Page 55 of Something Worth Keeping
“Yes.” Julian paused at the fence line. “Which is why I’m not going through the front door.”
He pulled out his phone and opened the tunnel schematics he’d provided Thorn. The old transport network ran beneath the entire district. According to his graduate research, there should be an access point approximately two hundred meters east.
“There.” Julian pointed to a maintenance shed half-hidden by overgrown weeds. “That connects to the underground system. If the warehouse was built on the original foundation - and the property records suggest it was - there should be a utility access inside.”
Rook shook his head. “You beautiful, terrifying little human. Thorn is going to hate that he likes you.”
They moved to the maintenance shed. The lock was rusted but functional. Rook snapped it easily, tossing it into the weeds. Fortunately, the shed was empty, and the tunnel access was easy to find.
The shaft descended into darkness. Julian climbed down the ladder, acutely aware that he was walking into a situation where his only advantages were surprise and knowledge. Through the bond, Cillian’s pain intensified.
Hold on,Julian sent.I’m coming.
The tunnel stunk of mildew and something dead - a rat most likely. Julian used his phone’s flashlight to navigate, following the schematics toward the warehouse’s foundation. Rook followed silently, shadowsbleeding around him in a way that suggested his control was slipping.
“Are you all right?” Julian whispered.
“I can feel them. Thorn, Silas, Cillian - they’re all being drained. My instincts are screaming at me to either run or tear everything apart.” Rook’s voice had gone rough. “Tell me the plan before I do something stupid.”
“You’re staying in the tunnels as backup. I’m going up through the utility access, locating the apparatus, and disrupting the blood sigil.”
“How?”
“However I can.” Julian found the access ladder leading up into the warehouse basement. “If I’m not back in ten minutes, assume the worst and do whatever violent thing you’re currently fantasizing about.”
“Jules…”
“Cillian and the others will die if I don’t do this. That’s not acceptable.” Julian started climbing. “Watch the perimeter. If Vane has additional reinforcements, I need to know.”
He didn’t wait for Rook’s response.
The utility access opened into a storage basement. Julian emerged cautiously, listening for footsteps above. Male voices drifted down through the ceiling - one cold and professional, others uncertain.
“Should we move them now or wait…”
“We wait. I want confirmation from my contact first.”
That was Vane. Julian remembered the voice from the recording Silas had played during their initial briefing.
Julian crept toward the stairs. The first floor was partially visible through gaps in the old floorboards. He could see part of a large open space, industrial lighting, and the edge ofsomething that pulsed with sickly red light.
The apparatus.
The one Vane had built appeared larger than the schematics had suggested. Based on the curve Julian could see, he estimated it was nearly four meters in diameter, comprised of interlocking metal rings inscribed with symbols that were painful to look at directly. Three forms were visible inside the containment field, flickering between human shapes and their Eldritch form. Their shadows writhed weakly against invisible barriers.
Cillian stood closest to the apparatus’s edge, his human form barely maintained. Julian could see the strain in his posture, the way his shadows kept trying and failing to breach the barriers.
Two guards flanked the apparatus, both armed with guns that probablyheld something more volatile than regular bullets. Julian moved around as best he could until he could see Vane as well. The man stood near the warehouse entrance, phone to his ear.
Think about this. You’re only going to get one chance at getting this right.Julian assessed the situation with the same clinical precision he applied to archival work. Direct confrontation: impossible. Stealth approach: risky but feasible. The blood sigil would be inscribed on the apparatus itself, probably on the largest ring, where it would be protected by the containment field’s outer edge.
He needed a distraction.
Julian pulled out his phone and texted Rook:Fire alarm in three minutes. Make it loud.
Then he crept up the stairs, staying low and using the warehouse’s support columns for cover. As he gotcloser, he could see the symbols on the apparatus were definitely from the same tradition as the 1952 manual indicated. A specific form of ritual magic that was designed to immobilize anything with Eldritch energy. The sigil he needed would be at the base, where the initialization blood sacrifice had been poured.
I just have to get there before I get shot. Risky, but not impossible.
