Page 37 of Twist of Fate

“Yeah,” Luke muttered. “You look great.”

Another pulse hit.

Stronger.

The lines on the floor surged, light flaring up the walls now—no, not light. Magic.

Luke swallowed hard. For the first time since entering the warehouse, genuine alarm flickered through him.

“It’s a trap,” Luke said, forcing himself to breathe through the alarm.

Connal didn’t respond. His attention remained fixed on threats Luke still couldn’t see.

The lines brightened around Connal’s feet.

“It’s targeting you.” Luke grabbed Connal’s arm and pulled him sideways. “Move.”

Connal resisted for half a second, then followed.

A pulse struck the place they had abandoned, hard enough to crack the concrete.

Luke’s gaze snapped across the room, recalculating. “It’s following you.”

Connal’s grip tightened on his arm. “You understand this.”

Luke didn’t look at him. He’d gotten them into this mess, and it was his job to get them out. “Move.”

CHAPTER NINE

Luke didn’t wait. He pulled Connal left as the glowing lines swept across the floor behind them.

“Keep moving.”

Connal stayed beside him as Luke cut across the warehouse. The grid re-formed beneath their new path, fresh lines appearing ahead while the ones behind faded. Luke couldn’t tell whether it was following Connal, responding to their movements, or both.

He feinted right, turning his shoulders and planting one foot before changing direction. The lines followed the false movement, flashing across the path he should have taken.

Good. Luke didn’t understand the trap, but he could misdirect it.

The air tightened to his left.

Connal caught Luke around the waist and hauled him aside an instant before the pressure slammed down. The concrete cracked where Luke had been standing.

“Okay,” Luke gasped. “You keep doing that.”

Connal released him as soon as his feet were steady. “Doing what?”

“Knowing where it’s coming from.”

“The magic gathers before it strikes.”

Of course it did. Luke couldn’t see magic gathering, but Connal could, and that was the first advantage they’d had since entering the warehouse.

Luke scanned the floor as they moved. The lines were closing around them more quickly now, cutting off sections of the warehouse and forcing them toward the center.

“It’s herding us.”

Another band of light appeared across their path. Luke changed direction, but the grid adjusted with him. The opening narrowed before they could reach it.