Page 74 of Unbound

Instead, I go straight to the window. It looks like it hasn’t been opened in years. There’s no chance I’m getting it up with brute strength. Good thing I don’t need brute strength. I step back and shove it open telekinetically. The frame groans. I pop the screen loose and look down.

Of course. There’s a dumpster directly beneath the window. And naturally, the lid is wide open.

“Thank God for magic,” I mutter. I close the dumpster telekinetically, then climb through the window and carefully lower myself down. Once my feet hit the lid, I jump to the pavement and hurry farther into the alley. I find a relatively hidden spot that smells terrible but gives me enough room to work. My mind flashes briefly to Devon as I pull everything from my backpack.

I’ve done this spell enough lately that I practically have it memorized, but having him around to help set everything up has been nice. I spread out the map. Then I take the vial of Claire’s blood. My heart pounds as I carefully add a single drop to the spell. I begin the chant. The herbs scattered across the paper tremble. Slowly, they move and gather into a tiny circle on the map. I stare at it.

Claire.

She’s only a few blocks away. “Holy shit.” I take a picture before anything can shift.

I wait another second. The herbs stay exactly where they are. Claire isn’t moving. I grab the map, shake the herbs back into my bag, and text the picture to Leo and Antonio. Hopefully, they can create enough of a distraction to get away from the hunters inside. I make it back to the sidewalk and stop at the corner, waiting to cross.

The second I step into the crosswalk, someone rushes toward me.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“Stop!”

I turn. A police officer is running toward me. Either he’s Order in disguise or the Order somehow convinced local police to bring me in. Neither option is particularly good.

Claire is too close.

I run across the street and dart between two buildings.

As soon as I’m out of the general public’s view, I stop and raise my hands.

If this guy is a real cop, he’ll follow procedure.

“Florence Malus,” he says, breathing hard as he catches up. “You’re under arrest. Turn around slowly and put your hands on your head.”

I do exactly what he says. He steps behind me. The second his fingers close around my wrist to pull my hand down for the cuffs, I turn. I press my fingertips against his forehead.

“Somnun.” His body goes limp. I catch him before he hits the ground and gently lower him onto the pavement.

“Sorry.” I pull out my phone and check my location. I still have a couple blocks to go. Then I run. I don’t stop until I reach the area marked by the spell. And immediately, I don’t like it. Not because anything looks inherently dangerous. It’s just empty. A huge parking lot stretches in front of me.

There’s some sort of convention center to my left and a river beyond it. For a teenage girl trying to disappear, a place like this makes it dangerously easy.

“Claire!” I shout. No answer.

The locator spell placed her near a tiny park, but when I get closer, I realize it’s barely more than a patch of grass. A few trees grow thicker toward the river. There’s a walking path. A painfully fit, cheerful couple jogs past me like the universe isn’t currently ending. I turn in a circle, trying to think.

Where would a normal teenage girl hide? That’s the problem. Every place I would choose is based on years of hunter training. Claire doesn’t have that. She’d probably choose somewhere obvious.

Somewhere that feels hidden without actually being hidden.

I’m considering casting the spell again to narrow down the location when a car pulls into the parking lot behind me. Doors open and several hunters get out. They spread around me.

“Are you sure that’s her?” one asks.

“Positive,” another answers. “That’s the girl who attacked the Russos.”

“Oh, please.” I turn toward them. “I am a Russo.” They stare at me. For a second, I remind myself that these hunters aren’t necessarily the enemy. They’re doing what they were told. Not that long ago, I could’ve been standing exactly where they are.

Kind of.

“Sure you are, Skinwalker,” one of them scoffs.