack in my skin and poison my blood.

  I clenched my teeth as hard as I could, and I called to my magic, letting it buffet against the gargoyle’s power.

  It shrieked.

  I yanked my arm and grasped its tail with my hand. I pulled it toward me and slashed.

  This time it didn’t go down in a single blow. Though my sword sliced across its back and sent rock dust scattering from a deep wound, it wasn’t enough to down the creature.

  That surprised me long enough that the gargoyle managed to unwrap its tail from around my arm. It slammed its claws into the ground and leaped. In a single jump, it sprang atop one of the massive, blue, rusted shipping containers to our side.

  Alice latched a hand on my arm and pulled me to the side, checking for any injury. When she was satisfied that there wasn’t much blood slicked across her hand, she shoved me hard again.

  The gargoyle wrenched a massive chunk of metal off the shipping container and threw it at us.

  Alice’s shove managed to push me out of the way in time. I fell against my side, rolled, and crunched up.

  Out here, the stench of death was everywhere. It tingled through my veins and left a truly bitter taste in my mouth. I wanted to retch, fall to my knees, and cry.

  I might have become a full Drift witch, but I’d never be comfortable with the dark side of power.

  “Its injuries are healing,” Alice pointed out with a shaking voice.

  Even though it was dark, I saw a crackle of magic move across the gargoyle’s injury. The wound had been deep enough that rock dust continued to splatter from it, but as that red slice of magic shot up its back, the wound sealed.

  The gargoyle jerked back, opened its mouth wide with a creak, and yowled. The sound was strong enough that it shook the shipping container, the metal creaking and groaning.

  This was just a distraction. We had to dispatch this monster and get back to the next gate.

  The gargoyle wrenched off another section of the shipping container’s roof and threw it right at Alice. It pitched it like a Frisbee, getting some decent spin on the chunk of metal until it whistled through the air.

  It was my turn to round my shoulder and shove hard into Alice’s back to knock her off balance. But I couldn’t get out of the way in time, and that chunk of metal slammed into me. Though I had the presence of mind to call on my magic and allow it to enshroud me, it wasn’t quite quick enough, and as the metal slammed into my chest, it knocked me off balance. I rolled several meters, the wind knocked out of me until I came to a stop face-first on the wet, muddy ground.

  The gargoyle wrapped its massive crackling tail around the shipping container. It was going to throw it on me.

  “Move,” Alice screamed as she fired off several rounds.

  I had no time to detach the gargoyle’s tail or attack the shipping container.

  My desperation led me to another path.

  Drift gates. Vali had already revealed to me that I could open them, and that was one reason why the gods feared me so much.

  I let my mind split through space as I threw myself into the center of my power. It worked, and a gate opened around me.

  I disappeared, but not for long. I got just a taste of the Drift as I traveled through it, then I reappeared, several meters away from the shipping container as it slammed down and crushed the ground where I’d been.

  Alice screamed. She quickly yanked her head to the side and saw I was no longer standing where I’d been moments earlier.

  The gargoyle hadn’t expected me to transport. Nor did it expect me to punch a hand to the side, access the Drift once more, and pull out the god’s sword.

  In a smooth, calculated, powerful move, I threw the god’s sword right at the gargoyle with all my might and my magic. It was enough. The sword skewered it right through the middle, slicing through the small black wings along its back as it plunged through the spine to the gargoyle’s stomach.

  The thing didn’t have time to scream. It turned to ash and it scattered on the roaring wind.

  The shipping container it had been throwing around so carelessly fell on its side, shaking the ground with a bang.

  Alice ticked her head from left-to-right, trying to keep up. When it was clear that gargoyle was down, she jerked toward me.

  I stared at my hands.

  I’d opened up a Drift gate without the help of my sword.

  … Where would my power end?

  That question spread through my mind like wildfire, burning through my thoughts, my fears, and my sanity.

  Alice reached me, clutched my shoulder, and stared into my eyes. “What the hell happened? Where did you go?”

  I managed a smile; I pressed my lips together, at least. “It doesn’t matter.”

  She snorted. “Sure it does. But if you don’t want to tell me, fine. We defeated the gargoyle,” she pointed out needlessly as she turned around and stared at the spot where it had been.

  The god’s sword was still there. Even though the gargoyle had disappeared, the weapon hadn’t.

  For the first time, Alice got a good look at it as she walked over.

  My back prickled with fear, but she didn’t shove a hand down to pick it up. Though she was a strong magical practitioner, she was still human – and I doubted she’d be able to wield a god sword without doing herself a significant injury, if not losing her hand altogether.

  She shook her head. “I’ve never seen a weapon like this. What is it?”

  I toyed with telling her the truth but settled with pressing my lips into a twisted line.

  Then I remembered something.

  Before we’d rushed out here, I’d heard a man scream.

  My cheeks slackened, and my eyes grew wide. Alice gasped as she obviously remembered, too.

  She sprinted through the shipping containers as she looked for the victim.

  As I ran to the left around a massive, rusted shipping container, I saw a man lying on the ground. He was in a suit, his hair slicked back with gel. Blood covered his torso and one cheek, and it was slicked through his hair as he lay on his side.

  I plunged down to one knee and grabbed his shoulder.

  I thought he was dead, and disgust sank through my gut. Then he gasped.

  Alice found us, skidded down to her knees, and stared at him grimly. A flash of recognition opened her eyes wide. “Shit,” she commented.

  “What? Do you know this guy?”

  “He works for the mob.”

  My stomach twisted a full 360 degrees.

  “A hitman,” Alice filled in the blanks.

  It was my turn to swear as I returned my attention to him.

  The man was injured – mortally wounded, if I was any judge. The gash in his chest was too deep; the blood splattered across his face and hair too much.

  But he was still conscious enough to make eye contact.

  Alice anchored one hand on his shoulder. “The gargoyle’s dead. We killed it. You can rest in peace.”

  “Gargoyle?” he spluttered.

  Alice frowned. “That’s what attacked you, right?”

  “No gargoyle,” the guy choked, blood splattering his lips.

  Though I wanted to shift back, I held my ground. The guy was rapidly losing energy, the light rapidly dwindling from his eyes.

  Alice clutched his shoulder harder. “Who killed you, then? Who did this?”

  The guy switched his attention to me. I felt his gaze magnetically lock on mine. My back burned with fiery nerves.

  “Franklin Saunders,” he said.

  With a rattling breath, he fell back, dead.

  I sat there, crouched low, as cold as the center of a glacier.

  Alice didn’t say anything. I felt her piercing attention on the back of my neck.

  It took me so long to remember to breathe, so long to open my lips and gasp.

  By that time, the man was dead, and I could no longer ask any questions.

  With a great clap of thunder, the sky opened, and a deluge of rain slammed down. As it struck the tops of the shipping containers, it sounded like a hail of bullets from Heaven.

  Alice’s phone beeped. She shoved a hand into her pocket and pulled it out. She swallowed then made eye contact. “It’s Vali.”

  My stomach clenched.

  “He’s calling us back in. It seems the other teams have managed to dispatch most of the gargoyles. Seems he wants us back to hold the fort, as he put it.”

  I stared at Alice. I clamped my teeth together and sucked one of my lips in to press it hard against the grooves between my incisors.

  We didn’t say a word to each other as we made our way back to Vali’s tower.

  I couldn’t speak – my mind was far too full of questions. It felt like they’d crush me, like they were stones that, one by one, were being placed on my chest and were slowly, methodically, and completely squashing my heart.

  By the time we made it back to Vali’s tower, the silence between us was thick.

  It was clear she was giving me space, but it was just as clear that she wanted answers.

  I only wished I could give them.

  The office was in chaos. The city was going through Armageddon. Though I doubted any of Vali’s other contracted employees knew what was really happening, they could appreciate that something extremely bad was going down. For one, Vali was undone.

  When I saw him striding through the corridors, it was to the sight of his crumpled shoulders, his scrunched brow, and his hardened gaze. A part of me longed to reach out, clamp a hand on his shoulder, and try to eke out his tension. The rest of me wanted to slap him until he told me the full truth. Just who the hell was Franklin? What had he done? And was it possible Vali had groomed Franklin merely to possess him?

  Was it possible? Yes. I couldn’t hide from that answer. The fake gods were mysterious. What was more, Vali had admitted that when he’d taken up his position as the so-called savior of this city, he’d done so under the premise of watching the humans and harvesting their energy.

  Whoever he was now, whatever moral equilibrium he’d found within himself, he was a different man.

  I drew to a halt. Vali had been striding past, but he turned as he noticed me, his neck becoming rigid as his attention locked on my rain-soaked face.

  He’d been striding along with a few of his senior staff. With a hushed mutter, he dismissed them.

  Maybe my questions were plastered over my face. It felt like my muscles weren’t there to lift my cheeks, shift my mouth, or open my eyes anymore – they were only there to display my shock, my confusion, and my doubt.

  I scratched my brow and tried to neaten my fringe behind my ear. It was either to distract him or to distract myself.

  Without saying a word, he nodded toward me and shrugged in the direction of his office.

  As I followed, the corridor around me changed. A second ago, it had been bustling with people.

  Now everyone just fell away like a whisper being swallowed up by a stronger, louder noise. The walls solidified, the windows disappeared, and the corridor now led in only one direction.

  We reached his imposing door.

  We didn’t say a word to each other until we entered the room. Even then, the silence was thick.

  He closed the door behind me, walked over to his desk, then stopped. With his back to me, he reached a hand out, his knuckles clenched. He pressed them into the leather insert in his desk, the cowhide rumpling beneath the move.

  I let my gaze dart over each one of his muscles. He was like pressure building in a pipe that needed an outlet lest it completely destroy itself and take the building with it.

  “What happened?” he asked in a deceptively quiet tone.

  “I encountered a stronger gargoyle. I dispatched it.” I had to use all my power to control the feelings soaring through me.

  This all came down to whether I trusted him. Every time I thought I’d answered that question – every time I assumed I understood Vali – the sand beneath my feet shifted and I was thrown to the side.

  Either there was something wrong with him or there was something wrong with me. Either I was right, and his secrets were poisonous, or I was wrong, and the reason I kept distrusting Vali was that deep down I couldn’t come to terms with what he was.