Embers (Scales 'N' Spells 4)

Nikki only paused once when reaching the edges of the ward. It was clearly visible to their eyes, thrumming with quiet power—like a translucent film blanketed the town in a dome overhead. Make or break, right here. If the Jaeggi had changed the ward’s parameters, Nikki had no hope of getting in. And then they were really screwed. As far as Nikki knew, there was no Plan B.

They tried a single finger first, poking at it gently, but there was no flashback. No shock. The finger slid through, in fact, and Nikki dared to put a whole hand in, eyeing the entire ward cautiously. Still nothing.

So, they really hadn’t changed parameters at all?

Maybe they thought those who’d escaped from them would never return of their own volition. Even so, this was incredibly stupid. Nikki would never have banked on that off chance. They knew the dragon kings certainly wouldn’t have. They were more careful with their clan’s lives than this.

But, as some ancient philosopher once said (Nikki had no idea who, frankly), never interrupt your enemy while they were making a mistake.

Or was it never correct your enemy while they made a mistake?

Nikki would look that up later. Things needed exploding first.

Alright, the ward was not an obstacle. Yay, Plan A! And score one for the good guys. Nikki slipped through, then hugged the shadows and walls as they made their way around the perimeter.

Because they’d had to explode things before to get out, Nikki knew a few things about the ward generator. Cameron had at first assumed it was a singular device, but in fact it was a series of devices all connected to each other to form a grid. It was why Nikki could explode one and open a gate on that first night of escape. Frankly, no one machine would have the power to protect an entire town—not and still stay portable in size. It would take a huge generator, something the size of a building, to be the singular power source of a ward.

All Nikki had to do was find one ward device. Just one, sabotage it, and then slip back out again.

Nikki and Cameron had put their heads together and cooked up a bomb with a timer on it. It was part magic, part tech, and the most steampunk thing Nikki had ever built. They were super proud of it and wanted to make many, many more. For reasons.

The bomb rode like a heavy weight in their messenger bag. Nikki felt it as they moved silently forward along the outer edges. After so many years of creeping around Jaeggi encampments, Nikki was an old hat at this. But it was still nerve-wracking because this wasn’t territory Nikki knew. At every corner, they had to stop and peer cautiously around it, making sure no one was nearby.

Time ticked away loudly in Nikki’s head, and that wasn’t a pleasant sensation, not at all. Gunter would start losing his shit soon. Nikki really wanted to head that off. Soothing an unhappy dragon was not on their list of plans for tonight. Really, it was in their best interest to get in and out quickly.

Nikki flitted between one building and another, and it was then that they saw it. The area was dim over here, the streetlamps not providing a lot of light, so their eyes almost slid right over it before Nikki registered what they were seeing.

A device connected into the ward, the ward projecting front and upwards, protecting the device behind it. To the untrained eye, it wasn’t obvious. Just a black box sitting there, looking remarkably like an old movie projector. It could well be that whomever had come up with the design had used an old movie projector as the base. It sat on a little metal platform only an inch off the gravel, as innocuous as it could be.

Creeping up, Nikki eyed their surroundings cautiously, but no one seemed to be nearby. Excellent. Wasting no time, they quickly knelt, drew out the timer, and placed it on the front side of the box, just to make it less obvious at a glance it had been monkeyed with. No one would be able to see it unless they were outside the ward looking in.

Good, done.

“—don’t unload that here, we need to get by!”

Nikki startled at the voice, sounding so close by. When had people come in this close?!

They skittered quickly backwards, into the side of the brick building, and hunkered in its shadow.

A car door opened and closed, more voices joining in, an argument in progress. It literally sounded as if it was at the front of the building Nikki now hid behind. Dammit.

Nikki’s eyes flew up, looking at the area just outside the ward. It was all open clearing there, no cover to be found anywhere. Not a wise idea to run that way, then. But the section Nikki had come in through, there had been a tree line. If Nikki could just retrace their steps for a minute, that was the much safer option. And they’d be closer to where Gunter sat waiting for them. Win, win.