Page 98 of Spirit Storm

"At least you're alive." Rowan doesn't look up from the journal. "I take it you didn't run into Tharuzel while you were chamber-hopping?"

"Thankfully, no." I drop into the armchair nearest the window, and Wylder grabs a cheese board and a sleeve of crackers and joins me. He pulls another armchair close and sets the wooden board across the arms of the two chairs.

"You're an angel. Thank you."

Asher scoffs. "No, I'm the angel. He's your boyfriend. Geez, Poppy, try to keep it straight."

I laugh and make a little cheese and cracker sandwich. "My bad. I'll try to do better."

Orion closes the journal without marking his page. "So, how did it go?"

"We shielded seven." I pull my knees up. "Three were already destroyed before we reached them."

The room goes quiet except for the ceiling fan turning lazily overhead.

Clara sets her notepad down. "Three more were down? Plus here, Ireland, and Denmark?"

I chew my crackers and nod.

Izzy uncurls her feet from under her. "So out of the original thirteen⁠—"

"Six are destroyed, seven are holding." I watch the math settle in across the room. It's the same math I've been carrying since the moment we confirmed the third ruined chamber.

There are almost as many lockstones broken as there are working.

"That's not enough." Rowan's gray gaze is flat and steady, which is somehow worse than if she'd looked frightened. "Fifty-three percent isn't a ward, it's a screen door."

"I'm aware."

"A screen door against something that makes Tharuzel look like a warm-up act. That's shit. We're totally fucked."

"Rowan." Wylder's voice is quiet.

"What? Are you saying I'm wrong?"

"There's no way to know. So far, there are still seven holding. We don't know how the spell was constructed or how many anchors the ley lines need to hold. We need to focus on what we do know."

Rowan spins the silver ring on her thumb and sets it back in place. "And what do we know?"

I walk them through our day, each of the ten chambers we visited, the way Asher's shield seems to have sealed the rune circles, and the deep thrumming resonance when the stone accepted his guardian light.

I tell them about the three destroyed lockstones, the scorch marks, the rubble, and the ancient carvings split clean through. "Thankfully, we didn't run into Tharuzel. And hopefully, by the time we do, Mica will have weapons for us."

"Is she even close?" Rowan asks.

"She is," I assure them. "Brimstone is helping her with the imbuing of blood and intention, and she thinks it's going to work."

Clara reaches over to the coffee table and reclaims her notepad. "We went to your scheduled meeting this morning with Torres. He didn't tell us anything you probably don't already know, but I recorded the whole meeting and sent the file to you. It's in the Brigade thread."

I take another sip of my soda and swallow. "Thank you. I'll listen to it tonight."

"He was..." Izzy tilts her head, searching for the word.

"Technically cooperative," Clara supplies.

"Technically cooperative," Izzy agrees. "He answered every question we asked. He just wasn't overly inspired to volunteer anything."

Orion leans back in his chair. "He gave us the same energy as the guy at the Irish chapter. Annoyed to be involved and determined to make sure we know it."