he pursed his lips. "It's like trace Arcane."
"Say that again?"
"I mean it's like what got left behind for me when I uploaded and downloaded that book. Like ghost images of what had been there. I suggest you find a way to dump your phone to get that out of there."
"So, something Arcane was in my phone, or had to be to leave these elements?"
He nodded vigorously. "Yeah."
"So I brought whatever it was from the shop, into Ina's house and there it came out of my phone and grabbed the book."
Ivan didn't answer at first. Grey came out of the house and started sniffing around the grass nearby. Poor thing. Probably had to go real bad. "How did it get back out of the house?"
"Huh?"
"If you brought it in through your phone, did you take it back out through your phone?"
I stared up at him. "I don't think so. I used my phone right after it to talk to Kyle."
He snapped his fingers. "That's how it got out. It went through the connection to Kyle's phone," and then his expression changed. "Oh shit…it's in Kyle's phone!"
"B ut how can something that's allegedly spiritual even attach itself to a phone?"
Ivan closed his eyes. "Who said these things were spiritual?" He held out his hands, palms up and I watched as he connected to the web. I didn't know how he did it, and I wasn't going to try and suss out the logistics. It was just something I'd seen and grown to accept.
The only thing I knew for certain was the magical community, as it stood now, did not need to know that Witches like Ivan existed. It would be the same if the government ever found out about us.
I could just see the threads of wireless magic surrounding him, spinning around his fingers as he manipulated local Internet connections, security cameras and service providers. I assumed he was looking for Kyle's phone.
When Ivan opened his eyes they were green and glowing. He moved his hands and ghostly images appeared in front of him. He swiped at them like anyone would swipe at a tablet screen or smart phone, pinching things to make them smaller or using gestures to make them grow.
I saw strands of colors as he plucked through them and then centered on one strand that glittered a bright and brilliant red.
"I got him. He's on the phone with…" Ivan narrowed his eyes. "I don't know this guy. Might be somebody new he met."
"Is he at home?"
"No. He's on the road, and he's not near his house. I know the communication between the phones is red because of the Shadow entity—and it looks like the thing's trying to move from Kyle's phone to this other person's phone."
Oh shit. "Can you stop it?"
"I can cut the connection. But Kyle's just going to call him back or vice versa."
"Do it anyway. Can you shut his phone down?"
Ivan moved the strand of glittering red to the right and then widened it. "Yes. He's got that app on it to find his phone. I can shut it down, but then we won't be able to communicate with him either."
"Find out where he is first." I slapped a hand to my mouth as I fought back a yawn. I'd noticed the overwhelming fatigue settling on my shoulders since leaving Rose's house and now it was even heavier.
"I'll zero in on him with traffic cameras."
I tried to move all those pieces together in my head as I waited on Ivan to locate Kyle. The Clerics had given me twenty-four hours. That was at nine this morning. It was already closing in on six in the evening and the sun was setting. I had fourteen hours or so to find the Hammer or they were going to request a warlock. Truth was, that was taking the request to Parliament. Who knew how much longer it would take Parliament make a decision? The Witch Parliament wasn't exactly a speedy bunch. Part of me figured if I didn't find them what they needed or invent something to placate them by exactly nine in the morning, there was still time.
"Got him," Ivan said as he moved blurry images across his virtual screen and read out an
"Say that again?"
"I mean it's like what got left behind for me when I uploaded and downloaded that book. Like ghost images of what had been there. I suggest you find a way to dump your phone to get that out of there."
"So, something Arcane was in my phone, or had to be to leave these elements?"
He nodded vigorously. "Yeah."
"So I brought whatever it was from the shop, into Ina's house and there it came out of my phone and grabbed the book."
Ivan didn't answer at first. Grey came out of the house and started sniffing around the grass nearby. Poor thing. Probably had to go real bad. "How did it get back out of the house?"
"Huh?"
"If you brought it in through your phone, did you take it back out through your phone?"
I stared up at him. "I don't think so. I used my phone right after it to talk to Kyle."
He snapped his fingers. "That's how it got out. It went through the connection to Kyle's phone," and then his expression changed. "Oh shit…it's in Kyle's phone!"
"B ut how can something that's allegedly spiritual even attach itself to a phone?"
Ivan closed his eyes. "Who said these things were spiritual?" He held out his hands, palms up and I watched as he connected to the web. I didn't know how he did it, and I wasn't going to try and suss out the logistics. It was just something I'd seen and grown to accept.
The only thing I knew for certain was the magical community, as it stood now, did not need to know that Witches like Ivan existed. It would be the same if the government ever found out about us.
I could just see the threads of wireless magic surrounding him, spinning around his fingers as he manipulated local Internet connections, security cameras and service providers. I assumed he was looking for Kyle's phone.
When Ivan opened his eyes they were green and glowing. He moved his hands and ghostly images appeared in front of him. He swiped at them like anyone would swipe at a tablet screen or smart phone, pinching things to make them smaller or using gestures to make them grow.
I saw strands of colors as he plucked through them and then centered on one strand that glittered a bright and brilliant red.
"I got him. He's on the phone with…" Ivan narrowed his eyes. "I don't know this guy. Might be somebody new he met."
"Is he at home?"
"No. He's on the road, and he's not near his house. I know the communication between the phones is red because of the Shadow entity—and it looks like the thing's trying to move from Kyle's phone to this other person's phone."
Oh shit. "Can you stop it?"
"I can cut the connection. But Kyle's just going to call him back or vice versa."
"Do it anyway. Can you shut his phone down?"
Ivan moved the strand of glittering red to the right and then widened it. "Yes. He's got that app on it to find his phone. I can shut it down, but then we won't be able to communicate with him either."
"Find out where he is first." I slapped a hand to my mouth as I fought back a yawn. I'd noticed the overwhelming fatigue settling on my shoulders since leaving Rose's house and now it was even heavier.
"I'll zero in on him with traffic cameras."
I tried to move all those pieces together in my head as I waited on Ivan to locate Kyle. The Clerics had given me twenty-four hours. That was at nine this morning. It was already closing in on six in the evening and the sun was setting. I had fourteen hours or so to find the Hammer or they were going to request a warlock. Truth was, that was taking the request to Parliament. Who knew how much longer it would take Parliament make a decision? The Witch Parliament wasn't exactly a speedy bunch. Part of me figured if I didn't find them what they needed or invent something to placate them by exactly nine in the morning, there was still time.
"Got him," Ivan said as he moved blurry images across his virtual screen and read out an
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