Miasma.
It’s all around us.
The hairs on my body stand to attention and a tingle runs up my spine. “Wow, this place is charged.”
Hunter’s jaw ticks. He feels it too, and he doesn’t like it. He stares ahead and for a moment his eyes look empty and hollow, a trick of the light, because, no, his eyes are fine.
“You’ll acclimatize,” Ursula says, drawing my attention back to the room.
But it’s not a room, it’s a cylindrical structure that goes up for several floors and down for several more. The gold and cream color scheme gives it a pure, clean feel, and the world beyond is a glittering darkness. It’s as if this chamber, this strange core, exists in a cosmic vacuum. We’re on a balcony and there’s a walkway leading to a huge transparent pillar that sits in the center of the whole structure. Golden fluid churns and bubbles inside the pillar, as if desperate to be free.
“What is that?” Hunter asks.
“The miasma core,” Ursula replies. “It attracts miasma and amplifies it. Most of the covens in the city feed off the power it generates.
Interesting. “And this is the only core?”
“No, there are others in other cities. This one feeds Necro.”
She leads us away from the core and along the balcony to a set of steps that bring us onto the lower floor. The glittering darkness presses in on us here, and the only halo of light sits in the center of the room where several recliners are placed in a row. Each houses a Magiguard wearing a silver band on their forehead. The air crackles with energy and purpose, and aside from the four Magiguard in the seats, there are no other witches. The room is dark, and there’s no way to know how large it is, but I sense an abyss.
“What are they doing?” Hunter asks.
“Viewing,” Ursula says. “After the incident with the wards being activated and our inability to stop the humans being taken, the high council has decided to return to the old ways. Viewing is highly specialised, and only a handful have the ability. The bands connect them to oculus brands placed all around the city. It allows them to keep active watch.”
“Why did you stop this practice?” Hunter asks. “It sounds much more efficient than just wards.”
“Burn out,” Ursula says. “The practice reduced the life expectancy of the viewer by decades. The brave souls in those seats have accepted this price and agreed to put on the mantle for the greater good.”
Decades? These witches would die before their time to protect humans from outlier threats.
“I don’t understand….” I lock gazes with her. “Why?”
“Why what?” Ursula asks.
“Why do it? Why do witches protect humans? I mean, the Loup will protect a human if they come across one in danger, but they don’t make it their life mission.” I glance at Hunter. “No judgement.”
His lips twitch. “None taken.”
“Why do witches give a shit? I mean humans did some pretty awful things to witches back in the day.”
Ursula’s smile is wry. “I don’t know. It’s been that way since as long as anyone recalls. We protect humanity, and we keep the existence of the outliers safe to preserve the balance of power.”
I can’t help but be curious—to want to know more and understand this world I’m meant to be a part of. Not that I plan on joining a coven any time soon. However, knowledge is power. Still, we aren’t here for a history lesson. We’re here to find Cain.
“How does this help us find Cain?” Hunter asks, getting straight to the point. “Cora needs to see what your Magiguard see.”
“And she will,” Ursula says.
She walks off into the darkness and then light blooms ahead of us and a multitude of images appear; streets, gardens, parks, alleyways and warehouse parking lots. My brain struggles to keep up with what my eyes are seeing, and then it slows down and settles into a carousel of images—four rows, one above the other.
“You can view what they view,” Ursula says. “And if you see Cain, let me know.”
“This could take hours,” Hunter says.
“It could take days,” Ursula adds. “I’ll get some seats sent up and beverages to sustain you.”
My gaze snags on the image of a red door with a Magiguard posted in front of it. “What’s that?” I point at the image before it slides out of view.
“Our beta site in upper Necro, on the outskirts of what you call Rising Pack territory.”
“I’ve never seen it,” Hunter says. “I know every inch of this city.” He sounds suspicious.
Ursula shrugs. “Not every inch is visible. Our beta sites are heavily cloaked, visible only to essential personnel. This one is on the corner of Geraldine street, a minor nexus, which allows for heavy cloaking. It’s where we’re holding the modified vamps we picked up from the ouroboros group.”
“Have you figured out what the ouroboros were up to?” Hunter asks.
“No,” Ursula says. “The scientist you brought back has limited knowledge about their grand plan, but he was able to give us details on the composition of the drug and instructions on how to synthesize an antidote. The condition is, thankfully reversible.”
“But why?” Hunter’s like a Loup with a bone. “Why do all this? We need to know what they were planning and who they worked for?”
Ursula looks like she agrees. “It’s been escalated, but the government claims to have no clue, even though we discovered government encrypted files at the location.”
“A secret cell,” Hunter says.
I have no clue what he’s talking about.
Ursula nods sagely. “I think so.”
I look from Ursula to Hunter. “Yeah, a secret cell.” I nod slowly. “And what the fuck is one of those?”
Ursula is quick to reply. “Secret government operations set up to conduct morally ambiguous experiments or take off-the-book action. If they’re discovered the government can claim they had no idea.”
“Fuck.”
“Yes,” Ursula says. “The only thing we can deduce is that the unique biochemical make-up on the vamps allows them to carry viruses and disease without becoming sick themselves. There was cold storage found on the premises, but any viruses held were gone.”
Oh, crap. The evil plan takes form in my mind. “You think the government wants to use the vamps to make people sick?”
“We don’t know anything for sure.” Ursula jerks her chin at the images scrolling in front of us. “Get to work. Let’s find this guy and contain him. Then we can focus on the ouroboros.”
I fix my attention on the images as Ursula moves away, but something occurs to me.
“Hey, Ursula, the Magiguard downstairs—Trent—said to say hi.”
The red door appears again but the guard is gone. Instead a familiar face flashes on the screen, looking right at me with a smirk. The image goes dark.
Cain.
“What did you say?” Ursula asks.
“Cain! He’s at the beta site. What the fuck.”
“Cora!” Hunter grabs my arm and forces me to look at Ursula.
Her face is pale. “What did you say about Trent?”
“Um…he said to say hi?”