Page 53 of Shadow Dreaming

He nodded, frantically typing away on the keyboard. “She’s wiped everything we had about Brim Fire off the computer. She also installed a virus that’s destroying our files. I’m trying to stop it. I can’t even turn it off, and if I unplug it, that may trigger something worse.”

Paling, I turned back to Sophia. “Did she say anything at all that you can remember?”

Sophia closed her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

“Please sit still so we can stitch up your wound,” the EMT said.

“Sorry,” Sophia answered. She complied, but continued to talk. “She wasn’t Penn, Kyann. Not the Penn I know. Her eyes were glazed over. She didn’t say a word, but I know that wasn’t her—I know magic when I feel it.”

“She is a witch,” I said, wondering what the fuck was going on.

“There’s a difference between sensing someone’s personal magic, and magic that’s been used against them. I’m positive she’s under a spell?—”

“Stop talking,” the EMT said. He glanced at me. “I won’t be able to sew up her forehead if you won’t quit urging her to talk.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll stop.” I backed away, heading over to Carson. “What did you think’s happening?”

“I found a jump drive on the desk. I examined it on a virtual OS on my laptop, and it’s filled with viruses. One in particular looks like it’s meant to destroy any mention of Brim Fire that we have in the main computer system, after transmitting the information somewhere else. I wasn’t able to track down where the hackers originate from because by the time we realized something was wrong with the computer, it was already deleting our other files.”

“Ugh. I think we can safely bet about who’s doing this,” I said.

“There’s more,” Carson said.

I grimaced. “More? So it gets worse?”

He nodded, pursing his lips. “All our personal information was hacked. We have to assume that they know everything about us. Identification…pay rates…bank info for direct deposit…addresses…whatever we had filed away. I’ve already called to put a hold on my bank accounts. You, Sophia, Orik, and Dante need to do the same. I can’t do that for you.”

I slowly sat down on the chair next to Sophia’s desk. “Penn would never willingly do this.”

“I didn’t say she would,” Carson said. “Sophia thinks she’s under a spell. She’s also a danger to herself because we’re not sure where she went.”

Dante pointed to my phone. “Call the bank. Then see if you can get hold of Penn. Maybe your voice will break her out of whatever’s happened.”

I silently stood, walking away from the desk. After a few seconds, still trying to absorb everything, I called my bank and put a hold on anything going in or out. I had one emergency credit card that I never used, and nothing about it was stored in the computer at work, so I told them to keep that active, but to call me if there was any unusual activity on it, beyond groceries or the like.

After that, I turned around, feeling numb. “Where do you think she’s at now?”

“We don’t know. Orik’s tracking her.”

“If there’s a spell on her, then they might have ordered her to kill herself or something—” I paused as a call came in from Orik.

“Kyann, I spotted Penn. I’m after her now, but can you and Dante get the hell down here to help me?”

“Where are you?” I asked.

“Down at the waterfront, in Golden Gardens Park. Hurry.”

“On our way.” As I hung up and turned to the others, the EMT was finishing with Sophia’s forehead. “Dante, come with me. Orik spotted her in Golden Gardens Park. Carson, stay here and work on the computer and watch over Sophia.”

“Will do,” he said, as Dante and I grabbed our coats and headed for the parking lot.

Golden Gardens Park was on the waterfront. With a dense woodland, filled with hiking trails, and a beach that led right to the water, it offered something for everyone. I pushed down my fears, focusing on the road.

“I’ll bet you anything they were holding her till we could rescue her. This was their plan all along—and probably why were able to track her down. They used her as a weapon against us.”

“You’re unusually calm,” Dante said. “Are you all right? I mean…”

I knew what he was asking. “I’m seething, Dante. But I’m not going off half-cocked and endanger her life. No, we’ll find her and get this fucking spell off her, and then, we plan our revenge. Nobody hurts my friends and lives to talk about it.” I felt numb inside, but I also knew that a fire was there, waiting to be ignited. And when I lit the fuse, it would explode, and Brim Fire would rue the day they ever decided to lay a finger on Penn.

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