Page 85 of Sigils & Spells

Two construction workers paused to watch us.

Even though they couldn’t know what we were doing a wash of performance anxiety hit me. Under their curious gaze, I swung back toward the opposite end of the lot. My more-or-less straight path brought us within a dozen feet of the bike’s location.

“You said your magic brought you here. Do you still sense Jonah at all?”

Aidan came alongside me. “There’s a tug. Court and two of the pack’s best trackers went all over this area. Jonah was here, but it’s like he disappeared into thin air. Things are … tense with the pack right now.”

I bet they were. A year ago the local wolves had rescued two thirteen-year-old deer shifters. No one was ever arrested for the death of the predator who’d transported the young girls in the trunk of his car. According to the scuttlebutt, the coroner barely managed to identify the man’s eviscerated remains.

“I swear someone’s blocking my magic.” He scraped his fingers through his auburn hair. “Jonah could be nearby or twenty miles away. It’s frustrating.”

“Shield magic?” There were different degrees of shield magic.Look awayspells were the most commonly used. Some shielders could soundproof rooms. A popular (and expensive) ward spell among those with a kid who dreamed of being a rockstar. A small percentage of practitioners could render themselves magically invisible.

“That’s my guess. Tracking witches capable of masking themselves is almost impossible. I’ve never had any problem tracking shifters or humans until this case. We don’t have a magic sensate in the department or I’d have them out here checking.”

If a ward blocked magic I doubted a sensate would feel anything. I could be wrong. I’d ask my dad.

“Twenty miles is your range?”

“Twenty-seven actually.”

Impressive.

Right about now, I’d give up caramels if I could detect my magic within a quarter-mile range. I felt like I was wasting the detective’s time.

A glint of metal caught my eye. Even though I didn’t feel a whiff of magic I stopped, bending to examine the object.

“What is it?” he asked.

Irritated with myself, I stood, handed him a dime, then resumed walking.

Ahead of us stood a nearly completed apartment complex. Grooves of bare earth, packed down by a steady stream of foot traffic from hauling supplies back and forth, cut through the sparse weeds.

I’d decided to turn and sweep out another dozen feet or so for the next pass across the lot when a faint buzz of familiar magic caught my attention. A weight lifted off my shoulders.

Excited by the discovery, I practically shouted, “This way!”

“You’ve got something?”

“Yes.” Admonishing myself not to run and stay focused, I headed toward the three-storied building where bricklayers worked, perched high on scaffolding.

Mounds of sawdust littered the ground around us. I veered around a pallet of bricks. Aidan caught hold of my arm, stopping me before I walked in front of two men carrying drywall. His fingers were smooth. The warmth of his touch seeped into my skin.

I grinned at him like a giddy fool.

Fortunately, he wasn’t looking at me but at the workmen.

He didn’t release my forearm until they’d passed.

Get a grip, Girard.

The thunk of work boots reverberated through the air as the men ascended a wooden ramp.

Mentally reprimanding myself to pay attention to my surroundings, I led the way.

“It’s close. Maybe on the other side of that ramp.” The increasing hum of magic brought us to a shaded space where the ramp and the brick wall met. Using the toe of my shoe, I probed the corner. My foot connected with a solid, squishy object. The instant thehide-itcharm was knocked off, a blue and gray backpack materialized. I stared at it in disbelief. There was no way the small silver charm laying in the dirt could mask a bag of this size. There had to be another spell layered over mine.

“Don’t touch it.” Aidan pulled disposable gloves from his pocket. He put them on as he crouched down onto his heels.

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