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“Lucas, say something!” Nadine begged. “You’re scaring me.”
I leaned back on my heels. “I think I understand what happened here, and why I didn’t hear their last thoughts. It’s because I’m not the only one collecting them anymore.”
The pang in my gut felt strange. For the longest time, I wanted nothing to do with my reaper power. I wanted someone else to take it, so I could absolve myself of all reaper duties. But over the years, this power had become a part of me. I’d learned to work with it, rather than against it, and I was getting really fucking good at it. To think there was another reaper out there taking over my job felt like a piece of me had just been stolen.
“I don’t know how they did it, but a reaper killed these people,” I said. “When he did, the crystal embedded in the Mentalist’s wand absorbed a piece of the reaper’s magic.”
Nadine began walking in an arc around me, surveying the area for clues. She kept her eyes on the ground as she spoke. “So there’s a new Reaper’s Apprentice running around. Probably some kid who hasn’t learned how to contain his power.”
“How can we be sure it isn’t a reaper that’s already passed on?” Grant asked. “What if it’s Edgar? He could be protecting us.”
“It can’t be, because Edgar can’t leave behind footprints.” Nadine pointed to the snow. There wasn’t much of it yet—just a light dusting. The footprints were difficult to spot, and I was surprised she’d noticed them at all. “There are three sets of footprints here. Two sets are from the victims, which means the third is the killer’s.”
Nadine returned to where she’d been standing beside Grant and Talia. “We can make assumptions and come up with theories all day, but none of it’s going to give us answers. Tal, we need you to look back and see what happened here.”
Talia conjured the Seer Wand. “I’ll try, but like I’ve said, the visions can be confusing.”
Nadine placed a gentle hand on Talia’s wrist. “Don’t use the Seer Wand. You need a clear head for this.”
Talia lowered the Wand to her side, realizing what Nadine was saying. “Okay, I’ll see what I can get with psychometry.”
Talia subconjured the Seer Wand and closed her eyes. Slowly, she began pacing from one tree to the next, running her fingers along the bark. I held my breath, waiting in anticipation for some sort of answer.
“I see the cloaked man again,” Talia said softly, carefully stepping around the next tree. “He’s definitely alive. Something startled him. He’s creating a portal!”
I stood so fast I got dizzy. “Where’d he cast it?”
Talia’s eyes shot open, and she pointed between two trees. “Right there.”
I planted my feet right where she had pointed. I closed my eyes and searched for an energy signature, but I couldn’t find it.
“What are you doing?” Grant asked.
“I’m seeing if I can find out where the fucker portaled to,” I growled. “He must’ve left an energy signature behind, right?”
“We’re not going to follow him!” Talia cried.
“What else are we going to do?” I demanded. “Wait for him to break through our wards? I want to talk to this guy and get some damn answers.”
I spotted the wand I’d left beside the Executor, the one with the crystal on the end that held the reaper’s magic.
“Maybe using a bit of his own power will help us find him.” I grabbed the wand, then went to stand back between the trees.
Nadine came up beside me. “Let me help.”
I hesitated a moment. I didn’t want her to come with me if things got out of hand, but I wasn’t sure I could pull off this spell without her.
“You aren’t going without me,” she stated firmly. She wasn’t giving me a choice.
Reluctantly, I took her hand. Nadine’s power poured into me, amplifying my own. The power from the crystal filled me up, and I felt something tickling at the center of my chest.
“I’ve got it—” I started to say, but a portal bloomed right where I was standing before I could finish. The ground fell out from under us, and Nadine and I were sucked through the portal.
We landed on solid ground in a forest nearly identical to the one we’d just left. A light dusting of snow covered the ground, and the air felt the same. It was like we’d only traveled a couple of miles away. The portal slammed shut behind us.
Nadine held tight to me and glanced around the forest. “Is this where he went?”
“It’s got to be,” I answered.
