Page 35 of Twist of Fate

Which was the problem.

Connal took one step toward the warehouse, then stopped so abruptly Luke nearly passed him.

Luke halted beside him and glanced over. Connal wasn’t looking at the building. He was looking at the space around it.

“The magic here is wrong,” Connal said quietly.

Luke frowned. What exactly did that mean? “Define wrong.”

“It is…held,” Connal said after a moment, like he was searching for the right word. “Contained. Not moving as it should.”

Luke looked back at the warehouse.

From his perspective, it looked exactly like it was supposed to. Empty. Closed. Forgettable.

“Feels pretty normal to me,” he said.

But it didn’t. Not really. Not in his gut.

Connal’s gaze snapped to him, sharp. “It is not.”

Luke studied the building again, this time factoring in Connal’s warning.

“Yeah,” Luke said under his breath. “I believe you.”

Connal stepped closer, his presence pressing in again as his attention fixed fully on the structure. “This place is not unguarded.”

Luke nodded once. “Yeah. I figured that too.”

It didn’t change what he had to do.

Luke stepped forward.

Connal caught his arm—not hard—but firm enough to stop him.

Luke looked down at the contact, then back up at Connal. “We don’t have time to sit here and admire the architecture.”

“You do not understand what you are walking into,” Connal replied.

Luke’s mouth twitched. “No, I don’t, but I’ve still got to go in.”

Connal’s jaw tightened. For a second, it looked like he might argue.

“Then we go together.”

Connal didn’t release his arm immediately. Luke thought he might try to stop him again, but then Connal stepped forward. Luke blinked once, surprised despite himself, before falling into step beside him.

The door looked like it hadn’t been opened in years. Heavy steel. No visible keypad. No handle on the outside. Just a reinforced slab set into the concrete, like it had been sealed and forgotten.

Luke slowed, scanning quickly.

“No external access,” he murmured.

Then the door clicked.

Luke froze.

The heavy slab shifted inward, slow and deliberate, in a way that definitely wasn’t manual.